Morecambe reached the Furness Building Society Cup final with victory over Leyland on a very well-prepared pitch, given the awful recent weather.

Electing to bat first Morecambe were quickly out of the blocks as the home side raced to 54 off only eight overs. Mark Woodhead punished Makinson, hitting him over the top, while Vishal Goyal was slightly more reserved but kept up the pace following his previous day's 50.

Phil Thornton continued the positive start, but was aided by Wood head who had to run for Thornton due to a hamstring pull. This did not deter the former captain who was at his hard hitting best and peppered the boundary, taking a particular liking to Khan, the Leyland pro, hitting him over Woodhill House.

Goyal progressed beyond 50, again, and as the pair went for a final onslaught they both lost their wickets, but not before the damage had been done.

A quick flurry of wickets meant it was down to Phil Dennison to take the score beyond 200, as his cameo realised 15 runs from the last over.
Leyland's tactics had been decided for them due to such an imposing total and Cummings seemed up for the challenge.

He wasted no time making his intentions clear from the first over. Indeed, Morecambe were somewhat relieved when Graham Lee trapped his opening partner Cross in front with 43 on the board from six overs.
This brought professional Khan to the wicket and he continued the fine start with the clean-hitting Cummings.

The introduction of Jono Gates was to prove the decisive factor in the game as the opening bowler, usually limited to one game a weekend due to knee problems, excelled in his holding role, bowling Cummings.

The Morecambe following were ecstatic about that but their jubilation continued as Gates then forced a false shot from Khan which saw him well caught by Martin at straight mid-off.

The professional had succumbed to the pressure of an accelerating run rate and accurate bowling, and in doing so had handed the game to a joyous Morecambe side.

Clough picked up three wickets with his off-spin to really hit home Morecambe's dominance, he very rarely lets the side down with the ball in hand in the cup competitions.

All that was left was for Dennison to roll back the years, taking the final two wickets of the innings to complete the victory and set up a home final against Preston on Sunday.

* In the Second Division cup semi-final, Morecambe 2nd were beaten by Darwen 2nd by 68 runs at Birch Hall.