Oxford City, who beat North Oxford to top place in Mixed Division 1 of the OLTA Wilson Inter-Club League last year, were involved in another titanic match at home to their big rivals.
It finished 4-4, with City having to come from behind and win two of the final three rubbers to snatch the draw.
North's second pair of Jon Maskens and Emma Tolson claimed two and a half rubbers, dropping their only set on a tie break to City's first pair, Mike Miller and Jo Love.
Miller and Love edged out North's top pair of Ben and Kate Calnan 6-4, 7-5 and no fewer than three of the matches were halved.
North Oxford B won the battle of the teams promoted to Division 1, seeing off Woodstock B 8-1.
Richard Brailsford and Maddy Mitchell dropped just one game to the Woodstock B second pair of Roger Selby and Myra Symmonds on their way to a clean sweep of rubbers.
Woodstock A fought out a 4-4 thriller at home to Bicester which went to the wire.
Woodstock's Pramod Gujral and Jenny Corfield battled back to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win against Rob Pink and Becki Garrett in the battle of the second pairs, but it was even tighter in the first-pair head-to-head with Bicester's Ashley Prior and Nicki Bracewell similarly fighting back from a set down, to beat Paul and Nicola Casey 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.
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