Oxfordshire Men's Match Reports for 2025
Summary of the season from Match Secretary Alex Fleming
2025 was a season of transitioning for the County with a new way of picking the competitive sides, we also had a new captain in Howard Watts, who proved to be an excellent choice.
We started with the Balcombe trophy which was held over a weekend at Desborough. We battered Berkshire in the opening game, always enjoyable. We were extremely unlucky to narrowly lose to Buckinghamshire and lost to group winners Northamptonshire in the last match.
We opened our Middleton cup campaign at a very wet Hereford, winning by 44 shots. The following week we hosted Worcestershire at Chipping Norton on a green that was too quick for the home side and narrowly lost in a game that went to the last end. The highlight of the season was an away win against Warwickshire that left the home players in shock. We finished with a narrow defeat at South Oxford against a strong Gloucestershire side. The spirit and atmosphere at the games was the best I have seen, the team played well in every game without a lot of luck, despite what Warwickshire might think. Going forward there was a lot of positives, there were mistakes and lessons to be learnt, but we are going in the right direction.
The Home Counties side had 14 new players in the team for the first game away to Buckinghamshire including Finn Jelfs who was celebrating his 12th birthday, he was also one of the standout bowlers on the day, we lost by 12 with one rink losing by 20. Our second game was at Banbury Chestnuts against Middlesex, we were 24 shots up with 3 ends to play, but dropped 25 shots to lose by 1: disappointing. The last game away to Surrey was a dead rubber which Surrey didn't want to play.
As far as the midweek side was concerned it was a season to forget. Availability issues and drop outs were the story of the season. Sixteen regular players for various reasons decided not to play this season. For the first half of the season we were scratching about for players, the number of drop outs from day one has been ridiculous. There have been several games with 8 or 9 players dropping out, many on the day before. There have been cases of players dropping out because they don't like the position they are playing, to me this is totally unacceptable.
On the positive side there has been a hard core of players making themselves available for the away matches. We fulfilled all our fixtures though, we only had 4 rinks at Herefordshire and 5 at Middlesex, who incidentally won the prize for the worst meal of the season.
The second half of the season was better with several new recruits coming in, South Oxford must be thanked for the way they have supported the County. Results picked up and at times we actually played some good stuff. We had an enjoyable few days on the Isle of Wight and hope to do the same next season when we play Dorset at Weymouth.
The Oxfordshire clubs who hosted matches were excellent and easy to deal with, Bloxham had their first match, unfortunately games at Adderbury and Charlbury were cancelled by the opposition. We are playing at Watlington next season against Middlesex in what will be the first visit there for a long time.
I would like to thank my assistant Brian Bloomfield for all his hard work which mainly goes unnoticed. Also Chris Weller and Greg Moon for their help with the competitive side.
Ann Lattimore was a good choice as first unified President, she was very supportive of the men's teams and mixed in well, she will be a hard act to follow.
Winter well. Alex
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BO Men's section v Worcs BA at Bloxham B C on 10 September 2025
Oxfordshire had a thoughly miserable afternoon against visitors Worcestershire at Bloxham Bowls Club. The game started in heavy rain and it was wet for virtually the whole match.
The match secretary ripped up the scorecards as 3 players failed to arrive and Bowls Oxfordshire President Ann Lattimore was pressed into service, she couldn't have chosen a wetter day to play.
On rink 1 Andrew Eastgate, Ann Lattimore, John Hurren and Paul Robbins lost 14-8. Roger Hopkins, Geoff Roynon, Richard Morris and Mick Morris where leading by 5 shots but fell away to draw 13-13. Despite a good performance from lead Bernie May, veteran John Stephens on his own green, Brian Clarke who had got off his sick bed to play and skip Alex Fleming couldn't compete with a skip that had reached a Leamington semi final in his previous game loosing 20-9.
Gary Panons, Kenny Cooper, Tony Wright and Tim Stevens were 13-4 down but fought back to level the score on the 16th end, but dropped shots on the last 2 ends meant a 18-15 loss. The final score was Worcestershire 70 Oxfordshire 45, a disappointing way to finish the season, but it must be said Worcestershire had a very strong side with several Middleton cup players.
The only positive to take out of the day was Bloxham Bowls Club, it was the first time they had hosted a County men's match. Their organisation was spot on, from the car park attendants who must have got soaked, the coffee and rolls on arrival, the warm welcome, the excellent meal and a very good raffle. They have a very nice clubhouse with an excellent viewing area if it isn't raining and hopefully we will be back soon. Alex
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BO Men's section v Berkshire B A at Woodstock B C on 3, September 2025
Oxfordshire hosted Berkshire at Woodstock Bowls Club for what is always a keenly fought contest.
It didn't look good as it was raining heavily up to 5 minutes before the start. But Woodstock had planned everything to perfection as the rain stopped and the sun came out.
On rink 1 Dale Thorne, Ken Williams, Roger Oliver and home club President Tim Stevens were behind for most of the game but 4 shots on the last 2 ends gave them a 16-15 win. Nick Baldwin, John McGeough, John Hurren and Les Days were always behind but kept it tight to only lose 20-13.
Bernie May, Martin Oliver, Roy Radband and Paul Robbins were all square after 11 ends, but failed to trouble the scorer again to lose 15-8. On rink 4 it was good to see Simon Hastings of Headington make the big step up to the midweek side along with Mike Andrew, Nigel Cattell and Alex Fleming they were 9 down with 4 to play, but finished strongly to only lose 19-18.
Mike Petersen, Martin Heath, John Townley and Brian Bloomfield all played well winning 17-10, importantly being last off with the game in the balance kept it tight. Rink 6 was Roger Hopkins, Geoff Smith, home club player Brian Clarke and Neil Whiting were all square after 9 ends but picked up 11 shots in the second half to win 17-9 and pick up the pens.
