MARK Orchard bowed out as Morecambe professional on a high - but his fantastic all-round display wasn't enough to steer his side to a win at Chorley.

The Kiwi class act scored a century, grabbed three wickets and took two catches on his last game before his return to New Zealand for an operation on his hip.

That is a shame for Morecambe and Orchard, who has picked up 48 wickets and more than 700 runs in his first season in the Northern League, as Phil Dennison's men look for a top five finish.

And his last knock was an important one as he, along with Dennison, rescued Morecambe from a precarious 9-3 situation after Chorley professional Tom Smith and his brother Bill opened the attack.

With Mallie Mateka, Jack Hird and Nick Milner all back in the pavilion, Orchard and Dennison set about Chris Roe, Gaurav Dhar and Chris Millward to push their side to a decent score.

Orchard's 117 was often brutal and Dennison joined him in smashing the ball to the boundary on his way to 58.

But Morecambe failed to capitalise on some rank bad bowling and were bowled out for 228 when they could have had more.

That sort of target was a challenge for Chorley with Mark Richardson, Nigel Heaton and Dhar went back to the pavilion .

The dangerous Tom Smith made 32 before Warren Quinn teased him out but Michael Critchley stuck in for 83 to frustrate Morecambe.

Gareth Pedder was the bowling star as he claimed 2-21 in 15 overs, while Orchard's final figures as a Morecambe player were 3-35 from 14.