St. George's took a massive step to a third championship in five seasons with an impressive eight-wicket thrashing of contenders Southampton Rangers yesterday.

Clay Smith made a surprise return to the game after dislocating his right shoulder last week.

And 98 runs later, Rangers wished he had stayed on the sidelines for the month he was advised to.

St. George's retain a four-point lead over Western Stars, winners yesterday over Bailey's Bay, who with Rangers can now only fight for Camel Cup spots.

Stars, well behind on strike rate, need the leaders to drop three matches against any combination of St. David's, Police, PHC and Warwick.

It would take a dramatic loss of form given the recent successes against nearest rivals Bay, Stars twice and Rangers.

After the home side made an early breakthrough when Quinton Burch bowled Dexter Smith without scoring, Clay and returning skipper Wendell Smith put on 120.

Wendell was by far the more aggressive in his 119-minute knock of 82, which included eight fours and four sixes.

Meanwhile, Clay was comfortable coming forward but tentative on the back foot where his bottom (right) hand came more into play.

After Wendell was out caught at extra cover by Janeiro Tucker off Clevie Wade, Clay Smith's scoring increased appreciably.

He was put down on 35 when Michael Brangman spilled what looked to be a simple catch at cover off Wade as Smith played uppishly on the back foot.

After that let-off, Rangers never had a look-in.

Graham Fox was the new partner but he might as well have been a spectator as he contributed six of the final 90 runs with Smith going berserk at the other end.

Smith hit seven fours and six sixes and was set for a dream century when gamesmanship from Tucker resulted in the winning runs coming from four byes down the leg side.

Just as they did the day before, Rangers fell by the wayside after looking to be on target for a big total.

Olin Jones, who had at least two lives, did his part with 65 as he helped Rangers to 120 for two with 19 overs left.

But the innings of others got started and never went on as St. George's came off the field in search of a reasonable target on a good wicket.

Jones hit eight fours in his knock while Stevie Lightbourne hit three sixes and a four in his 27 and Wade three sixes and a four in his 30.

Quinton Burch scored 21 before he became the third run-out victim on the final ball.

David Adams was the top St. George's bowler with three for 45.

Bailey's Bay 174-7 Western Stars 180-5 Despite an heroic 101 not out by Charlie Marshall at St. John's field, Bailey's Bay saw their Premier Division title hopes diminish as a result of a five-wicket defeat against Western Stars.

The victory however saw Stars move past Bay and Southampton into second place.

After Marshall's superb knock the home team responded with steady batting from Jeff Richardson and Cleon Scotland to reach their winning target.

Stars actually made a dramatic recovery after they were dangerously placed at 81 for four. Richardson and Scotland led the fight-back with a fifth-wicket partnership of 67. Richardson scored 55 while Scotland was undefeated with 42 when victory was reached.

The two steadied Stars' innings after openers Gregory Sampson (30), Anthony Foggo (13), Andre Manders (one) and Arnold Manders (seven).

Marshall, whose medium-pace bowling pinned down the batsmen, eventually got Richardson caught at mid-wicket by Noel Gibbons with the total on 148, but Scotland and new batsman Hasan Durham (17 not out) were never bothered by the revived attack and easily scored the remaining runs.

Clarkie Trott led Bay's bowling with two wickets for 28 off his 10 overs.

Marshall was called on to add stability to a Bailey's Bay line-up that was rocked by early dismissals as well.

They lost opener and skipper Chris Smith (11) with the total on 22 and Marshall and Devrae Hollis (20) put on 39 for the second wicket.

But once Hollis was bowled by Wayne Richardson, Marshall was unable to find a suitable partner and was therefore left to steady the innings alone.

Marshall, dropped three times, wound up with eight fours and five sixes and batted for 168 minutes.

Spinner Richardson was the top bowler for Stars with four for 22 while Durham had two for 44.

Somerset Bridge 134 St. David's 109-3 (Target reduced to 107) Not even a heavy shower at 4.21 p.m., which held up play for 35 minutes and reduced both the St. David's target and number of overs, could prevent the islanders from romping to their seventh straight league win.

Bridge lost their first three wickets for 31 runs before a fourth-wicket stand of 50 between David Jones and captain Robin Swan earned them respite.

But another collapse saw three wickets fall for nine runs and leave them on the defensive.

Jones was high man with an even 50, which included two fours and four sixes off 55 balls while Swan supported with 16. Corvett Lambert scored 14 in the tail-end as Bridge struggled for runs against some tight St. David's bowling.

Herbie Bascome, leading the team in the absence of James Pace, claimed three for eight from seven overs while first-change George Cannonier took three for 22 off eight overs and Lionel Cann two for 29 from eight.

The heavy shower sent the teams off the field with St. David's 18 for one in reply. And when the match resumed, their target had been reduced to 107 in 41 overs.

There was no urgency to push big-hitter Lionel Cann up any higher than number five as the early-order batsmen Reginald Pitcher (53) and Eddie Lamb (35) did the job in a second-wicket stand, which carried the score from 16 to 94.

Social Club 165-8 Devonshire Rec. 166-2 Skipper Albert Steede and Roger Trott each hit half-centuries as Devonshire Rec. scored a predictable one-sided eight-wicket victory over Social Club at Devonshire Rec. field.

The two joined in a second-wicket stand that put on 72 runs after opener Donald Norford (22) was out with the total on 62.

When Trott was out at 134, Steede and Mark Ray (19) stayed together to take the team to victory.

Trott scored his 57 off just 43 balls, striking three fours and six sixes while Steede faced 83 balls for 54 not out and hit four fours and a six.

Earlier, Social Club reached a surprisingly high score, thanks to a fine knock of 67 by Dwayne Adams from 112 balls. He struck six fours and four sixes.

Batting at number three, Adams helped to pull his team out of trouble after they lost opener Cal Grimes without a run scored and then had their second opener Thomas Brangman (two) dismissed with the total eight.

Spinner Bruce Perinchief had two for 33, John Ray two for 36 and Winston Trott two for 43.