They accomplished this feat with a severe battering of North Wheatley by eight wickets and credit is due to the entire Retford side for their excellent play which saw them finish a massive 63 points in front of second placed Mansfield Hosiery Mills when the final table was published.

Batting first North Wheatley who were already relegated had only pride to play for but Retford were in no mood for sentiment and bowled them out for 84 with Paul Singleton taking 4 for 38 and Steve Randall an incredible 5 for 12.

Of course this miserable target presented no problem to Retford who despite losing a couple of wickets totally overwhelmed their opponents sending them back to Division 2 with a horrible reminder of what life is like at the top.

Retford can now look forward to being back in the Nottinghamshire Premier League after one season away and hopefully they will fare much better this time around. They have the resources and are a big club with a wonderful set up and people who care about them running things behind the scenes. Yes the outlook seems rosy for them.

Mansfield Hosiery Mills completely demolished Glapwell by six wickets to sneak into second place in the final table but it should have been much harder for them. Batting first Glapwell who were bowled out for 159, lost an early wicket before Rob Davison and New Zealander Andy Smith put together an excellent partnership for the second wicket. This was broken by stupid running between the wickets with Davison being run out by a magnificent throw which hit the stumps direct but there was little chance of him completing the run anyway.

From this point a major collapse set in and the walk from and back to the pavilion resembled a procession. To add further woe to what was happening Smith who had batted superbly to reach 61 was also run out and once again it was an act that was preventable.

Sri Lankan Asela Jayasinghe (4 for 38) and Nolan McKenzie (3 for 33) bowled well for Hosiery Mills but they didn’t need the help Glapwell gave them because they are good enough anyway, but still the gifts hadn’t ended.

Determined to make up for these indiscretions Glapwell fired out Dave Loveridge, Jonathan Smaill and Asela Jayasinghe relatively cheaply but then dropped Nolan McKenzie behind the wickets before he had reached 10! This final deed was the fatal one as McKenzie then flayed some wayward bowling all over the park making a glorious untroubled and unbeaten 91 in quick time as Hosiery Mills reached 162 for the loss of a further wicket

Arnold finished a very creditable third and closed out with a crushing eight wicket win over Thoresby Colliery who have enjoyed their best season for some years also. Batting first Thoresby were immediately in dire trouble slumping to 68 for 9, before a face saving tenth wicket stand of 59 saved their blushes slightly. The final total of 127 was many more than had seemed possible and the main thanks for this was a superb unbeaten 38 by Kiwi Ben Winslade. Australian Justin Foss was the wrecker in chief for Arnold as he finished with the fabulous figures of 7 for 56 in a devastating stint.

This target was easily achieved and the Arnold batsmen showed their was no terrors in the pitch as Richard Bostock (31), Don Leiper (38) and Ian Flood (35 n.o.) saw them race to victory on 132 for 2 in double quick time.

Cutthorpe finished a disappointing (for them) fourth after losing once again to relegated bogy side Killamarsh by three runs in an exciting encounter at Sheffield Road. Batting first Killamarsh were limited to 174 for 9 with Dave Allen making a good 48 and Andy Knowles grabbing four wickets for 44 runs.

This total looked no object as Cutthorpe raced to 87 without loss after only nine overs with Chris Marples (65) and Andy Thompson (30) blazing a trail of destruction to the Killamarsh attack. However when they were parted things turned completely round and Lee Bradbury (4 for 48) and Parminder Mudhar (5 for 21) simply ran through some rather average resistance as Cutthorpe were bowled out for 171.

Cutthorpe will be rather disappointed with their overall efforts this season and one could put money on them safely coming back with all guns blazing next term. One thing is certain, write them off at your peril!

Kiveton Park have had another good season and they completed it in fine style by beating Bolsover by 68 runs at Villas Road. Batting first Kiveton were not as fluent as usual being bowled out for a modest 177 with only Richard Grainger (35) and Jamie Radford (42) making any impact against a steady Bolsover attack. Eddie Grant (3 for 61) and skipper Charlie Walker (5 for 29) bowled supremely well, but much to their despair they found their efforts were not enough when Bolsover replied.

Only Marcus Hindle with 32 batted with any assurance as Bolsover were all back inside for just 109 with Richard Spurr (4 for 33) and Ian Thompson (4 for 17) presenting major problems as Kiveton completed their season in style with a maximum.

