Hooker Doug Chirnside scored two second-half tries to help Oxford Cavaliers outmuscle Southampton Spitfires 21-8 in an absorbing West of England League Plate Final.
In a game played in wet and windy conditions, both sides struggled to control the ball.
It made for a tight, forward-dominated contest, and it was Oxford's bigger size that told in the end.
The Cavaliers started to the game brightly, with sizeable stand-off Dan Brooker catching the eye early on.
The Bristol-based player helped set up the first try for centre Josh Smith after just three minutes, holding his nerve to slot over the conversion from wide on the left.
Just three minutes later, Brooker was again in the thick of the action, ghosting through the Southampton defence to dive over close to the right corner. This time he couldn't add the extras.
On 18 minutes, the stand-off broke through the Spitfires' line on half way and hared clear.
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Despite having teammates in support, he chose to go for glory himself, and was brought down 20 metres out by a brilliant tackle from Southampton fullback Mike McGrath.
This great escape seemed to give the Spitfires renewed hope and, over the next ten minutes, they began to get a foothold in the game.
Strong defence was matched by more offensive gains, assisted by a string of penalties awarded against the Cavaliers.
With just over 25 minutes on the clock, Southampton finally crossed the whitewash, centre Reece Waters slipping through the Oxford line after good work from Thomas Colling.
Although the conversion attempt was missed, the Spitfires were back in the game.
The rain began to lash down harder, and handling errors became more frequent as the first half drew to a close. At the interval, both coaches felt their charges had a chance of taking home the silverware.
It was Oxford who wrestled the initiative in the early stages of the second half, though. It took just seven minutes for the Cavaliers to extend their lead, hooker Doug Chirnside showing great speed and footwork to step out from the play-the-ball and force his way over from a few metres out. Brooker nailed the conversion, putting the Cavaliers 16-4 ahead.
Southampton continued to battle hard, but could not find a way through Oxford's dominant defence.
They scrambled impressively to keep the Cavaliers at bay on a number of occasions, before Doug Chirnside scored his second of the afternoon on the hour mark to all but end the South Coast side's hopes.
Brooker's attempted conversion bounced back off the upright to gasps from the assembled crowd.
The Spitfires gave themselves hope of an unlikely comeback when impressive loose forward Alex Hicken, whose tireless work in attack and defence had done much to keep his side in the game, crossed for a try on 68 minutes.
But it proved to be a mere consolation as, with three minutes remaining, experienced stand off Gary Dunn coolly slotted over a field goal, confirming Oxford's hard-fought victory.
SOUTHAMPTON SPITFIRES
1. Mike McGrath
2. Matt Blackman
3. Reece Waters
4. Jack Lucas Smith
5. Thomas Bared
6. Tom Colling
7. Joel Buckingham
8. Mart Amey
9. Paddy Iumefura
10. Ben Kimicott
11. Mike Wisensti
12. Adam Broadhurst
13. Alex Hicken
Interchange (all used)
14. Will Blickerman
15. Daffyd Gorry
16. Rich Donnell
17. Andy Dymott
18. Gary Silverton
19. Donovan Richardson
Tries: Reece Waters (26), Alex Hicken (68)
OXFORD CAVALIERS
1. Rob Wilson
2. James Royal
3. Josh Smith
4. Errol Carter
5. Harry Brooker
6. Garry Dunn
7. Dan Brooker
8. Tom Davies
9. Doug Chirnside
10. Joel Hopkin
11. Mike Owen
12. Rich Williams
13. Dan Jamieson
Interchange (all used)
14. Sam Earle
15. Josh Relph
16. Neil Henratty
17. Ronan Cassery
Tries: Josh Smith (3), Dan Brooker (6), Doug Chirnside (47, 59)
Goals: Dan Brooker 2 (from 4)
Field Goal: Gary Dunn (77)
Half-Time: 4-10
Referee: Melvin Betteridge
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS
Spitfires: Alex Hicken (loose forward)
Cavaliers: Doug Chirnside (hooker)
