CHORLEY'S Northern Premier League title hopes received a setback when a thunderstorm caused their match against Lancaster at Windsor Park to be abandoned after the home side had batted themselves into a strong position.

But only ten overs were possible in Lancaster's innings before rain intervened at 34-1 and so Chorley's three batting points counted for nothing, as each side took just four points from the game.

The highlight of the Chorley innings was a third-wicket partnership of 95 in 46 minutes between skipper Roland Horridge (85) and Iqbal Patel who made a quickfire 52.Opener Neil Bannister also contributed a stylish 40 to a Chorley total of 210-4 declared.

Horridge's fine innings took him past 900 runs for the season in all competitions but he still requires 202 from a possible six innings to beat the club's amateur batting record in the league, an aggregate of 885 set by former East Lancashire player John Kearsley in 1980.