To their great credit, Far From The Madding Crowd ‘B’ (Oxford City) posted two victories during the recently completed winter season, their first.

Last Thursday, they should have opened their account for the summer campaign as they had defending Section One titleholders, North Oxford Conservative Club (Summertown), admittedly a tad below strength, at their mercy.

However, the ‘Young Uns’ (their average age is about a quarter of that of any other league side!) once again displayed their fragilities in the picture round, failing to recognise any of the American Ryder Cup captains placed before them, including such luminaries as Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.

This collective golfing ignorance proved their undoing as they succumbed 55-49 to their supposedly more illustrious opponents for whom playing without Marks proved, as ever, an uncomfortable experience, in spite of the return of the peripatetic Coles.

I gather ‘Can we play you every week’ was heard being chanted in the bar post-match at the Royal Sun on opening night, although not by tea-drinking Maurice of course, who was reportedly seen scouring the kitchen for a kettle at the time!

This derisory ditty was clearly directed at old adversaries, the White Hart (Eynsham), for whom their Begbroke opposition are fast becoming a bogey side.

Having suffered two reverses to them in the summer, including a 74-39 annihilation, the White Hart were handed a repeat dose last Thursday as the Royal Sun battered them 70-49.

A similar fate befell the Seacourt Bridge (Botley), (although thankfully they were spared any serenading from Diddly Dee and the Chinster), at the hands of pre-season bookies’ favourites for the divisional crown, Green Road Club (Kidlington).

These are normally close encounters, but this time Green Road produced an emphatic display, winning 74-50.

In an altogether much tighter affair, the Black’s Head (Bletchingdon) squeezed past the plucky Gardener’s Arms (North Parade), 57-55.

The Premier Section ‘Clash of the Titans’, at the Plough (Wolvercote) failed to live up to its billing. The Plough certainly played their part, producing a barnstorming performance in racking up 80 points, but their stablemates and closest rivals, the Ploughman’s Bunch! never got in any lusty blows, finally perishing by a margin of 18 points.

Meanwhile, over in East Oxford, Far From The Madding Crowd ‘A’ lavishly compensated for the tragic failings of their ‘B’ team, with an impressive dispatch of hosts, the Black Swan, 84-47. The Plough and FFTMC ‘A’ meet this week in what should be a mouth-watering encounter.