CROOKLANDS Casuals’ battle against relegation from the West Lancs League Premier Division ended in failure as they lost 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller to fellow strugglers Eagley.

It was a must-win game if Cassies were to keep their top flight status, but they started slowly and Eagley went ahead on 13 minutes through a Jon Stephenson strike.

This sparked Cassies into life and on the half hour mark Dave Goude released Dave Mansergh who capitalised on some hesitant defending before taking the ball around the goalkeeper for the equaliser.

Minutes later a great run by Tom Heywood saw him beat four players before sliding a ball through to Kieran Clark who finished neatly to put Cassies in front for the first time. On 51 minutes Eagley equalised through ex-Preston North End man Simon Whalley.

With half an hour remaining Cassies stepped up through the gears and a strong run by Jasper Carey came to a halt when he was upended in the box and Tom Heywood stepped up and slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner to put Cassies 3-2 in front.

Less than five minutes later another fantastic run by Kieran Clark saw him beat a couple of defenders before drilling the ball past the keeper to put Cassies 4-2 up and looking likely to pick up all three points.

However, that was as good as it got for Cassies as Eagley pressed forward in the last 20 minutes and secured the three points with goals from Bailey Wallace, Dom Boardman and John Stephenson.

The result means that Crooklands will finish in the relegation places come the end of the season as three teams are due to go down. They finish their league campaign with a trip to play local rivals Vickerstown tomorrow night.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division Vickerstown hosted Hesketh Bank in what turned out to be a feisty encounter at Park Vale.

Danny Keenan missed a penalty in the first minute and the home side fell behind before an outrageous left foot volley from Sean Paterson levelled the scores.

Town were behind again after the break before a well struck Keenan penalty – his 20th goal of the season – levelled the scores for the second time. Paterson fired home the winner with 20 minutes remaining for a Vickerstown side, who had the worst possible start to the season losing their first five games but have bounced back well, and Dave Round’s men are looking a safe bet to finish in the top half of the league.

It wasn’t such a happy tale for the rest of our West Lancs teams. Hawcoat Park finished off their season with a 4-0 defeat away to Lytham. However, they will be happy with having the Presidents Cup to show off at the end of their season.

Askam will finish around the mid-table places after they suffered a 4-1 home defeat to Hurst Green in their final league game of the season. They will dust themselves down and prepare for the upcoming Senior Cup Final against Millom.

Dalton gave themselves a bit of a lifeline in a 3-3 draw with Mill Hill St Peters. Gareth Jones (2) and George Akred scored for Dalton who now need to win their remaining three games and hope teams above them drop points.

GSK Ulverston also slipped into the relegation places after a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of CMB. GSK now face a relegation decider in a weeks’ time away against Mill Hill St Peters, who sit one place above them in the league table.

In Division Two Millom beat Burscough Richmond Reserves 2-1. Chris O’Brien and Theo Wilson grabbed the goals.

Walney travelled to Coppull to play their Reserves and drew 1-1. Jimmy Ryding scored a last-minute equaliser for the Islanders.

Furness Rovers lost 3-1 against Garstang Reserves, Ryan Fagan scoring their consolation goal.

Swarthmoor drew 1-1 against Blackpool Wren Rovers Reserves and will now face re-election after finishing bottom of the table.

Furness Cavaliers lost 2-1 at Thornton Cleveleys Reserves. Lee Rodgers scored only his second West Lancs League goal for the club in well over 100 appearances, but it was worth the wait as the stalwart produced a stunning overhead kick to double his personal tally. Holker Old Boys finished off their North West Counties season with 2-0 defeat away to Litherland REMYCA.

In the Furness Premier League Holker Old Boys Reserves were beaten by a strong Furness Cavaliers Reserves 7-3.

Rhys Forbes, Chris Squire and Chris Wraighte scored for Holker but ex-Barrow AFC youth players and recent signings Alex Newby (5) and Brad Carroll put Holker to the sword. Pete Dixon also got his name on the scoresheet. Referee Steve Butler was excellent as always.

On Friday night Millom Reserves beat Furness Rovers 3-0, Andrew Woodburn, Tyler Maxwell and an own goal secured the three points for Millom. In the First Division Dalton United Reserves moved to the top of the table after a 3-1 win over Ormsgill North End. Frazer Shand (2) and Tom Rutherford scored for Dalton. Darren Mitchell converted a penalty for Ormsgill.

Coniston slipped to second spot after 2-0 defeat at the hands of third-placed Crooklands Reserves.