Match Day 6th September - 2003 SADLY A WET ENDING! By Gerry Wolstenholme What a shame that the season ended on a wet note, even ironic for later in the Saturday afternoon the sun shone and it was quite pleasant - pity the cricket fields were under water! The only ground where there was a full afternoon's play was at Parkside where Morecambe perhaps wished that there had not been! Netherfield batted first and signed off the season in fine style with a mammoth 267-4 declared to which Pieter Strydom contributed a magnificent 134, Rishi Girdhari 56 not out and Craig Walmsley 50. Morecambe, perhaps still on a high from last week's cup triumph over the same opponents then came a cropper as they were bowled out for just 106 to lose by 161 runs. Strydom made it a good all-round day as he took 4-20 and Ryan Wilson took 4-47. The only other game to start, surprisingly, was at Darwen where the home side batted, but not for long. They made 87-5 with Gareth Cordingley scoring 35 not out and Deon Kruis continuing his good form with the ball in taking 4-28. Conditions then deteriorated and the match was abandoned as a draw. So another season has zoomed by and Darwen are to be congratulated on their championship win, a second in two seasons. St Annes as runners-up would have been happy to settle for that spot at the start of the season and as captain Geoff Love said, "The guys have played very well throughout the season. It would have been nice to win it. We tossed it away a little with that defeat by Darwen last week but overall I am satisfied with a good season." Netherfield in third place lost points in mid-season but their late season form, thwaites Smooth Beer Cup final apart, was good and has enabled them to leapfrog neighbours Kendal who finished fourth. Morecambe, who at one time looked likely challengers for the title, also fell away but their Cup win was reward for a fine team spirit led by captain Phil Thornton. Preston were always an interesting side to watch and with eight wins and 10 defeats were involved in more definite results than any other side. They will be a side to look out for next season. Thereafter the rest, in the old school report terms, "could do better". And no doubt Chorley, Lancaster, Leyland Motors, Fleetwood, Leyland and Blackpool, who finished bottom of the table for the first time in Northern {Premier] League history, will no doubt be striving to do so in 2004. It will not be long before it is with us. Winter well! Scores in brief (home sides in bold): Darwen 87-5 (Cordingley G 35*, Kruis 4-28) v Blackpool rain stopped play Darwen 4 points, Blackpool 4 points Fleetwood v Leyland Motors - match abandoned Lancaster v Leyland - match abandoned All four sides 4 points Netherfield 267-4 dec (Strydom 134, Girdhari 56*, Walmsley 50), Morecambe 106 (Strydom 4-20, Wilson 4-47) Netherfield 15 points, Morecambe 1 point Preston v Chorley - match abandoned St Annes v Kendal - match abandoned All four sides 4 points NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE DIVISION ONE FINAL TABLE Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts Darwen 22 4 9 2 1 2 4 22 215 St Annes 22 1 10 3 2 2 4 33 198 Netherfield 22 4 6 3 2 4 3 34 192 Kendal 22 7 1 1 3 6 4 41 181 Morecambe 22 3 7 1 2 7 2 32 175 Preston 22 6 2 1 0 10 3 37 167 Chorley 22 1 5 4 2 6 4 51 160 Lancaster 22 3 3 2 5 6 3 45 151 Leyland Motors 22 3 1 2 2 12 2 55 130 Fleetwood 22 0 5 1 3 11 2 54 129 Leyland 22 4 0 2 1 11 4 43 128 Blackpool 22 0 3 3 2 11 3 58 120 Division Two was slightly luckier with the weather in that four games were played to a finish. At Stanley Park Darwen defeated Blackpool by nine wickets in a rain reduced contest. The home side batted first and made 134-5 with Horton making 63 but Darwen Simon Painter, 40 not out, and Dominic Heyes, 67, took Darwen to 135-1. Preston made 128-9 at Chorley with M Mann top scoring with 47 and M Dixon taking 4-45. And then, despite Roger Kaye's 5-53, Chorley made 131-8 to win by two wickets with the experienced Dave Catterall guiding his side home with 73 not out. St Annes had no problem in defeating Kendal by 9 wickets as they bowled the home side out for 133 and then made an untroubled 134-1. Leyland Motors made a modest 99 against Fleetwood with Paul Hague wreaking havoc with 7-35 but this proved to be 53 runs too many for Fleetwood who in turn were bowled out for 46. M Cottam took 5-9. There was no play in the Leyland versus Lancaster and Morecambe versus Netherfield games. So St Annes won the title for the first time in the club's history and they will be going for an historic double today at Morecambe when they play in the final of the Second Division Cup. Ironically the two teams who shared runners-up spot both played and both won so Darwen and Leyland Motors finished level on 205 points. Results in brief (home side in bold): Blackpool 134-5 (Horton M 63), Darwen 135-1 (Heyes 67, Painter 40*) Blackpool 0 points, Darwen 12 points Preston 128-9 (Mann M 63, Dixon 4-45), Chorley 131-8 (Catterall D 73*, Kaye 5-53) Preston 3 points, Chorley 12 points Kendal 133, St Annes 134-1 Kendal 0 points, St Annes 12 points Leyland v Lancaster - match abandoned - both sides 4 points Leyland Motors 99 (Hague 7-35), Fleetwood 46 (Cottam 5-9) Leyland Motors 15 points, Fleetwood 4 points Morecambe v Netherfield - match abandoned - both sides 4 points NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE DIVISION TWO FINAL TABLE Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts St Annes 22 2 13 3 0 2 2 26 232 Leyland Motors 22 4 10 0 2 4 2 15 205 Darwen 22 3 9 3 2 4 1 34 205 Chorley 22 4 9 0 3 4 2 25 204 Morecambe 22 2 5 5 2 5 3 47 171 Fleetwood 22 5 2 4 1 9 1 46 166 Netherfield 22 5 3 1 1 10 2 39 163 Lancaster 22 3 3 1 0 12 3 42 139 Preston 22 3 1 4 1 11 2 56 138 Blackpool 22 0 4 0 8 8 2 46 110 Leyland 22 3 2 0 1 14 2 28 106 Kendal 22 1 2 1 1 15 2 46 98

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