BRITISH Rail go into the Christmas period with a healthy eight-point lead at the top of Oxford & District League Division 1, but main rivals Bicester A have two matches in hand.

In their latest outing, British Rail beat Rutherford 10-0 thanks to maximums from Darren Jones, Ian Mead and Neil Cartwright.

Bicester A won 9-1 at Forum C 9-1, with Pascal Larousse spoiling Bicester’s perfect score by beating Jason Tustain 11-8 in their decider.

In Division 2, Vikings C beat Gladiators B 10-0 with maximums for Artur Taevere, Serogo Tabuni and James Speedy.

Vikings B beat Bicester B 9-1 thanks to Paul Borrowdale and Mike Aistrop.

Forum G upset Begbroke by holding them to a draw.

Dawn Pearce won three for Begbroke, but the key to Forum’s result was the victory of Ed Lush over Paul Humphrey plus the five-set doubles success of Arthur Anstis and Lush.

OXFORD & DISTRICT LEAGUE RESULTS

Div 1: British Rail 10 (D Jones 3, I Mead 3, N Cartwright 3), RAL 0; Forum C 1, Bicester A 9 (D Ralls 3, T Gorman 3).

Div 2: Vikings C 10 (A Taevere 3, S Tabuni 3, J Speedy 3), Gladiators B 0; Gladiators A 9 (K Giles 3, P Knight 3, D Gardner 3), Vikings D 1; Begbroke 10 (P Humphrey 3, J Brown 3, D Pearce 3), Vikings D 0; Vikings B 9 (P Borrowdale 3, M Aistrop 3), Bicester B 1; Forum G 5, Begbroke 5 (D Pearce 3).

Div 3: Bicester D 2, Holton C 8 (J Rolls 3, S Curtis 3); Holton C 5, Forum I 5 (T Ruane 3); Holton A 8 (B Ford 3, P Guest 3), Bicester E 2; Vikings E 6, Holton B 3.