Southsea Waverley pair set to fly the flag for Portsmouth area in National Bowls Finals

Southsea Waverley will be flying the flag for the Portsmouth area in the National Bowls Finals at Royal Leamington Spa.
Matt Marchant, pictured, and Rob Moran have qualified for the National Finals in Royal Leamington Spa. Picture: David BrawnMatt Marchant, pictured, and Rob Moran have qualified for the National Finals in Royal Leamington Spa. Picture: David Brawn
Matt Marchant, pictured, and Rob Moran have qualified for the National Finals in Royal Leamington Spa. Picture: David Brawn

The pairing of Rob Moran and Matthew Marchant won their County Championship semi-final on the extra end before losing 18-6 in the final, writes DAVE WILDMAN.

For most of the others, the last eight was as far as they got, apart from the following:

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*In the Two-Wood Singles, Leigh Park’s Carter Blanford lost 15-14 in the semis to the eventual champion. It was the first time Carter had reached the final stages of any County Championship.

*In the Triples, Priory’s Andy Hibberd, Roly Bloy and Adrian Snook lost 19-9 in the semis having dispatched a Southampton-based triple 24-4 in the last eight.

*In the Fours, Leigh Park’s Bob Docker, Peter Robinson, Nathan Hanley and Lewis Voysey lost 15-9 in the semis, having dispatched a Ringwood quartet 16-9 in the previous round.

Portsmouth & District League

City Divisions

Priory have sealed the Division A title.

At Northern Parade, second placed Vospers took on Naismith. In a tight match, Vospers led by one shot after 15 ends but the Naismith rinks got the better of the last three ends to take the match by four shots, winning on two rinks.

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Priory were away to Milton Park in a game where both clubs recorded 12-shot victories.

As these results cancelled each other out, the match was decided by the four-shot win on Steve Watt’s rink that gave the match to Priory and, with Vospers’ defeat, the laurels.

In Division B, the top two had similar results to those in Division A.

Leaders Waverley moved closer to title glory with a 13-shot, all rinks win over tenants Star & Crescent.

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Waverley were indebted to the nine-shot win on Paul Cooke’s rink as the others were close.

Alexandra suffered a shock three-shot defeat at Cosham Park, despite winning on two rinks. Cosham triumphed thanks to the eight-shot win by Tony Hall’s rink.

Those results mean that Waverley require 16 points from their last three games to win the division. However, as two of those games are against Alexandra it could be settled when they meet next week.

Portsmouth Water recorded a 13-shot home victory over Pembroke Gardens, winning on two rinks. The Watermen had to thank the 11-shot win by Mick Edney’s rink for the size of their victory.

Havant & Waterlooville

Leaders Leigh Park recorded a 12-shot win at Denmead.

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They just failed to take all the points as Ben Cope’s rink fought back on the last three ends to force a tie

That result meant that Cowplain had to win their home match against Waterlooville, but in a woeful performance they fell to an 18-shot defeat, losing on all three rinks.

It was the Brian LeMarquer rink that did all the damage for Waterlooville with their 11-shot victory.

That result meant that Leigh Park clinched the title.

Gosport & Fareham

The battle for the division will be settled next week when the top two, Rowner and Lee-on-the-Solent, face each other twice.

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Rowner go into those games with an 11-point lead, but the Solent club have every chance as both matches are on their turf.

Rowner recorded an 18-shot home win over Gosport, thanks to big wins on the rinks of Phil Pinder and Barry Stafford, with Jim Oswell’s rink sparing Gosport’s blushes with their nine-shot success.

Lee-on-the-Solent travelled to Fareham and recorded a nine-shot triumph thanks to wins on the rinks of Martin Ellis and Graham Hillier.

Combination League

The winners of all the City Combination divisions have now been decided with Alexandra Blue taking City A and Priory Black the C division.

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The winners of the Havant & Waterlooville and Gosport & Fareham divisions will be decided by the results of rearranged games.

In the H&W division, Waterlooville Gold travel to Cowplain Red knowing that they need to win on all rinks to get top spot ahead of Bedhampton.

In the G&F Division, Lee-on-the-Solent B are two points clear of Fareham C, with both having rearranged away matches to play. Fareham C are at Gosport, while Lee-on-the-Solent B play Rowner B.

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