A STUBBORN last-wicket stand between skipper Rob Williams and his vice-captain Ian Curtis almost brought Oxfordshire victory in their Minor Counties Championship grade game with Herefordshire at Aston Rowant yesterday.

Oxfordshire are still without a win in the Western Division this season, but there was no shame in defeat.

And one massive plus they can take from the game was a maiden Championship hundred for 17-year-old Ben Thompson.

Chasing the visitors' first day total of 344 all out, Oxon looked dead and buried when they lost their ninth wicket on 286.

But the final pair inched closer and closer towards the target, until Curtis was bowled by former Notts seamer Kevin Cooper 12 runs short.

Thompson, the Horspath and Magdalen College School batsman batted for 256 minutes and faced 209 balls for his 111, hitting 18 fours.

His mature innings helped to give Oxfordshire an outside chance of victory after they had resumed on 21-2 overnight and then lost opener Ian Hawtin early on.

Thompson and Bourton Vale's Keith Mustow put on 101 for the fourth wicket before Mustow was caught in the gulley in the final over before the lunch break.

His clubmate Charlie Knightley did not last long after the interval, getting a thin edge to former Banbury and Oxfordshire Colts fast bowler Ben Gannon - his fourth wicket of the innings.

Thompson played on to Cooper, and when Oxford Downs' Luke List was out with the score on 268, Oxon's tail was exposed and their hopes of winning seem to have disappeared.

Keith Arnold stuck around against the spinners, but gave Gannon his fifth wicket as soon as the gangling Gloucestershire paceman was brought back. And when Bicester and North Oxford's Paul Jeacock was lbw to Cooper, the end appeared nigh.

Last man Curtis survived, however, and with Williams working the strike superbly at the other end, it began to dawn on Oxon that they might sneak home.

But Curtis was bowled driving at Cooper to leave Williams high and dry ten short of what would have been his first Minor Counties hundred. HEREFORDSHIRE

344 (J Sylvester 107, H Patel 50, I Curtis 5-113).

OXFORDSHIRE

(overnight 21-2)

I Hawtin b Gannon... 9KB Thompson b Cooper ...111KK Mustow c Graham b Gannon... 43KC Knightley c Hall b Gannon... 9KR Williams not out... 90KL List c Burroughs b J Sylvester... 17KK Arnold b Gannon... 14KP Jeacock lbw b Cooper... 3KI Curtis b Cooper... 3K ExtrasM-I22

Total (all out, 117.2ovs)... 332

Fall: 3-33, 4-134, 5-154, 6-228, 7-264, 8-281, 9-286.

Bowling: Cooper 36.2-11-65-4, Gannon 37-10-103-5, J Sylvester 15-1-52-1, R Sylvester 2-0-13-0, Skyrme 17-4-37-0, Briers 10-0-46-0.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.