Highlights
For those Counties who struggle to field a full twenty-four juniors and compete in the main Junior County Championship, the annual ‘Junior 6 a Side’ competition is the next best thing and creates a great breeding ground for the superstars of the future. For the Juniors who play in this competition it provides the first taste of County team competition. There’s nothing better than pulling on a County shirt with your friends and going ‘toe to toe’ with another County team. That feeling of their first County representation will prepare many of these young bowlers for their path into the Men’s and Ladies County Championships teams. Also, as many of them will compete in the Junior Merit competitions, it’s their first look at the rivals they may come up against in those competitions.
With an initial entry of twelve teams this year, which is the largest for a while, the competition was split into two days with the first reducing the field to eight teams, four of which would compete for the main prize and four playing for a consolation trophy.
Windle Bowls Club in Merseyside, with it’s two immaculate bowling surfaces hosted both days and considering some of the crazy heat we’ve had in June, both the greens and the weather conditions were perfect for this spectacle of junior bowls.
Qualifying pitched Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, the Isle of Man and Warwick Worcester A competing for the main competition, while Cheshire, North Lancs & Fylde, South Yorkshire and Warwick & Worcester B played for the consolation.
Round 1 of the main competition started with Derbyshire v Isle of Man & Greater Manchester v Warwick & Worcester ‘A’, and both matches went to the wire. Derbyshire pinched theirs by a single shot due to good wins from James Causer and Josh Golpin, while Bailey McMullan starred for the ‘Islanders’. By comparison, Warwick & Worcester made it look twice as easy, winning by two shots in a really high scoring match v Greater Manchester. It was Sophie Callow and Jack Cushing who were their hero’s both winning 15-9.
Round 2 pitched the first round winners together with both knowing that a win would make them firm favorites for the title. Derbyshire started well with a 15-3 win for Jack Brown, only for Ava Hocknull to redress the balance with a 15-2 win for Warwick & Worcester. Two tight cards at 3 & 4 gave Derbyshire a 2 chalk lead going into the last two, but it was Evan Mooney and Jack Cushing that brought it home for Warwick & Worcester, both winning comfortably. Advantage Warwick & Worcester ‘A’.
Greater Manchester made a clean sweep of the Isle of Man in the other tie, with Harry Brown & Jack Proctor both winning 15-7. Could they get another big win against Derbyshire and have the Isle of Man squeak a win against Warwick & Worcester then win it on shots? Unlikely, but bowls is a funny old game. Their big win certainly gave them that slim possibility.
Round 3, Derbyshire v Greater Manchester with the outside chance for the victor, but more likely the fight for second. Another good win for Derbyshire’s Jack Brown 15-7 and a whole host of tight matches meant it was Derbyshire with the two from three record. But without a large win, the aggregate swing for them to beat Warwick & Worcester was impossible.
And so it turned out, Warwick & Worcester ‘A’ completed their 100% record against the Isle of Man with big wins for Sophie Callow, Jack Wall and Jack Cushing.
Both Sophie & Jack carded three big wins and would both have been in contention for ‘player of the day’, if we had such an award.
Congratulations to:
Warwick & Worcester ‘A’ – 2026 Junior ‘6 a Side’ Champions.
So could Warwick & Worcester ‘B’ make it a clean sweep for the County and take the Consolation Competition title as well?
Round 1, they started against Cheshire which proved to be a topsy-turvy game. Thomas Nijof Clarke and Leo Groves got Warwick & Worcester off to great start with 15-1 & 15-4 respectively, but Cheshire came roaring back with Charlie Reynolds, Emily Mottershead and Finley Harrop all winning well to get Cheshire over the line by 8 chalks. This left South Yorkshire v North Lancs & Fylde, and South Yorkshire dominated by only dropping 4 chalks with Liam Dickenson starring with a 15-3 win.
Like the main competition, Round 2 had both winners from Round 1 meeting, and South Yorkshire made little error against Cheshire. Good wins from Adam Cosgrave, Grace Jones and Liam Dickenson, for a second time, made it two from two for South Yorkshire.
Warwick & Worcester ‘B’ had a comfortable win against North Lancs & Fylde despite some resistance from North Lanc’s, Christian Laker, who won 15-2. But a good win from Lincoln Whitcombe, 15-3, cancelled this out and with 3 of the other 4 cards going with Warwick & Worcester, this left the midlanders the chance to make it a clean sweep with their ‘A’ team if they could overcome South Yorkshire in Round 3 by enough chalks.
Round 3 Cheshire v North Lancs highlighted the players who’d done well in previous rounds with Christian Laker winning well again for North Lancs, but Emily Mottershead and Finley Harrop from Cheshire both won 15-2 to make it two from three for Cheshire. A win for Warwick & Worcester would mean we’d have three teams on four points and it would be decided on shots.
No such tension, South Yorkshire won five from six games with Layla Dickenson and Adam Cosgrave winning 15-4 & 15-3 respectively, gave South Yorkshire a 100% record and the Consolation Title. Congratulations to South Yorkshire – Consolation Winners 2026.
Junior 6-a-side is all about enjoying the day, win or lose. A huge well done to all that competed and all that were involved in putting on two hugely successful days of Junior Bowls.