THE opening round of matches in the Aubrey Hughes Handicap Shield produced one of the most thrilling games ever seen.

The Gladiators A team of David Gardner, Kevin Giles and Paul Reynolds had to give Holton D a 191-point start in their clash.

Although they managed to slowly eat into their rivals’ advantage, Brian Dobson, Norbert Gajda and Edward Biddulph looked like they had done just enough to edge to a narrow success.

With the singles matches over and the doubles well under way, Holton led by 11 points going into the final end.

But unbelievably, Gladiators triumphed 11-0 to tie the scores – and won overall as the away side.

Forum B were given a fright by Forum G.

After giving away a 132-point lead, Pierre-Olivier Collard, Guy Plowman and Christine Scaysbrook scraped through 413-404.

Last year’s winners British Rail successfully negotiated their first match, beating Holton A by 21 points with Richard Taylor, Neil Cartwright and Ian Mead on song.

Bicester E’s side of Martin Taylor, Muriel Hooker and Adrian Portlock started 76 points in front of clubmates Bicester B, and just hung on for a 411-380 victory.

Forum C overcame a 109-point deficit to beat Gladiators B 429-384, while Forum F, who started 210 points behind Vikings D, were another to defy their penalty to prevail 431-417.

The biggest winners were Vikings A.

Their trio of Simon Cox, James Speedy and Serogo Tabuni were forced to give away a start of 88 points, but a superb display saw them win 414-338.

RESULTS Aubrey Hughes Handicap Shield: Holton D 440 (+191), Gladiators A 440; Forum B 413, Forum G 404 (+132); British Rail 435, Holton A 414 (+236); Forum J 400 (+141), Forum H 427; Bicester E 411 (+76), Bicester B 380; Forum C 429, Gladiators B 384 (+109); Vikings D 417 (+210), Forum F 431; Vikings A 414, Forum E 338 (+88); Holton C 373 (+149), Vikings B 439.