LANCASHIRE Cup holders Accrington Stanley surrendered their chance to retain the trophy against Conference rivals Southport last night.

But, while the Reds had already made it to the semi-final stage, if it means one less distraction on their road to regaining Football League status, surely it will be a sacrifice worth making.

Stanley have three consecutive away games coming up, starting with Crawley on Saturday, followed by Aldershot next Tuesday and then Hereford - their only real challengers to the title.

And with that in mind, manager John Coleman used last night's game as a chance to rest key first team players, including Paul Mullin and Ian Craney, in favour of David Brown up front and new signing Mark Boyd in midfield.

Midfielder Steve Jagielka also got a run-out to start his comeback following minor surgery.

But credit to Southport front man Steve Daly, though, who grabbed a hat-trick to seal Southport's place in the Lancashire FA United Co-opreative Cup final after Neil Robinson got the ball rolling early in the first half.

Southport stunned Stanley by taking the lead from a corner after just four minutes.

Matty McGinn whipped in the delivery, former Burnley defender Earl Davis' knock on wasn't dealt with by the defence and Robinson rammed in the loose ball.

Stanley looked to hit back straight away and Gary Roberts fired low but wide across goal.

Former Stanley goalkeeper Jamie Speare then kept out Andy Todd's downwards header, giving his former employees a reminder of his capabilities.

Speare was on his mettle as Stanley broke to palm the ball off the head of David Brown from Todd's cross-shot.

But the former Stanley stopper was eventually beaten midway through the first half. After making an acrobatic dive to deny Brown, the ball squirmed free, and Todd ended a goalmouth scramble by showing no mercy to equalise from close range.

The rest of the half was littered with chances at either end, although Stanley had started to get the upperhand.

That momentum ran in to the start of the second half as Andy Mangan finished brilliantly with his left foot when presented with a one-on-one with Speare two minutes after the re-start.

But a lapse in communication at the back opened the door for Southport to equalise four minutes later.

Andy Tretton and goalkeeper Alcock suffered a mix-up as they left Kevin Leadbetter's delivery from the left, and Daly had the simplest of headers.

Paul Cook replaced Jagielka shortly afterwards and went the closest to putting Stanley back in front, but his left footed drive was kept out by Speare.

Instead, the Reds found themselves on the back foot with just under 20 minutes remaining as Daly buried the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

Cook almost got Stanley back on level terms straight away but was unlucky to bend his 18-yard strike round the wrong side of the post before Daly wrapped things up for Southport.

Full back Chris Lane sent Daly racing through and the striker had Alcock well beaten.

The introduction of Romuald Boco prompted a mini revival by the Reds but not enough to threaten Southport's lead.

Keeping their unbeaten Conference run going at Crawley is now top priority for the leaders.