Oxfordshire were swept aside 126-116 by an irresistible Hampshire fightback in their opening Middleton Cup clash at Atherley.

Oxon started the Group 2 Section B (South) encounter strongly to lead 64-45 after ten ends.

But Hampshire gradually eroded their advantage to lead 85-84 after 15 ends, before going on to clinch victory.

And with Oxon winning on two of the six rinks, they picked up just four points compared to Hampshire’s 18.

Mark Sykes’s four of AJ Docherty, George Moon and Richard Redford produced Oxon’s best result by crushing skip Russell Morgan 30-14.

Ian Snowdon’s side of Keith Holloway, Ian Henwood and Shaun Claridge were hot on their heels with a 23-8 win over Chris Daniels.

But Oxon came up short on the four other rinks.

Howard Watts’s all-Headington side of debutant Dean May, Nathan Lewis and Nick Rae-Welsh were thumped 31-9 by Peter Ward.

And Alan Prew’s four of Lee Young, Paul Sharman and Stuart Richens subsided to a 29-17 defeat against Richard Shelley.

Greg Moon’s rink of Mike Petersen, Robbie Clanfield and Baden Sparkes collapsed in spectacular fashion to lose 22-19 against Leo May.

Having raced into a 10-1 lead over the first five ends, they picked up just one shot on the last six.

Mike Charlett’s side of John Philpott, Jason King and Craig Nicoll battled hard, but were edged out 22-18 by Paul May.

Hampshire 126 (18pts), Oxon 116 (4)

(Hampshire rinks first)

Rink 1: K Philip, C Cranham, C Bailey, L May 22; M Petersen, Ro Clanfield, B Sparkes, Gr Moon 19.

Rink 2: D Taylor, C Paterson, A Geary, C Daniels 8; K Holloway, I Henwood, S Claridge, I Snowdon 23.

Rink 3: C Taylor, A Anderson, M Hammond, P May 22; J Philpott, J King, C Nicoll, M Charlett 18.

Rink 4: J Leggett, T Nixon, C Thresher, R Shelley 29; L Young, P Sharman, S Richens, A Prew 17.

Rink 5: M Marchant, C Martin, G Starks, R Morgan 14; AJ Docherty, Ge Moon, R Redford, M Sykes 30.

Rink 6: M Squires, J Biggs, J Marsland, P Ward 31; D May, N Lewis, N Rae-Welsh, H Watts 9.

Banbury Central’s Will Campion and Carterton’s Bob Turley make their Middleton Cup debuts as Oxfordshire bid to bounce back against Middlesex at Banbury Central on Saturday (2pm).

They replace the unavailable Banbury Borough’s Greg Moon and John Philpott.

Baden Sparkes takes over from Moon as skip, with Campion coming into his rink.

Lee Young switches from Alan Prew’s four to replace Philpott in leading off Mark Charlett’s side, with Turley taking over his spot.

Oxfordshire: M Petersen, W Campion, Ro Clanfield, B Sparkes; L Young, J King, C Nicoll, M Charlett; K Holloway, I Henwood, S Claridge, I Snowdon; AJ Docherty, Ge Moon, R Redford, M Sykes; D May, N Lewis, N Rae-Welsh, H Watts; B Turley, P Sharman, S Richens, A Prew.

OXFORDSHIRE won on five of the six rinks in their 147-77 friendly victory over Somerset at Chipping Norton.

Oxfordshire 147, Somerset 77 (Oxon rink scores): G Hooker, J Timms, A Hall, J O’Shea won 30-12; D Lines, P Brittin, A Hunt, M Workman lost 19-12; F Benham, M Cameron, H Franklin, D Allin won 29-8; B Bloomfield, W Allin, J McGeough, A Ley won 26-12; M Clarke, K Williams, M Andrew, B Gilkes won 26-9; S Tolhurst, A Braden, R Bull, I Whelpton won 24-17.