LANCASTER have a home fixture this Saturday against next to bottom Leyland and should pick up some points from this encounter.

Morecambe have probably their toughest fixture of the season this Saturday when they travel to Cumbria to play the current league leaders Netherfield at Parkside Road.

Netherfield,the only unbeaten team in the league, are currently 31 points ahead of second placed Darwen.

In the weekend's action, rain probably saved Lancaster from their fifth defeat of the season at Kendal.

Kendal captain and professional Ross Veenstra won the toss and elected to bat. It appeared to have misfired on him when Neil Jordan and David Barnes caught behind by Brendan Hetherington for nought, leaving Kendal 2-1.

The game was fairly evenly poised at 47-3 but then Ross Veenstra and David Fallows restored the balance with a 74 run partnership before Fallows was caught by Luke Phillips off Neil Jordan for 41.

Half the Kendal side were dismissed for 142 when Steve Cooper was caught by Phil Dennison for five.

A superb piece of spin bowling from Lancaster professional Gareth Breese, who has agreed to stay at Lune Road for next season, saw Kendal lose their last 5 wickets for 36 runs.

Ross Veenstra top scored with 58 before being caught by Simon Johnstone off Jordan.

Gareth Breese was the pick of the Lancaster bowling attack, and took 5-45 from 13.2, while opening pace bowler Neil Jordan bowled a marathon 26 overs to take 4-60.

In reply, Lancaster lost half their side for 31 before Phil Dennison and Brendan Hetherington had an unbroken partnership of 18 for the sixth wicket before lakeland rain drove the players off the field, never to return.

The rain robbed Morecambe of their sixth victory of the season, and the opportunity to go third in the league table.

Chorley, batting first, were dismissed in the 54th over after some superb pace bowling from Peter Stephens. He took 6-30 from 19 overs which included the first five wickets to fall.

He was ably supported by Tommy Clough who took 3-46 from 21.4 overs. After an opening partnership of 25 between Nigel Heaton and Iqbal Patel before the former was caught by Phil Thornton off Stephens for two, Chorley slumped to 56-5.

Amazingly, opener Patel made 40 of the 49 before being caught by Ashwell Prince off Stephens.

A sixth wicket partnership between Neil Bannister and Roland Horridge stopped the rot before Horridge was caught behind by Damien Gudgeon off John Eccles for 22.

Chorley then lost their next two wickets at 95, with Neil Senior and Ian Oakes being dismissed in identical fashion, LBW to Tommy Clough without troubling the scorers.

The tail wagged with 35 runs coming from the last two wickets. Neil Bannister was the last man out, caught behind by Gudgeon off Clough for 30.

Morecambe, in reply, began disastrously being reduced to 4-2. Then opener Mark Woodhead and Nic Milner added 34 for the third wicket before Woodhead was caught by Bannister off Mawdsley for 26.

The fourth Morecambe wicket fell at 51 when Gulum Maje was caught by Nigel Heaton off Chorley professional Josh Marquet for 3.

Milner and skipper Phil Thornton had featured in a 59 run unbroken partnership for the fifth wicket when the match was abandoned. Morecambe only required 21 runs to win with six wickets in hand.

At the close, Milner was 36 not out and Thornton 33 not out.

The match saw Morecambe professional Ashwell Prince say goodbye to his team-mates after being recalled by the South African cricket board to play against Australia.