A DEFIANT Gareth Cordingley continued his fine form amassing 163 runs in a disappointing weekend for Darwen Cricket Club.

Darwen hung on for a draw against Netherfield in the Northern League on Saturday and went down in a tight finish to the Liverpool side Northern in the Lancashire Cup on Sunday.

Netherfield's batsmen were soon on top at Birch Hall on Saturday with Prime hitting 91 and club professional Vaughan an unbeaten 109 from a total of 279. Hacking was the pick of the six bowlers used taking two wickets for 42 in his 10 overs.

Darwen's batsmen tried valiantly to keep up with the asking rate and whilst Semple and the Cordingley brothers Gareth and Neil were at the crease, the target looked in reach. However, with Semple and Neil Cordingley back in the pavilion for 26 and 40 respectively Darwen began to face defeat. Gareth Cordingley was in no mood to let Netherfield take maximum points and he saw Darwen to a well-earned draw with an unbeaten 62 including nine fours. Darwen took three points to Netherfield's nine and remain in a comfortable second place.

Sunday saw Darwen's bowling on the receiving end of more punishment in a rain-affected game. Northern put into bat, scored a convincing 218-6 with a combination of calculated risk and fine stroke play from the 34 allotted overs.

Darwen's reply got off to a brisk start and professional Keith Semple and Gareth Cordingley put on a superb 68 before Semple fell to an unfortunate lbw for 30. Neil Cordingley then joined his brother and the two put on a further 60. Neil went for 21 going for the big hit. Jeff Hacking then helped put on 50 before he too fell going for a six. All the time Gareth brilliantly kept the runs flowing and he eventually secured his first century of the season from only 93 balls hitting 10 fours and one six. He then fell on 101 and the Darwen innings finished on 201-6 just 18 runs short of the target in a match played in great spirit and enjoyed by both sets of supporters.

Darwen will no doubt bounce back away at Fleetwood next Saturday and ensure that they keep up the pressure on Netherfield.

Chorley booked themselves a place in the last 16 of the National Knockout and a trip to the winners of the South Yorkshire final by beating Preston by three wickets at South Meadow Lane last night.

But the finish to this absorbing match mystified many in the large crowd and left Preston skipper Tony Hesketh fuming and threatening to appeal. With the clock showing 8.30 and Preston still deciding who should bowl the 40th over, the umpires pulled up the stumps as time had run out and Chorley, though still 20 short of Preston's total, were declared winners on a faster run rate.

Following a delayed start, Preston batted consistently to post a challenging 182-7 from their 45 overs, John Greaves being the most successful Chorley bowler with 3-24. Chorley began well in reply with Nigel Heaton (34) and Iqbal Patel (29) putting on 65 for the first wicket. But when three wickets crashed for one run Chorley were in trouble at 77-4 and it needed a fine stand of 55 for the fifth wicket between Mark Richardson (24) and Jim Fazackerley (38) to put the innings back on course for victory.

Sparkling batting at Vernon Road on Saturday raised Chorley's run total from the last two league matches beyond the 500 mark. Iqbal Patel again revelled in his new opening role to hammer 84 and there were more fireworks from Neil Senior (44) and Jim Fazackerley (36no) in an entertaining sixth wicket stand. Substitute professional Adam Dale proved expensive with his three wickets costing 103 from 25 overs. But rain set in to cut short the St Annes reply at 86-2 and the abandonment left both teams with four points.