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Weekly Match Reports
OBL Match Report – week 12 – 23 July
Division 3 have just one match to play and it would be unlikely that either of the top teams will change positions, This also means that both Headington B and Witney Town A are likely to be promoted to division 2 next season. At the other end, the last results lead to certain relegation for West Oxford. Headington played West Oxford this week, who showed great tenacity, winning two rinks and keeping Headington within 4 shots at the end, which gave the Headington team the extra 2 points they desired. Steve Gould and Mr Earp won their rinks for Headington with scores of 21-12 & 19-15 respectively, with John Parker and John Baldwin getting points for West Oxford with winning scores of 18-12 and 17-14 respectively.
Witney Town A won their away game at Bicester 4½ - 1½. Alan Wagner and Brian Bloomfield flogged it out for a 13-13 draw. Whilst Fabrizo Boer and M. Lister beat their opponents to secure valuable points to keep them away from other potential contenders. Paul Dodman won the only rink for Bicester after beating “on form” Tim Ludlow. Charlbury jumped 2 places up the league following their defeat of Banbury Chestnuts by 5-1 and a margin of 38 shots. However, all eyes will be on Charlbury, Chestnuts and Bicester next week, as one of these are sure to go down. I’m expecting a close game when Bicester and Chestnuts meet in their last game and Charlbury will be trying hard when they visit West Oxford, who will play with a lot of pride.
Division 2 has one more evening of games next Thursday to determine who goes where ,next year. Both leading teams have a chance of winning the league, although South Oxford are the only definite qualifiers for division 1 so far. South Oxford meet West Witney for their last game and West Witney re-established their class this week, by comfortably beating their local rivals Witney Mills, which surprised a few people. Dave Leighfield and Martin Shepherd led the way with wins against Andy Wiggins and David Auger, but West Witney created a large margin between the two teams with a difference of 24 shots. Whilst Burford and South Oxford carved out 4-2 wins, despite a number of regulars not being available. The two tail-enders though are destined for division 3, whatever they achieve in their last games of the season.
Both Division 1 & 4 have two more weeks in their season. Headington A lost their first match of the season, when visiting Carterton. Only Howard Watts picked up a point for the Oxford team against the consistent Remy Clanfield, whilst team mates Paul Sharman, Craig Morphett and Joe Justin beat their opponents for a 5-1 win overall. Headington, having now played their outstanding games, remain at the top of the table with a 3½ point lead on the nearest contenders: Carterton. Banbury Central A registered the largest score of the season with a 111-35, from the poor Oxford City & County team, who frankly have had a disappointing season. Shane Cooper and his team ran up a 44- 6 score on his rink and clearly weren’t going to take any prisoners. They still have a lot to do with only 2 games to go if the target is still to win this league. Adderbury had a strong win against Kidlington and by 78-49 shots. The stand-out rinks for Adderbury were Jamie Wilkinson and Kev Mytton yet again, with 25 and 28 shots respectively.
Finally, in division 4, Thame stretched their lead at the top and have 8½ points more than Witney Town B in 2 nd place, with two games to go. Oxford C & C had a bye this week and are pondering the wooden spoon due to their current position. I hope both Oxford C & C teams can get the motivation early in 2027 to have more enjoyable matches than the ones they endured this year. Woodstock are currently in 3 rd position, despite a slow start to their season. They beat Hanborough by 72-51 (4-2 points) with Brian Clarke being outstanding, with the support of his team- mates. Hanborough have gained confidence throughout the season and we can expect them to do better next year.
Thame have worked hard this season to change their tenacity and look likely to step back up to division 3, but I sense there will be teams contesting the second promotion spot over the last two games. Witney Town B have been towards the top all season, but Thame have maintained a gap between them and others. In a match against Bloxham, Mr Heavens won the pens beating Mr Jones by 23-9.
Good luck to all next week.
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OBL Match report for 16 July (version 2)
Another beautiful evening to play Bowls.
