Old Belvedere's annus horribilis in the Whitney Moore & Keller League continued apace yesterday at Castle Avenue, where Andre Botha and Deryck Vincent guided Clontarf to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory in only 22.4 overs.

Clontarf, who have a match in hand, and Phoenix are now level on 140 points, and their showdown at the same venue tomorrow seems a certain pointer to the ultimate outcome of Section B.

Leinster's win on Saturday over Pembroke maintained their place at the top of the Section A table, and they should add to their tally at the expense of Rush at Kenure next Saturday. Rush and Pembroke are languishing on the bottom rung of the ladder, a fate also being experienced by Old Belvedere and CYM in Section B.

Yesterday, Old Belvedere won the toss, and Marcus Adam and Ken Sorensen had put on 32 runs before Botha's breakthrough began the procession of batsmen to the pavilion. Adam grimly batted through 44 overs, scoring 38 off 136 balls, with three boundaries; Belvedere's other batsmen were rather less successful, as only three - Sorensen, David O'Riordan and Peter O'Reilly - reached double figures.

The prospect of O'Reilly shouting a drink for umpire Liam Keegan afterwards seemed most unlikely, having been given out stumped by Angus Hancock off what the former Ireland opening bowler clearly considered to be a wide ball from Seamus Boylan. Boylan took 4 for 25, Keith Spelman 4 for 23, Botha chipping in with 2 for 30.

After O'Reilly had dismissed Boylan when Clontarf batted, Vincent and Botha rattled off the 102 runs required for victory. Vincent's 42 included seven fours and was hit off 55 balls, while Botha reached his 50 off 66 balls and hit one six and four fours.

At Beechgrove on Saturday, following rain interruption the previous day, Strabane became the fourth North West club to win the Irish Senior Cup when they defeated Ballymena by 24 runs. The man of the match award went to Strabane's Mark Gillespie, who took 5 for 33 off 9.4 overs.