Last week's disappointing defeat at the hands of Eppleton did, however, include some encouraging performances, including 30s from wicketkeeper Andrew Doherty and young all-rounder Steven Martin, as well as five wickets for Phil Shakespeare.

The fixture also included a record-breaking performance from Boldon skipper Chris Ellison, who became the first Boldon player to score 1,000 first-team league runs in a season.

With three games to play, Ellison will be endeavouring to add to his already mammoth run tally in the campaign's crucial conclusion.

Tomorrow, Boldon travel to third-place Burnmoor hoping to close the gap on the Lyons and Whitburn above them.

Club professional Jonny Wightman is absent with a serious side injury, and looks set to miss the rest of the season.

However, with Phil Shakespeare and Michael Bittlestone both in wicket-taking form, the prospect of 10 Burnmoor scalps is achievable.

Philadelphia travel to Sunderland Road on Bank Holiday Monday, and Boldon will field an unchanged team.

The Bunker Hill side, fresh from a 30-point thrashing of Marsden last week, will be hoping that Bobby Steel can continue his good form.

Gareth Smith's second XI opened up a healthy lead at the top of Division Two with a comfortable win over Eppleton last week.

The stars of the performance, Stu Lamb, Dicky Dawson and Iain Young, all play against second-placed Burnmoor tomorrow.

Graham Fox and Michael Forster return to the side for tomorrow's vital fixture.

Like the first team, the second string also fields an unchanged side for the trip to Philadelphia on Monday, where the talismanic Paul Burn will be waiting to frustrate the Boldon bowlers once more.

However, the battle should be extremely interesting with a full-strength attack at Gareth Smith's disposal.