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THERE were three centurions in the Eden Valley League at the week-end – and all by cricketers in the late autumn of their days.
The ageless Peter Henderson scored an undefeated ton which helped Carleton to an emphatic win at Culgaith and a possible return to the Premiership at the first attempt.
They are now just one point behind Cockermouth who retained first place after a winning draw against local rivals Wigton.
The other two hundreds came from Steve Percival (Shap) and Malcolm Beaty (Patterdale).
Rockcliffe maintained the leadership of the Third Division, with hopes of an early return to a higher place, with Stainton II and Irthing Vale I close behind. Vale scored over 200 runs for the third week in succession.
The closest match of the weekend was at Nunwick where the home side beat local rivals Staffield by two wickets.
Temple Sowerby won again to retain their perfect start to the season.
In the Premier Division clash Staffield were put into bat by Nunwick and in the third over Workington Reds goalkeeper Adam Collin (pictured below) made the first break through, removing the dangerous Nick Lane.
Staffield’s middle order performed well, though, with Stan Lane (26) and Edmondson (28) supporting James Cranston (46) and pushing them towards a respectable total.
 However, the return of Collin to finish his overs saw him polish off the Staffield tail as they faltered towards the end of the innings and were 156-9 at the close of their 40 overs. Collin finished with 4-27 from his ten overs while Neil Sands had 3-27.
Nunwick’s reply got off to a very bad start with opener Matty Williamson going for a duck in the second over and the next two only adding three to the total.
It was 16 for 3 after five overs but bowling heroes Sands and Collin steadied the ship and began to build a partnership, so at drinks the match was evenly poised with Nunwick reaching 70 for 3. Staffield knew they had to break this partnership so captain Nick Lane brought the opening bowlers back on and in the 24th over Paul Jefferies bowled Collin a long hop which he pulled obligingly straight to square leg and he was on his way for a valuable 40.
Jeffries ensured that his second spell was as productive as his first as the next four batsmen fell cheaply as the score crept forward.
With 16 required off the last three overs Sands was joined at the crease by 14-year-old Ross Collin. With Sands at the non-strikers end Collin stepped up and drove Geoff Brown through the covers for two fours to put the game back in Nunwick’s favour.
In the next over Sands completed the victory for Nunwick by hitting another trademark cover drive for four to finish one of the best innings of the season unbeaten on 82.
Jeffries finished his ten-over stint with 5-25 to be best of the Staffield bowlers.
Put into bat by visitors Caldbeck, Scotby made an excellent start and were handily placed at 82 for 1 in the 20th over.
Caldbeck fought back well, however, and reduced the home side to 135 for 7 by the end of the 35th over. Some late hitting, however, got Scotby up to 170 -8 at the close which seemed par for the wicket.
The main contributions for Scotby came from Stuart Richardson (46), captain Mark Vasey (36) and Andrew Jefferson (30). Kevin Pattinson was the best of the Caldbeck bowlers with 2-15 from his ten overs.
Caldbeck’s reply started confidently with Steve Blake in particular looking in good touch, but the home side began to take wickets at regular intervals to slow the run rate and at 105 for 8 the game looked over.
Pattinson then started to find the boundaries to put the visitors within sight, but the fall of his wicket saw Caldbeck’s last chance of victory go.
Unsurprisingly he was caught on the boundary, attempting to hit another six into the teeth of a gale. Like an overnight wagon train, field placings were transformed as Scotby closed from boundary to around the wicket for the last three overs. It certainly helped to shelter the last pairing from the wind as they safely negotiated the last three overs to earn the draw on 137-9.
Pattinson made 40, Blake 35 and the best bowling for Scotby came from Stuart Farrer (3-37).
Edenhall scrambled a draw at Penrith seconds after they had been asked to chase 205-7.
Terence O’Neil was in good form with the bat for Penrith, making 82no while Chris Burns chipped in with 38. Andrew Gate was the best of the Edenhall bowlers with 3-21.
Stuart Davidson (33) and David Marshall (30) were the leading batsmen in Edenhall’s response of 150-6 with Ken Reed taking 4-23.
Stainton and Appleby seconds were surprisingly winless ahead of their clash and both sides were favourites at various times during this match of fluctuating fortunes to end that sequence.
Initially Stainton were on the back foot, losing six wickets to reach three figures, before the tail wagged sufficiently well led by John Greenwood (45) to give the bowlers some opportunity.
