Southern Counties North

Witney suffered a blow to their promotion hopes when they lost 28-3 away to fourth-placed Buckingham, who only secured the match in the final quarter.

With a much-changed pack, which included a debut for Tim Hook in the second row, Witney struggled to provide enough quick ball for their backs to stretch the Buckingham defence.

The visitors trailed 8-3 at the break, with assured fly half Ollie Smith landing their only points with a penalty.

The turning point came just after the break, when Witney winger James Lamb, distracted by a very short in-goal area, dropped the ball as he went over the try line.

Witney's luck deteriorated further just after they made their third and last substitution, when their No 8 Joe Rowles suffered a knee injury and was forced from the field, reducing them to 14 men for the remaining 25 minutes.

Buckingham then stepped up a gear and ran in three more tries, one converted, and added a penalty.

Bicester were unlucky to lose 10-7 at home to Phoenix in a dour, hard-fought match.

Hooker Darren Cassidy gave them a bright start with a close-range try after five minutes, Chad Ward convert- ing.

However, there was little structure to the Bicester play, even though they held on to that lead until half-time.

Phoenix equalised midway through the second half, when winger Matt Hood touched down wide out following a tap penalty. Full back Nigel Coltman added the conversion.

Coltman then put the visitors ahead with a penalty, and despite strong drives from No 8 Martin Linstrom and lock Mark Malins, Bicester could not respond.