Headington A surge ahead of resting Carterton this week, with a 100% winning record in division 1 this season. They are only ½ point ahead of Carterton A, but have a game in hand. This week they hosted Adderbury and three of the rinks looked close, with Mark Charlett’s team having the largest difference over Ted Eley’s team by 17-10. Banbury Central A have won two of their catch-up games, but remain 3 points short of Carterton. AJ led the way for Central with a 21-13 win over Chippy’s Paul Robbins. Nick Hancock for Chippy achieved a good win against Chris Charles’ team, who haven’t lost many games this season. The rink result was 17-14, thanks to a 6 on the 8 th end.
Kidlington had a big win against strugglers, Oxford C & C A and took all 6 points. Eddie Stevens had a big 34-7 win with Paul McGrath keeping up his current form to win his rink 25-6 against Colin Pollard.
Division 2 leaders, South Oxford played host to second placed Burford and this proved a very tight match on all rinks. Burford’s Bob parker and his team were 11-11 after 8 ends, but Neil Whiting’s team surged ahead for a 25-17 win after a strong second half. Burford won the other three rinks by relatively small margins and there was a lot of interest in the final game to finish, as overall Burford were only one shot ahead of their opponents with one end to play. South Oxford took the lead until, new bowler Dave Lewis produced an accurate draw to take the jack back slightly. Later players effectively blocked the routes to take this shot out, but Burford were delighted to retain this lead to win another shot and overall victory by 5 -1 points.
Witney Mills reminded the top two teams that they were still in the promotion race by beating Carton B by 67-58 shots and 5 points. Darren Wakeman’s rink took the only point for Carterton beating Chris Weller by 19-21. All other rinks were close, but the Millers won all three to close the gap on the top two teams.
West Witney secured the other win in the division by beating luckless Banbury Borough 66-57, taking 4 of the points. Dave Leighfield and Andy McIntyre both won with 21 shots against their opponents, with John Brooks and T. Cooper taking a point each from their Witney opponents. The latter had a late scare as Shep found a 4 shot advantage on the last end. The win for West witney should help to retain a place in the second division next year.
In Division 3, Headington B retain the lead, with only one loss this season. This week they played Bicester and won with a margin of 29 shots for a 5-1 points distribution. Steve Gould had a big win of 30-5 against Bicester's A. Barshaw. The son out- scored the father in the Kibblewhite family, where both were skips for Headington in this match. The son, won 26-11 and dad won 18-10 to keep the team at the top of the division with a 80-51 scoreline. Banbury Chestnuts leap-frogged over a couple of teams with their 6-0 defeat of West Oxford, who sadly are looking like players in Division 4 again soon. The Chestnuts won by 69-46 collecting 6 points for their cause. Witney Town A are struggling to catch Headington, but managed to beat Charlbury in this local derby by 4 points to 2 and with a 20 shot difference. Fabrizio for Witney Town won the pens with a resounding 33-9 victory against M. Smith. Chris Beard and Mark East added one point each for Charlbury, but it was the rinks skipped by Fabrizio and Tim Ludlow who gained higher margins for the extra 2 points.
Finally in division 4, with leaders Thame having a bye. The stage was set for the second team to take the lead, but it all went wrong for the Witney Town team, who were having a very good season until then, losing to the Banbury Central’s B team by the large margin of 49.25 shots and winning all 6 points. Glen Mullard led the way with a 30-11 win over opponents skipped by Geoff Smith for the town. Woodstock maintain some confidence that they might still go up and this was helped by a good 5-1 win against Bloxham. The two tail enders battled out the last game, with the home team of Hanborough gaining their second winning game this season and potentially leave Oxford C & C, B team with the wooden spoon. The game was close with only 3 shots separating the two teams. The highest rink score was for skip J. Yeowart (for Hanborough) and apologies if I have spelt the name wrong, but the Doctors writing was hard to read. John.
