By Roger Robson

Ord (right) fought his way to the 14st title

Changes have been afoot in the 14 stones division of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling.

The reigning champion was Alan Jones of Hallbankgate, and now he has been dethroned by Andrew Ord of Morpeth.

Jones fought doggedly and sometimes brilliantly to hang on to his title, but for Ord it was mainly plain sailing.

As early as the first round, young Graham Brocklebank clattered Jones forward onto the grass with a right side buttock by the ears, and the writing seemed on the wall for the veteran.

Alas the determined Jones pitched into the next bout with a swinging inside-hipe which was a winner all the way, and then took a hard fought third bout.

Life grew no easier for Jones in the second round, when he met Richard Fox.

His hipe won the first fall again, but a long dour tussle ensued for the second fall and eventually Jones won with a back-over twist.

By the semi-final stage Jones was taking longer and longer to pull his socks up and charge into the ring where a fresh John Harrington was waiting.

Nevertheless Jones was within a whisker of felling Harrington with the swinging inside-hipe, and all seemed over bar the landing.

However Harrington somehow touched with a toe and found enough purchase to put in the latest of twists to win. Surely, Jones would go quietly now. No chance.

Back he came with a counter to Harrington's outside-hipe to equalise, before a desperate decider which went Harrington's way.

Meanwhile Andrew Ord had been making steady progress through the rounds.

Against Robert Wharton he twisted and back-heeled, and even formidable opposition such as Andrew Carlile found Ord's long legs cancelled out so many options.

Ord got his man on the move and then ran him down to the ground and for the second he used the tried and tested Northumbrian system of a big hold and a strong back-heel.

A bye took Ord to the final against John Harrington and in their first fall he went near to winning with another back-heel, but he broke early when the bout was still in the balance and lost the fall.

John Harrington tried manfully to bring Ord over with the leg-up buttock, but power and inordinately long legs kept the Northumbrian afloat.

Ord's trusty back-heel then came into play, and took him over the finishing line for the championship.

Andrew Ord was the first of the young Rothbury Academy wrestlers to show real promise.

He is now just turned eighteen and faced the prospect of competing only in senior All Weights events.

Drastic and prolonged slimming allowed him to compete in this championship, and his excellent defence and some good basic throws gave him the ammunition to win.

Housby conjured up a moment of magic to settle matters, finishing off the day with a half-buttock that would have graced the lightweights. Roger Robson

Elsewhere in the competition David Miller put younger brother Kieron in his place in a rare weight event for Boys.

Joe Thompson was at his best against the under-15 champion, Scott Brocklebank, winning their first bout with an inside-click which cut through Brocklebank's weight advantage.

When he tried it again Brocklebank countered in the classic way and twisted Thompson to the right and down.

The decider went exactly the same route, except that when all seemed lost, Thompson found a toe-hold to counter the counter.

Amongst some big opponents Jack Ewart continued his excellent recent form in the under-18s.

Two heavyweight giants, David Bowman and Russell Housby contested the All Weights final and a decider was needed.

Housby conjured up a moment of magic to settle matters, finishing off the day with a half-buttock that would have graced the lightweights.

At Coniston Country Fayre Stuart Fleming once more kicked off his usual mini season by winning the All Weights against high class opposition in the form of Thomas Brocklebank.

Graham Benson had a successful time on his second outing of the year, winning the under-18s and wrestling second to Graham Brocklebank in the 13 stones.

And, of course, the ubiquitous Joe Thompson added another under-15 win to his growing list of honours for the year.