FOUR BECOMES THREE AS CHAMPIONS FALL AT BEECHGROVE

It now looks to be a three-way battle for the 2011 Billy Henderson Properties senior title after Brigade ended Strabane's two-year reign as champions and Limavady and Donemana secured wins over Glendermott and Bready respectively.

The champions' tenure is all but over after a 5-wicket reverse at Beechgrove as Brigade gave themselves a great chance of bringing the trophy back to the Waterside for the first time since 2007. Skipper Mark Simpson set the tone with a terrific opening burst that reduced the Red Caps to 23 for 3 and when Niall McDonnell pulled a long hop straight to square leg having made 30 the visitors looked in trouble.

Mark Gillespie managed to galvanize the batting side with a patient innings supported first by Mark Roulston and then Ciaran Patton before the left hander upped the ante in the final overs. Gillespie took a real shine to Trevor Britton in particular ripping into the Brigade spinner at will, one over in particular going for three sixes and two fours as the last four overs yielded 52 runs. He was eventually out for 72 while Ciaran Patton was unbeaten on 20 as Strabane set their hosts a very respectable 187 to win.

Having tried a number of opening pairings this season Brigade turned to Gareth McKeegan to partner Chris Dougherty and having played the role for years at Killymallaght, McKeegan showed he hasn't lost his touch. He and Dougherty were parted just one short of a half century stand but the runs came in double quick time and allowed the home side to dictate the pace from there on.

Iftikhar Hussain's 45 took Brigade to the verge of victory and although Strabane threatened with three wickets from Martin Deans, Ata-Ur-Rehman with 24 not out and skipper Simpson with an unbeaten 23 got them home to narrow the options in the title race.

Just over the tins at The Rectory, Limavady survived an almighty scare to edge out Glendermott and keep themselves right in the thick of the action. Tom Riddles with 35, Stuart Thompson (32) and Mark McDaid (30) got the Roesiders off to a steady if unspectacular start but Roy Silva and Craig Averill were among the wickets as Limavady slumped to 140 for 6.

Ivan McDaid batting at number 8 then joined Andrew Riddles and that pair added 83 before the skipper was out for 25 however McDaid continued on his merry way and eventually finished 51 not out having hit 4 fours and 2 sixes. That allowed the visitors to post an unlikely 237 despite Silva returning figures of 4 for 33 and Craig Averill 3 for 21.

Glendermott's reply started very well with professional Silva going after the Limavady skipper in particular and taking 20 off his first over. The Sri Lankan and Bob Robinson looked like putting a serious dent in Limavady's challenge before the former was dismissed for 60, having hit 8 fours and 3 sixes.

The game was to turn on Robinson's dismissal however and having made 48 that took his side to 200 for 6, Simon Dunn found a superb catch to get rid of Glendermott's danger man. The tail was found badly wanting thereafter despite resistance from Rodney Pearson and the last 3 wickets fell for just 4 runs as Limavady breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Much could now well depend on Brigade's impending T20 replay against their championship rivals, due to be played in the coming week.

Donemana aren't out of it by any means either and the Holm side consolidated their hand with a comprehensive 7-wicket win over senior cup winners Bready. There was little sign of what was in store here as Brian Scanlon and Steven Clarke helped the visitors recover from the early loss of David Rankin as Bready reached 75 for 1.

The Magheramason side looked to have got over their early season batting collapses of late but it seems old habits still die hard and they were at it again against their neighbours. Once Scanlon and Clarke departed the deck folded and the last nine wickets were worth just 55 runs as Bready finished all out on 130. Andy McBrine picked up 4 for 38, how Donemana could have used that in the cup final, and there were also two wickets each for James and Junior.

The Holm men's reply started slowly in the face of some very accurate bowling from Trevor Hamilton, the visiting skipper claiming the wickets of Ireland under-19 pair Hunter and McBrine as well as that of Graeme Boyd with just 39 runs on the board.

They couldn't find a way past professional Kamran Sajid and Junior McBrine however and this pair put together a 75-run stand that took the contest away from the cup holders. The latter made 39 before falling but Sajid stood firm hitting 9 fours and a six to finish unbeaten on 56 as he and James McBrine ensured a 6-wicket win.