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Week 10 - 9 July, 2026
OBL week 10 – 9 July, 2026. Match Report
Yet again, another fabulous warm evening to play bowls. In Division 1, Carterton A continue to lead, but Headington have yet to lose a game and are favourites to move ahead when they catch up with their fixtures. Carterton won at Adderbury by 87-58, collecting 5 points. Joe Justin had a fabulous win against Kev Myton 34-8 and father Paul also had a good win against an on-form Jamie Wilkinson 21-12. Phil Gladden saved a point with a win against Remy Clanfield. Headington had an unusual win, as there was a medical emergency on one particular rink (I don’t have any details). The other three rinks continued for 15 ends, but clearly the Oxford team, were thinking only about the incident on Tim Cox’s rink.
Chipping Norton kept up their recent form and have moved out of the relegation zone. They achieved this by beating Kidlington 67-58 and 4½ points. Interestingly to see that although Tony Wright’s team scored the highest amount of shots for Chippy, Jim Feeley won 20-19 to deny Chippy an extra point.
In division 2, leaders South Oxford ploughed on and retained the top spot after beating Witney Mills 66-52. Chris Weller’s rink scored their only point against Neil Whiting’s team. South’s other rinks had solid wins and Richard Green had the best win beating Les Days’ team by 9 shots. Burford failed to close the gap by losing to local rivals West Witney. The margin was only 6 shots, but that was enough to gain the extra two points. Martin Shepherd had a strong win 22-07 over a tired looking Burford team, skipped by John Hurren. Jack Lafford and co, dug deep to finish 16 – 13 to beat Kevin Alder and Bob Parker had a strong win against a team skipped by Dave Leighfield. The third game was between Carterton B and Banbury Borough and the Carterton lads won by 72-61 , gaining 5 points, to back up their recent form. C. Steffans had the best win (24-11) for Carterton, while T. Cooper won the only point for the Borough.
Charlbury got their season going more positively in division 3 and defeat ed Bicester, who were also showing some form in recent weeks. The win for Charlbury lifts them out of the relegation zone. Chris Beard and Eddie Abbey both steered their team to 20 plus scores and Paul Dodman’s team gained the only point for Bicester. Headington B kept their impressive lead with only one loss to their name, so far. They gained a 5-1 win against Banbury Chestnuts. The chasing bunch is led by Witney Town A who dearly want to get back to division 2. They won at West Oxford who look certain to be going back to division 4 next year. The home side lost 44-76 shots and only gained a single point from this match. Brian Bloomfield and his team had the stand-out win for the Witney team , winning 27-6 against James Baldwin’s unhappy team.
The two top teams in division 4 have created a big gap from the 3rd position and both had 5 and 5.5 points victories to stay in touch with each other. They are Thame who visited and conquered the Hanborough green, with Ian Rutherford and his crew being the stand out win by 27-13 shots. Rivals Witney Town B went the ½ point better whilst beating Oxford City & County B team. Bill Stewart had the best win, with 29-13 shots and the match between Alan Scholan and Ian Moss was very entertaining with a rare 22-22 draw. Well done to both sides. After a small break in the fixture list, Banbury Central B hit the green again, against Bloxham. The Bloxham side had a 77-60 win gaining 4 points. Steve Prole and Paul Shipton had good 20 plus shots in their games to secure the extra two points for the overall score. Experienced bowlers, Glen Mullard and Paul Humphries gained two points for the Banbury side.
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Week 9 - 2 July, 2026
OBL Match report – Week 9 – 2 July 2026
Congratulations to Chipping Norton and Bicester for scoring over 100 shots this week. Both were rewarded with 6-0 wins in their leagues.
A full fixture list this week, with perfect bowling conditions, as all teams are now starting their second half games and you can see that the confident teams are becoming focussed on the promotion slots. The successful teams still need to fight off the teams with similar ambitions to themselves.
