Oxfordshire scraped into the semi-finals despite losing. Here is the numbers' game. See Tuesday’s paper for full report.

Competition: County Championship Plate Pool 3

Score: Essex 27, Oxfordshire 20

Oxfordshire player ratings:

15. Huw Jones 7 (threatened in places)

14. Martin Nutt 6 (never cut loose, sin-binned)

13. Ben Hewitt 6 (too much lateral running)

12. James Lamb 6 (worked hard)

11. Sam Portland 6 (injured in first half)

10. James Cathcart 6 (lacked dynamism)

9. Morgan Thompson 7 (some good moments)

1. Ian Stock 7 (scrummaged and carried hard)

2. Tom Hill 6 (replaced early in second half)

3. Tom Whelan 6 (solid enough)

4. Matt Hutchings 7 (driving display)

5. Adam Pearson 6 (quieter than usual)

6. Luke Allen 7 (some good work)

7. Adam Hastings 6 (less prominent this time)

8. Stan McKeen 8 (STAR MAN, try typified his effort)

Replacements used:

16. Joe Winpenny 6 (almost scored late on)

17. James Eckert 6 (filled in ok)

18. Nick Sevier 6 (hardly saw the ball)

19. Kenny Sewell 6 (no chance to impress)

20. Ben Nicholl 6 (very late cameo)

22. Justin Pakes 7 (some good tackles)

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Lewis (Staffordshire) – 5 (didn’t let game flow)

Entertainment rating: 6.

Highlight: Stan McKeen’s try.

Lowlight: Confusing refereeing.