KIDLINGTON seem to be set for the relegation trapdoor following a 5½-½ defeat at home to Banbury Central in Division 1 of the Bridle Insurance Oxford & District League.

The hosts one bright spark came from Mike Peterson’s rink, who led Nigel Galletly’s men until the 18th end, where they conceded their second four in three ends.

Undeterred, Petersen inspired his rink to win the last two ends to tie the game and avoid a whitewash.

Witney Town boosted their promotion chances in Division 2 with a 5-1 victory away to struggling Chipping Norton.

The visitors’ narrow 65-55 point margin was due to a resounding 20-9 victory for John Benfield, but his teammates could not follow suit.

Third-placed South Oxford A’s 4-2 victory at Hanborough.

Skip Chris Hayley’s 16-shot win for the hosts was to little avail as South Oxford’s David Tidball and Keith Mobley triumphed by even bigger margins.

There was a great comeback by Headington B away to City & County B in Division 3.

The visitors looked to be on the ropes after 15 ends, as they were losing on three rinks and trailing by 18 shots on aggregate.

Headington’s Russell Edwards fought back to win the game.

And while none of the other rinks was able to snatch a victory, they all closed the gap, outscoring City and County by 20 shots in total to snatch the match points.

The surprise of the week came in Division 4 where bottom club Oxford University Press defeated high-flying visitors Chadlington 5-1 for only their second win of the season.

Strong finishes by David Barlow and Geoff Giles – the latter snatching victory on the last end – were backed up Roger Cann’s rink, who raced into a 19-shot lead after six ends.

Bicester and South Oxford were involved in a top-of-the-table thriller.

Leaders Bicester trailed for most of a close match and were still two shots adrift on aggregate with one end to play.

However, they outscored their opponents by the required three shots, while skip Phil Sansome came up with the win to give Bicester the four points they needed to stay top of the division.

BRIDLE INSURANCE OXFORD

& DISTRICT LEAGUE

Division 1

Witney Mills 67 (4½), Watlington 61 (1½) (Witney skips first): A Wiggins 19, R Gilkes 15; P Robbins 16, S Cooper 16; C Weller 12, S Gilkes 20; L Days 20, G Hooker 10.

Kidlington 50 (½), Banbury Central A 85 (5½) (Kidlington skips first): P McGrath 15, M Andrew 24; C Cox 6, K McNeil 21; J Hardie 11, W Campion 22; M Peterson 18, N Galletly 18.

Division 2

Chipping Norton 55 (1) Witney Town 65 (5) (Chipping Norton skips first): J Benfield 18, A Scholan 6; K Field 15, P Demczak 18; T Sealey 9, B Bloomfield 20; P Hickman 13, P Warner 21.

Hanborough 66 (2) South Oxford A 85 (4) (Hanborough skips first): M Oliver 27, D Claridge 20; C Hayley 28, J Hall 12; K Williams 7, K Mobley 28; N Williams 4, D Tidball 25.

Charlbury 61 (2½) Shiplake 61 (3½) (Charlbury skips first): M East 19, L Mitton 11; E Pitts 13, J Bland 16; D Cooper 16, D Webb 16; M East 13, G Kennedy 18.

Division 3

City & County B 66 (3) Headington B 68 (3) (City skips first): K Buckingham 20, M Kershaw 17; G Gray 19, S Gould 16; M Plested 13, R Edwards 23; T Gripe 14, C Harris 12.

Banbury Central B 64 (4) Blackbird Leys 54 (2) (Banbury skips first): J Pickering 15, D Brown 13; E Trinder 11, P Smith 19; M Leather 15, A Fleming 17; T McKenna 23, J Baldwin 5.

Adderbury 91 (6) Thame 45 (0) (Banbury skips first): T Clarke 19, K Calcutt 13; P Gladden 25, G Penn 7; D Sharpe 31, J Timms 10; C Skidmore 16, R Jenner 15,

Division 4

Oxford University Press 80 (5) Chadlington 60 (1) (Banbury skips first): D Barlow 18, C Smart 13; T Crane 14, M Slatter 18; G Giles 16, P Madeley 15; R Cann 32, P Radbone 14.

Woodstock 56 (1) Bloxham 64 (5) (Banbury skips first): D Francis 8, T Gardner 17; S Hopkins 12, A Miles 14; T Stevens 15, J Lucas 16; B Clarke 21, D Morse 17.

South Oxford B 64 (2) Bicester 65 (4) (Banbury skips first): J Guest 17, M Workman 14; J Cope 10, K Taylor 14; D Bye 18, P Sansome 19; D Lyne 19, T King 18.