THE championship will be decided on Saturday in the final game of the season when leaders Murton take on second-placed Castle Eden.
The grand finale was set up after last weekend’s games.
Both teams won to leave Murton with the slenderest of two-point leads, although both had their heart-stopping moments before wrapping up their respective victories.
Murton looked in cruise mode for the first half of their game with hosts Easington.
A four-pronged attack had the home side struggling all afternoon, and with the top score only being 19 from Andrew Price the end result was a total of 99.
Joe Dodd (3-40) and Glen Riddle (3-17) spearheaded the visitors assault, and with Calvin Stephenson picking up a brace he title chasers were looking odds-on certainties at the interval.
However, the hoped-for comfortable passage to victory proved more troublesome than expected as Gary Ward (3-43) and Brian Daniel (3-28) struck six early blows to leave the game in the balance.
Thankfully for Murton, they still had Stephenson’s wicket in the bank and he played a match-winning knock, finishing unbeaten on 51, with Joe Dodd (14no) having added vital tail end support.
Meanwhile, Castle Eden were facing a different kind of proposition as visitors Seaham Park were putting up a spirited effort when taking first knock.
Park’s challenging total of 184-6 was built around a superb unbeaten century from opener David Hanson, the fact the next top score in the innings was just 16 highlighting the quality of Hanson’s effort.
There was the potential to fail when chasing such a victory target – but opener Dean Langridge steadied any nerves with a well-constructed 57 and when veteran John Spellman (56no) came to the crease he displayed all his experience in guiding his team to a six-wicket win.
The fight for the minor places went on with Bill Quay taking over third after coming out on the right side of a tight encounter with Ryhope.
Robbie Atherton (55) and Dave Kennedy (36) looked to be setting up a massive home total until Chris Little’s spell of 4-19 left a target of 189.
Jeff Tudor (59) and Daniel Pearson (54) set them on their weay, although the visitors had only two wickets to spare in a tight finish.
