A SPIRITED performance from tailenders Matt Metcalfe and James Hayman got Dorset to within touching distance of Oxfordshire after day two of an absorbing Minor Counties Championship clash at Dean Park.

Starting the day on 23 without loss, Dorset made hard work of the opening session, crumbling to 64 for four.

But for Aaron Williams’s impressive 65, things could have been worse for the hosts as Glyn Treagus (0), Tom Jacques (0) and Darren Cowley (19) all fell cheaply.

Masoor Khan, however, plundered 67 to help Dorset reach 177 for six.

That left the reigning Minor Counties champions still 152 behind – before Metcalfe came to the crease.

The Bournemouth star put on 46 with Mark Wolstenholme (25) and 59 with Hayman (42*) to fire Dorset to within 10 runs of Oxfordshire’s 329 first innings total.

Oxfordshire seamer Chad Keegan, the former Middlesex bowler, finished with stunning figures of seven for 123 after dismissing all four of Dorset’s top order and sending both Hayman and Metcalfe back to the pavilion.

But Metcalfe soon followed up his heroics with the bat by bagging two early wickets in Oxfordshire’s second innings.

Hayman removed opener Richard Kaufman for just six, before Metcalfe trapped Lymington batsman Damian Shirazi leg before for 33 and dismissed Richard West for 21.

The visitors closed on 106 for three – a lead of 116 going into today’s final day.