PLAYING at Woodbridge on a day notable for its blustery wind punctuated by vigorous rain and sleet squalls, Oxford University beat their Cambridge counterparts by six matches to three, a result that was almost inevitable by the time the singles matches reached the back nine.

PLAYING at Woodbridge on a day notable for its blustery wind punctuated by vigorous rain and sleet squalls, Oxford University beat their Cambridge counterparts by six matches to three, a result that was almost inevitable by the time the singles matches reached the back nine.

Cambridge had the better of the morning foursomes, claiming two of the three points on offer.

Jenny Heathcote and Kirsty Wybar, Suffolk's only representative on either side, were 1 up with four to go. They birdied 15 and 16 to claim a point, closely followed by Jill Hamilton and Katie Taylor.

Taylor holed a staggering 30-footer downhill to keep her team all square at 17. Oxford found the bushes up the hill at 18 and finished a hole light.

Emma Carroll and Kate Turner, aided by the latter's prodigious length off the tee, won a sterling battle against the Cambridge captain, Jo Reeve, and her partner, Elaine Evans.

The singles were always going to be difficult for Cambridge. Outmatched on paper and in conditions that favoured the lower-handicap players, they struggled from the outset, peppered by birdies and finally polished off, it seemed, by a superiority of the short game.

Only Elaine Evans, facing Emma Carroll, managed to hang on to her point in a match that went all the way. Evans squared things at 17 when her opponent lost a ball in a bush and had to retrace her steps and play another.

Feeling the pressure, Carroll pushed her drive up 18 and couldn't match Evans' par four for the victory. Nevertheless, Emma Parr, the Oxford captain, paid tribute to the 15-handicapper who had kept going so well against a much more experienced opponent. Evans' point added respectability to the Cambridge total

The Oxford captain was delighted with her team's overall performance.

Match results

(Cambridge names first)

Foursomes: Jenny Heathcote & Kirsty Wybar beat Emma Parr & Fiona Johnston 3 & 2; Katie Taylor & Jill Hamilton beat Meredith Riedel & Nicole Saad 1 up; Jo Reeve & Elaine Evans lost to Emma Carroll & Kate Turner 3 & 2;

Singles: Heathcote lost to Parr 4 & 3; Wybar lost to Turner 6 & 5; Taylor lost to Saad 5 & 3; Reeve lost to Johnston 5 & 4; Hamilton lost to Riedel 4 & 3; Evans beat Carroll 1 up.

Cambridge 3, Oxford 6.