The race for the Premier Division title intensified yesterday as leaders Western Stars suffered their second consecutive defeat within seven days, losing this time to Cleveland County at Wellington Oval by a mere nine runs.

The defeat came on the heels of last week's loss to St. George's as Stars found it hard to fill the void left by skipper Albert Steede who is abroad.

Second-place Southampton Rangers, who left on a tour of England yesterday, have now emerged as serious challengers. The pair are scheduled to meet in one of the league's final games.

Although managing to dismiss Cleveland for a modest total, Stars had little success in a game which was reduced to 43 overs. They were finally beaten with just five balls remaining.

Dwayne Leverock and Gershon Gibbons spearheaded Stars' bowling as Cleveland struggled early on, slumping to 63 for five before eventually reaching a creditable 169 for seven.

Leverock was the pick of the two with three wickets for 21 off nine overs, including two maidens while Gibbons had two for 23 off seven overs with a maiden.

Thanks to an undefeated knock of 44 from veteran spinner Johnny Richardson and a timely 36 from Jason Simons, Cleveland recovered after their early order batsmen offered little resistance. Opener Anthony Bascome struck 27 while skipper Carlton Smith hit 21.

With the opening father and son team of Treadwell Gibbons senior and junior putting on 40 for the first wicket, a seemingly strong foundation was laid for a Stars victory. But it wasn't to be.

The younger Gibbons was first to go for 14 with the total on 40 but while the father stayed around until they reached 80, Stars had by that time lost three more wickets. Gibbons senior eventually departed for 42 with the score on 80 for four.

Cleon Scotland then came and went for a duck leaving Stars in deep trouble at 80 for five.

But veteran player-coach Arnold Manders (38) and Leverock (15) added 61 for the sixth wicket to add stability, although their dismissals still left Stars at 152 for seven.

An inspired Cleveland attack were now in command and combined with some good fielding there was nothing the remaining batsmen could do to prevent their dominance.

Veteran spinner Peter Philpott finished with four for 26 off nine overs with two maidens while Courtney Trott's astonishing spell saw him finish with a haul of three for seven off 5.1 overs.

Glen Blakeney followed up last weekend's brutal batting assault by producing yet another scintillating century (108) against Flatts at Lord's yesterday while spinner Del Hollis (six for 26) and young Delyone Borden (three for 35) completed a good day's work to give the Islanders a comfortable 176-run win.

Just a week after blasting his way into the record books with an unbeaten knock of 303, Blakeney continued to feast on local opposition to notch his fifth century of the season while veteran Allen Richardson also marked a triumphant return to top flight cricket with an equally impressive 76.

On this occasion, Blakeney whipped 13 fours and five sixes while Richardson managed five fours during a typical patient knock.

Spinner Hollis, also enjoying a fine all-round display, chipped in with a brisk 20.

Ronald Gibbons was the pick of Flatts bowling with three for 51 while skipper Rahji Edness (two for 61) and Vernon Eve (two for 35) each grabbed a pair of wickets.

Both Nelson Bascome and veteran Troy Dean were costly in the bowling department and could only manage one for 58 and one for 43 respectively.

Flatts also gave up 27 runs in extras.

In pursuit of their hosts' total, Flatts lost their first wicket with only nine runs on the board, that of Quin Outerbridge, trapped leg before by Lionel Cann for one.

But a fighting 25-run second wicket stand between Eve (13) and Gareth Davis (nine) appeared to put their team back in good stead.

However, once Eve was out, caught by young Borden to give Hollis his first victim of the day, the next four Flatts wickets would fall in the space of 32 runs as Borden and Hollis continued to run rampant.

A spirited knock of 20 from young Bascome temporarily halted the Islanders victory charge as they warmed up for this Saturday's second round Eastern Counties defence against the same opposition in convincing fashion.

In addition to the fine bowling displays by both Hollis and Borden, Cann chipped in with one for 10 off just four overs.

