Match Report:
Men’s section v Middlesex at Watlington BC on 9 June 2026 (friendly)
This was the first occasion for many years that The Men’s section had asked Watlington BC to host a county fixture, this time against Middlesex Bowling Association. The weather was kind to us and the green was well presented and there were copious smiling faces from the many volunteers who worked hard to ensure the bowlers enjoyed their visit. This was a game of 4 rinks and clearly Middlesex were keen to put out a good side to play us.
We had many Red Kites soaring over the area and I suspect that they had realised the average age of the bowlers competing and the chances of getting a free meal if one of the bowlers happened to expire.
Rink 2 proved to be a war zone where the home county were taking a thrashing. Although the team of Dale Thorne, Chris Beard, Martin Oliver and John Hurren played well at times, skip Tony Waller had a superb game for the visitors, making his last bowl the winning bowl on so many occasions. Middlesex won by 26-6 shots and got the pens and wine from their President. On rink 3 the Eastgate brothers (Brian & Andy), assisted by David Byers and Richard Morris won a convincing game with an impressive 24-9 total after losing 5 shots in the last two ends.
Craig Redmond skipped on rink 4, well assisted by Sid Andrew, Bob Wright & Geoff Roynon . They won 10 consecutive ends, albeit with ones & twos and finished with a 14-11 win. Our hopes were on local hero Gordon Hooker to lead his team on a rink well known to him, supported by Nick Baldwin, Mike Andrew and Gary Panons. However their opponents were 15-3 up after 11 ends and went onto win 19-9, which created the finishing scores of Oxfordshire 53 : 65 Midddlesex .
The hospitality of our hosts at Watlington BC was brilliant after the game and we enjoyed a splendid meal whilst bantering with our Middlesex friends. Vice President Julia Lambert represented the County’s men’s section in thanking our hosts and congratulating our opponents after the meal. Thanks finally for a very good raffle curtesy of club members.
The two match Secretaries agreed, at the request of Middlesex, to play mixed games in the future, both home and away next season. As with many teams, counties are receiving more applications to play mixed matches than they are getting for Men’s and women’s only events.
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Middleton Cup BO team v Herefordshire at Banbury Chestnuts BC on 6 June 2027
Oxfordshire started their Middleton cup campaign with a home fixture against Herefordshire at Banbury Chestnuts. Before the start of the game AJ Docherty was presented with his 100 game badge, when you consider all the games were Middleton or Home Counties it is a fine achievement.
Rink 1 was Keith Holloway, David Leighfield, Martin Shepherd and Kevin Alder they struggled throughout losing 20-13. In an extremely tight game Joe Abbercombie, Ray Gaskins, Shane Cooper and Nick Rae-Welsh dropped 3 single shots on the last 3 ends but held on to win 12-11. Rink 3 all played well, Paul Sutton on his debut, Nathan Lewis, Jason King and Mark Charlett won 20-7.
Ian Henwood, Mark Vaughan, Mark Sykes and Paul Sharman were always ahead but a 5 and a 6 on the 16th and 17th ends helped in a 32-10 win.
Remi Clanfield, Paul Mabbutt, Joe Justin and Craig Morphet where 17-0 up after 7 ends, the Herefordshire players must have wished they had stayed at home and had a cider as they lost 31-4. On rink 6 Lee Young, Gary May, AJ Docherty and captain Howard Watts were actually 8-4 down at the halfway stage but a good second half, meant a 21-10 win.
The final score was Oxfordshire 129 (20 points) Herefordshire 62 (2 points) We roll on into Broadway next Saturday for the next matches against Worcestershire.
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BO Men's Section v Leicestershire (Friendly) at Witney Town BC on 3 June 2026
After a delayed start due to heavy rain, the bowlers walked onto the Witney Town green for their match against Leicestershire. Most of our players had not played on the rinks going away from the clubhouse, so there was no home advantage. The green proved very tricky, but the Visitors team started to find the runs before the home side.
On rink 1, Nick Baldwin, Martin Oliver, Brian Clarke and skip Les Days, found that 2 of their opponents were Oxfordshire players helping to make the numbers up for the Leicestershire team. The home side won 11 of the 18 ends, but due to a 5 shot end from the visitors, ended up all square 13 – 13. Our rink 2 team won on the day 17-10, helped by winning the last 5 ends. Well done to Geoff Roynon, John Jarvis, Bob Wright & Neil Whiting.
