The club have a strong playing tradition in totting up 29 national titles in their 80-year existence with the 1986 British Amateur champion David Curry, now the club steward at Blyth, leading the roll of honour.

However, at a time when many golfers are comparing the cost of their annual subscription against the number of games they actually play, Prudhoe have taken a revolutionary step.

James Fenwick bagged a brace of goals and Mark Burns also struck, but Prudhoe retaliated and when they twice penetrated the Leam Rangers defence, just one goal divided the pair at the halfway stage.

Leam Rangers, though, had the better of the second period and romped to a 6-2 victory.
Man of the match Fenwick took his total to four goals, and Burns again found the net.

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Angela Coates has been mountain biking for only two years, but that has not stopped the 25-year-old from Prudhoe achieving great things in a sport which is dominated my male competitors.

Earlier this month the Geordie biker finished second in Rheola in South Wales to end the racing season in third place in the National Points Series (NPS) - an unbelievable achievement at such an early stage in her career.

The 19-year-old from Prudhoe competed in the Welsh stage of the Four Nations Tournaments, winning a gold medal in the men's singles and a silver in the men's doubles. What makes his achievements all the more commendable is the fact Smith was competing against older and more experienced players.

He is now ranked 11th internationally for singles and 23rd for doubles.

Smith heads to Ireland next month for another Four Nations tournament.

Cliff Thornton, pictured right, 62, is the latest member of Matfen Hall Leisure Club to become an international athlete, after being selected to compete for the UK in the duathlon.

Cliff, from Ovington, has qualified for the World Duathlon Championships, which take place in the US this month.

The 16-year-old has enjoyed a series of triumphant outings this season - including victory in the Northumberland Junior Strokeplay Championships, the Prudhoe Junior Club Championship and a fourth-place finish in the Champion of Champions event at Slaley Hall.

In the process the St Bede's School, Lanchester, pupil has reduced his handicap from four to scratch and earned himself a call-up for the Northumberland men's county team.

Scott Short of Prudhoe

Chris Paisley, the plus four handicapper from the Stocksfield club and one of only two sets of brothers to have won the Northumberland championship, is enjoying something completely different.

Playing Walker Cup, as Paisley will do at the Merion club in Pennsylvania on Saturday and Sunday, is a five-star exercise and there is a strong case for doing all you can to experience it before you turn pro, as Graeme Storm, Robert Dinwiddie and Gary Lockerbie all did as amateurs, Storm as a winner at Nairn in 1999.

This was where Shevill studied last year and was a member of the victorious National Collegiate Championship team.

Midland College has won 20 National Championships in sports and has produced 192 All Americans, including Ferrie, Ashington's double European Tour winner.

Last year's champion Simon Lee finished in third, making it a Northumberland one-two-three.

Another Prudhoe player, Tom Rowland was fourth on 74, as Northumberland completed a rout of Durham County's finest.

Read full reports from the tournament »

In the overcast and showery conditions, a group of five soon broke away from the 530-strong field with Morpeth's Kristian Forster the first to lose contact after two miles.

Kirkland made his bid for victory on a downhill stretch after five miles with only Heaton's James Buis covering the break for a brief spell.

The North East stage starts at Darlington and heads through Durham, Northumberland and Tyneside, finishing at Baltic Square in Gateshead.

Hugh Roberts, chief executive of the Tour of Britain, said: "We are extremely pleased to be bringing the 2009 Tour of Britain back to the North East for a second time.

Children will benefit from professional coaching at the sessions, courtesy of the Northumberland Football Partnership (NFP).

The NFP will hold sessions, led by the NFP's qualified coaches, in Prudhoe and Hexham, where children from five to 14 can take part.

Staff from North Country Leisure's head office, Wentworth Leisure Centre and Prudhoe Waterworld will all be putting on their swimming outfits for the popular event.

After a hugely successful launch last year, the Great North Swim will take place over two days, September 12 and 13 to accommodate the large numbers.

Northumberland, second in the Northern Counties League and with an outside chance of winning the title, play Lancashire at Clitheroe tomorrow with Shevill, from the Prudhoe club, a late replacement for Chris Paisley.

Shevill, who leads the Green Jacket series after back-to-back wins, steps in because Stocksfield's Paisley has Walker Cup practice in Spain starting this weekend.