HEADINGTON recorded a crushing 98-35 victory over Witney Mills to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season.

Their 6-0 whitewash in Division 1 of the Oxfordshire Bowls League, sponsored by Bridle Insurance, saw them make it two wins from two.

They remain second in the table after West Witney – who have played an extra match – saw off Watlington 4-2.

It was a fortunate success, however – the match would have ended in a tie had Chris Gilkes had a full rink.

The other top-flight match saw Carterton beat Banbury Central 4-2, thanks in no small part to Tim Jupp’s rink scoring 14 shots without reply in the first half of their game.

City & County continue to dominate Division 2, though Headington pushed them close.

They ran out 4-2 winners, but trailed after 16 ends, only for Alan Ley to pick up four shots and Omar Sharif’s rink five on the 17th.

Kidlington bounced back from a disappointing start to the season with a 5-1 victory at Charlbury.

Paul McGrath and Chris Cox’s rinks provided the impetus going 20 and 15 shots up respectively before their opponents replied.

The 11 shots that Keith Mobley’s four scored over the final five ends gave South Oxford a 5-1 success over Chipping Norton when the match seemed in the balance.

Shiplake were too strong for Thame in Section 3, recording a whitewash.

Chadlington were also 6-0 winners, comfortably brushing aside Hanborough, while Bicester saw off previously-

unbeaten Bloxham 4-2.

Division 4 saw one-sided matches, with Burford and Woodstock winning 6-0 against South Oxford B and City & County B respectively, while West Oxford beat Blackbird Leys 5-1.

RESULTS

Division 1

Carterton 63 (4) Banbury Central A 59 (2) (Carterton skips first): P Sharman 14, K McNeil 11; T Warner 14, M Andrew 15; T Jupp 25, W Campion 11; G Walker 10, N Galletly 22.

West Witney 55 (4) Watlington 50¾ (2) (West skips first): P Skidmore 17, A Twinn 8; K Alder 9, C Gilkes 12¾; D Leighfield 14, G Hooker 13; S Cooper 15, L Westcott 17.

Headington A 98 (6) Witney Mills 35 (0) (Headington skips first): H Watts 25, P Robbins 9; J King 27, K Siford 9; N Rae-Welsh 22, C Weller 10; M Charlett 24, J Mott 7.

Division 2

City & County A 66 (4) Headington B 59 (2) (City skips first): C Pollard 14, C Whitehead 18; A Ley 18, P Arundel 14; C Lewis 22, S Gould 9; O Shariff 12, R Edwards 18.

Charlbury 52 (1) Kidlington 84 (5) (Charlbury skips first): D Cooper 8, P McGrath 27; M East 12, C Cox 24; M Smith 17, M Peterson 13; E Pitts 15, J Feeley 20.

Chipping Norton 55 (1) South Oxford A 63 (5) (Chipping Norton skips first): M Fraser 15, V De Paauw 16; P Hickman 11, K Mobley 23; T Sealey 14, D Tidball 16; J Benfield 15, J Hall 8.

Division 3

Bloxham 59 (2) Bicester 78 (4) (Bloxham skips first): J Lucas 14, K Taylor 27; T Gardner 20, M Graves 18; R Kearvell 16, P Hooley 13; D Morse 9, P Sansome 20.

Chadlington 79 (6) Hanborough 56 (0) (Chadlington skips first): C Smart 24, M Oliver 14; P Madeley 18, K Williams 13; R Arthur 18, G Thompson 11; P Radbone 19, G Haynes 18.

Shiplake 95 (6) Thame 46 (0) (Shiplake skips first): J Bland 20, B Giles 14; G Kennedy 24, J Timms 15; B Lambourne 28, R Jenner 7; D Webb 23, K Calcutt 10.

Division 4

South Oxford B 46 (0) Burford 86 (6) (S Oxford skips first): D Bye 12, D Lafford 16; E Lamb 7, J Hurley 29; D Child 15, B Parker 23; D Portman 12, S Gould 18.

Woodstock 97 (6) City & County B 36 (0) (Woodstock skips first): D Francis 20, J Jarvis 10; S Hopkins 22, M Plested 7; T Stevens 28, K Buckingham 7; P Shipton 27, G Gray 12.

Blackbird Leys 54 (1) West Oxford 62 (5) (B Leys skips first): R Painton 14, M Bostock 14; D Buckwell 12, J Parker 15; P Smith 12, G Richardson 17; J Baldwin 16, A Blackburn 16.

  • OXFORDSHIRE got off to a losing start in their Home Counties League campaign, going down 136-113 against Berkshire.

Oxon were ahead after ten ends of the match at Shrivenham, but their rivals hit back in style to eventually run out convincing winners.

Paul Sharman and Shane Cooper skippered their rinks to victories.

Oxon 113 (4pts), Berkshire 136 (18)

Rink 1: B Squires, T Prew, A McIntyre & P Sharman won 21-14.

Rink 2: K Holloway, C Lewis, L Young & AJ Docherty lost 18-22.

Rink 3: P Hickman, J Bland, P Gladden & K Alder lost 14-27.

Rink 4: S Witcombe, O Bennett, P Skidmore & D Leighfield lost 14-30.

Rink 5: J Abercrombie, G Hooker, B Bloomfield & S Cooper won 25-21.

Rink 6: B May, R Green, L Days & P Comley lost 21-22.

  • OXFORDSHIRE enjoyed better fortune when winning 113-112 against Bedfordshire in a friendly match which came down to the final end.

Bedfordshire 112, Oxon 113

Rink 1: R Slater, D Byers, A Wase & B Clarke won 19-18.

Rink 2: A Hunt, D Lafford, K Williams & B Bloomfield lost 17-23.

Rink 3: M Jones, B Ealey, G Hooker & M Morris lost 8-28.

Rink 4: P Demczak, R Radband, C Cox & M Andrew won 23-13.

Rink 5: H Franklin, D Bullock, J Hurren & A Ley lost 17-21.

Rink 6: C Lewis, N Satchell, P Warner & I Whelpton won 29-9.

  • WATLINGTON’S Jonathon Dadson and Kidlington’s Joe Glenn have won the Oxfordshire Under 25 pairs crown.

The duo saw off Carterton’s Orren Bennett and Sam Watts, from Headington, to lift the trophy.

Dadson and Glenn needed to be at their best to reach the final, fighting back from 20-11 down in their last four clash against Watlington’s Ben Dickson and West Witney’s Bradley Squires before triumphing 23-20.

Against Bennett and Watts, just one shot separated the pairs after 13 ends.

But the Watlington and Kidlington duo held their nerve to run out 18-16 winners and book their place in the national finals in August.

They will be joined in Leamington by Katherine Hawes (Oxford City and County) and Carole Galletly (Banbury Central), who reached the final of the women’s Two-Wood singles.

Hawes beat Jeanette Berry 16-4 in the semi-finals, with Galletly seeing off Sylvia Blackmore 18-7.