On rink 3 the Presidential teams were level at the end, after what was a close game all the way through. Skip Mike Morris, was supported by Ian Fraser who stood in at short notice, President Alan Scholan and Andy Eastgate. The score was 15-15. There were less smiling faces on rink 4, as our team of Bernie May, Mick Conrad-Banks, Craig Redmond and skip Keith Buckle, struggled to find the lines unsuccessfully throughout. They lost 6-20. On rink 5, there were also glum faces for the same reasons and a loss of 9-21. This is despite the experience of our team: Mike Jones, Richard Morris, Percy Hickman & Gordon Hooker.
On rink 6, there was a good display from our team, consisting of Roger Oliver, Geoff Smith, Witney Town President – Gary Panons and Paul Robbins. Despite losing the last three ends, they won their game 17-14.
Overall, Leicestershire played better than us on a tricky green, with the final score of 77 shots for the Oxon team and 93 shots for the foxes. Brian Bloomfield, supported by other Witney members, produced a lovely meal after the game and we dominated the raffle to bring the smiles back to faces. Thank you to everyone connected with the Witney Town club for being excellent hosts.
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BO Men's Section v Berkshire (HCL) at South Oxford B C on 23 May, 2026
Oxfordshire hosted Berkshire in a Home Counties league match, at a red hot South Oxford Bowls Club.
On rink 1 Keith Holloway, Chris King, Mark Vaughan and Neil Whiting narrowly lost a tight game 16-12. On rink 2 Mick Nash, Paul Robbins, Shane Cooper and Nick Rae Welsh picked up a 3 on the 17th end to win 16-15.
Graham Box, Finn Jelfs, Gary May and captain Howard Watts all played well in a 19-7 win.
On rink 4 Paul Jelfs, Matt Osling, Jamie Wilkinson and AJ Docherty picked up a 1 on the last end to draw 17-17. Dale Thorne, Andy McIntyre, David Leighfield and Ray Gaskins all bowled well in a 20-14 win. On rink 6 Richard Green, Percy Hickman, Neil Hancock and Mark Charlett won more ends but 2 dropped 6's condemned them to a 21-16 loss.
The final score was Oxfordshire 100 (17 points) Berkshire 90 (5 points)
Still all to play for. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Bedfordshire (Friendly) at Woodstock BC on 19 May, 2026
Oxfordshire dodged the rain in a match against Bedfordshire at Woodstock Bowls Club. The selectors did a perfect job picking 5 rinks that were never behind. There was a slight delay in starting the match due to a rain storm, but apart from that it was reasonably dry and the green bowled well.
On rink 1 Dale Thorne, Bob Wright, John Hurren and Tim Stevens won a tight game 17-14. David Byers, Sid Andrews, Craig Redmond and Mick Morris where 1 up after 13 ends but a 4 and a 5 gave them the pens with a 22-10 win.
Andrew Eastgate who had an excellent game was playing with the old firm of Mike Andrew, Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming against a strong Bedfordshire Presidents rink, another 4 and 5 gave them a 20-14 win.
Julian Horsey, Kenny Cooper, Keith Buckle and Les Days looked good for the pens, but a dropped 5 on the 14th end didn't help and they finished 20-13 winners. On rink 6, the evergreen Bernie May, John Standen, John Townley and Gordon Hooker were all square at the halfway stage but pulled ahead to win 20-10.
The final score was Oxfordshire 99, Bedfordshire 61, an excellent team performance from everyone involved. At the after dinner meal captain of the day Alex Fleming thanked Richard Morris for turning up as reserve and complemented Woodstock on how well they host County matches, they are a very popular venue with opposing Counties.
It started to rain heavily as soon as the meal was finished. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Middlesex (HCL) at RosedalePark B C on 16 May 16, 2026.
Oxfordshire travelled to Rosedale Park Bowls club to play Middlesex in the opening Home Counties league fixture.
The Oxfordshire team on paper looked strong and hopes were high, but as we all know games aren't played on paper.
On rink 1 Russell Vircavs, Finn Jelfs, Neil Hancock and Howard Watts where all square after 16 ends, but a dropped 4 on the 17th killed the game in a 16-13 loss.
