A LAST wicket stand of 18 saw Preston home to thrilling victory against Morecambe on Saturday.

It looked unlikely they fall short of the visitors total of 171 but the late heroics secured 12 points to leave Preston in third place in the Northern Premier League table.

Leyland Motors were beaten by six wickets after scoring 141 against Darwen.

Motors took two points from the match leaving them second from bottom in the table one place above Leyland who were hammered by Chorley.

After putting the visitors into bat Leyland's opening bowlers Suma and Pallett produced an impressive initial burst quickly removing Jack Catterall and Nicky Woods.

That was as good as it got for Leyland though as Tom Smith and Nigel Heaton set out on a 149 run partnership.

The stand was eventually broken when Pallett returned to remove Heaton for 67 and then Smith soon after for one run fewer.

Chorley professional Stephen John and Neil Senior kept the momentum going with a stand of 49 in just 23 minutes to see Chorley past the 200 mark, the persevering Pallett finishing with 4 for 51.

The Leyland reply was soon in disarray. Billy Smith removed professional Atiq with his third ball and captain Mercer in his third over.

John also picked up two quick wickets and when Tom Smith ripped out Dunk and Williams, Leyland were reeling at 16/6 Tom Smith then shattered Pallet's's stumps to make it 21/7 and only an obdurate 20 from Patel and 13 not out from Suma delayed the inevitable.

The return of Billy Smith accounted for Patel before Woods wrapped up the 15 points with the last two wickets.