With the previous week's victory over the same opponents having propelled Muckamore to safety, the selectors pitched in a number of the club's most promising young players for the penultimate game of the campaign.

Charlie McCrum, the former Ireland international, top-scored with 55 and shared a second wicket stand of 64 with Noel Nelson that propelled Laurelvale to 99. But when the partnership was broken the visitors lost their way in the face of

accurate bowling and were restricted to 146 for six in their allotted 50 overs.

Craig Drummond, captain of the club's Graham Cup winning team, produced further evidence of his potential with a tidy spell of five overs in which he claimed the top-order wickets of Nelson, bowled for 33, and Bruce Topping, caught by Jason Van Der Merwe, for 4.

Conor Breet, too, picked up a couple of wickets, and there was one wicket each for Neil Gill and Trevor Neill, who respectively accounted for McCrum and Wayne Pearson, both of whom were caught by Sun Sun Stephenson.

When Muckamore set out in search of the eighth victory that would lift them above Lurgan, they suffered a series of early blows. Breet, Drummond and Stephenson all fell to Pearson and Jason Van Der Merwe was run out as four wickets tumbled for 29. Michael Kennedy played well and made his side's highest score of 35 before a misunderstanding with Richard Keates left him stranded in mid-wicket.

Gill and Keates weighed in with 14 and 13, respectively, but the dismissal of Dunlop, batting in the unaccustomed low position of No. 8, for nought ended the Moylena men's bid to challenge the Vale total and the innings closed at 97 to the second ball of the 50th over.

This Sunday - weather permitting - Muckamore will bring down the curtain on their season when they host Holywood.

While the match holds only academic interest for Muckamore, it could be crucial for Holywood, who are battling with Dundrum to avoid joining Armagh in Section Three next season.