CITY & County A suffered top-flight relegation agony in the final week of the Bridle Insurance Oxford & District League season.
Despite a 4-2 victory over Banbury Central A, it was not enough to avoid dropping out of Division 1.
A 5-1 win for Witney Mills over Kidlington sealed City’s fate – just a point-and-a-half ultimately separating themselves from Witney.
Champions Headington A signed off with a 5-1 triumph over Watlington, for whom Sam Watts picked up their only point.
With Carterton already confirmed as Division 2 champions and Hanborough as basement boys, attention turned to the second promotion and relegation spots.
Witney Town secured their place in Division 1 in thrilling circumstances.
Needing two points to take second spot, they won one rink and drew another against Charlbury.
However, their sole win was by a huge 25 shots, which was enough to pick up the two extra points on offer and secure their promotion.
Chipping Norton needed a big win to stay up at Shiplake’s expense – and pulled off a great escape.
A 5-1 win at Hanborough saw them leap ahead of their rivals to avoid the drop.
In Division 4, Chadlington took the second promotion spot behind champions Bicester with a 5-1 success at struggling South Oxford B.
That win put them ahead of West Witney, who were second going into the final match, but crashed to a 51/2-1/2 defeat at home to Bloxham, who leapfrogged their rivals into third.
RESULTS
Division 1
City & County A 68 (4pts), Banbury Central A 59 (2) (City skips first): A Ley 14, M Andrew 15; C Pollard 14, W Campion 20; O Shariff 19, N Galletly 15; C Lewis 21, T McKenna 9.
Headington A 64 (5pts), Watlington 52 (1) (Headington skips first): N Rae-Welsh 16, S Cooper 12; J King 16, C Gilkes 15; H Watts 22, D Byers 7; N Lewis 10, S Watts 18.
Kidlington 55 (1pt), Witney Mills 70 (5) (Kidlington skips first): C Cox 16, R Barnett 15; A Rowe 13, C Weller 21; J Keeley 11, J Mott 13; J Hardie 15, A Wiggins 21.
Division 2
Carterton 72 (4pts), South Oxford A 57 (2) (Carterton skips first): S Timms 15, D Tidball 18; P Sharman 13, J Hall 19; T Jupp 19, D Claridge 10; Rob Clanfield 25, R Green 10.
Charlbury 68 (2½pts), Witney Town 74 (3½) (Charlbury skips first): M Fraser 21, B Bloomfield 9; D Cooper 20, P Demczak 13; E Pitts 21, P Warner 21; Mike East 6, T Ludlow 31.
Hanborough 51 (1pt), Chipping Norton 66 (5) (Hanborough skips first): G Thompson 11, J Benfield 19; N Williams 11, T Sealey 16; C Hayley 15, P Hickman 18; K Williams 14, K Field 13.
Division 4
Woodstock 101 (6pts), Oxford University Press 55 (0) (Woodstock skips first): B Clarke 25, D Barlow 13; S Hopkins 20, R Cann 19; D Francis 29, G Jordan 9; T Stevens 27, G Giles 14.
South Oxford B 58 (1pt), Chadlington 74 (5) (S Oxford skips first): J Guest 15, R Arthur 25; D Lyne 11, C Smart 15; J Cope 19, C Brett 14; D Portman 13, P Radbone 20.
West Oxford 48 (½pt), Bloxham 76 (5½) (West skips first): B Murphy 11, T Gardner 20; A Blackburn 8, D Morse 22; G Richardson 11, R Hopkins 16; J Parker 18, A Miles 18.
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