There were two 6-0 victories in division 1, with Carterton maintaining the top spot with all four rinks achieving 20 plus scores against Kidlington. Chipping Norton also won 6-0 against Oxford C & C, gaining 106 shots in the process and this has moved them safely above the relegation zone. Paul Robbins secured the best rink accolades by beating Nigel Satchell’s rink by 31-7. The third fixture between local rivals Banbury Central A and Adderbury was less predictable, as Adderbury gained a 4½- 1½ win, away from home. The stand -out rink victory was the on-form Jamie Wilkinson’s team against AJ Docherty’s team. Jamie’s team won 25-11.
In Division 2, Burford had a fine win against the team leading at the end of the first half of the season, namely Witney Mills. The result was 68-54 and 4½ -1½ points to Burford. Bob Parker had the best rink score (21-9) against Miller Les Day. However, there were two really good come-backs, notably involving Jack Lafford’s team, who were 13-4 down after 11 ends and won all the remaining ends to achieve a draw 13-13. In comparison, Tim Wilkin’s team were winning 10-4 after 10 ends, but Chris Weller’s team found an extra gear to complete a 16-12 rink win and gained a valuable point.
Meanwhile South Oxford, made their intentions clear by winning 6-0 against Banbury Borough. The highest winning margin was attained by Richard Green’s team of 11 shots, but all other rinks secured wins, as the club move to the lead position in the league. The surprise in the division was a 64-58 win by Carterton B against struggling West Witney, securing 4 points in the process. The highest winning rink for the Carterton side was D. Pilcher beating Andy McIntyre’s team by 22-12.
Moving onto Division 3, Headington B kept their top spot with a 5-1 win away at Charlbury. Only Chris Beard secured a valuable point for Charlbury, but the Headington team worked hard to the finish, to secure another good win. Witney Town and Bicester are the chasing duo and both had 6-0 wins. Fabrizio Boar had a 28-10 win against his Banbury Chestnut opponent to secure the pens and all the other rinks followed the winning ways and probably surprised the Chestnut chaps. Bicester left no doubt that they are focussed about going up this year and scored 101 shots to endorse their confidence. All Bicester rinks achieved 20 plus shots on each rink, leaving West Oxford rather shell-shocked after their mid -season break. Paul Dodman beat John Baldwin by the biggest margin of 20 shots.
Thame continue to lead division 4, but have Witney Town B breathing down their necks. Both achieved 5-1 wins, although the Witney team had the best margin of the two, with their 81-65 win over Hanborough. Thame maintained a 14 shot margin against Bloxham, who have been having mixed luck this season. Dave White appears to be gaining some form again, with the highest rink accolade this week for Thame. Finally, Woodstock visited Oxford C & C B and came away with a 73-57 win and 4 points. Brian Clarke was dope-tested after the match for winning 29-12 and ensuring the extra 2 points went to Woodstock.
Things are stacking up very nicely and the games to come should be very interesting. Good luck to all.
John
week 7 - 18 June, 2026
OBL Match report for week 7 – 18 June, 2026
Whilst div 2 & 3 players put their feet up for the evening, contenders for the top of their relevant leagues, turned on the gas !
Headington A moved to the top of Division 1, although there are only 2½ points separating the top three teams at the half way point for the season. Headington beat Kidlington 4-2 with 22 shots separating the two of them. Howard Watts and Jason King earned 22 shots each for their teams and gained rink wins against their opponents. Likewise, Jim Feeley and Paul McGrath won rink points for Kidlington. But it wasn’t enough to earn the extra two points available. Jim Feeley’s team finished very strongly winning 12 shots in the last 6 ends, but it was one way traffic for Howard and Jason’s teams losing only 11 ends across the two games (36 ends).
