Oxfordshire staged a late rally to snatch a thrilling three-shot victory over Berkshire in their Middleton Cup opener at Sutton BC, Lower Earley, Reading.

Trailing by 20 shots at 16 ends, Oxon hit back to pick up 11 shots across the rinks on the next end.

The visitors chalked up a further 12 shots on the 18th end to take the lead for the first time.

And they held on to their narrow advantage over the last three ends to record a 118-115 win, which gave them 17 points to Berkshire's five.

Alan Ley's rink of Jim Gamage, Barry Lambourne and Robin Hewson led Oxfordshire's late surge, picking up 14 shots over the last six ends to beat Robert Newman's four 29-12.

Alan Prew's side of debutant Spencer Townsend, Richard Redford and Ryan Buckett also finished with a flourish with nine shots over the last six ends to overpower Paul Ryman's line-up 21-14.

Calvin Carpenter's crew of Nick Welsh, George Moon and Mark Sykes provided Oxon's third winning rink with a hard-fought 19-13 success against Jon Stradling.

Captain Bades Sparkes's rink of new boy Lee Young, Stuart Richens and Robert Clanfield fought back well to earn a 19-19 draw with Gary Stacey.

And Mark Charlett's four of John Philpott, Sammy Timms and Colin Whitehead just missed out on a share of the spoils as they rallied in good fashion before going down 23-22 to Adiran Collins's side.

Oxon's other reverse came with Greg Moon's rink of Keith Holloway, Les Campion and Gary Lucas being swamped 34-8 by Mike Newman's rampant quartet.

Now Oxon will be looking to add to their victory when they take on Hampshire at Banbury on Saturday.

Berkshire 115 (5pts), Oxon 118 (17)

(Berkshire rinks first)

Rink 1: S Jones, P Swinn, S Gilbert, R Newman 12; J Gamage, B Lambourne, R Hewson, A Ley 29.

Rink 2: K Jaycock, C Barrett, C Brooks, G Stacey 19; L Young, S Richens, R Clanfield, B Sparkes 19.

Rink 3: C Brooks, D Hall, D Chrisite, M Newman 34; K Holloway, L Campion, G Lucas, Gr Moon 8.

Rink 4: G Knapper, R Smart, C Holiday, P Ryman 14; S Townsend, R Redford, R Buckett, A Prew 21.

Rink 5: D Emberson, S Ford, B Cannings, A Collins 23; J Philpott, S Timms, C Whitehead, M Charlett 22.

Rink 6: J Heapy, A Knapper, R Aitken, J Stradling 13; N Welsh, Geo Moon, M Sykes, C Carpenter 19.