Darwen 168-6 Morecambe 162

MORECAMBE went down fighting to league leaders Darwen by 4 wickets.

Batting first, Mark Woodhead and Karl Hansson put on 37 for the first wicket before the latter was caught by Graham Parkinson off Jeff Hacking for six.

Mark Woodhead was second out with the score on 58, amazingly he contributed 44.

He batted 71 minutes, faced 58 balls and hit 8 fours.

They lost their next two wickets for only two runs, but Tommy Clough and Phil Thornton restored the balance with a fifth wicket partnership of 53 runs before Clough was bowled by Andy Mercer for 20.

Morecambe's middle order collapsed, to leave them 133-8.

Phil Thornton made an aggressive 43. He batted 53 minutes, faced 50 balls and hit one six and six fours.

The last two wickets added 13 runs before Morecambe were dismissed for 162 in the 48th over.

Darwen professional Richard Petrie took 6-53 from 16 overs.

Morecambe had Darwen struggling at 6 for 3, but 56 from Richard Petrie saw them rally to 92-5.

He batted 106 minutes, faced 92 balls and hit two sixes and seven fours.

After his dismissal Neil Cordingley played a dominant innings to see his side home to victory.

He finished unbeaten with 45, batted 59 minutes, faced 58 balls, hit one six and one four.

Darwen are the only unbeaten team in the league.

This Saturday sees Morecambe travelling to West Cliff to play bottom of the table Preston and they should win their sixth match of the season.

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