BURNLEY Ladies capped off a memorable season by winning the knockout trophy to add to their league success.

And it was also double delight for Blackburn Northern men who claimed the Open Knockout Cup to add to their Open League Division One crown.

The all-conquering ladies team, who had already won the Slazenger East Lancashire League by a margin of 25 points, proved to be unstoppable on home soil at the weekend.

The ladies, who had only lost one match all season to leave Sunnyhurst trailing in second place, took on third-placed side Blackburn Northern.

Northern had enjoyed their own fair share of success this season, after winning the ladies doubles and mixed doubles events.

But they faced a Burnley side who were in no mood to let the chance of completed the coveted double and ran out 3-1 winners.

Top pair Sue Brown and Judith Denson gave Burnley the perfect start when they beat Northern's top seeds Julie Marsden and Michelle Watts 6-2 6-3. And Burnley's second pair Gillian Blackadder and Margaret Parker put the home side in a commanding position with a straight sets victory against Cath Woods and Rachael Lewis 6-4 6-2.

In the Round Two rubbers, Brown and Denson continued their own personal winning streak with an emphatic 6-0 6-0 win against Woods and Lewis.

To Northern's credit they never gave up and top pair Marsden and Watts beat Burnley's Blackadder and Parker to give the Blackburn side a boost but could not stop Burnley winning the final 3-1.

However there seems to be no stopping the Northern men's team as they beat their close rivals and league runners-up Feniscowles in a keenly contested final.

Having beaten them by 15 points in a league programme, where they had not lost a single match, Northern were firm favourites to add to their trophy haul this season.

And so it proved with a 5-1 win - with Ian Broughton and Alan Calow's 6-4 2-6 4-6 defeat against Jim Taylor and Jim Baldwin the only two sets they dropped all afternoon.

Blackburn got off to a flyer with top seeds Jamie Hutchins and Paul Davidson cruising to a 6-0 6-1 victory against Feniscowles number three pair Scott Walmsley and Peter Worswick.

Feniscowles made a fight of it when top pair Taylor and Baldwin levelled the score with the fine victory over Northern's second seeds Broughton and Calow.

However, from there on in it was all Northern and in the remaining four rubbers they lost just 18 games.

Dave Bell and John Schofield put Northern back in front by the end of round one when they beat Gary Catlow and Richard Cameron 6-3 6-2.

Top seeds Hutchins and Davidson led the charge at the beginning of round two with a 6-2 6-3 win against Taylor and Baldwin.

And Northern edged further ahead when Broughton and Calow erased their round one defeat with 6-2 6-3 win against Catlow and Cameron.

Third pair Bell and Schofield made sure Northern secured victory with one round still to play with a 6-1 6-2 win against their Feniscowles counterparts Walmsley and Worswick 6-1 6-2. East Lancs League

Roll of honour Mens singles

winner: Jamie Hutchins (Blackburn Northern)

runner-up: Mick Harris (Parkwood)

Ladies singles

winner: Christine Bartrop (Burnley)

runner-up: Vicki Judge (Burnley)

Mens doubles

winners: Iain Taylor/David Whittaker (Burnley)

runners-up: Jamie Hutchins/Ian Broughton (Blackburn Northern)

Ladies doubles

winners: Helen Wharton/Mandy Jenkins (Blackburn Northern)

runners-up: Eileen Hext/Linda Hutchinson (Blackburn Northern)

Mixed doubles

winners: Howard Best/Helen Wharton (Blackburn Northern)

runners-up Iain Taylor/ Vicki Judge (Burnley)

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.