GROVE survived a late Witney revival to beat their Oxfordshire rivals 24-18 at a rain-soaked Hailey Road.
The south Oxon side extended their winning run to four games in South West 1 East, earning their second derby victory of the campaign.
Grove opened the scoring in the first minute when Connor Hull sped over and Sam Vaughan added the extras to make it 7-0.
A George Lewis penalty got Witney up and running, but Grove responded to lead 14-3, thanks to Harry Anderson’s try. Vaughan converted.
Lewis and Vaughan exchanged penalties as the visitors headed into the break with a 17-6 lead.
The hosts reduced the arrears on 51 minutes when Arron Lambourne crossed in the corner and Lewis converted to make it 17-13.
But Grove hit back through Joe Chilvers and Vaughan added the extras to open up an 11-point advantage.
Witney’s Jamie Burke and the visitors’ Joe Bellinger were sin-binned, but the hosts set up a nail-biting finish as Lambourne crossed for an unconverted try.
The home side pressed hard for a winning score, but Grove held on.
Banbury put in a battling display, but lost 28-20 to second-placed Newbury Blues at Bodicote Park.
Despite conceding an early try, the Bulls led 10-7 at the break, thanks to Sam Stoop’s score.
Stand-in skipper Ed Phillips added the extras, before slotting a penalty.
Another three points from the boot of Phillips extended their advantage in the second half.
But Bulls failed to gather from the resulting kick-off and Blues made them pay with a converted score.
Two more tries helped the visitors into a 28-13 lead, but they had two men sent to the sin-bin late on.
Banbury made them pay, with Cash Chilvers crossing and Phillips converting, but there was no time left to gain a bonus point.
Oxford Harlequins remain rooted to the bottom after a 77-0 defeat at Royal Wootton Bassett.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here