South Shields won the Durham Cricket Board Under-14 Indoor 6-a-Side Trophy for a third successive season with an outstanding all-round performance in the final against Philadelphia.
The South Tynesiders overcame Gateshead Fell in the semi-finals to qualify for the deciding match against Phili, who denied Greenside in the semis.
In the first semi-final, Greenside won the toss and elected to bowl. Luke Robinson got Philadelphia off to a fast start with a quick-fire 19 before Brett Walton scored 33 not out in a total of 90-5.
Charlie Lodge took 2-33 of his 3 overs. In reply, Nic Shaw scored 31 but Greenside fell 15 runs short being all out for 75, Luke Robinson and George Davison only taking 27 runs in 4.2 overs. Four direct hit runouts from Philadelphia were the main downfall for Greenside.
In the second semi-final, South Shields, batting first, bagged 104-2 in their 10 overs against Gateshead Fell. Contributions were made by Luke Duffy (36), Matthew Sheppard (26 not out) and Matthew May (22 not out).
For Gateshead Fell, Harvey Wake scored 21 in a total of only 58. South Shields kept their bowling very tight to restrict scoring opportunities, Matthew Sheppard bowling the only wicket maiden of the competition.
In the final, Philadelphia won the toss and elected to bowl. South Shields scored a good total of 113-5, with Alex Thompson top-scoring with 41 not out and Ewan Jenkins contributing 25.
It was a tall order to chase for Philadelphia and they only managed a score of 61, with Luke Robinson scoring 20 and a late flurry of hitting from George Davison wasn’t enough to see Philadelphia home.