Sunday was certainly one of the most pivotal dates in the North West season so far with twists and turns aplenty in both league and Ulster Cup.

Limavady were the sole local representatives left in the latter competition but the Roesiders found North Down on yet another going day and went down to a 7-wicket defeat.

Tom Riddles has been in excellent form for Limavady this season and batted really well again here making 67 at the top of the order. Stuart Thompson's 31 ensured the board kept ticking over early although the loss of another in-form player, Adnan Akmal, for just 15 was a body blow.

Ricky McDaid picked up the pace with an aggressive 42 and it looked at one stage that the hosts could get 270 but the departure of Riddles and McDaid saw the rate drop substantially. In the end, Andrew Riddles' side posted 237 in their 40 overs and against a very strong batting line it looked a fraction short.

Neil Russell knows his way around these parts and the big opener was in good nick as he gave the Comber side a solid start making 60. Alistair Shields added 28 and Ryan Haire 49 as North Down's batsmen all got among the runs and the visitors always looked as though they had matters in hand.

Professional Ian Moran and Timur Khan finished the job with an unbeaten 65 and 28 respectively as the Belfast side eased through to next month's final.

There was some cracking league action as well and leaders Donemana got a real shock when Glendermott ender their winning streak at The Holm. Everything had looked in order when half centuries from Junior McBrine and Dwayne McGarrigle as well as 37 from Graeme Boyd had helped Donemana recover from 103 for 5 to post 264 all out.

The Rectory men had a different plan however and theirs involved their professional, Roy Silva, blasting cricket balls all around the Tyrone village. It has been a long time since the hosts attack was treated with such disdain but by the time he had finished, the Sri Lankan had smashed 26 fours and 13 sixes in an unbeaten 201 from just 117 balls.

Silva was given tremendous support from Bob Robinson who batted really intelligently for his own unbeaten 51 as Glendermott blew away all talk of a relegation scrap with a facile 8-wicket win.

With Limavady and Brigade not playing in the league and the leaders losing out, it was a superb opportunity for Strabane to get back into the reckoning as they hosted out-of-sorts Fox Lodge at the Park.

For once the Strabane batting failed at the top and it was left to Mark Roulston with 59, Mark Gillespie, 46, and Ciaran Patton 45 to get them to 237 for 9 in their 50 overs. Andy Britton claimed 3 for 31 while Gareth Heywood and Darryl Brown picked up a couple of wickets each.

The Foxies' batting has been letting them down in recent weeks but skipper Brian Allen led by example here hitting 14 fours and 3 sixes on his way to an excellent unbeaten 109. Jason Milligan batted really well to make 78 in a 150 run partnership with his captain but some tight bowling from Phil Eaglestone (5 for 39) in particular meant that the visitors went into the last over still needing 14.

They got it down to 4 to win from the final delivery which Andy Britton sent sailing over the long on boundary rope to end the contest and quite possibly with it Strabane's title chances.

Bready are another side to have struggled of late and Trevor Hamilton's side travelled to Eglinton desperate for a win to change the mood ahead of this weekend's cup final. Batting first Bready once again seemed to have got themselves into all sorts of trouble as they slumped to 128 for 7 before a 115-run partnership between James Long and Marc Fleming turned the match.

Long was only brought into the side an hour before the game but his 85 contained 7 fours and 3 sixes and has now made it very difficult for the club's selectors to leave him out this weekend.

Johnny Gardiner was the pick of Eglinton's bowling as he claimed 4 for 48 but the villagers found themselves chasing down 250 if they were to pick up two priceless points in their battle against relegation.

Half centuries from Chris Pierce and Ryan Butterworth set them on their way before Marc Fleming then finished them off with a superb spell of bowling. The young spinner has said all week that the big ground holds no fears for him and his 6 for 24 certainly backed that up as Eglinton came apart.

Still only 4 points for them and the same for Bonds Glen who came unstuck at Coleraine in the final game of the day. Ian McGregor batted in an unfamiliar number 6 for the Bannsiders but still managed to top score with 43 while Rishi Chopra added 34 in a modest enough 194 for 9. Leslie Curry, Colin Hall and Gihan Dilruk all claimed three wickets for the visitors but their batting was a different matter.

Extras was top score with 20 as the Bee Gees were undone by Stephen Dunn (3 for 14) and David Cooke ( 3 for 15) while Rory Knox marked his return to the first team with 2 for 3 as the visitors were dismissed for 82.