CHORLEY -twice winners of the national club knockout competition - were beaten in the regional final of the Cockspur Cup by a more experienced Bootle side.
The Merseysiders fielded three former Lancashire county batsmen in David Snelgrove, Ian Cockbain and Paddy McKeown and proved too strong for Chorley.
The unavailability of captain Nigel Heaton was a major blow for Chorley, who did well in the circumstances to post a total of 167 from their 45 overs.
Tom Smith hit an impressive 51 and the innings was still in a promising position with Neil Senior at the crease.
But his departure for 41 triggered a late-order collapse, the last five wickets going down for just five runs.
Bootle were never in trouble in reply, pacing the innings well to win by seven wickets, Snelgrove striking the winning runs in the penultimate over to finish on 93 not out.
For Chorley, Tom Smith bowled very tidily to pick up 2 for 15.
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