OXFORD University pushed unbeaten Aviva A League side Worcester Cavaliers all the way before falling to a 9-5 defeat at Iffley Road.

The students had the honour of scoring the game’s only try through full back Ed Doe and should have bagged one or two more in a first half in which they dominated territory and possession.

But they failed to add to their 15th-minute lead and were undone by three penalties as fly half Tiff Eden’s unerring boot punished the Dark Blues’ second-half indiscretions.

Dark Blues captain Jacob Taylor missed the match due to a poisoned finger, so Doe moved from the wing to cover at full back and centre Zandy Macdonald took over as skipper.

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Taking points when they are on offer is key to winning big matches and fly half George Cullen will be ruing his missed conversion and interception-try opportunity.

So, too, will Matt Janney will wondering what might have been had his regulation 40-metre penalty gone over.

Oxford could have been out of sight by half-time, but they only led 5-0 thanks to Doe’s try, latching on to a clever Cullen kick over the top.

The Cavaliers lost prop Alex Gordas to the sin-bin just before the break, but the students had two players yellow-carded in the second half as referee Calum Howard lost patience at the breakdown.

Lock Tom Reeson-Price was the first to go after 45 minutes and then flanker Gus Jones followed him to the sidelines with five minutes left.

With the wind at their backs the visitors dominated the second half.

A knock-on from No 8 Richard de Carpentier at the base of a scrum cost Worcester a try.

But as the penalty count mounted, so Eden was able to guide his side into the lead with kicks in the 52nd, 69th and 76th minutes.

There was a last-gasp break out into the Cavaliers’ 22 by Henry de Berker which could have brought about a dramatic finish, but his pass to fellow replacement Will Dace went to ground instead of hand.

Oxford University: Doe* (Adams-Cairns), Strang (Dace), Janney*, Macdonald* (capt), Lamont*, Cullen (de Becker), Egerton*, Anderson*, Gardner* (Quayle), Williams* (Western), MacGilchrist* (Thomas), Reeson-Price*, Peter, Jones*, Messum (Hilton-Stevens). Rep not used: Scaife. * denotes Blue.

Worcester Cavaliers: Hughes, Harrison, Humphreys, Jackson, Watkins, Eden, de Cothi, Cosgrove, Singleton, Gordas, Perks, Kerry, Hills, Boyce, de Carpentier. Reps: Crane, White, McNulty, Clegg, Edwards, Shilcock, Himbury, Wardle.

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