With a first Premier Division title since 1998 in their sights Bailey's Bay should be fully focused on their top-of-the-table clash with Southampton Rangers on Sunday.

Instead the game is of secondary consideration to a civil war tearing through a club in chaos after a week that may have seen captain Stephen Outerbridge play his last game for a team whose fortunes he has helped transform.

In the aftermath of the Eastern Counties row surrounding St David's, Outerbridge and veteran bowler Corey Hill were hauled before a disciplinary committee by their club last week for comments they made to the media about the situation.

And while Bay have refused to divulge what happened at that hearing, sources within the club have hinted that the pair were given hefty bans that have ruled them out for the rest of this season, and a good portion of the next.

Certainly, Outerbridge's relationship with a club he has been at since he was a boy now appears beyond repair.

And the split between player and executive was made searingly public as the Counties row rumbled on when the club put out a press release stating that, 'Outerbridge does not speak for Bailey's Bay'.

And it would be no surprise if Hill had been slapped with a similar suspension, especially given a text he received from a club executive suggesting that the best way to solve a morale problem Hill brought attention to would be, 'to get rid of you (Hill)'.

While neither player would comment on what has happened, Bay sources have described a heated exchange taking place in the hearing, a club in a 'complete mess', and a tense atmosphere hanging over the Sea Breeze Oval.

The situation is apparently so serious that there has been the talk of 'third parties' becoming involved, although whether that means Outerbridge and Hill are considering taking legal action remains unclear.

Hardly the ideal preparation for a team that could be on the verge of winning their first league title in more than a decade. And whether Outerbridge is banned or not is a moot point, for this weekend at least, as he is still recovering from the knee injury he sustained at Cup Match.

Ironically, that might have spared Bay a week of recriminations and in-fighting which would surely have followed if they had attempted to ban their skipper from the most important game in the club's recent history, especially as the squad are believed to be backing Outerbridge.

It is against this backdrop that coach Irving Romaine must prepare his team, and stand-in skipper Terryn Fray, for a game they have to win to keep their title hopes alive.

Rangers are a single point ahead of Bay but, with only two games remaining, a win for the visitors, who Romaine admits 'have had our number recently', would make them champions.

"It's make or break Sunday," said Romaine. "Southampton Rangers have had our number for the last couple of years, they always seem to come out on top of us.

"But the guys are excited, because it's only myself, Calvin Dill, and Dennis Pilgrim that actually won the league with Bay the last time. It's something new for the team.

"The off-field stuff isn't effecting us. We sat down in training, we talked, and we're focused on trying to beat Rangers this weekend. There has been no talk about anything (else) to be honest with you.

"We're just trying to concentrate on finishing the league on a high."