Somerset 101 Nationals 105-5 Nationals moved within two points of Premier Division leaders Western Stars as the slow/medium-pace of Alan Corcoran once again did major damage to an opposing batting line-up.

Following defending champions Bailey's Bay a week earlier, Somerset fell victim to Corcoran as he sliced through the early and late order to finish with five for 35.

Given the new ball in the absence of David Gibbs, Corcoran quickly had the first three batsmen back in the pavilion with the scoreboard reading just 32.

Tony Cheeseman (0), Reid Jones (seven) and skipper Shannon Warner (19) each suffered at the hands of Corcoran.

Troy Symonds (eight) and Steval Arorash (three) later fell as the bottom dropped out of the Somerset innings.

Bruce Perinchief claimed two for 33 and Jason Lewis three for 13.

Chris Caisey ended as the west enders' top scorer with his 19 runs coming in only seven minutes. His first scoring stroke was a six and he followed with two fours.

Graham Strange and Quinn Outerbridge emerged as Nationals' batting heroes, Strange notching an unbeaten 37 and punctuating the victory with a game ending boundary, while Outerbridge slammed four fours during 60 minutes at the crease. Caisey took three for 37 from nine overs and Stephen Brown one for 29.

Western Stars 151-5 Flatts 61-4 Mother Nature frowned on Western Stars yesterday when rain ruined the aspiring titlists from increasing their lead at the top of the Premier Division.

The weather cost the men from St. John's Road,as their draw allowed Nationals to surge to within two points of the league leaders.

It was, however, a valiant effort by Stars, who won the toss and elected to bat.

Treadwell Gibbons led the charge, blasting three fours and two sixes, reaching a top score of 43 from just 41 balls.

He was aided by 39 off the bat of Gregory Francis and Andre Manders (26 not out).

Flatts appeared to settle for the draw early and were never in the chase for runs. Derek Wright and Rodney Woolridge each scored 19 as the match petered toward a predictable stalemate.

Police 147 Cleveland did not bat Cleveland's spin demon Johnny Richardson claimed seven for 55 from a marathon spell of 23.4 unchanged overs, but it was all for nought. As rain delayed the start of the match beyond 4 p.m. Police elected for batting practice, with a draw inevitable.

David Greenidge top scored with 40, while Donovan Livingston hit 34 and Dennis Archer 21.

Somerset Bridge 28 St. George's 29-5 It will go down as one of the slowest scoring matches of the season, but the points certainly boosted St. George's title hopes.

Played at Wellington Oval, the match didn't begin until 1.05 and when rain forced the teams off the field after just eight overs, Bridge were already in deep trouble at 8-3. Things didn't get much better when the match resumed two hours later as Ryan Steede picked up his fourth straight wicket by bowling George Weller to make it 8-4.

Captain David Jones and opener Carlton Simmons carried the score from eight to 18 in the team's biggest stand before wickets began falling regularly again with Clevie Wade collecting four for five off 11.5 overs and David Adams two for two from five overs. Steede finished with four for 11.

The Bridge innings lasted for 29.5 overs and on a slow outfield not a single boundary was scored. Opener Simmons batted right through their innings for a top score of nine.

Victory was expected to be wrapped up in quick time, but Graham Fox's decision to reverse his batting order meant that the winning runs took 52 minutes to come, by which time Bridge had taken five wickets.

Sinclair Gibbons was high man with nine as Denzel Dill took three for 11 and Jones two for 15.

Bailey's Bay 23-0 PHC did not bat Persistent rain dampened any hopes league champions Bailey's Bay had of closing in on the leaders at Sea Breeze Oval.

After play finally got underway in mid-afternoon, Bay were offered little more than half an hour at the crease before the umpires called a halt with the pitch saturated.

In that time, openers Chris Smith (11 not out) and Devrae Hollis (9 not out) had taken the score to 23.

Three other matches also were hit by the rain, all at the west end. Social Club had their match against Devonshire Rec. at White Hill Field abandoned along with the Willow Cuts-St. David's match at Somerset and Southampton against Warwick at Southampton Oval, all without a ball being bowled.

RAIN DELAYED -- Umpire Mansfield Smith (left) and players from Nationals and Somerset inspect the pitch prior to the start of yesterday's match. The game was only one of two in the Premier Division to produce a result.