A DOGGED ninth wicket stand enabled visitors Preston to snatch a draw on Saturday in the Northern Premier League, at Chorley after it appeared they were heading for certain defeat.

In a reduced-overs match, Chorley skipper Roland Horridge (69 not out) steered the home side to 161-5 declared.

In reply Preston quickly subsided to 45-8, with Chorley professional Josh Marquet and Iqbal Patel each taking four wickets.

But Preston's former professional Manoj Parekh (54no) and the experienced Paul Mann (13no) defied the Chorley attack for 22 overs to save the game and prevent the home side from going second in the table.

PRESTON 112-8

Chorley 7 pts Preston 1 pt CHORLEY

N Bannister c Mann b Parekh ... 32

T Smith lbw Akbar ... 5

R Horridge not out ... 69

N Heaton b Parekh ... 17

J Fazackerley c Paynter b Shah ... 25

N Senior c Namajee b Shah ... 3

Extras ... 10

Total (5 wkts dec) ... 161

Bowling: Akbar 10-1-42-1; J Anyon 6-1-16-0; M Parekh 14-3-48-2; P Richardson 5-0-15-0; J Namajee 3-0-23-0; R Shah 5.1-1-12-2

PRESTON

I McDonnell b Marquet ... 0

J Anyon c Smith b Patel ... 0

P Richardson b Marquet ... 7

O Clayson c Smith b Patel ... 13

R Shah lbw Patel ... 5

Akbar c Cooke b Marquet ... 10

P Paynter c Smith b Marquet ... 5

M Parekh not out ... 54

J Namajee b Patel ... 0

P Mann not out ... 13

Extras ... 5

Total (8 wkts) ... 112

Bowling: Marquet 18-8-43-4; I Patel 15-4-47-4; S Cooke 5-2-11-0; I Mawdesley 2-0-6-0