Blaydon just miss out on double.

BLAYDON coach Allan Worthy had high praise for his side even though they fell at the final hurdle in the National Indoor Finals at Lord's.

The Tyneside outfit battled with clubs from around the country to reach the finals.

That was an achievement in itself, but after seeing off Worcester Park of Surrey in the last four it was Havent of Hampshire who snatched the trophy from the Geordie club's hands.

Worthy said: "We got to the final but unfortunately, we couldn't quite match last year's performance.

"We beat Worcester Park in the semi before going down to Havant of Hampshire who are the reigning champions of the Southern Premier League, who comfortably beat Sandyford of Staffs in the other semi."

In the final Blaydon won the toss and elected to field, reducing Havant to 76 for five with some excellent fielding and tight bowling.

However, they lost their way from then on and the last wicket carried Havant to 146 for five at the close.

Worthy added: "When chasing that score we needed a good start and, although we didn't lose wickets, some fine new-ball bowling from Havant kept us behind the run-rate and we were always up against it from then on.

"Despite a valiant effort, we ended 26 runs short of the target.

"It was a great day and the club is justly proud to have made it into the last two in the country for two years' running - unfortunately, this year we couldn't quite scale the final hurdle.

"We have proved how good we are in the indoor game and this defeat is our first and only loss in 21 games, over two years.

"Losing our title has only made us more determined to return to Lord's again next year to regain it!

"The travelling support we received was amazing again and easily the most vocal of the four teams on the day.

"Needless to say, despite the fact we had the longest journey home, we were the last to leave the evening celebrations, with spirits still very high.

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WORTHY EFFORT: Praise from Blaydon coach Allan Worthy