Oxford & District crashed to a heavy 29-11 defeat against a star-studded City of Ely side in the English Indoor National Fours Championship second round at Nottingham.
Skip Chris Allen’s side of Eddie Pilgrim, Paul Comley and Howard Watts were blown away by the Cambridgeshire contingent of Mark Smith, Andrew Ware, Nicky Brett and Greg Harlow, who are all either current or former internationals.
City of Ely went on to finish runners-up to Victory, who eased to a 20-6 win in the final.
In the first round, Oxford & District posted a thrilling 22-21 win over the Kingsthorpe four of Andrew Manton, Paul Maynard, ex-international Mick Sharpe and current international Neil McKee.
In the triples, Banbury Cross’s William Campion, Keith Holloway and Mark Sykes battled well before going down 16-10 to a Nottingham side made up of former international Michael Bowley, Ian Griffin and current international Simon Skelton.
Sykes and Holloway enjoyed better fortune in the pairs with a 24-9 win over Tye Green’s Andy Sales and Richard Haley in the first round.
Sykes opens his challenge in the singles against Bodmin’s Ian Drew tonight.
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