Oxford City's poor start to the defence of their Shaw & Co Oxfordshire Foursomes League title became positively nightmarish when they suffered a whitewash away to newly-promoted The Oxford- shire.

Having already lost their first three Section 1 matches, City thought it could not get much worse.

But The Oxfordshire proved it could with three-hole winning margins in each of their matches.

Jeff Archer and Richard Moan set the ball rolling with a 3 & 1 win over Dave Summers and Clive Bowler.

Andy Stubbs and Richard Graham saw off John Summers and Grant Slattery by the same margin, while Nigel Lucas and Mark Walker accounted for Mark Hall and Adam Weston 3 & 2. City are now in serious danger of relegation after plummeting to the bottom of the table.

Studley Wood maintained their 100 per cent record with a 2-1 win at home to Frilford Heath, as reputations continue to count for nothing.

Ashley Walton and Barry Mann won the top match for Frilford. But Shaun Hunt and Darren Drew levelled matters by beating Jim Peck and John Cronly.

The bottom match proved a one-sided affair as Studley's Austin Siggers and B Foster trounced Alex Gavrilovic and Tom Fleming 5 & 4.

Hadden Hill maintained their hot pace in Section 2, recording their fourth successive victory as they won 2-1 at Chipping Norton, while Burford completed a whitewash away to Mentmore.

In Section 3, Bicester were pipped 2-1 by Hazelmere in a tight match. RESULTS

SHAW & CO OXFORDSHIRE

FOURSOMES LEAGUE

Section 1

The Oxfordshire 3 (4pts), Oxford City 0 (0) (Oxfordshire first): J Archer & R Moan bt D Summers & C Bowler 3 & 1; N Lucas & M Walker bt M Hall & A Wootton 3 & 2; A Stubbs & R Graham bt J Summers & G Slattery 3 & 1.

Studley Wood 2 (3), Frilford Heath 1 (1) (Studley Wood first): J Fathers & N Adby lost to A Walton & B Mann 3 & 2; S Hunt & D Drew bt J Peck & J Cronly 2 & 1; A Siggers & B Foster bt A Gavrilovic & T Fleming 5 & 4.

Section 2

Chipping Norton 1 (1), Hadden Hill 2 (3) (Chipping Norton first): M Stanton & N Thornton lost to A Smith & P Chana 6 & 5; G Reynolds & L Thorpe bt M Beale & P Whiting 1 hole; D Hicks & S Allen lost to M Greenwood & J Hawkins 2 holes.

Mentmore 0 (0), Burford 3 (4) (Mentmore first): R Taylor & L Hawkins lost to I Liddle & D Ewers 4 & 3; R Gaudoin & K Mawby lost to T Potter & A Purdy 2 & 1; B Clarke & A Boswell lost to S Hopkins & D Yates 5 & 3.

Section 3

Bicester 1 (1), Hazlemere 2 (3) (Bicester first): M Haddy & S Hickman halved with D Taylor & D Graham; M Bransby & T Horn lost to P Trench & A Birdseye 1 hole; K Bransby & D Green halved with M Joy & B Harwood.

The Wychwood 1.5 (2), North Oxford 1.5 (2).