Helperby winning run ended by league leaders Goldsborough

Last Saturday, I returned to covering the Theakston Nidderdale League when I headed down to Pannal to cover their firsts playing second-placed West Tanfield. Both teams impressed on the day for different reasons.

I have been meaning to get to cover Goldsborough this season, preferably at their ground, but with us entering the final few weeks of the season and the fixtures schedule starting to work against me, I’ve had to make some compromises.

With the top of Division One being so tight, there are obviously going to be key games during the run-in, and the immediate stand-out fixture this weekend was the in-form Helperby at home to the league leaders Goldsborough.

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been to Helperby, usually covering their first team on their travels over the past few seasons, so it was a real pleasure to head once more to their picturesque ground situated on the edge of the village.

For those that may not know the area, Helperby is a small village a few miles to the northeast of Boroughbridge, sitting alongside the River Swale.

If you are planning to head to a game there, there isn’t a shop in the village – the nearest places to grab a sandwich and a few drinks will be either Boroughbridge or Tollerton a few miles east.

The cricket club is situated on the opposite side of the road from the Walled Garden, which is marketed as “North Yorkshire’s most exclusive wedding and events venue”.

It is a Grade II-listed garden founded in Edwardian times and is in the grounds of Helperby Hall, and having been there in the past, I can thoroughly recommend it as a wedding venue.

I’m not sure if they open the grounds to the general public at any point, but if they do, it is certainly somewhere that is worth a visit.

State of play

Helperby firsts have certainly been one of the league’s form teams in recent weeks…having won seven games in all competitions in a row.

In that run, they’ve beaten teams in and around them like Killinghall and Birstwith, and their last reverse was against fellow title contenders Upper Wharfedale.

Their opponents on Saturday were top-of-the-table Goldsborough, who have had an almost flawless campaign in 2025 – winning 13 and only losing three league games so far (with one game cancelled).

Taking a look at the firsts season as a whole (all competitions), they started off rather unimpressively with two losses against Dunnington and away at Birstwith.

A run of eight wins was brought to a halt in a cup competition by Birstwith, and then again, a couple of games later when they lost rather surprisingly at home against Pannal.

A few games after Pannal and it was this season’s nemesis, Birstwith, that were to do the double over Goldsborough as the title-chasing visitors were to beat Boro’ by 79 runs.

Wins over Killinghall and then Pateley Bridge have put Goldsborough back on track…but Helperby promised to be another stiff examination of their title aspirations.

Defensive parking

Driving through Helperby village, you reach the point where the national speed signs indicate that you can speed up…but before you get get giddy and put the peddle to the metal…you take a left turn up a tree covered track, with the cricket club instantly coming into view in front of you.

My first decision was where to park, and the usual criteria applied – how do I park defensively?!

The small car park behind the pavilion was nearly full and my first attempt left the car in view of one end of the 22 and in a clear line of sight.

My second attempt was at the other side of the pavilion, but again within a well hit six of having to explain to my wife why her car had a ball-shaped dent!

I finally stopped being indecisive and drove down the ground to under the big tree near the entrance.

My working theory was that the car would be a massive six away from getting hit…with the extensive tree canopy helping to shield it from a direct full-energy leather on metal, wince-inducing coming together.

Happy with my parking, I could take in the ground properly and what a magnificent setting it is for a game of cricket. Shielded from the main road by a lot of trees, the sounds of modern life are largely shut out.

The Kilburn White Horse

A farm to one side and fields to the other two provide yet another wonderful Theakston Nidderdale vista as a backdrop for league cricket.

As an umpire stands behind the set of wickets nearest to the pavilion, their view takes in not only the popping crease, bowling crease, and batsman facing the delivery…but also the vale and hills in the distance, with the White Horse at Kilburn clearly visible.

I’m not sure how far away it is…but it is certainly something that can be seen from much greater distances; I can see it from the window at the front of my mother’s house in Harrogate (I think around 23 miles away) and easily from where I used to live in Whixley.

I’m always amazed at just how many breathtaking grounds this particular league has; maybe not a club itself, but the setting in which a club finds itself.

I think it is a feature that a few leagues in this part of the world can boast…including the Craven, Airedale & Wharfedale, Harrogate and District, Bradford, and the Yorkshire Premier Leagues.

There are beautiful cricket venues all around this isle, of that there is no doubt, but I will argue to my last breath that nowhere else has so many must-visit clubs.

They range from the archetypal English cricket club set-up, through to grounds surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of the Yorkshire views.

Backyard Cricket 

Goldsborough won the toss and decided to head into bat first. I was expecting to see some explosive big hitting, a run rate that shocked, and a team looking like champions in waiting.

Three balls in and Goldsborough’s Harry Lambley was caught by Ryan Hall off the bowling of Joe Corner. This was an explosive start that I wasn’t expecting.

Was the home team’s good form going to continue and claim the scalp of the league leaders and put a squeeze on the chase for the title?

No runs and one wicket at the end of the first over.

Two runs from the next over and there seemed to be an air of expectation from the home team. Last ball of the third and Joe struck again as James Wood was caught by Jake Fletcher to leave the visitors seven runs for two wickets in just three overs!

Goldsborough needed someone to steady the ship, and over the next ten or so overs captain Jarrod McPhee and Nicholas Robinson did just that.