Banbury Central A collected 5 points despite the low margin of 6 shots at the end, against Carterton. Despite a poor start, Chris Charles’ team rallied from 9-0 down to win the rink 19-18. Remy Clanfield took the only point for Carterton, with yet another win under his belt. AJ for the Banbury team, won with a 8 shot advantage and in a closer game, Shane Cooper secured a rink win against JJ by 2 shots. Adderbury tested Chipping Norton for the third match that night and although they won 4-2, Chippy battled hard to keep the margin down to 4 shots. Kevin Myton’s team made a big difference beating Chippy’s Paul Robbins 22-7 with Chippy’s Tony Wright and Percy Hickman getting good rink wins against strong opposition.
In Division 4, Thame lost their unbeaten record against Witney Town B, who clearly want to surpass their own A team next season. Ray Plested earned the only point for Thame on this night, with Bill Stewart and his Witney colleagues picking up the pens. The result was a 5-1 win for Witney Town with 67-58 shots. Woodstock have put their early troubles aside and are beginning to smell potential promotion from this league. This week, they defeated Banbury Central B by 91-60 shots and taking all 6 points. The stand out performance of the night was Simon Hopkin’s team with a 30-10 victory against the unhappy Eric Trinders team.
Bloxham stayed close to the leaders with their own 5½-½ win over a struggling Oxford City & County B team. Paul Shipton for Bloxham led the way with a 26-11 rink win and all eyes will be on Bloxham to see if they maintain the momentum to climb out of this division.
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week 6 - 11 June 2026
Match Report for week 6 – 11 June, 2026
Whilst the leaders of Div 1 were occupied elsewhere, both Carterton and Adderbury took advantage of the situation and racked up good wins. Carterton A gained a 5½ - ½ points win over strugglers, Chipping Norton. Craig Morphet had the stand - out score beating Chippy’s Graham Box by 24-9. Tony Wright’s team battled well against Sharmy and shared ½ a point each. Adderbury asked all the other teams to see they still had ambitions this year, with a 95-38 win against Oxford City & County. Chris Skidmore and Jamie Wilkinson for Adderbury had scores in the high twenties, which motivated all the other Adderbury bowlers to achieve a 6-0 victory.
In Division 2, Burford moved closer to the two leaders, gaining a 5-1 win against the Carterton B team. Jack Lafford was chasing the game from the beginning, but the 5 points gained on the last end, gave them a one shot win by 1 shot to gain the rink point. No such problems, for Jeff Bizzall, Titch, Steve Gould and Tim Stacey, who bullied their opponents winning with 38 points to 9. Witney Mills stayed on top of the league, with a tentative win of 5 shots over opponents Banbury Boro. Kevin Siford continued his good form by beating John Brook’s team 25-10. Boro relied on experience and secured two rink wins to reach a 4-2 pts finish, when the mats were put away. South Oxford finished their first half of the season by hosting West Witney and scuppered a return to the top flight for West Witney. Dave Tidball and Richard Green both scored 24 shots to win the ends which contributed to a 74-57 to the Oxford club.
Headington B hung onto the lead in Div 3 with a 4-2 win over Witney Town A. Tim Ludlow continued to be the mentor of the Witney team yet again showing his colleagues how it should be done. The game finished with only 2 shots separating the teams. Charlbury found some more life and took it out with West Oxford for a 80-65 win and 5 valuable points. Chris Beard had another good game winning by 13 shots. The surprise of the night was Bicester beating the ambitious Banbury Chestnuts in another close a game with 4 shots separating the teams. Bicester’s green is generally difficult after a lot of rain and this would have given the visitors a tough time. Daryl Wall and Rus found it better than most, for their away point. .