This was easily the best performance of the season and resulted in a 89-88 win for Oxfordshire, always nice to beat Berkshire. The new faces that have come into the team have all played well and made a big difference.
Woodstock has proved to be a good venue and are now firmly established as County hosts. Despite the heavy rain beforehand and looking a bit rough, the green actually bowled OK and the club put on a good meal and were very welcoming. Alex
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BO Men's section v Gloucestershire B A at Kidlington B C on 27 August, 2025
Looking to bounce back from a disappointing result yesterday at Stony Stratford, Oxfordshire faced Gloucestershire at Kidlington Bowls Club. There was a heavy shower before the game which made the green heavier than we have been used to.
On rink 1 Mike Petersen, Mickey Conrad-Banks, John Hurren and Neil Whiting started slowly but went quickly through the gears to finish up 22-12 winners, they also claimed the pens, well done lads.
Mick Morris on rink 2 hadn't learned the lessons of yesterday, dropping a 3 on the last end but along with Nick Baldwin, Mike Andrew and John Townley scraped home 16-15.
Next door, a near suicidal Alex Fleming on his 150th County appearance was starting a petition against straight woods. Despite an excellent performance from lead Dale Thorne who went away with heavily bruised woods, Tony Wright and Brian Clarke had no answer to what they were seeing and did well to only lose 22-12.
Next door Andrew Eastgate found it makes a difference turning up on time for a match and along with Nigel Cattell, Steve Gould and John Major picked up a 5 and 6 in a 21-12 win, another good performance.
Tony Lynch on his men's debut along with Bob Wright, Roy Radband and Tim Stevens had a very tight game and narrowly lost 14-11. Roger Oliver, the impressive Kenny Cooper, Ken Williams and home club skip Chris Cox also had a close match winning 15-12.
The final score was Oxfordshire 97, Gloucestershire 87 a rare win for the host County. Kidlington where the perfect hosts as always and a large helping of sticky toffee pudding and custard helped the match secretary forget his game. Alex
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BO Men's section v Buckinghamshire B A at Stoney Stratford on 26 August, 2025
Oxfordshire travelled to Stony Stratford with yet again a much changed side to play Buckinghamshire. It was a very close game which unfortunately we managed to throw away. After 16 ends the visitors were 18 shots up and despite strong finishes from Keith Buckle's and David Lattimore's rink somehow managed to lose by 1 shot.
Rink one was the highlight of the day with Andrew Eastgate, Mike Andrew, Chris Cox and David Lattimore picking up a 4 on the last end to win 23-16 and pick up the pens. On rink 2 Bernie May, Geoff Smith, Tony Wright and Alex Fleming played a strong Presidents rink, going into the final end all square, despite 2 good woods from Bernie dropped a shot to lose 15-14. Things were looking good on rink 3 with Gary Panons. Russell Box, Roy Radband and John Hurren 13-8 up after 13 ends. Thirteen proved an unlucky number as Oxfordshire lost the last 5 ends to lose 17-13. Rink 4 was Geoff Roynon, Bill Stewart, Roger Oliver and Mick Morris, they were all square with 2 ends to play and the game needed them to keep it tight but they dropped a 4 and a 3 to lose 19-12.
On rink 5 Kenny Cooper, John McGeough, Bob Wright and Keith Buckle picked up a 5 and a 4 on their way to a 20-16 win.
On rink 6 Martyn Cooper, Martin Oliver, Brian Clarke and Brian Bloomfield looked to have everything under control after 10 ends winning 12-4, but only 2 shots picked up in the rest of the match meant they went into the last end only 3 up, a trailed jack meant Buckinghamshire picked up 3 shots on the last end to draw 14-14.
The final score was Buckinghamshire 97, Oxfordshire 96.
Match secretary Alex Fleming presented Mike Morris with his 100 game badge during the after dinner speeches. Trying, probably unsuccessfully to be gracious in defeat Alex was presented with a Buckinghamshire cap by their President, amazing how far a cap can be thrown.
We host Gloucestershire at Kidlington tomorrow and will be looking for a win. Alex
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BO Men's section v Warwickshire at Stratford on Avon on 19 August, 2025
A much changed Oxfordshire side travelled to Stratford upon Avon Bowls Club to face a strong Warwickshire side. With 8 players dropping out it was always going to be difficult.
The green was fast and extremely difficult, but on rink 1 Bernie May, Kenny Cooper, Tony Wright and Brian Bloomfield led till the last end when 3 dropped shots meant a 13-15 loss.
Mike Petersen, Richard Morris, Chris Beard and Percy Hickman picked a 2 up on the first end but that was as good as it got losing 8-22.
Nick Baldwin, Mike Andrew, who had another good game, John Benfield and Alex Fleming were 10-6 up after 11 ends, but 12 dropped shots on the next 3 ends meant a 15-19 defeat. Martin Heath, John Standen, Roger Oliver and John Hurren were well in control after 13 ends leading 14-6, but they then lost the last 5 ends to lose 17-14.
On rink 5 Geoff Roynon, Martin Oliver, Bob Wright and Brian Ray were 17-0 down after 10 ends, despite winning 4 of the last 8 ends they still lost 28-6, a very damaging score for Oxfordshire. Rink 6 looked strong on paper and they were just as good on grass with last man arriving Andrew Eastgate, ex Warwickshire player Russell Box, Roy Radband and Mick Morris always in control winning 20-12.
The final score was Warwickshire 113, Oxfordshire 76. Hopefully we can bounce back next week against Buckinghamshire. Alex
BO Men's section v Wiltshire at Haydon Wick B C on 29 July 29, 2025
Oxfordshire travelled the short distance to Haydon Wick Bowls Club, a new venue for most of us to face local rivals Wiltshire. The weather was overcast with rain promised, fortunately it didn't arrive.
