CUMBERLAND won the third Minor Counties title in their history as they demolished Oxfordshire inside two days in the Unicorns Championship final at Carlisle.

The county claimed a first triumph since 1999 as Richard Gleeson and Toby Bulcock combined to dismiss the visitors for 85 and 89 over their two innings.

It was a resounding victory by 10 wickets, achieved by mid-afternoon on the second day of what was scheduled to be a four-day game.

Man-of-the-match Gleeson gave a high-class exhibition of new ball bowling to collect match figures of 6 for 28 in 26.4 overs as the game was completed in under nine hours of playing time.

Bulcock soon got the three wickets he needed to set a new county record for most wickets in a season and went on to take 7 for 45 in 26.4 overs after another masterly display of spin bowling.

Bulcock surpassed David Halliwell's record of 44 wickets, set during Cumberland's first Championship-winning season in 1986 and finished the campaign with 49 at an average of 14.85.

He just missed out to Cambridgeshire skipper Paul McMahon for the Minor Counties bowling award. McMahan took fewer wickets (46), but at a slightly better average of 14.28.

Neil Longhurst weighed in with 5 for 42 in 15 overs and player/coach Christopher Hodgson took 2 for 33, including trapping Sussex all-rounder Will Beer lbw for 18 in the second innings.

No less than 21 wickets fell on the opening day, after a 45-minute delay for morning dew. Oxford were dismissed for 85 in only 40.4 overs, with only Richard Kaufman and Jonny Cater reaching double figures.

Cumberland reached 170 thanks to opener Josh Tolley's patient 45 – the highest individual score of the game.

Will Hale, Longhurst and Liam Parkinson all made valuable 20s as Oxford captain Luke Ryan bowled his slow left-arm to good effect to take 5 for 37. Beer's leg-spin captured 3 for 48.

Hodgson grabbed the wicket of night-watchman Harvey Eltham before the close and, after another delayed start on the second morning, Gleeson t made early inroads, clean bowling the top-order trio of Hugo Darby, Lloyd Sabin and Harrison Ward in his first six overs.

There was no way back for Oxford after Kaufman was trapped leg before by Bulcock, to leave their second innings in tatters at 13 for 5.

Parkinson made smart stumpings to dismiss Cater and Jack Wilkins off Bulcock and only an aggressive 29 from ex-Middlesex seamer Chad Keegan saved Oxford from an innings defeat.

Longhurst took the final two wickets leaving Cumberland only five to win, Tolley striking the second ball o the boundary to complete a stunning victory.

Cumberland skipper Gary Pratt was a proud man afterwards, and said: "It was a fantastic team performance from a very close-knit team who have played exceptional cricket this year.

“Toby Bulcock and Richard Gleeson are outstanding cricketers and should be playing first-class cricket regularly.”

Pratt, Tolley, Gleeson, Bulcock and Barrow's Jon Miles made it a trophy double, having won the one-day competition in 2012 as well. They will form the bedrock of the county side as Pratt looks to repeat the success in 2016.

Minor Counties Unicorns Championship Final: Cumberland 170 (JR Tolley 45, LC Ryan 5-37) and 5 for 0 defeated Oxfordshire 85 (T Bulcock 4-18) and 89 by 10 wickets.