Michael Knox reports from Twickenham

Oxfordshire 8,

Northumberland 27

Oxfordshire's glorious run through to Twickenham ended in disappointment when they were beaten by a well-drilled Northumberland side in the Tetley's County Shield final on Saturday.

In the end it was a lack of discipline that cost Oxon dear, as they played the last 20 minutes with only 14 men.

Lock Matt Hutchings was yellow-carded for illegal use of the boot, before skipper Paul Hennessy's last game for Oxon ended sadly in a red card.

With his side trailing 21-8 in the 68th minute, the big No 8 was originally sin-binned for an offence with the boot, but a remark to the touch-judge led to the referee sending him off.

Any hopes of a recovery went with Hennessy's dismissal - and two more penalties gave Northumberland a flattering margin of victory.

For the first hour, there was little between the teams, with Oxon having at least a share of the play. But greater sharpness in both 22s won the day for the northerners.

Oxon also suffered in the goalkicking stakes. Andy Noyce, without the benefit of practice, missed a simple penalty in the first minute, although he did succeed in turning Oxon's territorial advantage into three points 20 minutes later.

By successfully disrupting the Northumberland line-out, Oxon seemed in control. But Northumberland's first venture into the Oxon 22 ended in a try when excellent recycling enabled centre Barry Hills to go over in the corner for an unconverted try.

A penalty by fly half James Lofthouse made it 8-3, but Noyce really should have cut the deficit before the break when his penalty from right under the posts hit one of them.

This was a crucial miss and with Lofthouse adding another penalty in the first minute of the second half, Oxon found themselves trailing 11-3.

However, a superb 40-metre run by full back Jonny Goodridge got them back into the game. From the ensuing maul, flanker David Seymour burrowed over the line for a try that Noyce was unable to convert.

A third penalty by Lofthouse made it 14-8, and after Oxon had made four substitutions, he converted a second try by Hills from a superb move.

By this stage, Oxon were down to 14 men, although Hutchings's yellow card may have been the result of mistaken identity for an unforgivable offence while his side were on the attack.

Hennessy's dismissal followed Hutchings's return and Northumberland took charge with Lofthouse adding two more penalties. The second was the result of a high tackle which saw Tom Johnson given the yellow card in injury time.

Despite these disciplinary problems, it was still a memorable day for Oxon rugby, whose young supporters provided some atmosphere in the near-empty stadium.

Oxfordshire: J Goodridge (Gloucester), A Noyce (Banbury), M Goode (Banbury), J David (Chinnor), M Nutt (Oxford Harlequins), D Oxley (Chinnor), G Phillips (Chinnor), S Matthews (Chinnor), T Nicholas (Henley), R Harris (Chinnor), M Hutchings (Oxford Brookes & Chinnor), A Millburn (Chinnor), D Seymour (Chinnor), J Cope (Oxford Harlequins), P Hennessy (Chinnor) capt.

Reps: D Boreham (Oxford Harlequins) for J Goodridge 46, A Cope (Oxford Harlequins) for Phillips 46, T Johnson (Chinnor) for Seymour 46, J Willcox-Jones (London Welsh) for J Cope 46, T Whelan (Chinnor) for Nicholas 62, A Cawston (Chinnor) for David 66, J Winpenny (Chinnor) for Harris 75.

Northumberland: J White (Tynedale), E Holmes (Tynedale), P Mooney (Morpeth), B Hills (Tynedale), J Tapster (Harrogate), J Lofthouse (Blaydon), M Dungait ( Blaydon ), P Southern (Tynedale), E Parker (Tynedale), P Winter (Blaydon), J Oakes (Otley), D Guthrie (Blaydon), capt, A Robson (Tynedale), S Cassidy (Acklam), E Thorpe (Otley).

Reps: R Parker (Tynedale) for Tapster 62, S Turnbull (Tynedale) for Winter 70, J Smales (Tynedale) for Mooney 72, A Murray (Tynedale) for Cassidy 76, B Duncan (Tynedale) for Hills 80, C Nunn (Blaydon) for Holmes 80.

Referee: C Seels (RFU).