Just two club names remain on the Camel Cup after defending champions Devonshire Rec. sent Western Stars crashing to their third straight loss in the final yesterday at Lord's.

In six Camel Cup competitions Devonshire and St. George's have the distinction of being the only teams to win this cup, each having done so three time. Stars left St. David's last night wondering just what they have to do to get their hands on the crystal cup.

"It started from the beginning when we had a slow start,'' a disappointed Stars captain Gary Brangman said in trying to analyse his team's failure.

"After 20 overs we had just 45 runs on the board and I pushed myself in at number four to try to boost the run rate which worked for a while.'' As was the case in 1990 Camel Cup final at this same field when they scored 169 against St. George's, Stars found it difficult to defend a modest total, even with so much depth in their bowling.

The toss was an important one to win and Devonshire's captain Anthony Amory had no hesitation in asking Stars to bat first on a wicket which was being used for the first time this season.

Dexter Smith wasn't as fluent as he was in his 70 the day before against Police and by the time he was first out on 37 in the 17th over Stars had long been looking anxiously at the scoreboard. Smith's contribution of 10 came off 53 balls, 46 of which were non-scoring strokes.

With Anthony Foggo out injured and Jeff Richardson in a wedding, Stars badly needed a big knock from former catain Arnold Manders at number three. Manders added just 14 to the cause in 48 minutes before skying a catch to James Pace at extra cover off Anthony Amory in the 27th over. Gregory Sampson, two hours at the crease and facing 95 balls for his 24, had departed the over before when he became Erskine (Choe) Smith's second victim.

At Sampson's departure captain Brangman came in to boost the scoring and his 24 helped see up the 100 before he was fourth out on 107 in the 37th over. It might have been even worst for Stars had the umpires Randy Butler and Wilbur Pitcher not decided to take an early tea break at 2.35 when rain forced a brief delay at 88-3.

But by the 3.45 deadline when the Stars innings was to be completed they still had six overs remaining, having scored their 150 runs at a rate of 3.40 with Anthony Manders high man with 26 in 64 minutes.

"We wanted to win the toss, send them in and do what we managed to do, bowl as many overs as we could without giving up many runs,'' Amory said of his team's plan.

"Their two opening batsmen didn't excel like they wanted to.'' After the Devonshire bowlers laid the foundation -- Anthony Edwards two for 25, Smith two for 23 and Mark Trott two for 30 -- the Devonshire batsmen set about scoring the required runs to complete the victory.

Lloyd Morrison (19) and Roger Trott (13) added 20 for the first wicket before Trott was caught behind in the ninth over, the first from first change Allan Brangman.

Devonshire fans were relieved to see Albert Steede making his way to the wicket, having gone off in the Stars innings with a hand injury after taking a ball from Leon Place down the legside. Morrison donned the 'keeper's gloves.

Stars claimed another wicket on 46 when, after introducing spinners Arnold Manders and Wayne Richardson in the 15th and 16th overs, the latter trapped Morrison lbw with the fifth ball of his first over.

And when Richardson then bowled Amory 12 overs later to make it 76-3 Stars knew this match was a long way from over. However, Pace quickly tilted the balance back in Devonshire's favour with three sixes off Manders as he and Steede shared in a match-saving fourth wicket stand of 44.

But when sixth used bowler Dwayne Steede removed Steede and then Place in his first over to make it 120-5, the stage looked set for a thrilling finish.

Pace, who finished with 52 not out from 41 balls in 50 minutes, got good support from Smith in an unbeaten stand of 33 for the sixth wicket as Pace completed his 50 with the winning four.

"We were a little flat on the field,'' Brangman said."We weren't hungry like we were yesterday.'' Said Amory: "It's never easy when you're playing cricket but we never panic.

What Mr (Gladstone) Brown and Mr (Winston) Trott has instilled in us is there's no reason why one of our players can't score 50 every time we play. We cover for each other when we bat in case someone fails. James applied himself over the two days and he batted his best.'' Steede finished with two for six from 3.3 overs while Richardson had two for 30 from his 10 overs.

HOW'S THAT -- Devonshire Rec. batsman Albert Steede survives this appeal for lbw from Western stars wicket-keeper Anthony Manders. Steede went on to score 30.