Blaydon book finals place

A change in format finished in triumph for Blaydon who earned a finals berth in the ECB Six a Side Indoor Championships at Lord’s.

The decision was made to allow the teams taking part in the North Regional Final at Headingley to complete their matches before the end of the Rugby League match being played next door.

The two semi-finals were played simultaneously which meant precious little chance for the winning teams to have gained insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.

In addition, splitting the hall into two pitches the restricted scoring opportunities as the reduction in space made it far harder to complete runs – although it was easier to find the boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Both semi-finals proved to be fairly routine matters with Kearsley (Lancashire) easing past their opponents from Shropshire, St George’s by 27 runs after posting 90 for four, the highest score of the day.

In the other semi-final Blaydon (Durham) bowled out Bolsover (Derbyshire) for 58 and reached their target for the loss of just two wickets.

The Final itself was a much closer affair. Kearsley were bowled out for a challenging total of 87 and Blaydon, despite struggling against the accurate bowling of the veteran Mel Whittle, were able to progress to Lord’s by keeping their heads to pass their opponents’ total for the loss of four wickets