Palmerston Finals night saw the two Fareham teams going head-to-head for the third and fourth play offs and Rowner Red against Lee Red for first and second place.
Fareham Green's Jon Clark meant business form the start scoring tree on the first end against Fareham Pink's Bob Scottow, by the fifth end they were all square 4-4. They traded blows but by the twelfth end Fareham Green had just pulled ahead to lead 12-7, Fareham Pink cameback but could not quite make it and Fareham Green won 14-13.
Fareham Pink's Lee Cunningham stormed off to lead 18-1 by the ninth end against Fareham Green's George Churcher, Fareham Green rallied and started a come back reaching 10-18 by the thirteenth end but Fareham Pink finished strong to win 36-10,
It was Fareham Pink's Pete Barnard who started the best leading Fareham Green's Brian Shakespeare 6-1 at the fourth end, by the seventh end they were all square 6-6, Fareham Green then dominated the game for the next six ends and were leading 21-6 at the thirteenth, Fareham Green had a strong finish, but it was Fareham Pink who won 22-13. The final result was Fareham Pink taking a cheque for £100 and third place with 71 shots and Fareham Green taking a cheque for £75 for fourth place with 37 Shots.
The final kicked off with Rowner Red's Keith Gerrard who settled first against Lee Red's Martin Ellis and lead 5-1 after the first three ends, Lee started to come back but it was not until the ninth end before they drew level 7-7, it stayed close and at the fourteenth end they were still level 10-10, but Lee had a very strong finish and won the last four ends to win 20-10.
At this point in the contest with all three rinks playing their last end Rowner lead overall by four shots making it a very interesting last end.
Rowner's Barry Stafford against Lee's Pete Gentry was a good old battle, they were level 6-6 at the fifth end again 8-8 at the eighth, the game ebbed and flowed with Lee only two shots behind Rowner going into the last end but it was Rowner who scored and won 19-15.
Rowner's Bill Ross took control from the start against Lee's Graham Hillier and lead 7-3 by the sixth end, Rowner scored a five on the seventh, but Lee came back with four two ends later with Rowner still leading 13-7 at the ninth end. By the fifteenth end with the score 18-11 to Rowner there was still a chance for Lee to succeed buy Rowner snuffed that out with a strong finish to win 23-12. The overall result was Rowner Red 52 shots - Lee Red 47 meaning Lee Red took second place for the second successive year and a cheque for £150 and Rowner Red were crowned the Palmerston Cup winners for 2024 and a cheque for £200.
The evening was made by the superb supporters that turned out and was finished off with a lovely buffet from Debbie in the restaurant.
Brian Knight
Competition Secretary
| Matches | Rinks | Shots | Points | ||||||
| League | P | W | D | L | W | D | L | Diff | |
| Lee Red | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 167 | 48 |
| Fareham Green | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 207 | 46 |
| Rowner Red | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 139 | 44 |
| Eastleigh Red Devils | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 133 | 38 |
| Fareham Pink | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 70 | 34 |
| Fareham Blue | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 24 |
| Lockswood | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 | -37 | 24 |
| Rowner White | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | -4 | 22 |
| Priory | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Milton Park | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -82 | 14 |
| Portchester Blue | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -68 | 12 |
| Lee Green | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -70 | 12 |
| Crofton Gold | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | -199 | 2 |
| Rowner Blue | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -266 | 0 |
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 2023-24 may be seen here.