They were eventually bowled-out in the final over for 158 with Seamus Moore very impressive with 4-14 from 9.3 overs and Martin Gate taking 4-44.
Rick Kay and Rob Dawson bowled well early on as Appleby subsided to 28-4 with this season’s main scorers back in the pavilion and the game back in the balance.
Appleby also lost six wickets in reaching three figures, and then another to the returning Kay, before George Moore was joined by veteran Ernie Brabbins.
Some of the coaching points he has given to youngsters over the years must have stuck as he and Moore added an undefeated 35 for the eighth wicket and at 159-7 had gathered a welcome six points. Obviously unimpressed, the selectors have dropped Ernie for the next match.
In Division One Gamblesby grabbed an exciting two wicket win at Baggrow after they had bowled-out the home side for 118.
Baggrow’s total was built largely on the efforts of John Raven (35) and Paul Benson (31) with Ben Crouch taking 4-34 for the visitors.
The game could have gone either way before Gamblesby squeezed home with two wickets to spare. Mike Peile took 3-35 and Jonny Busby had 2-14.
Two big milestones were reached as Shap took a winning draw against Cockermouth thirds - Steve Percival scored his first century for the club and James Horrocks scored his first half century in a game.
Shap totally dominated right from the off against a weakened Cockermouth third team, starting-off like a train with Sean Harvey and Lee Stockdale putting on 55 for the first wicket off nine overs.
When Stockdale was out Harvey and James Horrocks put on another 50 for the second wicket until Harvey cleaned bowled for 43.
Then Percival joined Horrocks for a stand of 139 off 16 overs with ball after ball going to the boundary.
Horrocks, batting with confidence after a tricky start to the season, reached his fifty and was then was promptly bowled by Ben Morgan. It was a maturing innings, which included nine fours.
Percival then carried on the onslaught with yet more boundaries as the bowlers were starting to tire on a big playing area and very windy conditions.
Percival reached his 100 with a square cut for four – his eighteenth of the innings and he finished on 106 not out in a Shap total of 271-5. Morgan took 3-48 from his ten overs.
It was far too many for the home side to challenge but even with some very tight bowling Cockermouth managed a respectable 137-7 with Tom Harlow scoring a solid 65.
There was some good efforts by all the Shap bowlers especially young Sam Wood (4-36) and Simon Palmer (2-21).
During the Cockermouth innings there were two outstanding catches taken by the Shap fielders -Horrocks with a one-handed catch to his left which went like a bullet and Wood took a one handed catch to his right, when no other bowler would have got close to it.
Overall it was a good game of cricket played very sportingly by both sides.
Carleton beat Culgaith by 74 runs after posting 224-2 led by Peter Henderson (115no), Sean McDermott (44), Richard Bamber (31) and Neil Irving (26no).
David Pearson did most of the damage, taking 5-43 as Culgaith were dismissed for 150. Main architects of that total were Adrian Robson (37) and David Spruce (36).
Denton Holme beat Kirkby Stephen by 65 runs as Chris Law (3-11) and Alan Egglestone (3-21) bowled-out the visitors for 72.
Earlier Denton Holme had made 137-8 with Daniel Gawith top-scoring on 43. Best of the Kirkby Stephen bowlers was Andrew Wilkinson with 3-30.
Another dry and hard pitch at Sandair once again rewarded those bowlers who were able to us it to its full potential, with plenty of pace, bounce and movement from the seam.
Veteran Les Gillespie set the standard with a miserly opening spell, but the Cockermouth openers sensibly saw him off, and exploited the more varied lengths bowled by other Wigton bowlers.
An opening stand of 163 gave a platform for Jon Gibson to again show his class with some refined lofted shots until he wandered down the track looking to hit into the woods again from the penultimate ball of the innings and was out for 48.
The Cockermouth total of 243-2 had been built around that opening stand between Andrew Davidson (90no) and Matthew Taylor (93).
The Wigton reply seemed to be on target initially, but tight bowling from David Skilbeck (3-36) reined in the opposition and, despite some good hitting from Stuart Varty (33), the “half way” score was only passed in the 34thh over.
Cockermouth tried desperately for the final wickets, with an 8-1 (short leg) field for Platten’s final burst of four overs (4-2-5-0) and a crowded field for Mark Middleton’s increasingly enthusiastic leg breaks.
The visiting skipper was disappointed to hole out to Gibson on the square leg boundary, striking a full toss from Middleton so cleanly that it reached the fielder who didn’t have to move to take the catch. But the job was done at 131-7 to earn Wigton the draw.
