OAKLEY RETAIN CUSHEON TROPHY

Tonight at Loddon Vale IBC, Oakley for the fifth successive year were contesting the Final of the Cusheon Trophy, the competition for outdoor clubs, introduced many years ago by the late Laurie Cusheon. Having recently lifted the comparable trophy at Longmeadow IBC, hopes were high that we might retain the Cusheon trophy and do the double but standing in our way, once again, were Basingstoke Town the 2015 and 2016 winners. Both teams were markedly different to last year and in Oakley's case we fielded the youngest four ever to represent the club in an event of this nature with an average age of just under 18. Young they may be but they began confidently although for 7 ends the game was tight with Oakley leading by just 8-3 . However a score of 6 to Oakley on the 8th end saw the game change dramatically and by 13 ends Oakley had stormed into a 28-3 lead with the Town eventually conceding afte 18 ends with the score 31-6 in Oakley's favour, Congratulations go to Nicole Rogers, Heather Statham, Alice Lovett and Ashley Nethercliffe on their success tonight but equally to the four elder statesmen, Bob Goodyear, Ric Newson, Terry Heath and Fred Norris who played a very important role in ensuring the Club's passage to the Final.