North Middlesex are level on points with Ealing at the top of the Middlesex County Premier Division

Joel Hughes was delighted North Middlesex returned to winning ways on Saturday in the Middlesex County Premier Division with a 99-run victory at Stanmore.

After being put in to bat first, the visitors were in trouble on 89-5 with Joe Cracknell (36) and Luke Hollman back in the pavilion.

Will Vanderspar stuck around for a pivotal 47 off 72 balls and received support down the order from Rob Fahrenheim (19) and Alex MacQueen (34).

It helped North Middlesex get up to 200 before they were dismissed and they bowled the hosts' out for 100 after 35.2 overs.

"This was a really important win, especially after the last couple of weeks and Stanmore have been a bogey team for us, so to win and get the 12 points was a real bonus," Hughes said.

"Our fightback with the bat started with a not so glamorous, but very good 19 from Rob Fahrenheim and then 'Vanders' and Alx batted really sensibly and dug in.

"It was a challenging wicket and in the context of the game, the forties and thirties they got were so crucial to the win."

Liam O'Driscoll made the breakthrough with the ball on his way to 1-14 before the captain Hughes claimed his first dismissal, eventually finished with 3-28.

Max Harris also chipped in again with 2-31 before MacQueen backed up his runs in the first innings with 3-16 off 8.2 overs.

Hughes added: "Alex has been bowling beautifully for a while now and it was only a matter of time before he got some runs.

"With 'Crackers' and Luke not getting big scores, it was great for others to contribute and it was the same with the bowling.

"After working hard to get the win, hopefully we can go into the pink ball cricket and enjoy similar success to how we fared at the start of the season."

North Middlesex are level with Ealing at the top on 95 points with only four matches to go and the format switches from all-day cricket to 50-over games now with coloured kits and a pink-ball in use.