THERE was great disappointment for Leigh CC as their dreams of an appearance in the Thwaites Lancashire Knockout Trophy Final at Old Trafford were shattered after a brave, but unsuccessful attempt to win their semi-final tie against Liverpool Competition champions Bootle.

Leigh won the toss and elected to bat first in perfect conditions at Wadham Road ,and Andy Batterley continued his return to top form with a magnificent 78 off 82 balls including 10 fours and 3 sixes.

Tim Rees assisted with a cultured 29, and they helped to put Leigh in a strong position at 126 -3 off 28 overs, but home skipper Ian Cockbain then bowled six overs and took 1-16 to help slow down the scoring rate.

At 148-5 in the 37th over, Leigh still had plenty to do but another tremendous display of attacking batting from Ronnie Davis, who scored 41, assisted by a steady 24 by Liam Zammit,restored the impetus and took the Beech Walk side to a healthy looking 208-7 off their 45 overs.

Opening bowler Ashley Warren finished with 4 for 45 off his 9 overs.

Bootle were soon in trouble at 23-2 with Davis having Sainsbury and McKeown caught behind , but David Snellgrove and Graham Lloyd then began to take control. The score had reached 90 in the 21st over when Lloyd, having scored an immaculate 44 off 43 balls, was caught behind off Chris Melia attempting a reverse sweep.

Ian Cockbain junior was then lucky to survive a shaky start but helped the score along to 139 before Snellgrove was dismissed for a fine 53.

Cockbain junior became Neil Williams's fourth victim caught off the bowling of Gareth Cross for 21 and, at 146 -5 off 33 overs, Bootle still had plenty of work to do.

Liam Zammit had been restored to the attack after some early rough treatment by Lloyd, but recovered his poise and bowled tightly, with good help from the other bowlers, backed up by keen fielding to ensure that the home side had to work hard for every run.

Cockbain senior's 24 was a significant factor in his side's progress but when he was the sixth man out at 178 in the 40th over Leigh were still in with a chance. However, the highly experienced John Hitchmough guided his side to victory after 43.1 overs with a hard-hit 28 not out, and the relief of the numerous Bootle supporters was quite evident.

The Leigh players could hold their heads up high after this perfomance and with a little more luck could have clinched a notable win.

Davis rounded off a fine all round performance by taking 4-36, Greg Jennings bowled as tightly as ever as he conceded only 25 off eight overs, and spinners Zammit and Melia both bowled well.

On the previous day at Beech Walk, Leigh picked up a vital 24 points with a convincing success against Sefton Park, and with only 38 points separating third placed Wallasey from bottom club Maghull, this helped them to move up from 10th to 6th in the league.

Sefton were always struggling against competitive bowlingas they were dismissed for 145 off 53.3 overs. Mane (42) and Nicholas (38) were the only two batsmen to resist for any length of time with Davis (15-6-32-2) bowling impressively. But it was the spinners who did most of the damage with Zammit taking 5-51 and Melia 2-14 off 11 accurate overs.

Leigh's response was given a perfect start by the revitalised Batterley, who hammered 60 runs off just 54 balls including 17 off one over from opening bowler Poskitt.

Leigh coasted to victory at 147-5 off 38 overs with Cross (43 not out) making the winning hit with a straight six.

Leigh now face a trip to Wales to take on Northop Hall followed by their Littlewood's Gaming Trophy quarter-final tie at neighbours Newton-le-Willows on Sunday.