Rink 2 was Jonathan Dadson, Paul Jelfs, Percy Hickman and Martin Shepherd, 1 down after 16 ends, then a 4 and a 2 gave them a 17-12 win.
On rink 3, Graham Box, Dale Thorne, Ted Eley and Jamie Wilkinson were unlucky to lose 15-14.
Rink 4 was Gethin Osling, Jamie MacDonogh, Eddie Stevens and Nick Rae-Welsh, they were 15-3 down at one stage but came back to only lose 19-14.
Rink 5 was Rob Beesley, Jake Gibson, Ray Gaskins and Neil Whiting, they were always behind losing 22-9 . The final rink was Mick Jelfs, Jamie Goodwin, Andy McIntyre and Kevin Alder. They only picked up 4 single shots in a 31-4 defeat !
The final score was Middlesex 115, Oxfordshire 57, a really disappointing result, hopefully we can bounce back next week when we face Berkshire at South Oxford. Congratulations to Middlesex on an impressive performance. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Northants at Roade BC 0n 12 May, 2026
Oxfordshire travelled to Roade bowls club to play local rivals Northamptonshire. The weather felt more like November with several players wearing bobble hats.
The game got off to a bad start, when Roy Radband had a really nasty fall on the stairs coming out of the club, he was badly cut, but it could have been a lot worse. Fortunately he doesn't have as far to fall as some of the taller players. Roy played in pain for 2 ends before coming off and being replaced by County President Alan Scholan.
After a delayed start Martyn Cooper along with the old school of Mike Andrew, Brian Clarke and Alex Fleming out-played their opponents for 16 ends, decided they didn't like the rain and dropped 6 shots on the last 2 ends, but hung on to win 16-14.
Next door the reshuffled rink of Barry Hall, John Standen, Alan Scholan and Martin Oliver were leading at the halfway stage but fell away despite some good shots from Martin Oliver to lose 23-14.
Nick Baldwin, Kenny Cooper, Andrew Eastgate and Brian Bloomfield started slowly with Brian looking for the nearest bus back to Oxford, they were 15-0 down, but a 6 and a 5 put them back in the game and they only lost 23-18.
The rink of the day was Roger Oliver, Mickey Conrad-Banks, Gary Panons and Paul Robbins, they were slightly behind in the first half of the game, but won 5 ends in a row to win 16-11, a good performance.
In a very tight game that swung one way to the other Bernie May, Martin Heath, Chris Beard and John Hurren went into the last end all square, but picked up 2 shots to win 17-15. The final rink of Julian Horsey, Richard Morris, Tony Lynch and new skip John Townley were only 2 behind after14 ends but dropped four 1's to lose 16-10.
The final score was Oxfordshire 91, Northamptonshire 102. It was an encouraging performance from Oxfordshire in a very enjoyable game that could have gone either way. Roade is a very friendly club, the green was good and the rain stopped and the sun came out as soon as we came off the green. Alex
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BO Men's Section v Essex BA (friendly) at Oxford C & C BC on 5 May 2026
Oxfordshire opened their mid week friendly programme with a home fixture at Oxford City and County Bowls club against Essex.
The home side started slowly on a heavy green and were 18 shots down at the halfway stage. But it isn't how you start it, it is how you finish. The rink of Martyn Cooper, Sid Andrews, Bob Wright and John Hurren were 11-5 down but picked up 15 shots on the last 5 ends to win 20-11. John Standen, President Alan Scholan, Tony Lynch and Mick Morris were always just behind in a tight game and lost 18-16.
Bernie May, John Jarvis, Chris Beard and Paul Robbins came back from 13-4 down to draw level on the 17th end, but a dropped 2 on the last end meant a 18-16 loss. Mike Jones, David Byers, Craig Redmond and Andrew Eastgate on his own green won 22-13, Andrew also won the spider, so had a good day.
Dale Thorne, Richard Morris, Ian Jackman and Alex Fleming were out in the country on rink 6 and were always behind, a dropped 6 on the 7th end was the difference in a 19-13 loss. The rink of the day was Geoff Roynon, Martin Oliver, Brian Clarke and Gordon Hooker, who were 5-2 down after 3 ends. But they only dropped 1 more shot and romped home 27-6 winners.
The final score was Oxfordshire 114, Essex 85, a great start to the season.
Alex