MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE - Div 1

Horspath moved within two victories of their first Cherwell League title after they hammered Bourton Vale by eight wickets for their tenth win in 14 matches.

Vale slumped to their fifth straight defeat since having Mark Whitney ‘sent off’ against Cumnor last month, and dropped from second in the table to be only one point above the bottom two.

At the weekend, they were rolled over for 112, with only skipper Paul Lazenbury showing he was up for the fight with a defiant 51.

Will Eason took 3-17 for the visitors, and then watched Ned Murray (43no) and Adam Krol (31no) steer the unbeaten leaders to 113-2.

Bourton Vale 3pts, Horspath 25

Oxford Downs eased their relegation worries by clinching only their second win of the season.

Paceman Simon Launder was Downs’ hero, taking 6-39 as Bletchley Town were sent packing for 129.

Only Tom Joraslafsky (38) held up the visitors for long, and Town’s all rounder almost in-spired his side to an unlikely victory by matching Launder's figures.

But Tom Crouch’s 39 was instrumental in helping Downs reach 132-7 and maximum points.

Bletchley Town 8, Oxford Downs 25

Challow & Childrey are running out of matches to save themselves from an instant return to Division 2, although they did enjoy the better of a draw with Cumnor.

Put in to bat, Challow amassed 255-5 from 44 overs after opener Nick Meadows (62) gave them a good start and Nigel Hume (67no) and Nigel Hill (41) built on the platform he laid.

Cumnor youngsters George Munsey (36) and Shabaz Alam (32) were backed up by John Williams (61), but runs came too slowly to threaten the victory target and they closed on 193-7.

Challow & Childrey 15, Cumnor 9

Oxford 2nd came close to pulling off an improbable win at Buckingham Town, but ended up losing by two wickets.

Dan King (71) and Wasim Mehmood (52) provided the bulk of the runs as Oxford managed 184-9 from their 53 overs.

Ben Stafford was the pick of the home attack, claiming 5-40, while Vishal Valambhia took 3-32.

Leigh Tomlinson’s 61 looked like setting up a comfortable win for Town, but wickets kept tumbling and they only just managed to scramble the winning runs at eight wickets down.

Buckingham Town 25, Oxford 2nd 11