Southern Counties North

Three late tries gave Witney a flattering 32-0 victory over Bicester, who played with real character.

It was only 13-0 on the hour mark, but an injury to lock Matt Dye, who pulled a calf muscle while attempting a chip and chase, meant Bicester had to finish the match with 14 men and Witney capitalised.

Early on, Witney wing Aaron Lambourne had a try disallowed by the unsighted referee, while Joe Rowles and Gareth Campbell missed the chance to score a pushover effort.

Full back Ed Mitchem slotted a penalty, while prop Jamie Burke was bundled into touch after a strong run.

Wing James Monks scored Witney’s first try just before the break after breaking a couple of tackles.

After defending well, Bicester dominated much of the second half, with their back row of Ed Peck, Adrian Teckoe and Dan Spencer excelling.

They did, however, concede another try from the kick-off, scored by lock Owen Fowler after a driving maul.

Bicester could not make their pressure count and Witney sealed the points when Monks and Rowles set up Mitchem to outpace the defence and convert his own try.

Flanker Carl Campbell created try No 4 for replacement James Taafe, and in the dying minutes, Burke charged in for a fifth, converted by Henry Lamb.

Grove’s promotion hopes were dealt a blow by a 48-13 defeat at Amersham & Chiltern.

The game was almost postponed due to a partly frozen pitch, but both teams wanted to play, so it went ahead with a late kick-off.

Amersham led 38-0 at the break and scored two more tries soon afterwards.

Grove finally clicked into gear and bagged two tries of their own, with wing Tom Harrington kicking ahead to notch the first.

Centre Jamie Burns scored the second, while scrum half Dave Maryon kicked a penalty.

Chipping Norton’s home game with Aylesbury was postponed due to a frozen pitch.