Thame continue to head Div 4 and are the only team, across the leagues, to have won all their games. The shot difference for the leaders is 158 shots, which shows that division 4 is not where they want to play next year. Woodstock gave them a good game with Brian Clarke showing his colleagues the way by winning his rink 19-17 against Chris Shannon’s team. Banbury Central B must have been on Viagra to beat Oxford C & C by 97-46 shots, away from home. Messrs Flowers and Trinder scored 31 & 29 shots to lead the way and were happy to win 5-1. Hanborough only managed 50 shots collectively at their home ground and Bloxham continue their progress to get out of div 4. Their 18 shot advantage, helped by Steve Prole with a 24-11 win, secured 4 points from the match
Next week, players from Div 2 & 3 can put their feet up, or get a Knock-out comp arranged to keep their eye in.
week 5 - 4 June 2026
Match Report for week 5 of the OBL - 4 June
OBL Match Report for week 5 – 4 June, 2026
This week I’m featuring division 4, in which Thame look keen to get out of this league as soon as possible. Given the size of their membership, nobody should be surprised about their progress. Thame are currentlly one of only three teams, with wins each week, so far (the other two are Headington A and Banbury Central A in div 1). Thame have a game in hand on second placed Witney Town B, who slipped up this week against Bloxham. Thame had a 5-1 win against Banbury Central B with a 34 shot margin on their visitors. Only Dave White and his rink couldn’t manage to find that extra point, whilst Chris Shannon & Ian Rutherford had good wins for their rinks. Bloxham moved up the table, beating a depleted team from Witney Town, which was a surprise given their large membership. The absence of two players made a big difference when the total scores were considered, with the extra 2 points for the highest score going to Bloxham. The Witney team remain in second place despite this 1-5 loss to Bloxham. Woodstock had a big win against returning team Hanborough with a 92-48 shot result and 5 points to one. Stars on the night were Tim Steven’s team who scored 29 shots and Brian Clarke’s team result, with 30 shots. The only point won by Hanborough was thanks to the rink skipped by Colin Haley with a 16-13 win.
In division 3, the top two teams are Headington B and Banbury Chestnuts, with Charlbury struggling at the other end of the table. Headington’s D. Swanson, had a fast start, standing at 11-0 before Chris Sherwood’s team scored their first counting end. They followed up with two later consecutive wins over 4 ends each time, but alas the Headington gents held on to their earlier advantage with a 18-14 win. There were only 2 shots separating the teams at the end, but the 4 points went to Headington. Banbury Chestnuts had a 75-68 win over Charlbury claiming 4-2 points. Most games were tight, with the only stand out rink being won by Rus Vircaus’ s team who were 8 shots ahead for the Chestnuts. Bicester had a good win against Witney Town A as visitors, with a 20 shot margin after the final end and secured 5 points which moved them up the table. Alan Wagner won by 18-6 against Fabrizio.
In division 1, Headington A retained their top spot with a surprisingly heavy defeat (28 shots) against contenders, Carterton A. Mark Charlett’s team had a decisive win (26-6) against Tim Jupp’s team who only won each of their winning ends by 1 shot only . Howard Watt’s team had a great start leading by 19-6 after 10 ends. Paul Sharman’s team rallied in the second half, but remained 6 shots away at the end. Headington will be pleased with their 5-1 win. Banbury Central A played at Oxford City & County , winning by a margin of 30.5 shots and gaining a 5-1 win. AJ would have won his rink if the missing man had attended, as the 25% loss changed this to a win for Colin Pollard’s team. Chris Charles continued his good form with an emphatic 31-11 over City’s Andy Eastgate. Finally, Adderbury showed some form by beating Kidlington away, by 56 (2)- 77(4). Kev Myton had a high scoring win against Mr Goodgame, whilst Jim Feeley and Ed Stevens won points for the home team.
In Division 2, the local derby between West Witney and Witney Mills resulted in a 79-49 win for the Millers, who gained 5 points for their quest to go back to Div 1. Kevin Siford showed form once again beating Martin Shepherd by 10 shots, matching David Augur’s team win also by 10 shots, but the pens go to Les Days supported by his team-mates who won by 14 shots. Only Kev Alder kept the flag flying with a 15-11 win against Chris Weller’s team.
