THERE was no joy for Didcot and Grove in their respective cup competitions last weekend.

Didcot who had battled their way through to the Southern Counties final in the Junior Vase, went down 15-3 at home to Pewsey Vale from Wiltshire.

In a hard-fought match, a soggy pitch and strong winds put paid to any running rugby with the match soon turning into a forward tussle.

Pewsey took an early lead after a crash ball close to Didcot’s line broke through the home defences.

The visitors added another similar try, athough there were strong claims that the ball was held up over the line.

The conversion gave Pewsey a 12-0 lead which was commanding considering the conditions.

A late penalty from Didcot’s fly half Josh Witts made it 12-3 at half-time.

In the second half, Didcot moved up the gears but despite many try-scoring opportunities they lacked the luck and some- times quality to secure a score.

Pewsey added a penalty to complete their victory.

Heads held high, Didcot now refocus on trying to win promo- tion from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Championship in their match at Oxford this Saturday.

Grove bowed out of the Oxfordshire Cup when they lost 21-10 at home to Henley 2nd in their quarter-final.

The hosts led twice in the first half and the teams were level 10-10 at the break.

But second-half tries from Scott White and Cecil McCarthy, added to the earlier penalty try, saw Henley into the last four. Ben Palmer landed all three conversions.