On rink 1 Mike Petersen, Kenny Cooper, Craig Redmond and John Hurren were 6 up after 4 ends, despite Wiltshire winning the next 4 held on to win 20-13.
Nick Baldwin, Bill Stewart, Bob Wright and Paul Robbins had a tight game, going into the last end all square they managed 2 on the last end to win 13-11.
Bernie May was on top form and with John McGeough, Roy Radband and Keith Buckle also playing well won 21-7 to pick up the pens.
John Stephens, Richard Morris, Andrew Eastgate and Brian Bloomfield where behind early on, but picked up a 5 on the 8th. Still 2 down after 15 ends a 2, 4 and 3 on the next 3 ends gave them the advantage and a 20-15 win. Mick
Morris had what looked like a loaded rink, but along with Roger Oliver, John Standen and Chris Beard was 15-7 down at the halfway stage, fortunately class told and 20 shots against 3 in the second half gave them a 27-18 win. Mike Jones played with serial winners Mike Andrew, Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming, unfortunately it was an off day for them and 2 dropped 6's didn't help as they slipped to a 20-17 defeat.
The final score was Oxfordshire 118, Wiltshire 84, a good win. Haydon Wick is a very well run club and certainly worth a visit. They put on an excellent meal and after 2 large helpings of trifle the Oxfordshire match secretary is thinking about moving clubs. The only down side was the raffle which the hosts won 16-2, Vice President Alan Scholan and John Standen saved us from a whitewash.
With the English Civil Service cancelling next weeks fixture, we have a break before we face the Police at Adderbury in 2 weeks time. Alex
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BO Men`s Section v Ryde Marina B C on 16 July 2025
The day started with half the team walking to the rail station to travel to Ryde. Unfortunately the trains were cancelled, a good start.
We eventually arrived in Ryde after a bus journey, the green looked brown in patches and bumpy. The wind of the last two days had dropped and was replaced by sunshine.
On rink 1 Andrew Eastgate, Geoff Smith, Chris Cox and David Lattimore had a hard fought contest on an interesting green. Two fives helped them to a 20-18 win. Next door Gary Panons, the impressive Tim Cox, Les Days who was also on good form along with skip Alex Fleming were unlucky to only win 19-10, but it was enough to pick up the pens. In a very tight game Bernie May, Bob Wright, Brian Clarke and Chris Weller were unlucky to lose 16-15 against a strong rink.
Bill Stewart, Tony Wright, John Hurren and Brian Bloomfield will have had better days, they lost 22-9 against another strong rink. Roger Oliver, Martin Oliver, Roy Radband and Paul Robbins were 15-7 up but lost the last 4 ends but won 15-13. With every shot vital Roger Hopkins, Craig Redmond, Mike Petersen and Mick Morris dropped a 6 on the 17th end and ended up losing 21-20.
The final score was Isle of Wight 100 Oxfordshire 98, a slightly disappointing score. There was some consultation for the match secretary as he won the raffle for the third day in a row.
Apart from the bowls the tour has been successful, 46 people made the trip and hopefully they have enjoyed themselves. Next year we are going to Weymouth to take on Dorset.
A big thank you to John Hurren for looking after the money from the initial deposits all the way through to the tour.
Roger Hopkins for looking after the fiddle. But mainly a massive thank you to everyone for making my life easy by being on time and not having to many complaints. Alex
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BO Men`s section v The Isle of Wight, at Shanklin on 15 July 2025
Oxfordshire had the short journey from their hotel to Shanklin bowls club to face the Isle of Wight. The afternoon started well for Andrew Eastgate who temporary lost his last man arriving tag to Mike Jones who managed to sneak in with all the players on the green.
The weather looked a bit iffy, it was again very windy with a couple of cold wet showers.
On rink one Chris Cox picked up a 6 on the first end and must have thought he was going to have a good day, but he dropped two 5's in the next 3 ends, which brought him back to reality against past Headington member Simon Gibbs. Only 1 shot separated the teams after 9 ends, but 15 dropped shots on the last 9 ends meant a 30-16 defeat.
On rink 2, Roger Hopkins and Tony Wright were on top form at the front end, Brian Clarke was at his brilliant best against former Oxfordshire Vice President Michell Grossnickel and with skip Alex Fleming won 28-13. Andrew Eastgate, Tim Cox, David Lattimore and Chris Weller were 16-3 down at the halfway stage, but had a better 2nd half to lose 26-12.
Mike Jones, Craig Redmond, Roy Radband and Les Days played steady bowls all afternoon and were always in control winning 18-10. Gary Panons who had received his full County badge the previous day along with Bob Wright, Mike Petersen and Paul Robbins were 14-0 down after 8 ends, a better 2nd half still resulted in a 20-12 loss. On rink 6 Roger Oliver, Martin Oliver, Mick Morris and Brian Bloomfield had a topsy turvy game, 7 shots up after 7 ends they proceeded to lose 7 out of the next 8 ends, a 5 on the 17th put them 3 shots up, but a dropped 3 on the last end meant a 20-20 draw.
The overall score was the Isle of Wight 119 Oxfordshire 106. The match secretary, beside having the highest winning rink also won the raffle for the second day in a row to put a smile on his face.
A big thank you to all the Oxfordshire supporters who braved the cold wind and rain to watch the team. Alex
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BO Men's section v Sandown B C, IOW tour / 14 July 2025
In the desperate search for a win the Oxfordshire men left the mainland and took the ferry to the Isle of Wight to play Sandown in the first of 3 matches on the Island.
