Palmerston Cup – (23/11)
This week’s fixtures saw a Rowner derby with Rowner Red facing Rowner White, while Milton Park took on Lee Red.
Rowner Red v Rowner White.
Rowner Red’s Barry Stafford made a strong start against Rowner White’s Phil Pinder, who unfortunately drew the short straw as he normally only plays outdoors. Barry took control early and held a 16–7 lead at the halfway point, with Rowner Red running out comfortable winners 33–11.
In the second game, Rowner White’s Barry Roberts made an excellent start against Rowner Red’s Kev Tunstall, leading 7–2 after six ends. By the eighth, however, the scores were level at 7–7. Momentum then shifted towards the Red team, who led 13–7 at the eleventh. Although the Whites mounted a late fightback, Rowner Red held on to win 16–12.
The final game saw Rowner White’s Phil Hawkes start the stronger, but by the fifth end Rowner Red’s Keith Gerrard had levelled at 4–4. From there, the Red team maintained control and secured a 20–11 victory.
Overall Result: Rowner Red 69 shots (12 points), Rowner White 34 shots (0 points).
Milton Park v Lee Red.
The evening’s second match promised to be close — and it certainly lived up to expectations. By the one-third distance, Lee Red were comfortably ahead, but by two-thirds the sides were neck-and-neck right through to the finish.
Lee Red’s Jason McAllen made a flying start against Milton’s Chris Chamberlain, racing to a 17–2 lead after seven ends. Milton adjusted well to the green speed and fought back strongly, closing the gap to 11–17 by the eleventh, but Lee Red pushed on to seal a 24–15 win.
In the second game, Lee Red’s Gwyn Burgoyne and Milton’s Steve Smith had a cagey opening, with Lee edging ahead 6–5 after seven ends. Lee then opened up an 11–5 lead by the tenth, but Milton responded superbly, winning four consecutive ends to level at 11–11 by the fourteenth. Lee, however, found a late surge to secure the match 16–12.
The final game between Milton’s Dave Brown and Lee Red’s Sandra Gomez began evenly at 4–4 after four ends, before Milton steadily pulled away. By the seventeenth end, Milton held a commanding 23–7 lead. At this stage Milton were also three shots ahead overall and holding two on the eighteenth, only for Lee’s final bowl — slightly overweight — to nudge the jack through to three waiting Lee bowls. This dramatic finish secured an overall draw, though Milton still won the rink 23–10.
Overall Result: Milton Park 50 shots (5 points), Lee Red 50 shots (7 points).
Brian Knight
Competition Secretary
| Matches | Rinks | Shots | Points | ||||||
| League | P | W | D | L | W | D | L | Diff | |
| Priory | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 23 |
| Lee Green | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 20 |
| Lee Red | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | -3 | 19 |
| Fareham Blue | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 18 |
| Fareham Green | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 16 |
| Banister Park | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 16 |
| Fareham Red | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| Rowner Red | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | -11 | 14 |
| Milton Park | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | -67 | 13 |
| Meon Valley | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Crofton Gold | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -57 | 2 |
| Rowner White | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | -121 | 2 |
The latest results and schedule are updated automatically after the competition operator enters the scores.
This competition, which started in 2011, is run during the winter season at Palmerston Indoor Bowls Club, Fareham. This is an open competition for outdoor bowls clubs to compete against each other on the indoor carpet and is a means of keeping in touch with members when their club is closed.
The competition is played on Sunday evenings with games starting at 6.00pm. Each team requires a minimum of nine players as each match consists of three rinks of triples. Most teams have a squad of more than nine players who are used on a rotational basis, and being an open competition, the teams can be all of the same gender or mixed. Teams usually play fortnightly and there will be weeks when your team would have stand downs when the other leagues are playing, so you do not have to turn out every Sunday.
This year there are 14 teams who will initially play 4 games against each other in a mini-league before the knockout stage. The scoring system is two points for each winning rink and a further six points for the team with the overall winning score (twelve points are available for each game). The results of this league will determine the 8 teams who will go into the quarter finals in the knockout stage. The knockout draw will be seeded based on table position, so there is an incentive to finish as high as possible to obtain a favourable draw.
Prize money will mean the winning team receiving £200 down to £75 for the fourth placed team.
Brian Knight
Competition Secretary
The OFFICIAL RULES 2025-26 may be seen here.