OXFORD Cavaliers won the Conference West of England title with a 58-54 victory over Somerset Vikings in the grand final.

It is their first league championship in their 16-year history.

In searing temperatures at North Hinksey, Oxford started positively when centre Jack Briggs exploited a big hole in the Vikings defence and raced 60 metres to open the scoring after just five minutes.

But it took the introduction of Cavaliers coach and Super League grand final winner Tevita Vaikona to spark the home side back into life as they twice had to overcome a ten-point deficit.

Briggs went on to add a further three tries to his impressive season tally, and Vaikona, playing at loose forward, crossed for a hat-trick as the sides shared 21 touchdowns in front of a sun-baked crowd, who were treated to a pulsating game.

Having conceded the first score, Vikings worked hard to get on the front foot and were good value for their 18-4 lead on the 20-minute mark, thanks to tries from Craig Williams (2) and Mark Sheridan all converted by Dan Hinton.

But when second row Craig Boyce suffered a nasty cut to the face, the introduction of former Bradford Bulls star Vaikona from the bench swung the momentum Oxford’s way.

The big Tongan scored shortly after coming on, before Jonny Morris blasted through the middle of the Somerset defensive line to go under the posts.

Chris Stables then touched down, and Briggs completed the turnaround to give the Cavaliers a 24-18 lead.

Vikings’ Stan Mortenson forced his way over to reduce the deficit to just two points at the interval.

Matt Collings and Vaikona went over at the start of the second period for Cavaliers, sandwiching Williams’s third try of the game for Vikings.

Oxford were in control at 34-26 ahead, but ill-discipline from winger Jonno Da Silva’s saw him sin-binned on the hour. Vikings wasted no time in seizing the advantage, scoring three converted tries as their hosts struggled to compete a man down.

John Ferguson, Joe Bussell and Sheridan went over to put the Somerset side 44-34 in front.

But the Cavaliers found something in the tank, and came roaring back when Briggs again went through to score with just 15 minutes left.

Back to a full complement soon after, they proceeded to build a match-winning lead.

Mario Da Silva showed his agility to dodge three or four tacklers and score, before Vaikona completed his hat-trick and then gave Briggs his fourth with another well-timed pass.

Stables brought his tally to five goals and Morris added the final goal for the Cavaliers.

That seemed to be that, but the home side had to endure a hectic last few minutes as Bussell and Ferguson kept the Vikings’ slender hopes alive. But time ran out and Cavaliers celebrated a memorable victory.