Oxfordshire's men continued their sensational form with a thrilling sixth promotion in three years.

Having sealed a third successive climb in the Summer County Cup event, the county side made it a hat-trick of promotions in the Winter County Cup with a superb showing at Gosling Sports Park, Welwyn Garden City.

Their success came down to a tense final set tie-break, which saw captain Jon Maskens and Benedict Calnan control their nerves under pressure to seal victory.

Oxfordshire got off to a flying start, beating Hereford and Worcester 9-0 on the opening day.

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Their bid suffered a setback on day two, however, when they lost 5-4 to Devon, a 10-7 tie-break defeat in the deciding match proved their downfall.

Going into their final match against Bedfordshire, any one of three sides could have won promotion.

However, when Devon lost their opening singles rubber, Oxon’s clash became a winner-takes-all match.

There was nothing between the teams after the singles, with the score level at 3-3.

When Nigel Matthews and Tom Dyakowski lost their opening doubles, Bedfordshire were in pole position.

But Joe Cartledge and Tom Greenland levelled matters with an impressive win at third pair.

That put the pressure on Maskens and Calnan, who won their first set 6-3, only to lose a second-set tie-break.

It took the game to a sudden death shoot-out, and the Oxon duo came out on top with a 10-7 success.

It capped a great week for the team, and saw Maskens and Calnan remain unbeaten throughout the competition with three singles and three doubles successes apiece.

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