Donemana take a 20 points advantage into the second half of the Premiership season and are again the team to beat if they are to be replaced as champions.

Gary McClintock’s side proved their defeat, six days earlier, to Bready was just a hiccup in their winning run, that was quickly resumed with a dominant victory over Eglinton at The Holm on Saturday.

The length of the table may have separated the two teams but Eglinton’s only league victory this term was, ironically, against Bready. It is still an outlier in a so far disappointing season.

Only a seventh wicket partnership of 88 between captain Jamie Millar and Mark Averill got them past 200 but another 100 would have been needed to trouble this Donemana side on the day.

McClintock, who came to the wicket in the fourth over after the early dismissal of DJ Dougherty, was still there at the finish, just 29 overs later with 109 runs to his name, winning the match with back to back sixes, his sixth and seventh of the innings, to go with another 11 boundaries.

He dominated the second wicket stand of 46 with Jamie Huey and then shared partnerships of 76 with professional Anuj Jotin and the undefeated 94 with Andy McBrine, who outdid his skipper by going to his 50 with three successive sixes off the unfortunate Robbie Millar. The Ireland international faced just 33 balls.

Even without Dwayne McGerrigle and Raymond Curry, there was still so much batting available for the league leaders although their absence did give a chance for Sam Huey to make an appearance and he impressed with his slow left arm bowling, especially against Averill who played and missed so often it looked as if he was swatting flies on the hottest day of the season.

It started to go wrong for Eglinton in the 24th over when Andy McBrine dismissed Andy Millar and Robbie Millar with successive balls and they collapsed from 98 for three to 127 for six. McBrine couldn’t make it a hat-trick but Dave O’Sullivan did on his return, ending the seventh wicket stand by bowling Jamie Millar and then doing the same to Ross McLaughlin and Callum Smith. There were still 31 balls left in the innings but Averill and last man Adam Murray could add only seven runs before Averill was run out on the last ball of the 50th over.

It could have been worse for the visitors if Donemana had held their catches, with at least half a dozen shelled. The easiest were Jack Martin after he hit the first of his four sixes and Jamie Millar, on 31, albeit with the fielder coming down the slope while Averill was also given a life on 30, a skyer into the covers.

In all, Eglinton played out 10 maidens, four of them, not unexpectedly, from McBrine who conceded just 25 runs in his 10 overs.

In stark contrast, Averill was the only visiting bowler to deliver a maiden, with the help of the first wicket but after McClintock had played himself in – he was scoreless after nine balls – he hit Lakshan Gamage for three fours in his next  four balls and never looked back. It meant that his 109 runs came off just 78 balls.

It was my first sight of Jotin and the Indian looks a tidy, efficient scorer, consistently finding the gaps and of his 38 runs, 30 came in boundaries, with one six. Robbie Millar picked up his wicket, caught off the top edge at short thirdman but he is proving an invaluable addition to this very good side.

Next up for Donemana is a trip to Strabane while for Eglinton the only way is up and they will be looking to repeat their solitary victory when they travel to Bready on Saturday.