Oxfordshire Ladies suffered an agonising 40-37 defeat by Durham in the Walker Cup national double rink final at Royal Leamington Spa.

Caroline Campion’s four of Sue Mayo, Sue Lacey and Donna Knight came out on top 21-19 in a tight encounter with Ann Anderson.

Katherine Hawes’s team of Carole Galletly, Jeanette Berry and Gail Gilkes were never more than seven shots adrift against Gill Jones.

Hawes needed just one shot on the final end to take the game to an extra end, but narrowly missed a shot to take out the Durham bowls, leaving the north-east county as victors.

In the semi-final, Oxfordshire edged out Leicestershire 38-36 in a nail-biting finish.

Campion was up against last year’s national fours champions, skipped by Di Hurst.

At 18 ends, Campion’s four were ten shots behind, but a late surge saw them pick up a single and a four on the last end to lose 23-15.

Hawes’s side led most of the way against Lynne Green, but going into the last end the match was all square across the board.

However, Hawes picked up two shots to win the game and put Oxon into the final.

RESULTS

Semi-finals

Oxfordshire 38, Leicestershire 36 (Oxon skips first): C Campion lost to D Hurst 23-15; K Hawes bt L Green 23-13.

Final

Durham 40, Oxfordshire 37 (Durham skips first): A Anderson lost to C Campion 21-19; G Jones bt K Hawes 21-16.