Lee-on-the-Solent Grandfather/grandson pairing cause huge National Championships shock – Portsmouth Bowls League round-up

At Lee-on-the-Solent, the grandfather and grandson pairing of Roy Cullen and Joshua Thompson stunned a Waverley pair consisting of England international Matthew Marchant and Hampshire Middleton Cup bowler Paul Cooke 15-14

Meanwhile, in the 4Wood Singles, a rerun of last year’s Area Final saw 2021 surprise package, Mark Berry of Purbrook Heath, again defeat Priory’s Roly Bloy, this time 21-12.

In the Portsmouth League, it was a busy time for Division 1 clubs as they had two games to play in a week.

Division 1 Tuesday matches

The Waverley juggernaut continued with an 82-shot home thrashing over luckless Waterlooville - AND Ville even managed to win a rink!

Two Waverley rinks topped the 40-shot mark, but Danny Smith’s rink took all the plaudits with a remarkable 49-3 win.

All of this must have bemused Ville’s Richard Allen as, despite the carnage around them, his rink won by 10 shots.

Second place Rowner kept up with the Southsea men with a second successive home win, by 29 shots over Lee-on-the-Solent.

They won by double digits on three rinks, led by the 12-shot win by Phil Pinder’s rink. Martin Ellis’ rink prevented a whitewash with their five-shot success.

Cowplain heaped more misery on Alexandra, winning by 40 shots. It was only one rink that let Alex down, as Don Lilley’s men crashed to a 33-shot defeat. Carl Baggott’s rink spared Alex’s blushes with a single shot win.

Fareham got their season underway with a tight four-shot home win over Leigh Park. With both clubs taking two rinks, it was the seven-shot win by Charlie Bailey’s rink that turned the match Fareham’s way.

Friday’s matches

Waverley were made to fight hard before beating Leigh Park by four shots. With both clubs winning a rink with the other two being tied, it was the 10-shot win on Danny Smith’s rink that overcame the six-shot win for Mark Miller’s rink.

Rowner lost by eight shots at Priory. In a tight game, Priory triumphed on three rinks.

Fareham followed up their win over Leigh Park by thrashing visiting Cowplain by 54 shots. They won all four rinks, with large scorelines for Charlie Bailey and John Travers.

Finally, Alexandra got their act together with a 50-shot home win over Waterlooville. Alex won on three rinks with the other tied, but the size of the victory was thanks to the 28-shot win on Steve Feilder’s rink.

Derek Holt’s rink picked up seven shots on the last three ends to get Ville a point by getting a draw.

Division 2

At Northern Parade, two clubs who had won their first match met up and it was Vospers who took all the spoils with a 34-shot home win over Milton Park.

Vospers won all four rinks, but it was the size of the victories on the rinks of Dave Young and Terry Smith that boosted the final margin.

Earlier in the week, Naismith triumphed at Portsmouth Water by six shots. They won on three rinks, led by Howard Davis’ quartet. Brent Riste’s rink spared PW’s blushes with a nine-shot win.

However, they couldn’t carry on the good form on Friday, as they crashed to a 44-shot defeat at Star & Crescent. They weren’t helped that one of their side had to leave the game through illness and they didn’t have a travelling reserve to step in. Star won on three rinks and the size of their victory was thanks to the 30-shot win on Robbie Dennison’s rink.Kelvin Chandler’s rink got Naismith two points with their three-shot win.

Finally, Portsmouth Water recovered from their Naismith defeat by travelling onto the peninsula to beat Gosport by five shots. Both clubs won on two rinks, with each having a rink that won big - a 14-shot victory for Brent Riste’s men overcoming the 10-shot loss to Jim Oswell’s quartet.

Division 3

Denmead opened their season with a rousing 38-shot, all rink win over visitors Gas Social. Boosting them were 11-shot wins on the rinks of George Carmichael and Glyn Jones.

Bridgemary fell to a three-shot defeat at Purbrook Heath. With both clubs winning on two rinks, it was the 13-shot win on Mick Frank’s rink that overcame the 10-shot loss to Craig Rimmer’s Bridgemary rink, as the other two cancelled each other out.