Coleraine and Fox Lodge served up a strange contest at Sandel Lodge with the home coming away with the points in a facile 152-run win. The Bannsiders batted first and got off to an excellent start with Ian McGregor and Scott Campbell posting an 80-run first wicket stand, the former going on to make a half century in even time although his partner fell just 4 runs short of his.

David Cooke took up the mantle as he too passed 50 and Calum McGregor added 29 as Coleraine went into the last 7 overs on 217 for 4. Seeming set to go over 250 the hosts were then reined back by Andy Britton however, the Foxies' strike bowler ripping through the lower order to finish with figures of 5 for 21. Darryl Brown and Johnny Robinson also picked up 2 wickets each as the home side lost their last 6 wickets for the addition of just 12 runs.

The Foxies' reply was bizarre; young Andrew Douglas picking up a couple of early wickets to reduce the visitors to 15 for 2 before Dean McCarter and Johnny Robinson steadied things a little. They took it to 44 for 2 before the roof caved in; first Robinson went followed quickly by the middle order and then McCarter took a nasty blow through the grill and was forced to retire. Douglas accounted for professional Brown as well to give him impressive figures of 3 for 24 and the Foxes waved the white flag thereafter to finish 77 all out. Johnny Martin also claimed 3 wickets in what was a very impressive performance from this young Coleraine team.

Creevedonnell claimed the Sammy Jeffrey Shield for the sixth time in 12 years after they defeated The Nedd in a very low scoring encounter at Eglinton. Despite getting an ideal start from Kyle Morrow who made 35, the Ballykelly side were soon on the ropes and were eventually dismissed for just 76.

Nicky Cooke was in brilliant form with the ball, the all-rounder claiming 6 for 12 in a spell that took the heart from Vinny O'Hara's side and he was really well supported by Leighton McGarrigle who claimed the other 4 wickets at a cost of 29.

That said, Stephen Scroggie's men didn't exactly find scoring too easy themselves and lost 6 wickets on the way to passing the total. The skipper top scored with 22 and then at an emotional presentation invited club stalwart Tommy Laird up to receive the trophy with him to begin what was no doubt a long night of celebration on the Curryfree Road.

BILLY HENDERSON PROPERTIES DIVISION 1

At The Holm, Donemana 134-4-29 (K Sajid 56*, Jun McBrine 39, T Hamilton 3-15) beat Bready 130-10-33.2 (B Scanlon 45, S Clarke 28, M Olphert 22, A McBrine 4-38, Jun McBrine 2-4, Jas McBrine 2-21) by 6 wickets.

At Sandel Lodge, Coleraine 229-10-43 (D Cooke 53, I McGregor 51, S Campbell 46, A Britton 5-21, D Brown 2-41, J Robinson 2-56) beat Fox Lodge 77-9-21.2 (D McCarter 32 (ret'd hurt), J Martin 3-19, A Douglas 3-24, S Campbell 2-9) by 152 runs.

At The Rectory, Limavady 237-8-45 (I McDaid 51*, T Riddles 35, S Thompson 32, M McDaid 30, A Riddles 25, R McDaid 22, R Silva 4-33, C Averill 3-21) beat Glendermott 220-10-39.5 (R Silva 60, R Robinson 48, G Watson 21, R McDaid 3-31, N Thompson 3-38, A Riddles 2-58) by 17 runs.

At Beechgrove, Brigade 190-5-35.5 (I Hussain 45, G McKeegan 31, A Ur-Rehman 24*, M Simpson 23*, M Deans 3-31) beat Strabane 186-7-45 (M Gillespie 72, N McDonnell 30, M Roulston 22, C Patton 20*, M Simpson 3-30, T Britton 2-66) by 5 wickets.

Sammy Jeffrey final at Eglinton- Creevedonnell 77-6-21.3 (S Scroggie 22, G Burns 2-17, C Wilson 2-48) beat The Nedd 76-10-24.2 (K Morrow 35, N Cooke 6-12, L McGarrigle 4-29) by 4 wickets