DARWEN play their final Northern Premier League home match looking to sign off in style against local rivals Chorley at Birch Hall.

Skipper Mark Friend has a fully-fit squad and insists his team - second from bottom and three points above Lancaster - are looking to claim maximum points before they head off to the Lancashire League next season.

“It’s our last home game in this league and we’ve been looking forward to it all week,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“The lads have been training hard and it would be a great way to sign off at Birch Hall by beating Chorley.”

The Towers travel to Kendal next weekend for their final flourish, and Friend believes they can climb away from the foot of the table with two confident performances.

“We’re eyeing up these two matches as 15-point games for us,” he said. “We’ve had a bit of a break with our match at Morecambe called off last weekend because their ground was under water, and everyone is looking in good form.”

Darwen have been using sub-professionals since regular paid man Shrikant Wagh returned to India at the start of August, although as the Telegraph went to press they hadn’t confirmed today’s stand-in.

Chorley were also off last weekend, as heavy rain wiped out all the fixtures, but will be aiming to close the gap on fourth-placed Barrow.

Ian Dickinson’s side won their last completed fixture when they enjoyed a six-wicket victory over St Annes on Bank Holiday Monday, and they will want to take that form to Birch Hall.

Chorley 2s have the chance of silverware when they take on Leyland tomorrow in the Readers Cup Division Two final at the Stanning Memorial Ground (1pm).