OXFORDSHIRE suffered a 16-shot defeat by Hampshire in the final match of their Middleton Cup campaign at Atherley.

With Surrey having played earlier in the day and won 20-2 against Bucks to clinch the South Section B title, the match lacked the usual competitive edge as both counties had lost the opportunity to win the group.

Skip Ian Snowdon’s rink maintained their 100 per cent record with a 27-16 victory, helped by six on the tenth end.

Their other win came from the rink of Mark Sykes.

Mark Charlett’s rink dropped five shots on the 20th end to lose by two.

Hampshire 124 (18pts), Oxfordshire 108

(Oxfordshire rinks first)

Rink 1: H Beall, T Prew, I Henwood, R Gaskins 21; M Aldren, D Kerr, J Biggs, C Daniels 25.

Rink 2: G Schwab, C Gilkes, A J Docherty, I Snowdon 27; S Nash, S Doih, P Ward, J Bright 16.

Rink 3: K Holloway, P Comley, J King, M Charlett 21; A Nethercliffe, C Taylor, C Thresher, L May 23.

Rink 4: J Abercrombie, P Mabbutt, S Cooper, M Sykes 18; J Leggett, A White, M Griffiths, P Cooke 12.

Rink 5: S Watts, M Brain, B Lambourne, P Sharman 14; L McCribben, A Anderson, R Morgan, N Duncan 23.

Rink 6: M Nash, K Alder, N Rae-Welsh, W Parker 7; D Taylor, C Cranham, C Bailey, J Marsland 25.

Final group positions: Surrey 64pts, Hampshire 50, Oxfordshire 43, Berkshire 33, Bucks 30.

l OXFORDSHIRE won on all six rinks as they beat Warwickshire 159-87 in a friendly at Carterton.

Two Carterton players were drafted in after the non-arrival of three members of the Warwickshire team.

Paul Demczak, of Witney Town, and Ron Slater, of Watlington, received their 50-game badges.

Oxfordshire 159, Warwickshire 87

Oxon rink scores: B Willoughby, G Weesdon, B Jarvie & M Andrew won 25-11; H Franklin, M Jones, J Hicks & M Morris won 21-12; S Tolhurst, K Williams, B Bloomfield & B Gilkes won 32-13; A Hunt, T Backer-Holst, H Williams & P Latter won 29-13; P Demczak, R Slater, A Hall & A Ley won 24-22; C Lewis, J Timms, J McGeough & M Brain won 28-16.

l THE Oxfordshire Fours quarter-finals at Shiplake proved to be one-sidedaffairs, with only one of the defeated teams reaching double figures.

OBA FOURS RESULTS

Quarter-finals: J Philpott, C Whitehead, I Snowdon & R Gaskins (Headington) bt L Cooper, D Hodkinson, B Smith & A Scholan (Witney Tn) 22-13; J Nicholl, I Henwood, J King & M Charlett (Headington) bt P Hilton, J McGeough, D Sharpe & AJ Docherty 21-6; K Holloway, J Wilkinson, G Schwab & M Sykes (Banbury Borough) bt P Lopez, C Lewis, P Comley & C Earl (Oxford City & County) 20-7; D May, N Lewis, G May & H Watts (Headington) bt S Watts, S Gilkes, S Cooper & C Gilkes (Watlington) 21-5.

l THE OBA semi-finals will be played at Banbury Chestnuts on Saturday.

Singles (10.30): K Holloway (Banbury Borough) v J Bland (Shiplake Village), C Whitehead (Headington) v C Gilkes (Watlington).

Pairs (11.30): I Henwood & M Charlett (Headington) v N Eley & T Eley (Adderbury), T Jupp & S Richens (Carterton) v J Feeley & C Cox (Kidlington).

Triples (1): D May, G May & N Rae-Welsh (Headington) v J Wilkinson, G Schwab & M Sykes (Banbury Borough), K Holloway, D Sharpe & AJ Docherty (Banbury Borough) v P Maisey, D Wakeman & C Weedon (Carterton).

Fours (4.30): J Nicholls, I Henwood, J King & M Charlett (Headington) v J Philpott, C Whitehead, I Snowdon & R Gaskins (Headington), D May, N Lewis, G May & H Watts (Headington) v K Holloway, J Wilkinson, G Schwab & M Sykes (Banbury Borough).