Oxfordshire suffered the heartbreak of a last-bowl defeat in the Balcomb Trophy regional semi-final as they went down 41-39 to Kent at Halls BC, Dartford.

Oxon held game with just Kent skip Shaun McCaughan’s last wood to come against Alan Prew’s side of Ian Snowdon, Nathan Lewis and Keith Holloway in the National County Two Fours encounter.

However, he trailed the jack perfectly to bring Kent four shots and overall victory.

Prew’s side finished 24-20 winners, but it was scant consolation.

On the other rink, Howard Watts’s four of Mark Sykes, Paul Sharman and Jon Philpott went down 21-15 to Gordon Charlton.

Kent 41, Oxfordshire 39 (Kent skips first): G Charlton 21, H Watts 15; S McCaughan 20, A Prew 24.

OXFORDSHIRE swept the board in a friendly match restricted to four rinks to beat Herefordshire 92-59 at Kidlington.

Oxfordshire 92, Herefordshire 59 (Oxon rink scores): T Backer-Holst, A Melville, G Hooker, A Hall won 23-18; K Mobley, L Eltringham, H Payne, J O’Shea won 19-18; D Silvester, R Priscott, J Eatwell, A Ley won 24-13; R Green, B Jarvie, H Winstone, B Gilkes won 26-10.