BRITISH Rail emerged as the early frontrunners in Division 1 of the Oxford & District League after beating Forum C 8-2, thanks to maximums from Darren Jones and Neil Cartwright.

Forum A are in second place after dropping a point in a 7-3 success against Vikings B. With Karl Bushell on holiday, Greg Boone chalked up Forum’s only maximum.

Paul Borrowdale and Simon Cox beat Maria Lebedeva, while Cox then beat Elson Costa in five for a win that earned a point for Vikings.

Forum B got their campaign up and running with a 9-1 demolition of Vikings A. Fraser Harris and Andrew Flint won all three for Fourm, with Lorne Lonie sparing Vikings blushes by beating Ross Henderson.

Forum D stay top of Division 2 despite being held to a draw by Holton A, for whom John Ho secured a maximum.

Bob Ford scored a treble as Holton B took over top spot in Division 3 by beating Vikings D 8-2.

Bicester C continued their good start to the season, beating Forum I 7-3 in spite of a maximum for Forum’s Jake East.

OXFORD & DISTRICT LEAGUE RESULTS

Div 1: RAL 3, Bicester A 7 (J Rigby 3); British Rail 8 (D Jones 3, N Cartwright 3), Forum C 2; Vikings B 3, Forum A 7 (G Boone 3); Forum B 9 (F Harris 3, A Flint 3), Vikings A 1.

Div 2: Gladiators A 8 (K Giles 3), Forum F 2; Academy A 10 (C Savage 3, J Mellon 3, S Tabuni 3), Forum G 0; Forum G 3, Gladiators B 7 (J Roake 3, I Saba 3); Forum D 5, Holton A 5 (J Ho 3).

Div 3: Bicester C 7, Forum I 3 (J East 3); Holton C 8 (R Mott 3), Vikings C 2; Vikings D 2, Holton B 8 (B Ford 3); Academy B 9 (W Ip 3, D Kay 3), Forum H 1.