Palmerston Cup – 21 December
This week’s Palmerston Cup fixtures saw Rowner Red take on Banister Park, while Meon Valley hosted Rowner White. Both matches provided competitive and entertaining bowls, with Banister Park and Meon Valley emerging with the overall honours.
Rowner Red v Banister Park
Game 1
Rowner Red’s Kev Tunstall faced Banister Park’s Steve Horscroft in a tightly contested encounter. The pair were level at 6–6 after seven ends and remained locked together, never separated by more than a single shot. They were again all square at 9–9 after thirteen ends, but Banister edged the closing stages to secure a narrow 14–11 victory.
Game 2
Banister’s Matthew McLoughlin made an explosive start against Rowner’s Keith Gerrard, racing into an 8–2 lead by the sixth end. By the tenth, Banister had extended their advantage to 17–3. Rowner rallied strongly over the final eight ends, but the early deficit proved too great as Banister held on for a 19–13 win.
Game 3
Rowner’s Mick Watts and Banister’s Rob Oliver were evenly matched early on, with the scores tied at 7–7 after five ends. At the halfway stage Banister held a slim 12–9 lead, before stepping up a gear in the latter stages to pull clear and claim a comfortable 23–15 success.
Overall result:
Rowner Red 39 shots (0 points) – Banister Park 56 shots (12 points)
Meon Valley v Rowner White
Game 1
Rowner White’s Phil Hawkes made a blistering start against Meon Valley’s Phil Walker, opening up a commanding 12–2 lead by the sixth end. Meon Valley responded superbly, controlling the next eight ends to turn the tables and lead 15–12 after thirteen. A tense finish followed, with honours eventually shared at 18–18.
Game 2
A dominant performance from Meon Valley, skipped by Josh Berry, proved too much for Rowner White’s Paul Budden. Meon Valley built a commanding 21–4 advantage by halfway and continued to apply pressure throughout, running out convincing 34–7 winners.
Game 3
Meon Valley’s Andy King and Rowner White’s Barry Roberts were evenly matched early on, tied at 2–2 after four ends. Rowner White then began to assert themselves, moving into a 10–3 lead by the eleventh. However, Meon Valley produced a strong late surge to claw back the deficit and share the points in a 12–12 draw.
Overall result:
Meon Valley 64 shots (10 points) – Rowner White 37 shots (2 points)
Brian Knight
Competition Secretary
| Matches | Rinks | Shots | Points | ||||||
| League | P | W | D | L | W | D | L | Diff | |
| Lee Green | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 97 | 42 |
| Banister Park | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 58 | 36 |
| Fareham Blue | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 30 |
| Lee Red | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 30 |
| Priory | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 70 | 25 |
| Fareham Red | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 25 |
| Meon Valley | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 21 |
| Fareham Green | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 20 |
| Milton Park | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -84 | 15 |
| Rowner Red | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -28 | 14 |
| Rowner White | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | -148 | 4 |
| Crofton Gold | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | -102 | 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.