Oxfordshire were relegated from the Tetley's Bitter Top 16 County Championship Group on Saturday after going down to Surrey at Henley.

It means they will play in the Shield competition next year, and overall, it was a disappointing end to their strong showing of the past two years.

Oxon, who conceded their opening match to Gloucestershire and then lost 78-24 to Kent, made two changes with Richard Rouse (Oxford Harlequins) and Adam Hicks (Witney) coming into the side.

The opening exchanges were closely fought with Oxon attacking strongly. Henk Hattingh, Liam Smye and Rouse all went close, but after 15 minutes, a missed tackle in the centre saw Surrey break away and score a converted try against the run of play.

As Surrey's powerful forwards became more and more influential, two further tries saw them increase their lead to 19-0 after 25 minutes.

With the scrummage under pressure and no line-out ball, Oxon lived off scraps.

However, just before half-time, a determined burst and chip ahead by James Wilcox-Jones saw David Knight recover the ball to link again with Wilcox-Jones, who raced over under the posts to score an excellent try, which Simon Trower converted to reduce the arrears.

The second half saw a great deal of loose play, but plenty of open rugby to provide a good spectacle for the small crowd.

An intercepted try from halfway took Surrey's tally to 31 points after 50 minutes, but just as the game seemed to be slipping away from them, Oxon rallied to score two excellent tries.

The first came from a break by scrum half Anthony Cope which put Ali James over, and then Knight found space for Rouse to score wide out. Trower's conversion attempts narrowly failed.

The last few minutes were all Surrey, who scored a penalty try after a series of scrums on the home line.

For Oxon, Ali Mortimore's workrate was outstanding, while Matt McNally and Wilcox-Jones did many good things. Knight covered a great deal of ground to make an excellent all-round contribution.