Another mid table battle saw Cuckney complete a successful season with an 89 run win over Farnsfield. Batting first Cuckney reached a useful looking 216 for 7 with Aron Thomas making a brilliant 107 and Phil Creswell bagging 4 for 78 in a good stint for Farnsfield.

At no time however did Farnsfield look like threatening this total being bowled out for just 127 with only Mick Hodgkin (30) providing light relief as Bavish Patel (3 for 30) ran through some rather indifferent batting.

In Division 2, Worksop performed an identical feat to that of Retford in the top section and went through the entire season without a defeat to blemish their record. In their final match they encountered near neighbours Blyth and ran out comfortable nine wicket winners.

Blyth who up to half way in the season were in serious relegation trouble put it all together in the second half and clawed their way to survival, but they were simply no match for this powerful Worksop side. Batting first Blyth were dismissed for just 116 with only Geoff Chessman (32) making any impression whatsoever. Steve Ambrose (3 for 43) and Paul Burton (5 for 18) just ran through the rest leaving Worksop a rather easy task which was accepted for the loss of Jamil Hassan who made 29.

Steve Walker (47 n.o.) and Glem Pym (33 n.o.) saw the joyous Worksop side home and after the disappointments of last season they return back to the top with hopes high next year.

They are joined in Division 1 by Edwinstowe who easily beat N.S.K. by six wickets in a low scoring match. Batting first N.S.K. were limited to just 113 for 9 in their 46 overs with only Paul Burrell (43) providing any resistance to John Garnham who bowled splendidly to take 5 for 22.

In reply Edwinstowe juggled about with their batting order and came up trumps as wicket-keeper Neil Dunn hammered an enterprising 50 as his side reached 114 for 4 and claimed victory and promotion next season.

Marshalls will look back with regret on a season which should have seen them make it to the top section. Regarded by many good judges as probably the best team in the section they went through an alarming slump in mid season before coming back with a bang but it was too late.

They easily put paid to Everton who are relegated back to Division 3 after two seasons. Batting first Everton were well served by Rob Nicholas (47) and John Shaw (41) whilst the extremely accurate Mark Davies was rewarded for his efforts with 5 for 77 in an unchanged 23 over spell.

Marshalls lost early wickets but a tremendous unbeaten knock of 63 by Liam Andrews guided them home on 173 for 6 and saw them finish in third place.

Anston and Biwater Clay Cross fought out a low scoring thriller at Ryton Road with the home side coming out on top by just 10 runs. Batting first Anston reached a modest 159 all out with Akilesh Rana (57) and Matt Stevenson (30 n.o.) being the only two to withstand the efforts of Stuart Brown (6 for 53) who bowled superbly.

Clay Cross however couldn’t reach this average total and were bowled out for 149. Christian Pratt (57) and Andy Parker (31 n.o.) both batted well but with limited support and they fell just a few runs short. Andy Ruczenczyn was the best of the Anston attack which all bowled well as a unit and turned a dire position into a victorious one.

A real thriller took place at Eckington which went down to the wire with the home side claiming victory with just a few balls left. Batting first opponents Whitwell ran up a massive 249 for 7 with South African Michael Alexander making a magnificent unbeaten 161. Wayne Dye with 3 for 72 bowled superbly for Eckington in the face of this tremendous onslaught.

However Eckington reached their target with four wickets to spare with Terrence Pearson making a brilliant 107 and top class support being added by Mike Long (45) and Andy Davies (31). Nathan Morris bowled well to take 5 for 66, but the real winner was the game of cricket in a marvellous match between two extremely competitive sides.

The biggest shock of the day came at Pilsley where relegated Ashover simply made mincemeat of the home side by 125 runs and it could have been much worse. Batting first Ashover clumped the Pilsley bowling to every part of the ground with Andy Walker making a superb 106 and Robert Ashcroft (35) out of a total of 205 for 9. Michael Thompson (6 for 33) bowled quite brilliantly for Pilsley and it wasn’t to be his last contribution to the days events.

The effort to knock the runs off came unstuck big style as Pilsley saw the wheels come off as they slumped to an horrific 32 for 9 in 19 overs. Only another effort this time with the bat by Michael Thompson (31) saved them from total humiliation and Roger Bolstridge (6 for 32) and Ian Broome (3 for 24) finally finished the inning off at 80 all out.

Pilsley must have wondered what had hit them and Ashover although relegated must know that if they can produce this sort of form consistently they won’t remain in Division 3 long.