UNDER 25 MATCH REPORTS

Reports on the matches latest first.

SURREY U25 v SUSSEX U25 - NATIONAL WHITE ROSE COMPETITION PLAYED ON SUNDAY 20th JUNE 2021 @ WORTHING PAVILLION BC

MATCH REPORT.

An extremely close, compelling match between these two well matched sides was decided as late as the 41st end of the game.

This was a vastly changed Surrey Team from the victorious 2019 Winning Team.

For them nothing but victory would have been enough and to be honest that team never looked like failing.

2021, brought about another format change to this Competition by Bowls England, with 15 Ends and 1 Rink reverting back to a 21 End, 2 Rink format for this Season.

This team was much changed and in truth is emerging into an excellent unit.

Surrey started the match well, Jamie Houle excellent once more led his Rink off to a flying start, scoring 8 off of the first 2 Ends. Hopper was always steady at Lead however he had his work cut out against the impressive 11-year-old Vinnie Minter.

Sussex erased the deficit to be all tied at 9-9 after eight Ends. The Match was so close thereafter that never more than 3 Shots proving the difference between the sides. Surrey two Shots down after 19 gained three further shots to score a big victory over the excellent Sussex quartet who were superbly skipped by James Brennan.

Fortunes too fluctuated on Graham Street's Rink. Some superb leading by Will Vizer-Allen was well supported by Hugo Manuel and William Ward. At 19-10 up after 12, it seemed only one outcome was on the cards.

Sussex had other ideas and rallied in the Second half of this game to secure an unlikely 6 shot victory. Both Surrey skip's Street & Houle played superbly well and both players are a pleasure to have around. Unfortunately, both players will be Over 25 next year and will be hard to replace.

So a game of fluctuating fortunes resulted in a narrow Surrey defeat.

My thanks once more to the Senior Surrey Officers parents and guardians who were in attendance to witness first hand such a close and exciting game.

Sussex are a well-run County at this level and I wish Andy Clarke and his team the very best for the next Round. A well represented Sussex following knew that they had witnessed a very close and sporting game.

On a personal note, I was saddened and angered by some of the ill-informed comments and nonsense that certain elements within our County Bowling fraternity have felt the need to post on Social Media. As managers we appreciate that at times, we may be in the firing line when things appear to not go so well. However please do not publicly assault members of this team who are totally undeserving of such banal comments. This is a young team who should be worthy of your support and not your unwelcome and vitriolic posts.

Match Result

Surrey U25 -  41 Shots - Sussex U25 - 47 Shots

Rink 1 - Will Vizer-Allen, Hugo Manuel, William Ward, Graham Street 22-29

Rink 2 - George Hopper, Ryan Bickley, Joshua McCarthy, Jamie Houle 19-18

SURREY U25 v COMBINED AREAS - FRIENDLY MATCH
PLAYED ON SUNDAY 6th JUNE 2021 @ MALDEN MANOR BC

MATCH REPORT.

A visit by the Combined Areas is arguably the toughest friendly fixture of the U25’s yearly calendar. Historically strong Rinks have been brought along and have always provided a stern test for the Juniors.

In my time being associated with and around the Junior Squad, I cannot remember victory ever being gained.

This was to change today. This Squad might not have the big names from previous years.

What it does have, is a commitment to want to play every game, a desire to all get on and work as one unit and on top of all this, play bowls to an excellent standard.

Across all 4 Rinks today, this game was played with an excellent spirit. Everyone, getting on and just enjoying being back out playing Bowls.

12 players, no individual stand out player, just all 12 players standing out.

Rink 1, playing against a scratch Area 1 team, were superbly led by the impressive Will Vizer- Allen. Excellently supported by Hugo Manuel & some quality play by Skip Josh McCarthy they led from the eighth end and never looked back from that point onwards. Their reward was a well deserved 10 Shot victory.

Graham Street’s Rink 2, were up against the impressive Adam Clarke. They found themselves 13 down after 11, however the character and spirit of this squad saw them recover superbly well. In the second half of this match they clawed their way back, eventually going down by just 2 Shots. Such was the level of noise from this Rink, they could have been accused of bringing the game into disrepute!!!

