BICESTER 3rd suffered a 41-19 defeat at Witney 4th in BB&O Division 4 North.

The home side ran in seven tries, including five in the second half, as they punished the north Oxfordshire outfit’s poor retention skills.

Bicester had led 14-12 at the break, but their cause was not helped by the loss of centre Chris Nash to a shoulder injury.

Jack Payne crossed to give Witney an early lead, but the visitors hit back through two Christian Mann tries. Stuart John converted both.

Leigh Manning then dived over to reduce Bicester’s lead to two points at half-time.

And they went on to score five tries after the break, with Payne crossing twice more, while Alex Foggot (2) and Shorts Benjamin diving over.

Bicester’s Dave Lawther scored a late consolation try.

Their first team return to action this weekend when they travel to Marlow for a top-ofthe-table clash in Southern Counties North.