South Oxford got back to their winning ways by beating Carterton B by 29 shots, the only surprise was that Dave Tidball who hadn’t lost a game this season until this night but gave way to D. Pitcher who won 22-14. Finally, Burford travelled to Banbury Borough and were disappointed with their game despite achieving a 4-2 victory against the home side. Bob Parker was the star, with a 25-6 win against Boro stalwart, Mick Morris. Burford moved to third place in the table.
John
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week 4 - 28 May, 2026
Match Report for week 4 of the OBL – 28 May
Division 2 is starting as predicted, with 4 teams all winning 2 games and losing 1. Until this night South Oxford were the only unbeaten team, but this all went wrong when they visited Burford. At one stage all four rinks showed leads for the home side and three of these completed their rink wins. However, a late rally from South Oxford collectively won 29 shots over the last four ends. This meant that both sides had 70 shots each at the end, with one more point for both sides.
A 4-2 win for Burford.
West Witney finished their game only one shot ahead of Carterton B, but overall this was translated as a 5-1 win for the Witney team. Mike Morris’ team kept the overall score respectable with a 26-12 win against Andy McIntyre’s rink. Witney Mills proved too strong for Carterton B, winning with a 79-56 score, gaining 4.5 points for the league table. Les Days had the biggest win with a seven shot head on the 15 th end and Chris Weller kept his 100% winning run. After a shaky start, CW won the last 8 ends to establish their dominance.
In Div 1, Headington moved to the top of the league with a resounding 96 –35 shot win and taking all 6 points. Banbury Central A stayed in the chase after beating Chipping Norton by 85.75 - 57 shots and 4.5 points. Oxford C & C were happy to win their first match of the season led by Andy Eastgate and his team with a 28-13 win over their Kidlington opponent. Jim Feeley and friends secured their sole point of the evening.
Headington B head Division 3, although opponents Witney Town and Banbury Chestnuts are just behind them. The top 3 teams have all won 2 matches and lost just one, so they have much in common. The Chestnuts were disappointed to lose against West Oxford, who are another team to watch. John Baldwin for the Oxford club, winning 26-9 to Rus Vircaus’ team. Headington B used home advantage to keep Bicester at bay, although A. Balshaw’s win gave the Bicester team some hope. Charlbury lost at home and only had Eddie Lacy to thank for a point.
Witney Town A are determined to gain promotion, given the large number of members at the club and the early successes of their B team who lead in Division 4 . Bill Stewart and Mr Goldby set good examples to their colleagues, who won by 9 shots and 14 shots respectively against their Banbury Central opponents.
Thame had a bye this week and they appear to be the team to beat this seasonin division 4, holding the second position in the league.
Woodstock shrugged off their poor start to the season with a good win at Bloxham by 81-54 and gained 5 valuable league points. Simon Hopkins had some high scoring ends and Ron Collett had 6 end wins on the trot after rink 4, which was the foundation of their win. Hanborough managed a win at home to an Oxford C & C team with a 67-58 scoreline and 5 points.
Week 3 - Thursday, 21 May, 2026
Match Reports for 2026
I’d like to apologise for not providing a match report for the first and second matches of the season. The first match was when I was touring with the Burford Bowls Club in Norfolk, and as the tour organiser, I could not find the time to write the report. The next day after returning, I developed a form of influenser, which laid me up for a few days and although I feel better, I’m still not back to my normal self. Fridays for the last two weeks have largely been a need to correct the software which I use for collecting the results and altering the league tables accordingly. At this busy time of year, I found last week was difficult to catch up on all the work I take on, but thankfully, I have caught up and the week 3 match report is below:
Week 3 – 21 May matches
Last year's Champion contenders have all started well in division 1 with Carterton A leading as a result of Headington and Banbury Central playing one game less. Carterton had a close game this week, away against Adderbury and won three rinks which led to 5 points, although Adderbury were only 5 shots adrift at the end, thanks mainly to the good win from Kev Myton’s rink, beating Sharmy by 24 shots to 9. Headington beat Oxford C & C by 86-54. Howard Watts set the pace with a blistering 31 shot win from his team against C. Scott’s rink. Andrew Eastgate’s rink showed some resistance by securing a point after a 19-13 win, so the game finished a win , 5-1 to Headington. Despite their good start in Div 1, Chipping Norton, lost to Kidlington, even with local advantage on their quick green by 65(1 pt) – 79(5 pts). Graham Box secured the one point for Chippy by beating Jim Feeley’s rink 20-9, whilst the other three rinks slipped past the 20 shot target which led to three rink wins.
