MORECAMBE were left to reflect on what might have been as they finished just 16 points behind champions Darwen.

Meanwhile, Lancaster can look forward optimistically, despite finishing second from bottom of the Northern Premier League table.

Saturday's final game of the season against Fleetwood followed the pattern of many of the preceding matches, with a strong bowling performance giving Morecambe's batsmen an achievable target to aim at.

Peter Stephens achieved a hat-trick as he raced towards figures of 4 for 33, while Gulam Majee took the prize wicket of Lancashire batsman Graham Lloyd - who announced his retirement just 24 hours before standing in as sub pro - for a duck.

That left Fleetwood all out for just 104, and Morecambe's batsmen made no mistake, with Phil Thornton playing a captain's innings, making 58 not out.

Morecambe have been dominating games all season, and have won more games than anyone else in the league.

However, an unfortunate run in the middle of the season saw them lose three games, which handed the initiative to Darwen, who just had that little bit more consistency.

When the men from East Lancashire got their noses in front, Morecambe always faced an uphill struggle, which proved to be too much.

Lancaster's batsmen were pinned back by a fine bowling performance from the departing Blackpool professional, Marcus Sharp.

He claimed five wickets for the loss of just 15 runs, as Lancaster were all out for 81, despite the best efforts of David Hagen, who managed to make 36.

That gave Lancaster's bowlers an uphill struggle and, despite taking seven Blackpool wickets, victory went to the home side.

Lancaster again struggled to escape the bottom half of the table, often gave their opponents a tougher game than the scoreline suggested.

While the first division game ended with some disappointment locally, the second division provided plenty to cheer, with Morecambe taking the title while Lancaster finished as runners up.