Bailey's Bay 124-2 The presence and absence of three players who have been cold-shouldered by the St. George's Cup Match selectors, made the difference between winning and losing as the East Enders saw their last hopes of clinching the league title fade at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Noel Gibbons, dropped a year ago from the Cup Match team, answered his critics in the best possible way, as he bowled unchanged from the western end to take six for 48 from 22.2 overs. Ironically, Gibbons was taking the new ball in the absence of Clarkie Trott who was also dropped by St. George's.

Another ex-Cup Match bowler, Anthony Braithwaite, took two for 31 before pulling up with an injury and having his 10th over completed by Ricky Hill.

St. George's were led in the batting by captain Graham Fox with 24 before Devrae Hollis took a brilliant one-handed overhead catch in the covers off Gibbons' bowling to dismiss him. Dexter Smith hit 23, David Adams 17 and Ryan Steede 16.

The St. George's team were missing wicketkeepers Lewis Foggo, Dean Minors and Jason Anderson -- sitting out in protest over the Cup Match omission of Foggo and Minors -- and the batting was subsequently weakened as the score slumped from 57-2 to 59-5 in two overs. Ross Dowling was called upon to fill the void.

Wendell and Clay Smith, Clevie Wade, Eugene Foggo and Ricky Hodsoll all failed to reach double figures before Steede and Adams added 22 for the eighth wicket.

Bay reached their target without too much trouble with Devrae Hollis scoring 57 not out and Glenn Smith, the St. George's wicketkeeper for Cup Match, hitting 46 as he and Hollis put on 84 for the first wicket.

In his third over, spinner Eugene Foggo bowled Smith and then had Cal Dill lbw first ball, but that would be their only success as captain Chris Smith helped complete the Bay victory by scoring 16 not out in a stand of 40 with Hollis.

PHC 89 Western Stars 93-1 During a time when teams would normally be off the field for tea, league leaders Western Stars were wrapping up an easy nine wicket victory at St.

John's Field to take a giant step towards the Premier Division title.

Alfred Carter and Sheridan Ming were joint high scorers for PHC with 14 each as spinner Wayne Richardson returned outstanding figures of five for 43 from 14 overs with five maidens. Hasan Durham claimed two for 14 from 8.2 overs.

Stars were given a start of 71 by Albert Steede (40) and Ricky Brangman (28 not out). After Steede's departure in Sheridan Ming's first over, Andre Manders (14 no) joined Brangman to knock off the remaining runs.

Nationals 258-3 Police 133-8 Nationals' decision to bat until 5.03 p.m. proved costly in the end as they fell two wickets short of the victory that would have kept them a point behind Western Stars.

Stars players watched the finish of the match, having made short work of PHC, and the stage is set now for a showdown next weekend when Stars host Nationals at St. John's Field in the title decider.

The highlight of Nationals' batting was Jason Lewis' 133 which came from 16 fours and three sixes as he made the most of an easy batting wicket. He added 117 for the third wicket with older brother Darrin who scored 47 and then a further 122 for the unbroken fourth wicket with Quinn Outerbridge (47) as the Police bowlers toiled for little reward.

Adrian King was the most successful of the Police bowlers, taking two for 35 from 14 overs while Roger Blades had one for 26 off 15 overs. Seven other bowlers were used, with Dwayne Leverock proving the most expensive, giving up 81 in 13 overs.

Nationals claimed five wickets in the final 20 overs but eventually fell short by the time the stumps were drawn at 7.53. Leverock was high man for Police with 32 while captain Stevie Lightbourne and opener Wayne Clarke scored 21 each and tailender Blades 20.

Alan Corcoran took four for 50 from 12 overs to lead the Nationals bowling.

Warwick 251-8 Devonshire 190-7 Devonshire held on for a draw at Southampton Oval after being set 252 to win by Warwick.

Dapo Frederick was still there at the close at 7.55 p.m. with 40, having top scored with Anthony Amory who also hit 40 after opening the innings with Erskine (Choe) Smith.

Allan Wilkinson was the best of the Warwick bowlers, taking four for 60 off 19 overs. As was the case in the Warwick innings, there was a healthy helping of extras, with Warwick conceding 41 after Devonshire had earlier given up 39 extras.

High man in the Warwick innings was Ritchie Foggo with 53 while captain Jeff James hit 47 and Daniel Morgan 35. Michael Stovell scored 26 not out and Daniel Caines and Steven Bremar both 18 apiece.

Anthony Amory claimed three for 37 after sharing the new ball with Winston Trott Jr who finished with two for 44.

Willow Cuts 215-6 Somerset 96-5 These two West End neighbours shared the points in a tame draw at Somerset as three Cup Match players got in some needed batting practice.

Cuts captain Dexter Basden scored 50 and brother Richard 62 not out in their team's total of 215-5 declared. Dexter and Jermaine Warner (30) had a good start, putting on 48 for the first wicket before Warner was first to go.

Tony Cheeseman led the Somerset bowling with three for 56 off 16 overs as Vivian Simons resisted in the middle order with 22.

Shannon Warner, also playing in Cup Match this week, led Somerset with 35 while Cheeseman finished on 20 not out as Somerset earned the draw.

No Willow Cuts bowler managed to take more than one wicket, though Kevin Fubler had an economical spell in which just 10 runs came from his nine overs which included five maidens.

Cleveland 241-7 St. David's 147-5 Cleveland and St.David's drew at Sea Breeze Oval with Aaron Adams and Lionel Cann both hammering 77 during opening batting roles for their respective teams.

With Adams leading the way, Cleveland declared at a respectable total of 241-7, thanks to further sound contributions from Peter Philpott (38), Grant Smith (37) and Albert Jenkins (35). Dale Fox took three for 33 and Herbie Bascome three for 62.

Spearheaded by Cann's knock, St. David's stormed back with before time eventually ran out. Others among the runs were Phillip Pitcher with 18 and Eddie Lambe 10.

Flatts 56 Southampton 57-4 Evidence that there is already diminished interest in the Flatts camp, customary when their Eastern Counties Cup run is over, surfaced yesterday when just 10 players turned up for this clash at Devonshire Rec. which Southampton won by six wickets.

Flatts were bundled out for a meagre 56 with bowlers Garry Williams and Carl Garzette requiring no assistance. Williams finished with five for 13 off nine overs and a maiden while Garzette had three for 31 off nine overs, including three maidens.

Khomanie Talbot and Kevin Hurdle were top scorers for Flatts with 11 apiece while skipper Troy Dean was undefeated on 10.

Southampton reached victory off 14.2 overs despite losing four wickets.

Skipper Keith Wainwright struck 20 and Darren Burchall 12.

Talbot had two for eight off 1.2 overs while Hurdle took two for 30 off six overs, with one maiden.

Social Club 86 Somerset Bridge 87-2 This clash between the two bottom clubs saw hosts Somerset Bridge come away with an eight-wicket triumph at White Hill Field. No other information was available at press time.

TAKE THAT! -- Wicketkeeper Lewis Foggo can only watch in amazement as Glenn Smith reaches his century with this cover drive during Saturday's final St.

George's Cup Match trial at Wellington Oval. Smith finished undefeated on 111 for the Vice President's XI.