Ashington firsts captain praises brothers as they make a stand

It was not all plain sailing as the Mighty Acorns had to overcome a couple of stumbling blocks before brothers Ben and James Harmison put on an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 69 to clinch the game – which brought the pair a glowing compliment from McCafferty.

“Ben and James saw us home really well at a time where the game was probably in the balance,” he said. “I think they showed the rest of the batters how to bat on the pitch and I thought the pair of them were excellent.”

McCafferty added: “It was important to make sure that our season didn’t peter out. Our position in the league doesn’t reflect how well we have played, but it was vital that we didn’t just turn up and let the season be done. We wanted to put in a performance and to an extent we did that.

“It was a good win and set up by a five-wicket haul by James. We had had a lot of rain over the last couple of days and the wicket was a bit green and soft – which is unlike here – so it was a little bit different to what we are used too.”

He continued: “We got the game on and the bowling spell by James was brilliant. There were very few bad deliveries in his 10-over spell and he was a threat with every ball – every ball was an event because it looked as if something was going to happen, and it was backed up by some good catching as well.”

McCafferty reserved his final comments for teenager Charlie Harmison. “I’ve got to give a special mention to 15-year-old Charlie Harmison – on his first team league debut,” he said.

“He got his first league wickets – the second with a brilliant yorker – and we are all proud of him. Hopefully this will be a springboard and give him the confidence going into the end of the season and next year.”

Meanwhile at the Village ground, Ashington seconds went down to a 17-run defeat against Whitburn seconds.