WITH just one defeat in their opening four fixtures, the White Hart (Eynsham) are confounding predictions and sit proudly at the head of proceedings in the West.

Their most significant result to date came last Thursday as they downed the Royal Sun (Begbroke), champions in the past two winters.

Having established a lead of nine by the half-time interval, they duly allowed their illustrious opponents back into the contest and with a slight advantage entering the finishing straight.

However, a strong last-ditch rally allowed them to turn the tables and post a 75-69 triumph in what was their last league fixture of the year as they have a bye this week.

In the same section, the Windrush Club (Witney) recorded their first maximum of the season after a brace of defeats on the back of an opening-day draw with the White Hart.

Agonisingly narrow setbacks against both the Blue Boar Bees (Chipping Norton) and the Royal Sun were now superseded by this impressive 81-64 overpowering of a recently rejuvenated Woodman (North Leigh).

Elsewhere, Captain Conway and his Black Swan (East Oxford) posse backed up their eye-catching victory over the Green Road Club (Kidlington) seven days earlier with a 75-66 win over the Seacourt Bridge (Botley) .

It was a similar tale at the North Oxford Conservative Club (Summertown) where the hosts raced into a healthy position early doors against the Gardener’s Arms (North Parade) only to be steadily pegged back. Thankful to an unexpected second wind in the final round, they eventually sealed the tie, 72-67.

Conquerors the week previous of the reigning title holders in the North, the Blue Boar Bees, the Bell (Lower Heyford) came crashing back down to earth with a 66-49 thumping by the Sun Inn (Hook Norton).

Meanwhile, the Bletchingdon Nomads clung on to their slender advantage atop that division despite perishing 60-48 to the ‘Oakley Army’, aka the Chandos Arms.

In the Premiership, all three protagonists registered crushing performances and against, in each case, a very decent outfit.

Frontrunners, the Royal Blenheim (Oxford City), overwhelmed the Green Road Club, 82-66, and remain the only side in the leagues to boast a 100 per cent unbeaten record.

The Ploughman’s Bunch! (Wolvercote) fell behind briefly in their match at the Eight Bells (Long Crendon). They soon resumed normal service, however, quite bizarrely securing each of the remaining five rounds by the same margin of five points to bag the spoils, 82-61; a welcome prelude to a delicious pizza and chips supper!

Finally and rarely, if ever, featuring in the latter stages of the weekly round-up, the Plough (Wolvercote) atoned for their total capitulation to the Royal Blenheim in their previous outing by comprehensively outplaying the unfortunate Blue Boar Bees, 83-60.

JAMES CARR'S QUESTIONS
1 Who, in 1978, was charged with inciting David Holmes to commit murder?
2 Who once said: “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”
3 Which country, with an estimated population of 5.3 million, is the least populous nation to have hosted the summer Olympic Games? 
4 First shown in January 1992, You Must Remember This was the title of the first episode in which British TV series?

ANSWERS: 1 Jeremy Thorpe, 2 Charles De Gaulle, 3 Finland, 4 As Time Goes By