VIKINGS A certainly know how to keep their nerve!

They reached the third round of the Handicap Shield with a narrow nine-point victory over Haddenham B.

And they have now booked their place in the semi-finals after an unbelievable climax to their game against Lord Nuffield E, which saw them edge home by a meagre two points.

With the singles games out of the way, Lord Nuffield needed just 18 points from the remaining doubles match to go through.

However, they had not banked on a disastrous first game which saw them lose 21-2.

They made a real fist of it in the second, but went down 21-14 to fall to an agonising defeat.

Things were very different in the clash between Lord Nuffield C and Bicester A, where the former eased to a 68-point win.

John Blanchard, Paul Reynolds and Mike Watts led their side to victory.

Kevin Giles, Dave Gardner and Paul Knight steered Gladiators into the last four with a 24-point win over Bicester C.

Bicester's John Chalcraft provided an early surprise by taking 18 points of Gardner in his first game, and Rob Moore and Dave Bignell both had their moments, but Gladiators were pretty much in control.

Forum A took the last semi-final place at the expense of club-mates Forum D, beating them by 13 points.

KNOCKOUT CUP RESULTS 3rd Round: Bicester A 392, Lord Nuffield C (+150) 460; Forum A 420, Forum D (+180) 407; Gladiators 420, Bicester C (+180) 396; Vikings A 416, Lord Nuffield E (+220) 414.

  • In the league, Forum A demolished clubmates Forum B 9-1, and Lord Nuffield A did exactly the same to their B side.

In Division 2, Chris Will- iams scored a maximum for Forum C, but that could not stop Forum D from running out 6-4 winners.

Haddenham A beat bottom side Witney A 6-4, but were then held to a draw by Forum C.

Mark Scott was the star for Haddenham in both matches, winning six out of six.

Forum J look to have sealed the Development Competition after beating nearest-rivals Forum L 3-2.

RESULTS Division 1: St James A 7 (A Misseldine 3), RAL 3; St James A 7 (A Misseldine 3, J Tustain 3), Lord Nuffield A 3; Forum B 1, Forum A 9 (K Bushell 3, G Boone 3, F Harris 3); Lord Nuffield A 9 (N Taylor 3, J Barclay 3), Lord Nuffield B 1.

Division 2: Haddenham A 5 (M Scott 3), Forum C 5; Witney A 4, Haddenham A 6 (M Scott 3); Forum D 6, Forum C 4 (C Williams 3).

Division 3: Begbroke B 4, Vikings C 6; Forum E 3 (S Harrison 3), Bicester B 7.

Division 4: Lord Nuffield D 7 (D Kay 3), Forum H 3; Forum G 3, Holton 7 (E Shearer 3, B Dobson 3).

Development League: Forum K 3, Forum I 2 (D Simmons 2); Forum O 3, Forum N 2 (C Betke 2); Forum J 3 (M Cooper 2), Forum L 2; Forum P 2, Forum I 3 (D Simmons 2).