Carterton's Stuart Richens is through to the EBA national singles finals at Melton Mowbray in April after beating Glenn Allen (Oxford & District) 21-14 in the Oxon and Bucks final at Banbury Cross.

An exciting final produced some excellent bowling from these young bowlers, with Richens just having the edge.

The 15th and 17th ends provided the breakthrough the Carterton bowler was seeking. He scored a four and two on these respective ends to go 20-11 in front and looked home and dry.

To his credit, Allen fought back with singles on the next three ends before Richens scored the single required for victory.

There was some consolation for Allen, who teamed up with his father, Chris, to win the men's pairs with a 24-19 marathon triumph over Richard Hyde and Matthew Hyde (Handy Cross).

This final, played at the Foxhill club, proved a tedious affair, lasting no less than five hours. The match was aggressive throughout with both pairs forcing 'no ends' in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

After an impressive start, the Oxford duo seemed to be cruising to an easy win, but by the eighth end, the Hyde brothers had got their act together, chipping away at the deficit to draw level at 16 ends with the score locked at 18-18.

The Allens then ground out four of the last five ends to run out five-shot winners.

There was an all-west Oxfordshire clash in the fours at Banbury Cross, where Dale Hall, Eric Dix, Andy Martin and Alan Prew (Chipping Norton) edged out Richie, Andy Wise, Robert Clanfield and Baden Sparkes (Carterton) 18-16.

The Chippy quartet were without former world indoor champion Les Gillett, who was unavailable, but Dix proved a worthy substitute in a thrilling encounter.

Carterton looked certain winners when they led 16-9 with just four ends remaining, but Chippy skip Prew had other ideas as he spearheaded a comeback that saw them leading by one shot after the penultimate end.

On the final end, the Carterton four looked to have accumulated enough for a comfortable win, but withthe very last bowl of the match, Prew drew the match-winning shot to claim a memorable victory.

The national finals are at Melton Mowbray from April 6-13.