Opposition Skip Clarke, made a point of speaking to me after the game saying how well the juniors had played.

Rink 3 skipped by Jamie Houle, were also competing with Rink 2 on the noise front. George Clarke leading well and with the excellent Orme at 2, the skip had little to do against their opponents from Area 3. Again comments from the Area about how well they all played were pleasing to hear.

Adam Boarer’s Rink 4 against Area 4, led from start to finish. All played well. Ryan Bickley leading for the first time this season was supported superbly by Callum O’Brien, with Boarer adding the finishing touches when needed. They fully deserved their 13 Shot victory.

An impressive morning's work was witnessed once more by the County’s hierarchy who we can only thank again for their attendance at our matches.

Joint Manager Norman Mann was officially initiated, prior to proceedings, on receiving his Team Manager ‘flash’ from County President Joe Cable prior to the start of the match.

Lastly but by no means least, we would also like to thank all the parents and guardians in attendance as well as the Representatives from host club Malden Manor for their continuous hard work and commitment involved in staging our junior matches. It is very much appreciated.

Match Result

Surrey U25 -  81 Shots - Combined Areas -  53 Shots

Rink 1 v Area 1 - Will Vizer-Allen, Hugo Manuel, Josh McCarthy - 19-9

Rink 2 v Area 2 - George Hopper, William Ward, Graham Street 21-23

Rink 3 v Area 3 - George Clarke, Andrew Orme, Jamie Houle - 18-11

Rink 4 v Area 4 - Ryan Bickley, Callum O’Brien, Adam Boarer - 23-10

SURREY U25 v BUCKINGHAMSHIRE U25 - JUNIOR HOME COUNTIES LEAGUE MATCH PLAYED ON 23rd MAY 2021 @ MALDEN MANOR BC - MATCH REPORT.

Today marked the long awaited return of competitive Bowls for Surrey Under 25’s.

The Junior Home Counties League has adopted a different stance this Season, with the format now being Triples.

Buckinghamshire provided the opposition, and from the offset it was obvious they were determined to reverse their fortunes from 2019.

This, a team that has been together for a number of years, whilst boasting a wealth of experience.

Surrey came into this match on the back of a successful squad match victory against Malden Manor two weeks prior.

This proved key as they got off to an excellent start.

Across the green, there was some excellent play all round.

Jamie Houle’s Triple on Rink 1 had their work cut out against the class of England International Tom McGuinness. 12-1 down after 6 ends the ‘three’ never gave up and pulled back 6 shots in the last 4 ends.

Rink 2 superbly skipped by Graham Street and ably assisted by George Hopper and debutant William Ward led from the beginning.

Their reward was an excellent 6 point victory.

Rink 3, led by Josh McCarthy, got off to a dream start, scoring six on the first end. This proved to be a ‘topsy-turvy’ encounter with fortunes fluctuating repeatedly. This was not due to bad bowling more the opposite as all six players were in fine form. None more so than on End 5 where some excellent Surrey play had them holding two shots, prior to Bucks skip Nimmo. playing a remarkable bowl to gain an eight shot turn around. To their credit Will Vizer-Allen, Hugo Manuel & Josh McCarthy, then gained 7 Shots of their own, over the next 4 Ends. The Bucks three fought back well and found themselves a Shot up going into the last end.

A fine End of Bowls resulted in Josh McCarthy playing another fine last bowl to gain 2 Shots and give the Surrey Triple a hard fought and much deserved one shot victory.

This excellent match which was played in the best of spirit finished with Buckinghamshire winning by 5 Shots.

The Match was attended by the President of both Counties, with Joe Cable our Surrey President supported by his Senior Team.

The support of the County Executive is very much appreciated by the Junior Team Managers and players. Thanks also to the parents who braved the elements to be in attendance.

Match Result

Surrey U25 -  51 Shots - Buckinghamshire U25 -  55 Shots

Points

Surrey 4  Buckinghamshire 6

Rink 1- George Clarke, Ryan Bickley, Jamie Houle 12-24

Rink 2 - George Hopper, William Ward, Graham Street 19-13

Rink 3 - Will Vizer-Allen, Hugo Manuel, Josh McCarthy 20-19