In Division Two Temple Sowerby continued their winning sequence away at the expense of Great Corby.
The home team opted to bat and got off to a reasonable start with a trademark flourish from Mark McAlindon but after the first wicket fell they struggled to 32-5.
Debutant Phil Storey 23) played a strong knock and later James Swann added a dashing 38 to give the total a measure of respectability at 123. Tony Morland was the most successful Temple Sowerby bowler with 3-30 and David Hinckley took four catches behind the stumps.
Temple Sowerby's opening batsmen were given a stern early test by Matt Shore and Sam Pagan but they failed to make a breakthrough.
Barry Lightburn top scored on 48 with Carl Hinckley 24 not out as the visitors won on 126-2.
 Lowther captain Paul Robinson asked the home side to bat on a beautiful sunny day at King George V playing field, Patterdale (pictured left).
Both opening batsmen made double figures but at 49-2 after 13 overs Robinson probably felt quite happy.
Malcolm Beaty then strode to the wicket and launched a belligerent but controlled attack on the Lowther attack and scored a magnificent 102.
A stand of 177, with excellent support from Paul Renison (41), was only broken late in the innings and in the 40 overs a total of 231-6 was achieved.
Lowther, although losing an early wicket, made a spirited reply and at 149-2 were starting to look favourites to overhaul a fairly formidable total.
Unfortunately for them four wickets fell in the 150’s, Andrew Little (76) and David Holmes (51) both falling to catches after batting extremely well.
Patterdale appeared in control at this point but Lowther rallied and at 189-6 were back in the game again.
However three quick wickets in the 190’s meant Lowther were batting for a point and they appeared to be capable of that until the final ball of the game when Gary Martin took a catch and bowl.
With 424 runs scored in front of a good crowd and tension remaining until the last ball of 80 overs, it was a credit to both teams.
Sam Iredale proved to be the most successful Patterdale bowler taking 4-58.
Threlkeld and Wetheral were also involved in a tight game which ended in a draw, but the teams only 13 runs apart.
Tom Blakely (67) and Stuart Bragg (37) scored best for Threlkeld in their total of 185-9. Mark Innis took 4-7 for Wetheral who made 172-5 in response.
Alan Oliver (49) and Stephen Bamber (45) were the leading ruin-makers while Rob Dixon took 2-38.
Penrith thirds were beaten at home by Arthuret and Esk despite posting a decent total of 193-8. Richard Robinson top-scored on 48 while Tony Steele took 3-39 for the visitors.
In reply Michael Loader (68no), Paul Booker (56) and Rob Dawson (34) got Arthuret and Esk through to victory on 194-4.
Asked to bat first at Penrith Wanderers, Nunwick seconds were put under pressure from the second over when Pattinson was dismissed without scoring, a fantastic reaction catch close in from skipper Nigel Fowles accounting for him.
Nunwick then had a number of players get their eye in but weren’t able to see an innings through, mainly due to accurate bowling and very tight fielding from a rejuvenated Wanderers side. With Nunwick at 66-6, John Mounsey decided to open his shoulders and started to put some runs on the board but when he fell for 40, caught in the outfield going for another boundary, the run rate slowed and Nunwick closed their inning on 117-8.
Steve Hodgson took 4-32 and there was a great display of line and length bowling by Nigel Fowles who went for only 16 runs in nine overs (11 of those came off the first three balls after drinks).
There was also a good stint from Rob Tomlinson, who bowled his ten- over stint straight through and into the wind, finishing with 10-2-32-0 which was a superb effort.
Wanderers set about the target confidently even after losing opener Hodgson in the fifth over, falling to a sublime catch and bowl from Adam Pattinson.
This brought skipper Fowles to the crease to partner his evergreen and youthful uncle David Bentley, and the pair shared a partnership of 65.
Fowles was then bowled for 36 with a peach of a delivery from Mounsey who bowled quite brilliantly all afternoon and should have had more than his single wicket to show for his efforts.
This wicket however brought about the ever predictable “fall like a deck of cards” trick from Wanderers who then became their own worst enemy, throwing away wicket after wicket to move from a respectable 76-1 to 84-5.
With Bentley batting quite superbly at one end, all that was needed was a steady head at the other – thankfully Stuart Leonard (9) provided this, allowing Bentley to score freely while keeping his own wicket in hand. After Leonard had gone with the score on 107, a Nunwick victory was still very much a possibility given the state of the Wanderers batting in recent weeks.