Division 2 started as predicted, as all teams are capable of beating any of the others and after 2 games, South Oxford are the only team to produce 2 wins at this stage. The South Oxford team narrowly beat Witney Mills by 6 shots to take the 2 points after each team won 2 rinks each. Dave Tidball had the best rink for the Oxford club winning 23-4, whilst Les Days had the highest rink for the Millers by 25-15. The match ended as a 4-2 win for South Oxford. There was another 4-2 win at Banbury Borough for their guests Carterton B, with Darren Wakeman skipping for a 24-7 win over their opponents. The margin was 58-72 in favour of the Carterton team . In the third game of div 2, West Witney hosted a match against Burford, who mastered the green better than their opponents and achieved a 5-1 win. Bob Parker, for the visitors rink, managed to beat Kevin Alder’s rink by 20-6 and both John Hurren and Jack Lafford managed to win close games to secure the points for the third win. The overall score was 71-63 in favour of Burford.
In Div 3, only one team again managed to win both their first matches, and that was Banbury Chestnuts. They took the top spot of the league table by beating Headington B by 4½ - 1½ in a close match where there were only 3 shots between them. Daryl Wall had the best rink win, with 23 shots to 15. Whilst S Rogers and Ian Kibblewhite shook hands for a draw. Steve Gould secured a full point for Headington with a 20-10 win against Rus Vircaus’s rink.
Witney Town beat a West Oxford side by 22 shots with Gary Panon’s rink getting a 28-15 score. The Witney Team picked up a 5-1 win and look to do well in this division this year. Charlbury also claimed a stake in the title race with a 5-1 win at Bicester. Captain Chris Beard led the way with a 20-10 win and a 21 shot lead for Charlbury at the end indicated they were a team to be reckoned with.
Finally in Division 4, we saw our first 100 plus score, virtue of the Thame team who secured a 106(6pts) – 27 (0 pts) and rightfully claimed the league leader’s spot. All the Thame players played well to amass such a big score and it would be wrong to single out any particular Thame player. Hanborough will need to re-group and start again next week, to lose their memories of this game.
Bloxham had a close encounter with Banbury Central B’s side and the honours went to Bloxham for their 2 shot win, gaining 3½ points overall. Des Jones had the highest winning rink for Bloxham of 25-7 shots. Glen Mullard saved the overall score for Central by beating Ian Jackman’s rink by 26-12. The third game in the league was between Oxford C & C B and Witney Town B and the narrowest win was achieved by the Witney team, even after losing 25% of their score on one rink, due to a missing player. It is rare that the 2 points for the win goes to a team with a ¼ shot advantage at the finish. This match wins my weekly “naughty boys” label, as one card was barely legible and the other hasn’t arrived yet. From the information I could read, the match ended 59 shots and 2 points for the Oxford team and 59¼ shots and 4 points went to the Witney team. County President, Alan Scholan set the right example to his team-mates by winning his rink 20-9.
Finally, may I draw your attention to the information I place on the county website this year, as a new method of displaying the results and tables was necessary. Gone are the four tabs for divisions and the current information can be seen by opening the two new tabs labelled “OBL weekly scores” and “BOL current tables”.
I hope you can gain all the information you want. John.