COKETHORPE’S girls team came through a marathon clash with St Helen & St Katharine to reach the National Schools Championship finals.

The Witney school beat Oxford High and Wycombe Abbey to reach the regional final, while their opponents, from Abingdon, had seen off Marlborough College and Downe House.

It took more than four hours of play to decide who would be heading to Queenswood School in Hertfordshire next month.

Cokethorpe led 6-2 after the singles, leaving St Helens needing both doubles to take it to a shoot-out.

Both doubles went to three sets, but Cokethorpe’s first pair finished the job by winning the tie-breaker 10-4.

St Helens edged the other match 11-9 in the tie-break, but Cokethorpe went through 8-4 overall.

They will join 15 other teams in the battle to become national champion and earn a place at the World Schools Tennis Championships.

OXFORDSHIRE endured a tough weekend in the Seniors Inter-County Championships.

The men’s over 70s lost 8-0 at Nottingham, their over 50s went down 8-4 at home to Sussex.

The women’s over 50s provided the best result, drawing 4-4 away to Bedfordshire.

OXFORD Sports men’s A team whitewashed their B side 8-0 to reignite their OLTA Babolat Summer League Division 1 campaign.

NORTH Oxford's men won 8-4 at home to defending champions Woodstock in the AEGON Team Tennis competition.

The victory took them second in the Oxfordshire division to boost hopes of catching leaders Oxford Sports with one round remaining.

BOBBY Gosling retained his men’s title at the Henman’s Freeth Tournament on home soil at Woodstock, beating Wantage’s Charlie Lance in the LTA Grade 4 event.