The day started well with the coach departing Minster Lovell ahead of schedule, the coach drew into the pick up point at Kidlington with the match secretary worried about players turning up on time proving ill founded as Andrew Eastgate was there waiting, so if Andrew was there he knew everyone else would be.
After a good journey we managed to catch an early ferry and arrived at a windy Sandown bowls club an hour ahead of schedule. The club supplied sandwiches and were very welcoming.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end and we had to play bowls.
Rink 1 was Bernie May, Martin Oliver, Brian Clarke and Les Days. They were 9-5 up after 8 ends but lost the next 5, a small recovery saw them losing 17-15. In the changing room rink 2 looked strong but Gary Panons, Craig Redmond, John Hurren and Chris Cox found themselves 24-6 down but recovered well to only lose 24-16.
In a game where the lead changed several times Roger Hopkins, Geoff Smith, Roy Radband and Paul Robbins won 18-16. Roger Oliver, Tim Cox, Mick Morris and Chris Weller were 16-15 up with 3 ends to play. Despite Roger wearing his lucky Carterton shirt they dropped 6 shots to lose 21-16.
Andrew Eastgate, Bill Stewart, Bob Wright and Brian Bloomfield struggled as a rink and despite picking up a 5 on the penultimate end lost 20-14.
Rink 6 which was Mike Jones, Tony Wright, Mike Petersen and David Lattimore, they couldn't understand why everyone else was struggling as they strode to a very impressive 19-6 win, picking up the pens, they also won the betting at an impressive 7/1, well done lads. The final score was Sandown 104, Oxfordshire 98.
The club looked after us well and the green was good. This was just a warm up for the main match tomorrow against the Isle of Wight, hopefully we can do the business. Alex
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BO Men's section v BO Women's section at Chipping Norton BC on 7 July 2025
The annual Men v Ladies match took place at Chipping Norton on a lovely sunny day and the atmosphere was friendly and fun throughout, with the usual good natured banter etc. The green played very well and the after match salad was appreciated from the hard working volunteers at Chippy. Both teams were confident at the start and President Ann Lattimore later pronounced the winner on the day was Oxfordshire, which brought about the smiles.
The men's team on Rink 1 gained an advantage thanks to a superb performance from lead, David Byers and team-mates Ken Cooper, Mike Petersen and John Hurren, asserted themselves for a 20-12 win, although the game remained competitive but fun throughout. On rink 2 the margin was just one shot as Nick Baldwin, Richard Morris, Brian Clarke and Paul Robbins battled hard to beat the ladies team skipped by Angela Ives. The men scored 4 on the first end, but didn't score another point until the 7th end, after which all ends were keenly contested, but despite the ladies winning the last two ends, the men won 18-17.
Home skip David Lattimore on rink 3, had a disappointing day, accompanied by Mike Jones, Russell Box and Roy Radband, as they couldn't break down the strong ladies team who gained a 12-1 lead after the seventh end, then put their feet on the accelerator to win 24-8 and the pens (or hip bags). The middle rinks were both played very well by the ladies teams and on rink 4, they gained another fine victory against Gary Roynon, John Stephens, Tony Wright and Gordon Hooker. The ladies team skipped by Barbara Burton scored 6 on the first end to make their intentions clear from the start and won 10 further ends to win 28-17 overall. They also were awarded hip bags as a result of Jeanette's poor mathematics after the dinner.
The men on rinks 5 & 6 recognised that their rinks needed to be the men's fortress to get anything from this game and both men's rinks surpassed themselves with excellent wins. On rink 5, the team of Bernie May (and a cameo appearance from Alan Scholan), Gary Panons, Tim Stevens and skip Mike Morris totally over-whelmed a strong Ladies team, featuring Margaret Morris, Joy Williams, Jeanette Berry and Carol Gaskins, by winning 26-3 shots. Rink 6 also played very well and finished with 12 shots on the last 4 ends to complete a 21-7 victory. Well done to Andrew Eastgate, Martin Oliver, Brian Ray and Brian Bloomfield.
There was much merriment after the game, rather like a pantomime performance, with the ladies vowing to win next year and the men saying "Oh no you won't " The overall score was 110-91 to the men, who had the bragging rights for a little while, but overall a good day was had by all.
Middleton Cup match v Gloucestershire at South Oxford B C on 5 July 2025
Oxfordshire hosted Gloucestershire at South Oxford Bowls Club for the final Middleton cup group game. Both sides needed a win to progress to the next round.
On rink 1 Lee Young, Phil Gladden, Nick Rae-Welsh and Mark Charlett were up against a strong rink, they were 1 up after 17 ends, but unfortunately finished up losing 23-16.
Nigel Siford, Will Campion, Mark Sykes and Shane Cooper were 9-1 up after 5 ends but only picked up 1 shot on the next 9. They were only 2 shots down after 15 ends but 3 successive dropped 5's finished any hopes of a tight finish and the final score was a 33-14 defeat.
Keith Holloway, John Major, AJ Docherty and captain Howard Watts led for most of the game before dropping a 6 on the 19th end, the home rink responded by picking up a 5 on the next end and finished up winning 21-20. AJ had an exceptional game and was the man of the match.
The rink of Mick Jelfs, David Leighfield, Martin Shepherd and Kevin Alder all played well as they have done throughout and kept their unbeaten run going winning 24-13. Andy Cross, Joe Abercombie, Joe Justin and Craig Morphett played some great bowls winning 22-14. On the final rink Ian Snowdon, Mark Vaughan, Ian Henwood and Paul Sharman were involved in a tight game going into the last end all square, but a dropped 3 meant they lost 20-17.
