Oxfordshire's Division 2 title ambitions suffered a knock as they went down to a 23-16 defeat against second-placed Somerset.

The result saw the west country outfit take over at the top and with four matches left to play, it promises to be a nail-biting finale to the season for Oxfordshire who now trail Somerset by three points.

But it could have been so different if they had hit their doubles, with eight of their losing games going to five legs.

The ladies' B team suffered a rare defeat as they lost 4-2, with lady-of-the-match going to Julie Newman (18.43) on her county debut.

The men's B team drew 6-6, with man-of-the-match going to Alan Syphas (28.36) and John Russell making a winning debut.

Going into the remaining matches 10-8 down, Oxfordshire's ladies' A fought hard against a Somerset team that included three international players.

Although they went down 4-2 they still remain equal first in their section, the lady-of-the-match award going to Linda Jones (19.78).

Trailing 14-10, Oxfordshire's men's A battled hard to earn a 6-6 draw, Ronnie Anderson (26.37) leading the way.

There were good wins from Nick Cobb (25.25), Pete Hall (25.05) and Stuart Dutton (25.05).