Cambridge University have won the Portland Bowl for the first time since 2004. The team won after a close final over Oxford’s A team, which was held over last weekend (24 – 25 April) at the Portland Club in London.
The Cambridge team included five members from England’s junior squads - Graeme Robertson (Captain), Sarah O' Connor, Tom Rainforth, David Faria and Dave Williams. The team was completed by experienced player, John Haslegrave.
Oxford won the first set by 11imps but Cambridge had a storming second set, when they won by 38 imps to take the lead by 27. Their lead was whittled down to 9 imps going into the last set but they gained another 4 imps to emerge victors by 13 imps.
Oxford (Joe Claley, Ian Angus, Ian Able, Alice Kaye, and James Paul) had previously survived a nail biting semi final, beating Durham (Tom Dessain, Dominic Maloney, Paul and Adam Lewis-Jones) by only 1 imp!
Cambridge had won seven of the first ten Portland Bowls, but has only won twice in the last fifteen matches. However, this win takes them into the lead with 10 wins against Oxford’s 9.
Full results
Michael Byrne