However, Ben Beaumont carried on where Leonard had finished, allowing Bentley to hit the winning four in the 31stt over.
Requiring a six for his first 50 of the season, Bentley finished not out on 49 – a quite superb effort from the veteran, batting the full 40 overs and claiming the first six points of the season for Wanderers.
Special mention should be made of Nunwick’s young opening bowler Zach Sinkinson who bowled with great pace and accuracy throughout and finished with 2-19. Pattinson had 2-36.
For the third week running Irthing Vale were victorious in a high scoring encounter, this time against Penrith Academy.
Put into bat Penrith set off in a confident manner with a first wicket stand of over 70 between Brian Winter and Callum Burton before the latter departed having been run out.
With the Vale bowlers struggling to get anything out of the wicket Winter looked comfortable, and when he was joined at the crease by Mark Cameron the Penrith run rate started to increase.
Cameron hit two massive sixes over square leg, and Winter hit Phil Kania back over his head and into the tree’s for a big six.
Winter finally departed for 63 after being caught by Steve Turner with a superb one handed diving catch at mid wicket. Turner then bowled Cameron who departed two short of his fifty, but the Academy still closed on a very good score of 206-6.
The Vale reply then started in a bizarre way. Alistair Robertson who needed to leave early, was promoted to open the batting along with Alistair McKenzie, and was run out without facing a ball.
McKenzie on strike drove the ball hard back to the bowler off only the fourth ball of the innings, but as Alistair Robertson set off to take the run, the ball deflected of the bowlers’ foot straight to a fielder at mid off and a direct hit to the stumps left him stranded well short of the crease.
Any thoughts that the tone of the Vale innings had been set were soon dispelled as McKenzie and Turner, set about to hitting the Penrith bowling as if it was a mid week game.
When Turner departed for 51 having been run out the score had moved onto 140 after only 17 overs, and McKenzie continued in the same mode as Duncan Miller settled in at the other end.
When McKenzie was bowled by Mark Cameron he had scored 78 which included 15 boundaries of which 14 were 4’s and he also hit a six.
Two wickets then fell with the score on 184, but with time on their side Miller and Alan Matthews played sensibly and stayed there until all the points had been won for Vale on 207-5. Miller was unbeaten on 36 while Cameron took 3-40.
On a blustery day in Blennerhasset both teams struggled to direct the ball as Stainton bowled 28 wides and the home side easily surpassed this with 33.
At 69-5 with only Peter Turner of the top six left a paltry total was likely, but he carried the team to 103-7, with 38 before Monty Patterson hit out a quick 20 to see Baggrow reach 150-8, a defendable total. Extras top scored with 42 while Tom Myerscough (3-36) was the most successful bowler.
When 51-1 became 51-3 in the space of two balls the home side had some hope, but Myerscough (31), Neil Ritchie (45no) and extras (43) combined to take the visitors to within touching distance of the finish line. Nick Hall hit a six to win the match at 156-4 for Stainton.
In the club derby Lanercost seconds beat Lanercost thirds by four wickets.
Manish Saxena top-scored with 39 for the thirds when they were dismissed for 123. Stuart Hillary took 4-18 and Chris Laird had 3-13.
Rob Waugh was the main batsman for the seconds making an unbeaten 40 in a match winning reply of 126-6.
Wigton thirds were well beaten at home by Rockcliffe after they only managed to make 125. Stephen Ward (44) and Mark Evans (42) did the bulk of the scoring. Chris Johnston took 5-43 and James Freebairn had 3-24.
Rockcliffe responded with 127-1 led by Robert Wharton (42no), Richard Mallinson (39no) and William Wharton (27).
In a high-scoring game Caldbeck seconds drew with visitors Irthing Vale seconds.
Graeme Wetheral (91) and Craig Pattinson (41) top-scored in Caldbeck’s 222-9 with veteran Neil Corrie taking 2-37.
In reply Vale reached 176-7 at the close with good contributions from Mark Ashton (61), Bill Park (50) and Corrie (31).
Cockermouth seconds won at Stainton by 61 runs after a match-winning effort from Andrew Davidson. He bowled seven overs and took 5-7 as Stainton were dismissed for 123.
Earlier Cockermouth had got to 184 with good knocks from Davidson (59) and Vaz Misra (39). Scott Lancaster took 4-48.
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