Portsmouth YBC (Gunwharf)

EJO 2008 Report By Nick Spivey

Portsmouth Youth Bowling Club finished the Tournament season last week in the English Junior Open at Nuneaton, along with all the best youth bowlers from across the country.  With most of their senior bowlers at the club having turned 18 and therefore reached the end of their junior career, it was time for the next generation to step up, and they did so in style, despite only fielding one team they took on the rest with some great bowling.
            With a 0830 start, the singles got the team off to a slow start with the two least experienced bowlers struggling. Luke Simmonds (15) and Connor Ross (15) both failed to reach their average in the opener. Joe Smart (16) got off the mark with an above average set of 539 and Becky Jones (18) did the same with 537 while Jonathan Spivey (15) followed them with 587.
            Next up came the doubles, this time it was Joe and Luke that struggled, but despite this they kept their heads up. Connor, without a partner from Portsmouth was put with Kelvin from Lincoln, who he’d never met. The two strangers knitted well as the powered through their games. Connor scoring a great series of 589 which included two good 200 games and with Kelvin’s 508 they finished the day’s doubles in eighth place in division ‘B’. Becky was a bit below her first set but still got above average in her doubles, Jonathan however stepped up the pace hitting three 200+ games with the highlight being a last game 243. He finished the doubles with a 670 set which helped push Becky and Jonathan into 13th place in division ‘A’.
            After a much need lunch break the five juniors were back in the bowling alley for the team competition in which they were up against teams made up of 18 years olds and junior England players. Their first game was a joy to watch as they started hitting strike after strike and finished with a massive team game of 1005.Connor and Luke were above average, Joe stepped up with a 201, Becky seemed fired up after her break, hitting 225 and Jonathan was determined not to be beaten hitting 236. The pace of the first game set the standard for the second, Joe, Luke and Connor kept their games above their averages without being spectacular but Becky and Jonathan pushed on with 212 and 220. In their 9th game of the day and with over five hours behind them, it would have been easy for fatigue to set in and the scores to tumble, but this team were determined not to let that happen. Lead off Jonathan hit yet another 200, his 8th in nine games to finish with a 679 series, his best of the day. Joe was next with another over average game to finish with a 546, then Luke hit his best game of the day and finished with 506. Connor finished on a high hitting 203 and finishing with a 561 series, Becky struggled to maintain her form in her last game as a junior but still finished with a great 588.
            This was a great team performance and leaves the team in 8th place on 2880 with just a week of the competition left. Becky is in fourth place overall in division ‘B’ and Jonathan is in third place in division ‘A’ with an final average of 215.

Back row:
Jonathan Spivey, Connor Ross, Luke Simmonds
Front row:
Becky Jones, Joe Smart