The final score was Oxfordshire 114, Gloucestershire 123. We wish Gloucestershire all the best for the rest of the competition, they are a very good side. There are a lot of positives to take from the competition and a lot to be learnt. We won both our away games but just fell short at home, everyone gave 100 percent, Howard Watts has been a great captain, the team appreciated the support from President Ann Lattimore and her words of encouragement. Big thanks to all the supporters who have watched the team, hopefully they have enjoyed what they have seen. Alex
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Friendly v Warwickshire BA at Chipping Norton on 1 July 2025
Oxfordshire entertained Warwickshire at a boiling hot Chipping Norton green.
On rink 1 Martyn Cooper, Mike Andrew, Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming all played well to win 15-11. Ian Gorman, Martin Heath, John Hurren and John Major were 1 up with 5 ends to play but capitulated to lose 19-11. Andrew Eastgate, Kenny Cooper, Steve Gould and Mick Morris finished strongly to win 14-12.
Gary Panons, Brian Bloomfield, Brian Ray and Paul Robbins were 10 up for most of the game but a dropped 5 and a 3 on the last 4 ends, which was costly to the overall score, they finished up winning 17-13.
Geoff Roynon, Bill Stewart, Chris Cox and home club President Percy Hickman found the opposition too strong for them losing 25-14. Bernie May, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Mike Petersen and Keith Buckle were the stars of the show on a tricky rink 6 winning 21-12 and picking up the pens.
There was confusion over the final score with 4 out of the 6 cards not corresponding with the opposition. The scoreboards which were also wrong had Oxfordshire winning by 1, Warwickshire had their scorecards saying they won by 5, the Oxfordshire score cards had it down as a draw 92-92. It seems they didn't do adding up in Warwickshire schools as the Oxfordshire score was found to be correct.
Chipping Norton as always proved to be excellent hosts putting on an enjoyable meal. For the second game in a row Oxfordshire President Ann Lattimore tried to present Gary Panons with his full badge, but he had already left. One more attempt and that's it the badge will be on Ebay.
Alex
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Friendly v Surrey BA at Oxford City & County BC on 24 June 2025
Oxfordshire entertained Surrey in a match that started as 6 rinks, then 5 and ended up as 6 triples with Alex Fleming and Bill Stewart playing for Surrey.
Several of the Oxfordshire players found the green too heavy for their liking but Surrey seemed to find it OK.
On rink 1 Roger Oliver, Tony Wright and Brian Bloomfield were 7 up after 3 ends but proceeded to lose the next 8 ends with Surrey player Alex Fleming showing what the home side were missing. A mini revival wasn't enough to stop Surrey winning 21-15.
Andrew Eastgate, Steve Gould and Gordon Hooker started slowly but once Steve had worked out which side the stickers go on the woods, got back into the game but were still down with 2 ends to play, a 4 and a 2 made the score 14-14, a fair result.
Bob Wright, Les Days and Keith Buckle playing against a Surrey triple that included Bill Stewart of Witney Town were ahead till the 17th end when a dropped 3 leveled the scores. Two shots on the last end made the score 18-16 to Oxfordshire. The stand out rink of the day was the South Oxford triple of Dale Thorne, Nigel Cattell both making their debuts and skip Neil Whiting. A 6 on the 4th end and a 5 on the 6th set them up for an impressive 26-14 win.
Gary Panons, Mick Morris and Paul Robbins didn't get enough woods in the head and paid the price losing 25-8. The final triple was Roy Radband, Chris Cox and John Major. John played well for the Middleton Cup side on Saturday but found his home club green too heavy and was 14-0 down after 9 ends. They had a better second half, but still lost 19-11.
The final score was Oxfordshire 92, Surrey 109, a disappointing result. Hopefully Oxfordshire will find the quick green at Chipping Norton more to their liking next Tuesday against Warwickshire. Alex
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Friendly v Herefordshire at Eastnor Castle BC on 17 June, 2025
After a disappointing run of results Oxfordshire travelled to the scenic Eastnor bowls club, next door to the castle.
The match secretary gave a pre-match team talk encouraging the team to start performing. Fortunately Oxfordshire responded, Roger Oliver, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Tony Wright and Paul Robbins had a frustrating afternoon but kept it tight only losing 16-18.
Mike Jones, Brian Clarke, Mike Petersen and Percy Hickman were up against a rather talkative Middleton cup skip but Percy played him off the park winning 18-12. Skip Alex Fleming was under pressure after his team talk but with Roy Radband, Kenny Cooper and John Benfield there was nothing to worry about, leading all the way they finished up 19-12 winners and collected the pens.
On the final rink Bernie May, Bob Wright, John Hurren and Brian Broomfield were involved in a tight match going into the last end all square, but they picked up a 2 to win 19-17.
The final score was Oxfordshire 72 Herefordshire 59, a deserved win. Eastnor is a really nice club, they put on an enjoyable meal and the green bowled well. Thanks to everyone who played and Dulcie our sole supporter. Alex
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Middleton Cup v Worcestershire at Chipping Norton B C on 14 June 2025
Oxfordshire entertained Worcestershire at Chipping Norton Bowls club in their second Middleton cup match. Before the match Bowls Oxfordshire President Ann Lattimore presented Lee Young with his 100 game badge.
The green is probably the quickest in the County and the home side took a while to get used to the speed, unfortunately Worcestershire found it from the start. At one stage Oxfordshire were over 30 shots down before clawing it back to 5 shots before eventually losing 104-114.
On rink 1, Ian Snowdon, Mark Vaughan, Ian Henwood and Paul Sharman lost a close game 14-18. Lee Young, Phil Gladden, Jason King and man of the match Mark Charlett won 24-17, a good performance from all 4 players. Mick Nash, Paul Mabbutt, Joe Justin and Craig Morphett dropped a 3 on the last end to lose 16-18.
