Eastern counties champions Bailey?s Bay completed a memorable weekend by pulling off a hard-fought 26 run victory over Western Stars at St.John?s Road yesterday.

Stars, who would have been crowned champions of the Premier one-day division had they overcome Bay, will now have to wait until the final weekend where victory over Devonshire Rec. would clinch further silverware for the current Belco Cup champions.

Set a challenging 223 to win on a wicket which was clearly under-prepared and deteriorated alarmingly in the late afternoon, Stars were always up against it, losing wickets regularly in the face of chronically uneven bounce, an impressive Bay fielding display and an excellent spell of spin bowling from Irving Romaine.

Albert Steede, fresh from his typically powerful 137 in the county game the day before, was the first to go, caught at slip off the bowling of the persistent Corey Hill.

Steede?s opening partner Jermaine Postlethwaite (11), having looked in a bullish mood from the outset, soon followed the ex-Somerset Cup Match skipper back to the pavilion, pushing too hard at a ball which stopped on him and ballooning a catch to a diving Stephen Outerbridge at point.

And with Saleem Mukuddem (2), Treadwell Gibbons (12) and Ian Armstrong (1) all perishing without troubling the scorers unduly, Stars found themselves languishing at 61 for 5 with Bay very much in the driving seat.

But with Gershon Gibbons playing out of his skin at number five, the match remained alive.

Having peppered the boundaries on both sides of the wicket with some memorable blows, Gibbons was on 44 when he was harshly given out leg before by umpire George O?Brien.

With Gibbons gone, Stars? hopes began to fade, although an aggressive 37 down the order from skipper Hasan Durham, ably supported by the young Deniko Hollis (11), kept the game interesting until the final few overs.

Romaine (4 for 31) finished with the best figures for Bay and was a constant threat on the crumbling surface with his quick, flat offbreaks.

Earlier, Bay had won the toss and quite sensibly elected to bat.

A partnership of 71 for the first wicket between Jermaine Warner and Dennis Trott helped Bay seize the initiative while a quick-fire 45 from Romaine at number three, 27 from wicket keeper Roderick Masters and 26 not out from Hill, rubbed salt into the wounds of a Stars side which, considering they were one win away from the league title, looked strangely tired and dispirited for long periods in the field.