after their performance against league leaders Shotley Bridge on Saturday. However after the game had been ‘timed out’ with one over remaining – with Shotley requiring 16 runs to win and Ashington one wicket - Harmison added that it had no meaning. “Everyone is disappointed,” he said afterwards, “Not just our lads but Shotley Bridge and everyone who was watching. We knew it was forecast to rain and although we got 111 before the heavens opened we probably wanted more. Even so, we were confident of defending it.” Harmison was puzzled as to why the game didn’t recommence until after 6.30pm following a stoppage of over three hours: “I’m not criticising - only I thought we got on too late,” he added, “There were many factors to consider like asking us to bowl 29 overs in one hour 55 minutes in a run chase and on a small ground where you are going to lose the ball. The captain has also got to be setting fields and we took nine wickets - so there is another ten minutes lost. The outcome could have gone either way and although we don’t feel the league has slipped away, we are now approaching the half way mark of the season and are still over 40 points behind the leaders Shotley Bridge.” Harmison – who had criticised his side after their defeat against Lanchester the previous week - paid them the highest compliment: “Our lads were brilliant,” he said, “Batting wise, reaching 111-5 was not good enough on our part but we believed we could still do it. We knew we could have them 30-3 and would make things uncomfortable for them - and we did – with the pressure unbearable for them. It did creep up on us that we were running out of time but we couldn’t have done anything more. It was two of the top sides in the league against each other and we didn’t know stumps would be drawn bang on the dot of 8.30pm with one over left. All of our lads should take credit for their performances but at the end of the day, it means nothing.” Ashington go head to head with another side in the top four - Tynedale - at Langwell Crescent on Saturday (June 23) and Harmison added: “We can’t afford to lose. We had a slip up against Lanchester but we’ve bounced back and the character shone through today. We had a huddle this morning (Saturday) and everyone couldn’t wait for the game because there was no better contest to put things right than against the leaders. We were probably one over away from beating them – not convincingly - because we only got 111 on the board but they (Shotley Bridge) never looked like taking the game away from us.” He concluded: “It was also unfortunate for the spectators that the match was ‘timed out’ because they want to see a nail biter - and that’s exactly what it was.”