Devonshire Rec. inflicted the first league loss in three seasons on champions Western Stars on Sunday when they won by two wickets at Devonshire Rec. field with seven balls remaining.

Brothers Mark and John Ray, who joined Devonshire from Nationals, played significant roles in the win. Mark hit four sixes and two fours in a dashing 47 before John scored 18 not out in an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 24 with Erskine Smith.

Stars, fresh off their Camel Cup triumph last weekend, were brought back to earth by a Rec. team desperate to get going after a slow start. Stars were held back by some tight bowling early on which saw them score just 19 runs after the first 10 overs before moving on to 79 for three after 25 overs.

Opener Gregory Sampson took 42 overs to score his 44 runs before being sixth out when the score was 160. After losing opening partner Cleon Scotland with just 12 runs on the board and Andre Manders 14 runs later, Sampson watched partners depart regularly before he and Jeff Richardson added 47 for the fourth wicket, of which Richardson scored 38 in 38 minutes from 39 balls.

The biggest stand for Stars was of 56 between Sampson and Roger Leverock for the sixth wicket as they took the score from 104 to 160 before Anthony Edwards returned to remove both batsmen (lbw) with the first delivery of successive overs.

Leverock contributed 26 while Arnold Manders chipped in with 21 earlier in the innings.

Edwards finished with two for 24 while spinner Bruce Perinchief claimed two for 41.

After Donald Norford departed for 17, Roger Trott (25) and Albert Steede (36) kept Rec. on course for victory with a second-wicket stand of 45 as the score moved from 17 to 62 by the 15th over.

Two brilliant stumpings by Anthony Manders accounted for both Trott and Steede off the bowling of Richardson and Arnold Manders got Lloyd Morrison lbw to keep Stars in the game at 95 for four. And when Anthony Amory threw his wicket away, Rec. looked like wasting all the hard work at 104 for five.

But Mark Ray and Leon Place steadied things with a vital sixth-wicket stand of 57 during a period when they needed 62 off the last 12 overs. Ray brought down the Rec. asking rate with 11 off one over from Andre Manders and 10 from the next from Hasan Durham before departing in that same over when he went for one big hit too many and gave an easy catch to Arnold Manders at mid-off.

A total of 37 were needed off the last 10 overs when captain Gary Brangman brought himself on for the first time. Durham got the wickets of Place (15) and Edwards (11) in the same over as Stars fought to the end.

Durham claimed three for 46 and Richardson three for 36 as spin again led the way for Stars.

Police 277-5 Somerset Bridge 280-6 Somerset Bridge scored the biggest upset of the early season when they took up the challenge against Police at Police Field and came away with a highly unlikely four-wicket triumph.

It looked like being an easy win for the home team after Donovan Livingston (81) and Dwayne Leverock (90 not out) added 153 for the fifth wicket in taking the score from 90 to 243 on their way to a commanding 277 for five.

Bridge had some early success when Craig Brangman bowled opener Tyrone Smith with just three runs on the board and then Gary Crofton followed up by removing Dennis Archer at 15.

David Greenidge and Ferdinand Thorne added 74 for the third wicket before Bridge kept in contention by taking two wickets for one run to make it 90 for four, with Greenidge scoring 41 and Thorne 22.

Livingston and Leverock made the Bridge players wish they had made other plans for the day as they smashed the ball to all parts of the field in their massive stand. Livingston hit 10 fours and two sixes and Leverock 10 fours and one six.

Kirk Trott was the top Bridge bowler with two for 17.

Bridge, with two wins from their first three matches coming into this clash, moved two further places up the standings as they proved their early success was no fluke. They recovered from the early loss of Trott when the score was 17 with a second-wicket stand of 39 between Tony Cheeseman (31) and captain David Jones (25).

Veteran Robin Swan hit his first century of the season -- an unbeaten 100 -- to put some fear in the Police side. Swan got good support from Brian Gibbons who scored 69 before being run out.

The pair added 142 for the fifth wicket in taking the score from 97 to 239.

Francis Richardson hit a vital 16 not out to stay there at the close with Swan PHC 22 Willow Cuts 25-1 Willow Cuts made short work of a hopeless PHC team at White Hill field when they won convincingly by nine wickets in just 17.4 overs, thanks to some fine bowling by Rodney Fubler and Richard Basden.

This bowling duo needed no help to destroy the weak batting of PHC, Fubler starting things rolling early by dismissing opener Wallace Minors without a run scored.

Fubler finished with seven wickets for a mere six runs in 9.4 overs and Basden had three for 14.

The debacle came to a predictable early finish with opener Dwayne Basden making 16 not out.

RUN OUT -- John Ray, right, celebrates Hasan Durham's dismissal on Sunday. Ray would later play a key role with the bat in scoring 18 not out.