Mick Jelfs, David Leighfield, M Shepherd and Kevin Alder played well throughout and went into the last end 6 up and the home supporters were thinking the game was won, Worcestershire thought differently and picked up 6 shots to draw 22-22, a big disappointment for the Oxfordshire players. Keith Holloway, Gary May, AJ Docherty and Howard Watts lost another close game 13-16. On the final green Nigel Siford, Mark Sykes, Will Campion and Shane Cooper were 16-0 down after 7 ends but didn't give up, loosing 15-23.
There was a lot of positives from the game, heads didn't go down when they could have done and a good result next week against Warwickshire puts us right back in the competition. Alex
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Friendly v Middlesex at Ashford B C on 10 June 2025
Oxfordshire continued their travels going to Ashford in Surrey to play Middlesex, the first time this fixture has been played for several years. Rink 1 which was David Byers, Richard Morris, Brian Clarke and Brian Bloomfield probably wished we had waited another year to play the fixture losing 20-6, not a lot else to say really.
Rink 2 was John Stephens, Kenny Cooper, John Hurren and Gordon Hooker, 3 down with 4 ends to play they left the best to last, picking up 7 shots to win 16-12. Next door Roger Oliver, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Mike Petersen and Keith Buckle did the opposite, all square with 4 ends to play they lost 19-14.
Andrew Eastgate, Mike Andrew, Bob Wright and Paul Robbins were in control for 16 ends, but 5 dropped shots on the last 2 ends meant they lost 15-14.
The final rink of Bernie May, Gary Panons, John Townley a former Middlesex player and Alex Fleming raced into a 10 shot lead which they held onto to win 20-10 and pick up the pens. Bernie May and Gary Panons in particular really played well.
The final score was a disappointing 76-70 loss. The game should have been 6 rinks but due to lack of support Oxfordshire could only put out 5 rinks. For these fixtures to continue players must support the away games as well as the home matches or we will start to lose fixtures, lecture over!!.
After being served a slice of pizza for the after match meal John Townley of Shiplake was awarded his colts badge and Mickey Conrad-Banks of Witney Town, his full badge. Alex
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Middleton Cup v Herefordshire at St Martins B C on 7 June 2025
Oxfordshire opened their Middleton cup campaign in a new group away to Herefordshire at St Martins bowls club with wet weather forecast. Captain Howard Watts asked his team to get off to a flying start and they followed instructions.
On rink 1 Andy Cross, Paul Mabbutt, England under 25 player Joe Justin and the superb Craig Morphett had a great game winning 26-9. Not to be outdone Ian Snowdon who proved leads win matches, Mark Vaughan, Ian Henwood and Paul Sharman who was on top form won the first 10 ends to open up a 16 shot lead, they didn't let up and won 28-8.
The rain poured down for a spell mid way through the game, this completely changed how the green bowled. Lee Young, John Major, Jason King and AJ Docherty found the going difficult and lost 23-16. In a close game Nigel Siford, David Hancock, Will Campion and Shane Cooper were 19-19 after 17 ends, but a 5 on the 18th steadied nerves and they won 26-21.
On rink 5 Mick Jelfs, David Leighfield, Martin Shepherd and Kevin Alder all played well especially the 2 back end bowlers winning 25-12. On the outside rink Keith Holloway, Chris King, Phil Gladden and Howard Watts raced into a 15-5 lead but were badly affected by the rain and it must be said some excellent Herefordshire bowling and lost 23-19.
The final result was Oxfordshire 140 Herefordshire 96 and 18 points to 4. A tremendous start in difficult conditions.
Bowls Oxfordshire President Ann Lattimore presented the man of the match award to Ian Snowdon. Big thanks to all the supporters and the 3 reserves Mick Nash, Bernie May and Mark Charlett who made the long journey. Next week we face Worcestershire at Chipping Norton looking to build on today's result. Alex
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Friendly match v Leicestershire at Hinkley BC on 4 June 2025
Oxfordshire travelled to Hinckley bowls club to play Leicestershire in what is usually a close match. In a game where the lead constantly changed Oxfordshire thought they were going to have their first win of the season but 18 dropped shots in the last 3 ends meant a 11 shot defeat 88-99 to the home County.
On rink 1 Andrew Eastgate, Mike Andrew, Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming all played well but found a skip in superb form and lost 17-10. Next door Geoff Roynon, Kenny Cooper, Tony Wright and Brian Bloomfield lost 25-10. Rink 3 with Roger Hopkins, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Bob Wright and Keith Buckle won 23-8 with both back end bowlers having excellent games.
Martin Cooper, Richard Morris, Roy Radband and Mick Morris picked up a 5 on the 7th end but only managed 2 more shots to lose 21-12. Mike Jones, Geoff Smith, Mike Petersen and John Hurren led throughout and won 19-9. On rink 6 Roger Oliver, Russell Box, Chris Beard and Paul Robbins had a very close game going into the last end all square but dropped 1 to lose 13-12.
Hinckley bowls club was a nice venue and were good hosts, they put on a good meal. Any meal where you get 2 large helpings of trifle gets my vote. Roger Oliver was awarded his 50 game badge to round off an enjoyable day. Alex
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HCL match report. Oxfordshie v Middlesex at Banbury Chestnuts BC on 31 May
Oxfordshire hosted Middlesex at Banbury Chestnuts bowls club in the second Home Counties league match.
On rink 1 Mick Nash, Simon Hastings, debutant Tim Stevens and Mark Vaughan all played well in a tight game winning 18-16 against a good Middlesex rink. On rink 2 Joe Abercombie, Percy Hickman, Eddie Stevens and Howard Watts had a game of 2 half's, winning the first, losing the 2nd, they went into the last end all square but fortunately picked up a 3 to win 25-22. Bernie May, Francisco Boer, Neil Whiting and Paul Robbins bounced back from a disappointing result last week to win 18-11.
