MARK Lee was disappointed when his club, Portico Panthers, were pipped for the North West Counties League Championship by Simms Cross on the last day of the season.

But he got more than consolation when he was named coach of the year at the League's annual presentation evening at Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

The former Salford player has taken Portico from champions of Division Three through Division Two and One to Premier Division runners up in successive seasons.

League secretary Ron Girvin told the 270 guests: "This was the toughest decision that the management committee had to make. Until the final two weeks of the season there were still four clubs all in with a chance of taking the title, Portico, Simms Cross, Haydock and Wigan Rose Bridge.

"Portico also won the Lancashire Cup, while Simms Cross and Wigan Rose Bridge reached the fourth round of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup. Haydock, having lost their first two games of the season, bounced back to keep in the title race until those last two weeks."

The player of the year award went to Haydock's Wayne Bloor, who has recently played as an amateur with Chorley. Wayne had been runner-up for the last two seasons.