Clinical finishing secured a 17-0 victory for Grove at Bicester as they continue to head the Oxfordshire challenge in this divison.

Grove's well-organised defence soaked up all the pressure Bicester could muster, before their speedy backs counter-attacked with deadly efficiency.

Bicester's lack of cohesion and understanding between forwards and backs was the main problem.

Their cause was hindered when skipper Martin Ewins was helped off the field with suspected fractured ribs.

Grove scored their first try just before half-time after some good inter-passing by Bicester. As the ball went astray, centre Ben Dean broke quickly from his 22 to send full back Paul Cudden away down the right for a try which Dean also converted.

With Bicester failing to convert any of their possession into points, Dean set up another Grove try when he picked up a loose ball well inside his own half to send scrum-half Rob Froud-Williams racing over 15 minutes into the second period.

Five minutes later, Bicester fly-half Neil Smith narrowly missed a 25 metre penalty to the right of posts.

Grove's final contribution came in a predictable fashion.

Neil Smith hoofed a penalty into the left corner, but as the drive was set up from the lineout, Bicester lost the ball, and the Grove backs created the perfect opening for replacement Rob Weaving to dart over on the right.

Chipping Norton paid the penalty for a dreadfully slow start as they went down 34-22 at Buckingham.

Fielding a side with six changes, Chippy took almost 20 minutes to get into gear, by which time they were 15-0 down. Two soft tries were gifted to the home side as the defence stood and watched.

Chippy then sprang into life. The forwards began to compete for the ball, and in their first attack, centre Adam Smith scored a try which he also converted.

Trailing 20-7 at the break, Chippy began the second half well, and Martin Nutt touched down in the corner following a clever box-kick off the base of a ruck by scrum half Rob Naish.

Buckingham replied with a converted try despite a blatant knock-on.

This stung Chippy into action and they closed the gap to 27-22 with a solo try by Barry Nutt and a close-range effort from Sean Millard.

Some desperate defending, coupled with handling errors, kept Chippy at bay before Buckingham sealed the result with a breakaway converted try.