The Premier match between Bailey's Bay and St. George's, due to be played at Sea Breeze Oval, was called off as for the second consecutive week Bay were unable to provide a properly prepared pitch.

Cleveland won by nine runs at Wellington Oval:

Cleveland

A.Bascome c C.Scotland b D.Leverock 27

P.Philpott c Leverock b G.Gibbons 11

C.Trott c M.Lowe b W.Burt 0

E.Rahman c Lowe b Gibbons 12

A.Adams c J.Robinson b Leverock 4

J.Richardson not out 44

J.Simons c wkt T.Gibbons Sr. b Leverock 36

C.Smith b S.Mukuddem 21

J.Tyrell not out 1

Extras (3-b, 4-lb, 6-w) 13

Total (for seven wickets, 43 overs) 169

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-23, 3-35, 4-55, 5-63, 6-121, 7-167.

Bowling: S.Mukuddem 9-0-28-1; W.Burt 8-1-34-1; G.Gibbons 7-1-23-2; M.Lowe 2-0-18-0; D.Leverock 9-2-21-3; Arn.Manders 8-0-38-0.

Western Stars

T.Gibbons Sr. c J.Simons b P.Philpott 42

T.Gibbons Jr. c and b H.Rawat 14

G.Gibbons b Philpott 5

S.Mukuddem b Philpott 4

Arn.Manders c Adams b C.Trott 38

C.Scotland b Philpott 0

D.Leverock c Adams b Trott 15

M.Lowe c Adams b Trott 5

J.Robinson c wk K.DeShields b Tyrell 4

W.Burt run out (Philpott) 1

D.Hollis not out 1

Extras (1-b, 4-lb, 26-w) 31

Total (42.1 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-61, 3-79, 4-80, 5-80, 6-141, 7-152, 8-158, 9-159.

Bowling: H.Rawat 9-1-24-1; J.Tyrell 9-1-41-1; P.Philpott 9-2-26-4; J.Richardson 7-0-42-0; E.Rahman 3-0-15-0; C.Trott 5.1-1-7-3.

Umpires: R.Butler, R.O'Hara.

@tab1:St. David's v Flatts<$>

St.David's won by 176 runs at Lord's yesterday:

St. David's<$>

L.Cann c R.Gibbons b N.Bascome 13

A.Richardson c&b R.Edness 76

G.Blakeney c G.Davis b Edness 108

D.Borden run out 3

S.Robinson c Edness b V.Eve 12

F.Crockwell b R.Gibbons 2

C.Smith lbw Gibbons 0

D.Hollis c R.Gibbons b T.Dean 20

L.Marshall c&b Eve 6

G.O'Brien c Eve b Gibbons 10

M.Lowe not out 6

Extras 25

Total (All out in 48) 281

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-186, 3-199, 4-225, 5-236, 6-246, 7-236, 8-246, 9-268, 10-281.

Bowling: N.Bascome 8-1-58-1; T.Dean 4-0-43-1; R.Gibbons 10-1-51-3; R.Edness 9-0-61-2; D.Wright 8-2-29-0; V.Eve 9-2-35-2.

Flatts<$>

Q.Outerbridge lbw L.Cann 1

V.Eve c D.Borden b D.Hollis 13

G.Davis c S.Robinson b D.Borden 9

D.Wright lbw Hollis 6

R.Edness c Cann b Borden 3

T.Dean st S.Crockwell b Hollis 13

R.Gibbons c M.Lowe b Hollis 6

J.Barritt c Cann b Hollis 2

N.Bascome c (sub) C.Pitcher b Borden 20

N.Burgess b Hollis 13

J.Woolridge not out 0

Extras (4b, 7lbs, 6w, 2nbs) 19

Total (All out in 23.3 overs) 105

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-34, 3-37, 4-41, 5-57, 6-66, 7-70, 8-70, 9-103, 10-105. Bowling: G.O'Brien Jr. 6-0-23-0; L.Cann 4-1-10-1; D.Hollis 8-2-26-6; D.Borden 6-0-35-3.

Umpires: G.Francis, J.Pitcher.