The next 2 rinks both struggled, Nigel Siford, Joe Glenn, Jake Gibson and Martin Shepherd lost 15-28. Nigel Eley another debutant had a good game but along with Stuart Marsden, Richard Green and Will Campion lost 11-19. The final rink of Peter Sutton, Roy Radband, Ted Eley and Phil Gladden all played well to win 24-16.
With 18 ends played Oxfordshire were 24 shots up, but 25 dropped shots on the last 3 ends cost them and they narrowly lost by 1 shot, 111-112.
Banbury Chestnuts as always were the perfect hosts and we wish Middlesex all the best in their remaining matches. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Dorset BA at Pewsey Vale B C on 28 May 2025 - friendly
After a depressing day against Somerset the previous day, Oxfordshire travelled to the neutral venue of Pewsey Vale to play Dorset. This was the first friendly match between the 2 Counties for about 25 years.
On rink 1 Roger Oliver, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Tim Cox and Ken Williams were only 3 shots down after 12 ends but fell away to lose 21-10. Rink 2 had local, Mike Monday, playing due to the non arrival of an Oxfordshire player, alongside him were Russell Box, John Hurren and Mick Morris, they had a strong second half winning 19-12 and picking up the pens.
Next door were Geoff Roynon, John Stephens, John Benfield and Alex Fleming. A dropped 5 on the first end and with the skip sinking into a depression, things didn't look good but 13 shots on the last 6 ends meant an unlikely win by 21-17, Dorset couldn't believe it either.
Bob Wright, Richard Morris, Andrew Eastgate and Neil Whiting skipping for the first time for the County struggled against a strong rink losing 13-22. Mike Jones, Bill Stewart, Mike Petersen and Keith Buckle were 12 shots down with 2 ends to go but picked up 2 fours to make the score more respectable. Nigel Satchel, Kenny Cooper, Roy Radband and Chris Earl were level after 9 ends but also fell away to lose 13-21.
The final score was Oxfordshire 94 Dorset 115. Pewsey Vale is a nice friendly club and were perfect hosts. Both sides hopefully enjoyed the day and discussions have already started for a short tour to Dorset at the end of next season. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Somerset at Burford TBC on 27 May, 2025 - friendly
Oxfordshire continued their poor start to the season on a wet, very windy and generally miserable day at Burford against Somerset.
On rink one Mike Jones, Geoff Smith, Chris Beard and Keith Buckle lost 23-8.
Debutant John Townley from Shiplake despite a good game along with John McGeough, Mike Petersen and Brian Bloomfield lost 28 -9.
Bernie May, Tim Cox, Steve Gould, another debutant, and Les Days played well and won 14-10. David Byers, Gary Panons, Brian Clarke and Chris Earl where 7-7 with 6 ends to go but finished up 8-15 losers. At least Brian won the raffle.
Nigel Satchel, Ian Gorman, John Hurren and Paul Robbins picked up 3 fours and won 23-12, a rare good performance from Oxfordshire.
The final rink of Roger Hopkins, Mike Andrew, Gordon Hooker and Alex Fleming went into the last end all square but to the disgust of the skip lost on a measure to lose 14-15. The final score was Oxfordshire 76 Somerset 103.
Despite the dreadful weather Burford where fine hosts, the meal was excellent, next time we might just go for the meal and forget the bowls.
Tomorrow we travel to Pewsey Vale to face Dorset, hopefully the wind will have dropped and it will be dry. Alex
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Match Report for the HCL match v Buckinghamshire at Aylesbury BC on 14 May, 2025
Oxfordshire travelled to Aylesbury Town bowls club to face Buckinghamshire in the opening Home Counties league match. We fielded a fresh new side with 14 new players in the line up. Amongst the new comers was Finn Jelfs celebrating his 12th birthday, he must be the youngest player to play senior competitive bowls for the County and didn't look out of place alongside Joe Abercombie, Eddie Stevens and Howard Watts. They beat former Oxfordshire player Colin Whitehead 18-17, nice to win that one.
Jonathan Dadson, Chris King, Ryan Full and Jason King were 26-2 up after 12 ends but were pegged back a bit but still won 28-15, a great performance from the whole rink, especially skip Jason. Bernie May, Fabio Boer, Neil Whiting and Paul Robbins didn't really get going as a rink and found the opposition too good for them losing 31-11.
Peter Sutton, Roy Radband, Jamie Goodwin and skip Joe Justin played well throughout to win 24-15. Jake Gibson, Stuart Marsden, Lee Young and Shane Cooper were 10-0 down after 7 ends, picked up 6 on the next 2 before dropping a 6 on the 10th and finished up losing 29-15. Gethin Osling, Joe Glenn, Martin Shepherd and Kevin Alder playing on a tricky outside rink were behind till the 20th end, drawing 18-18. They were extremely unlucky to drop 1 and lose 19-18.
The final score was Buckinghamshire 126, Oxfordshire 114. The majority of the new players had good games, especially the younger ones and now know what to expect at this level. We have the basis of a good side going forward, unfortunately the juniors will be unavailable for the next 2 games, but proved their worth today.
Alex
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Match Report for the Friendly match against Bedfordshire on 20 May, 2025 at Linslade Park B C
Oxfordshire travelled to Linslade bowls club with President Ann Lattimore in attendance to play Bedfordshire.
It was a difficult green and a difficult day for Oxfordshire with only 1 winning rink.
