RAIN brought an early end to Shipton-under-Wychwood’s Division 2 West game against table-topping Slough.

But while a final downpour may have saved Shipton from defeat, news of Farnham Royals’ victory over Dinton made it a miserable day for Simon Hole’s side.

Shipton started the day one place outside the relegation zone, but Farnham’s shock win over their high-flying opponents now sees the west Oxfordshire side 18 points from safety with two games to go.

After losing Steve Bates and Chris Oliver early on, Hole (40) and Gehan Perera (50) laid the platform to build a decent score.

But rain meant that with fewer overs, Shipton struggled to get going and reached 149-9 off 42 overs.

Slough were 39-2 off 4.5 overs when the heavens opened once more.