BROMPTON ON SWALE continued their fine start to the season when they recorded their third victory in three outings to go joint top of the early season table.

Having struggled at the other end of the standings in 2012 these are exciting times for Brompton whose latest victims were Lands, but they didn’t find life easy as they batted through 35 overs to post a modest target of 129-9, Steve Porter the main man with 4 fours and 2 sixes in his 48.

Dean Cummins (4-27) and Rob Little (3-31) did the bulk of the work for the home team, but just one man held the Lands batting response together, opener Steve Jacobs standing alone with 8 fours and 2 sixes in his defiant 57.

The next top score was 11 as Aaron Allinson (3-31) led a potent attack who brought Lands down to earth for 89.

Matching Brompton stride for stride are Rockliffe Park, their latest success an important one as they dented Haughton’s hopes of defending their title successfully.

Haughton gave themselves a real chance when they posted 181-6 first up, Sam Bainbridge once again in form with 8 boundaries in his 47.

And Rockliffe had to battle hard to pass that target, managing it with just six balls and three wickets remaining.

Sean Farrow (52) and Darren Wheeler (43) gave them the necessary impetus after Daniel Nesbitt (3-47) and Fiery Freddie Fothergill (3-52) had threatened to upset the Park ride.

The individual performance of the day came at Aldbrough where home opener Matt Hodgson made a superb 133, an innings laced with 17 fours and 6 sixes. Jack Stapleton (46) shared a century opening partnership with Hodgson that provided the platform for an impressive 40 over total of 244-3, a target East Cowton found 99 runs too many.

Another man in run making form was Middleton in Teesdale’s Anthony Coatsworth.

He included nine boundaries in a knock of 84 not out as he carried his bat through the 30 overs it took his team to post 188-4 at Barton, and the worth of the knock was shown when the hosts slumped to 119 all out as Josh Rosengarten and Gary Waller shared eight wickets.

In the day’s other top flight games Barningham secured their first win of the season when they defeated Raby Castle by four wickets, and Middleton St George won by eight wickets at Cliffe.