Oxfordshire Under 25s produced a below-par display in their 71-45 defeat by Berkshire in their Junior Home Counties League opener at Thatcham.

Now played in a three-rink format, the clash saw Oxon fail to take a single point.

Disappointingly, Berkshire, despite being the home side and the reduction in team size, failed to field a full complement and played a triple skipped by Thatcham’s own David Miles against Dan Wakeman’s four.

The three players, with the advantage of the front two each having three bowls each, dominated from the start and won 24-10 – with 25 per cent of the original score deducted.

This meant that the Oxon fours of George Schwab and Shane Cooper needed wins to take anything from the game, but both lost by six shots to BJ Byles and Mitch Cooper respectively.

Berkshire U25 71, Oxfordshire U25 45

(Berkshire rinks first)

Rink 1: T Moore, T Bicknell, D Miles 24*, Darren Wakeman, J Woodward, R Full, Dan Wakeman 10. * Original score was 32, but 8 shots (25 per cent) deducted for missing player.

Rink 2: P Hutchinson, T Belcher, R Cooper, M Cooper 22, S Watts, J Wilkinson, C Gilkes, S Cooper 16.

Rink 3: C Lali, E Stacey, K Mallanain, BJ Byles 25, D Swanson, L Wilkinson, D May, G Schwab 19.