OXFORDSHIRE Under 25s rounded off their season with victory over Middlesex in the Four Counties Top 11 Cup.

The success gave them third place, and represented a big move in the right direction after finishing with the wooden spoon 12 months earlier.

Putting out an inexperienced team, Oxon lost to Berkshire in the opening game, ending hopes of overall success.

Ryan Full, moved from the triples to play two-wood singles lost the opening game, but Sam Watts restored the balance with an impressive performance in the four-wood clash.

George Schwab and Joe Glenn lost in the pairs, but Oxfordshire’s four hit back.

Skipped by captain Lee Wilkinson, the team of Joe Woodward, just back from a break of two years, Connor Hathaway and Dan Swanson put in a great performance to record a crucial success.

However, despite a good show from Shane Cooper, Orren Bennett and Brandon King, they lost their triples, and Berkshire went through to face Surrey in the final.

Surrey, including Oxon old boy Sam Muir in their team, retained their title, winning all five disciplines.

However, Oxfordshire’s third-place play-off against Middlesex was a much closer affair.

Bennett went down by five shots in his first two-wood singles, but Watts picked up where he left off in the opening match by winning his four-wood clash.

Schwab and Glenn narrowly lost in the pairs, but the triple of King, Full and Cooper held on to win despite being pegged back from an early lead.

The fours match was the last to finish and Oxon went into the final end four-up, and comfortably held on for victory and third place overall.

Oxfordshire’s reserve bowler, Ben Dickson, agreed to play for Berkshire when one of their players withdrew, and left with a runners-up medal.