Great & Little Tew skipper Andy Harris blamed a below-par score for their eight-wicket loss to Horspath in Sunday’s Bernard Tollet Oxfordshire Cup final at Oxford Downs.

Horspath chased down Tew’s 134-8 with 2.3 overs left, Mark Skelton with 67 not out from 33 balls.

Tew opted to bat first after winning the toss and got off to a flier, with openers Harry Smith and Joe White taking the score to 48-0 off five overs.

Tew were still 81-2 off ten overs, but collapsed badly after Shahbaz Ali bowled Curtly Slatter to make it 91-3.

That soon became 105-7 as Robbie Catling, Josh Garrett, Lloyd Brock and Ashley Hubbert fell quickly.

Lloyd Belcher, Horspath’s 14-year-old left-arm spinner, with a spell of 2-18, impressed in tandem with Paul Jea-cock.

A few quick runs from skipper Harris helped Tew close on 134-8, but it meant they needed to bowl superbly for victory.

Robbie Eason and Jimmy Phillips began Horspath’s reply aggressively, before Skel-ton took centre stage.

He had to ride his luck to fend off some short stuff from Liam Manley before forming a match-winning partnership with Ali, who hit 28 not out.

Spinners Ian Bryan and White stemmed the run-flow.

But Horspath were always in control and it was fitting Skelton hit the winning runs with a four through the covers.

“We made a below-par sco-re,” said Harris. “We started off pretty well, but then lost a few wickets in clusters, which put us behind the eight-ball. “With our bowling attack I still backed us to defend 140. “We lost four wickets in two overs and struggled after that. “They rebuilt their innings well after losing two wickets and that’s something we need to learn from.” On Saturday, Tew completed their first season in Serious Cricket Home Counties Pre-mier League Division 2 West with a 77-run reverse at home to Gerrards Cross.

Despite tidy spells from Matt Woods and Bryan, Tew could not prevent Gerrards Cross reaching 243-5 from 50 overs after winning the toss.

The hosts were already behind the clock when they suffered an alarming collapse as Hubbert, Woods, Josh Megson and Harris fell in one over of Matt Watson’s leg spin.

Watson, who did not complete a hat-trick, finished with 5-30 as Tew were all out for 166 in the 44th over.

But they still finished in sixth.