STUART White was the last-gasp hero as Oxfordshire staged a Ryder Cup-style recovery to beat Warwickshire 19-17 in the Premier Diviison clash at Coventry.
Oxon at one staged trailed 13-7, but a sterling recovery by their ladies’ A team, saw them narrow the deficit.
Then the Oxon Men’s A team routed their opponents 8-4 to complete a remarkable victory.
It all came down to the final leg, in which White threw four four maximums to win 4-2 and clinch Oxon’s victory, plus three bonus points.
On the first day, Oxon Ladies’ B got off to a good start when Cath Birch won the opening leg.
Further successes came from lady-of-the-match Nicola Curzon (17.94) and Julie Newman in a 3-3 draw.
Oxon’s Dion Newman won the first leg of the men’s B encounter, but the visitors lost the next five games.
Dean Lockyer, Keith Bedding and Paddy Kearns wonthree of the last six games in an 8-4 defeat, which saw Oxon end the day 11-7 down. Warwicks moved 13-7 ahead when taking the first two ladies A contests.
However, Oxon fought back as Belinda Grant, lady-of-the-match Clare Bywaters, Deta Hedman and Sandra Cox all won to secure a 4-2 success and cut the deficit to 13-11.
Michael Burgoine, making his debut for Oxon, took the first point of the decsive men’s A clash.
Warwickshire replied in kind, before Pete Hall and Preben Krabben kept the visitors in the hunt.
Warwickshire took the next to lead 15-14.
Oxon won the next four legs through man-of-the-match Jon Jukes, Nick Cobb, Lee Russell and Stuart Dutton to go 18-15 ahead.
They only only needed one point for the win.
But it went to the very last game, when White came up trumps to secure a memorable win.
So after two games, Oxon sit fourth in the table, with the ladies’ A top of their section and men’s A second in theirs.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here