Bernie May, Mike Andrew, Mike Petersen and Chris Earl dropped a 4 on the 16th end and lost 13-16. Andrew Eastgate, Bill Stewart, John Hurren and Ken Williams after a late mini revival lost 16-21. Mike Jones, Richard Morris, Tim Cox and Dave Lattimore lost 21-10. Roger Hopkins, John McGeough, Roy Radband and Paul Robbins were even worse losing 21-7.
Nigel Satchel, John Stephens, Martin Oliver and Chris Beard had a close game losing 17-24. The only bright spot was the rink of Martin Cooper, Mickey Conrad-Banks and the old firm of Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming who led throughout to win 16-10.
The final score was Oxfordshire 79, Bedfordshire 110. There is a chance to kick start the season next week with games against Somerset and Dorset.
Alex
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Match report for the Balcombe Trophy - 17 & 18 May 2025
Oxfordshire travelled to Desborough for an early start to play Berkshire in the first Balcombe trophy match of the weekend on Saturday in a new format to the competition.
Captain Howard Watts led the way with a 21-19 win in the singles, Ian Henwood and Mark Charlett battered their opponents in the pairs to win 25-13.
The Carterton triple of Joe Justin, Paul Sharman and Craig Morphett played well but lost 17-12, as did the rink of Lee Young, Kevin Alder, AJ Docherty and Shane Cooper who narrowly lost by 2 shots. The final score was 72 -65 to Oxfordshire and 18 points to 6.
The afternoon match was against a very strong Buckinghamshire side. The singles match between Howard Watts and Tom McGuiness ended in a 21-13 loss on a difficult green which Howard never really found. The pair of Ian Henwood and Mark Charlett continued their great form, and were unlucky to only win 15-10.
In a very close triples match Joe Justin, Paul Sharman and Craig Morphett lost the last 4 ends to finish 16-14 losers. In the final match the 4 of Lee Young, Kevin Alder, AJ Docherty and Shane Cooper found themselves 7 shots down but a battling performance and 2 on the last end produced a 12 -12 draw.
We gave Buckinghamshire who hammered us in the Middleton Cup last season a run for their money and with a little bit of luck could have won, losing by 5 was no disgrace. It was a brave performance and should give us a lot of encouragement.
Sunday was another early start as we faced Northamptonshire with an unchanged side. Northamptonshire proved to be a very strong side, captain Howard was the first to suffer a bad day at the office with a 21-9 loss in the singles. The previous unbeaten pair of Ian and Mark lost 12-19 despite playing well. At least Ian, a Crystal Palace supporter had the consolation of the FA cup.
The triples was a close game with Joe, Paul and Craig just losing 10-14. The four of Lee, Kevin, AJ and Shane proved to be the highlight for Oxfordshire putting in an impressive performance to win 24-18.
Northamptonshire showed how good they were by doing a clean sweep against Buckinghamshire to win the group in their final game.
Not the result we wanted, but the team played well and there are a lot of positives going forward. Thanks to everyone who came to support the team, especially Mark Vaughan who was reserve for both days.
Desborough bowls club must be thanked for hosting the competition at their magnificent facility. They were the perfect hosts.
Alex Fleming, Balcombe team manager
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Match Report v Northants (friendly) - 13 May 2025 at Banbury Borough BC
Oxfordshire started a very busy season with a home fixture against Northamptonshire at a sunny Banbury Borough. The County were looking to get the season off to a good start, but unfortunately so were Northamptonshire.
On rink 1 Roger Oliver, debutant Andrew Eastgate, Ken Williams and Brian Bloomfield despite picking up 8 shots on the last 4 ends lost 19-18. Rink 2 was a rare bright spot with Mike Jones, Tim Cox, John Benfield and Les Days winning 26-17. Martyn Cooper, Nigel Satchel, Gordon Hooker and Mick Morris on rink 3, were only 1 down after 16 ends but didn't bother the scorer again to lose 21-13.
On rink 4 David Byers, Martin Oliver, Brian Clarke and Chris Earl were 20-1 down after 10 ends, they slowed the score down a bit, but still lost 33-7. Next door on rink 5 Bernie May, Sid Andrews and fellow debutant, Chris Beard along with skip Alex Fleming picked up 12 shots on the last 6 ends to win 21-18. Roger Hopkins, Tony Wright, John Hurren and Chris Cox were always behind and despite a late revival lost 18-12.
The final score was a 125-97 win for Northamptonshire.
Banbury Borough as always put on a fine meal afterwards and were excellent hosts.
We move onto Bedfordshire next week hoping to open our account for the season.
Alex
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Match Report for the Middleton Cup trial against Berkshire - 3 May 2025 at S. Oxford BC
Oxfordshire entertained a strong Berkshire side in a Middleton cup trial match at South Oxford Bowls Club.
There where several new faces, plus 2 returning players in the team.
On rink 1 impressive bowling from Keith Holloway along with Phil Gladden, Chris Charles and captain Howard Watts lead to a 24-10 win. Next door Lee Young, John Major, AJ Docherty and Paul Sharman struggled on a difficult green to lose 24-10.
Rink 3 was debutant David Hancock leading against his brother, Mick Nash, Will Campion and Shane Cooper 15-7 down with 5 ends to go, picked up 5 2's to win 17-15. Thanks to Mick Nash who only got into the side 5 minutes before the start with the non arrival of a player. Rink 4 Mark Vaughan and Ian Snowdon shared the game, debutant Chris King, Jason King and Mark Charlett did well to only lose 21-14 to a strong rink.
On rink 5, debutant Andy Cross, Paul Mabbutt, Joe Justin and Craig Morphett had a bad day at the office and didn't perform as we know they can, losing 31-12. Mick Jelfs, David Leighfield, Martin Shepherd and Kevin Alder did what Kevin's rinks always do and ground out a 15-12 win.
The final score was 113-92 to Berkshire, we wish them all the best for the season.
Alex