One of the perks is that we get to have conversations with lots of amazing people in and around cricket clubs, and so it was to prove on Saturday.

Many of you reading this may subscribe to various cricket publications, newsletters, and other media…such as YouTube channels.

Goldsborough are lucky to have brothers Mark and James Wood, also known as Backyard Cricket, playing for them.

Their YouTube channel has over 100,000 subscribers and they produce a mix of content…including videos from this season’s title push. The channel has some wonderful content, and I can highly recommend subscribing.

I had the good fortune to chat to both Mark and James, discussing the game, cricket in general, and even about their YouTube channel.

I think it’s wonderful that content creators [apologies if they don’t like that moniker] such as Mark and James are promoting the league that they play in alongside with their videos about other cricket leagues, featuring cricket stars [like Ben Stokes], and of course playing backyard cricket.

League leaders rebuild

Back to the game.

Nicholas and Jarrod slowly built a partnership putting on over a hundred runs between them and helping Goldsborough get into a much more comfortable position.

Robinson was to be caught leg before in the sixteenth over, but if Helperby thought there would be some respite from the big hitting…then the appearance of E Ive at the crease was to prove otherwise.

Ethan Ive looked like a man on a mission, aggressively going after each delivery, and being honest, I didn’t have much confidence he would be batting for long as he danced down the crease to try and slog seemingly every ball for four or six!

I can’t deny that it wasn’t entertaining, and there were a few times that having missed the flight of the ball he had to turn and scamper back to avoid being stumped.

However, any doubts I had about how long he would be out in the centre were dispelled as he finished on an unbeaten 43 from 43 deliveries.

By the time the last wicket fell in the final over, Goldsborough had scored 210 with captain Jarrod McPhee top scoring with 68, Nicholas Robinson scoring 43 from 37 deliveries, and of course the hugely entertaining Ethan Ive with his unbeaten 43.

It had been an impressive innings overall, with the league-leaders recovering from a shaky start to score a very reasonable total that could be defended.

With the boundary not being as big as the ground could allow, I thought that the 210 was probably 20 to 30 short of a total that would be difficult to chase down.

The reply

I haven’t seen either of these teams play this season…so apart from looking at the stats on Play-Cricket, I was a little unsure as to how this game would ultimately pan out.

Were Helperby a good fielding side only or could they bat as well? From their current form, it suggested they could do both.

Their innings got off to a great start and within a few overs they had amassed nearly 25 runs without loss…looking sharp, hitting three fours, a six, and running a lot of singles. Were Boro’ about to be steamrollered?

A wicket at the very end of the fifth over, and then a couple of deliveries into the sixth put a different complexion on the game; and over the next few overs the run rate dropped as Goldsborough’s bowling seemingly became faster, more accurate, and was asking so many questions of the home side’s batting.

Another wicket in the 14th over seemed to herald the start of the end for Helperby, as it felt like they were then losing crucial wickets almost every other over for about ten overs.

Joe Corner and Luis Harvey-Hughes then formed a partnership over the next 17 overs that gave the home team hope.

There were overs where the pairing nonchalantly swotted the Boro’ deliveries away for four or six seemingly with ease, adding nine or ten runs to the home team’s total and perhaps pushing them towards victory.

The game kept on threatening to swing in each team’s favour!

However, there were overs in which the Goldsborough attack was certainly on top…damaging maiden overs or certainly restricting Helperby to just one or two runs. The required run rate was not so much drifting higher…but at times accelerating alarmingly upwards.

The other problem for the home team was the number of wickets in hand. With six wickets already gone, there wasn’t much room to err in trying to force their attack.

As Joe and Luis tried to respond to deliveries running out, the 40th over was to prove decisive. Boro’s captain was to claim Luis Harvey-Hughes’ wicket with the third ball…and two deliveries later dismiss Joe Corner with a wonderful caught & bowled. Helperby’s last major resistance had been broken.

Two overs later and two quick wickets saw the league leaders collect all 20 points and keep up the title charge.

Stratospheric Saturday

Goldsborough’s lead at the start of the day meant that they would end the day on top of the pile, no matter what happened. However, 20 points meant that they would at least maintain their lead with the same points difference.

Second-placed West Tanfield beat Alne comprehensively to pick up 20 points and maintain their second place in the table.

With Killinghall also picking up full points from their game away at Birstwith, the top three remain ‘as it was’ position and point difference-wise.

Upper Wharfedale won their game against Ben Rhydding, picking up 19 points and moving up in the league slightly into fourth; losses for Helperby, Birstwith, and Ben Rhydding means that they have lost ground at a crucial point in the season.

With five games remaining, it’s hard to look past Goldsborough…but there is a slight caveat to that statement.

Sky Sports have probably trademarked the phrase Super Sunday…when the big teams in the Premier League play each other in the fixtures on that day…well, this next Saturday is going to be Stratospheric Saturday.

Why?

The gods have pitched Birstwith against Upper Wharfedale, Helperby against Ben Rhydding…and leaders Goldsborough away to second-placed West Tanfield!

At eight o’clock on Saturday 23 August…the champions-elect could be apparent…or the league could have become so tight that A&E at various hospitals around Yorkshire will have an influx of cricketers with heart complaints!

I don’t think I can remember such an exciting end to a season for so many different leagues!

Want to read more?

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments which includes days out at grounds around Yorkshire.