Milton Park teenager Molly Firth among Portsmouth & District League bowlers off to the national finals

Everyone who played had already qualified to represent Hampshire at the National Finals at Royal Leamington Spa which this year, because of the Commonwealth Games, are starting much later at the end of August.

What they were playing for was the right to be declared county champions.

Junior Singles

The women’s competition only had five entrants, two of whom were from Portsmouth.

Milton Park Ladies’ Molly Firth, 16, won her semi-final 21-4, only to agonisingly lose in the final 21-20.

There was a much larger entry for the men’s competition, which meant that Portsmouth Water’s Alfie Smith, 14, had to progress through a quarter-final (21-19) before winning his semi-final 21-17. Unfortunately, Alfie lost 21-15 in the final.

Junior Pairs

Owing to the small number of entrants in these competitions, it is only the winner who progresses through to Leamington.

There were only two entrants in the women’s competition, which saw Molly Firth teamed up with Keira Patel, 17. They won 18-13, meaning that Firth would be taking part in two national finals.

There were eight entries in the men’s including Alfie Smith, who teamed up with Alexandra’s Bailey Lipsham. They reached the semis, only to lose 24-20 to the eventual winners.

Molly, Keira and Alfie have also all been involved in Bowls Hampshire’s Junior sides.

Molly and Keira have been part of the county’s Amy Rose side, which is made of two rinks of four bowlers who must all be under 32. They are joined in the squad by another Milton Park Ladies bowler, 14-year-old Grace Read.

Alfie, when he was just 11, was a member of the county’s White Rose in 2019. At that time, the White Rose consisted of a single rink, all of whom had to be under 25.

Unfortunately for Alfie, his rink came up against a Surrey rink that had two Middleton Cup players AND two junior internationals!

The White Rose has now reverted to two rinks of four.

Senior Bowlers Pairs

In the women’s competition, Lee-on-the-Solent’s Joan Dawkins and Caroline Cuerden were crowned county champions after their 20-11 victory in the final.

The men’s pairs final was an all-Portsmouth & District affair as Southsea Waverley’s John Biggs and Gary Starks took on Priory’s Steve Smith and Adrian Snook.

After the close calls the Waverley pairing had in both the area final and county semi-final, with both only decided after the final bowl had been played, they eased to a 23-12 victory in the final.

Unfortunately, John won’t be at the nationals as he has a much more important occasion to attend – his son’s wedding. Danny Smith is his substitute.

In the men’s Four Wood Singles, Leigh Park’s Jamie Ward lost 21-10 in his final.

In the women’s competition, Fareham’s Rosemary Bailey, Sheena Mack and Sandy Pullin lost their final 26-13.

In the Men’s, Milton Park’s Bryan Cherry, Tony Hall and David Brown lost their final 21-7.

The following also reached their semi-final stages:

Men’s 4Wood Singles - Leigh Park’s Carter Blandford.

Men’s 2Wood Singles - Fareham’s Danny Russell.

Men’s Senior Fours – Rowner’s Kevin Goode, Mark Crispin, Chris Hay and Phil Pinder.

Women’s 4Wood Singles - Fareham’s Sandy Pullin.

Women’s Senior Fours – Milton Park Ladies Sue Brightman, Pat MacRae, Julie Greenwood and Wendy Brown.

*The final matter of who would finish second in the Portsmouth Bowls League top flight was settled in the rearranged Priory v Waverley game.

Knowing they had to win to overtake Fareham, in a match between much rearranged sides, Priory won by 15 shots.

The 14 points they banked, by winning on three rinks, meant they overtook Fareham by two points.