A BELOW-PAR Witney salvaged a 10-10 draw in their Southern Counties North top-of-the-table clash at Milton Keynes.

But the match did not live up to the billing, especially for the visitors who struggled to come to terms with the referee's interpretation of rucking.

Milton Keynes started strongly and twice sliced through a non-existant Witney midfield.

Their early pressure told with a penalty and a converted try that saw the visiting pack driven back in textbook fashion.

Witney saw captain Jez Hicks limp off with a recurrent injury after 20 minutes.

The visitors were a different side in the first 15 minutes after the break, scoring two tries to level the match.

Their first looked like coming from James Lamb, but he was held up just short, only to see brother Henry dart over from the recycled ball.

A good kick from Ollie Smith, making his return at fly half, soon saw Witney back in attacking position.

Some good battering runs from Owen Fowler and Marc Copperwheat allowed scrum half Gareth Campbell to scamper down the blind side.

With the home side defence caught in two minds, Campbell opened up and had the strength to reach over for a super try.

There appeared only one winner at this stage, but Witney's intensity dropped and they were left hanging on for a point.

They are now third on points difference.

Grove suffered their first loss of the campaign, going down 20-10 at Beaconsfield, while Chipping Norton were beaten 25-13 at home by Bletchley.