JERSEY’S lawn bowls squad enjoyed a highly successful return to the Island Games, capturing a full set of medals – gold, silver and bronze – at the 2025 edition in Orkney.
Headlining the campaign was a commanding gold-medal performance by Michael Rive in the men’s singles, marking Jersey’s first lawn bowls gold at the Games since the sport last featured in 2005.
Rive was near-flawless throughout the week, winning all six of his round-robin matches and conceding just one leg in the process, a remarkable show of consistency and composure.
On day one, he registered straight-sets victories over Neil Anderson (Orkney), Stephen Williams (Guernsey) and Andy Walterson (Shetland Islands), quickly establishing himself as the player to beat.
His dominance continued across the next two days and by the end of the tournament, Rive had won six from six and stood alone at the top of the singles field.
“It’s been a long time since lawn bowls featured in the Island Games, so to come back and win gold for Jersey means a lot,” said Rive after the final. “The competition was strong, but I felt confident in my game all week.”
Rive was pleased with his performance, despite the tough competition: “It feels great, I came here expecting to medal and did even better and got the gold.”
“I had some tough games. One game I only won on a tiebreaker, and I scraped a win against Orkney’s Neil Anderson, who was very strong, by a shot in each set.”
Rive experienced a new terrain in Orkney: “The pace of the greens is the same as we get back home, but the lines are quite tricky, so if you’re slightly off then you can be made to look a fool.”
“I’ve not been playing to the top of my form, but I was steady enough to come away with the gold.”
It was a sentiment echoed by many watching, Rive’s precise shot-making and calmness under pressure defined the tournament and set the tone for Jersey’s wider success.
While Rive delivered gold, teammates Josh Band and Kevin Le Long provided one of the event’s most compelling turnarounds in the men’s pairs. After a tough 19-7 defeat to Orkney’s Mark Causer and George Rendall in their opening match, the Jersey pair sat seventh out of eight, with little margin for error.
But over the following two days, Band and Le Long mounted a determined resurgence. They won their final three matches in a row, clawing their way up the standings to claim bronze, a deserved reward for their perseverance and tactical adjustments.
The final medal opportunity came in the men’s triples where Rive, Band and Le Long combined forces.
With two medals already secured, the Jersey trio approached the event with confidence, starting strong with a 17-3 win over the Shetland Islands. They followed that up with a convincing 19-5 win over Guernsey, a key victory in a Channel Islands clash, and a 14-4 result over the Falkland Islands.
A surprise draw against Bermuda, however, slightly dented their gold-medal hopes. That left their fixture against Orkney as a virtual final.
In a tightly contested match between two of the tournament’s strongest teams, Orkney edged out Jersey 15-10. With the hosts going on to complete the tournament unbeaten, Jersey had to settle for silver. Still, it was a hard-earned medal and one that completed a superb showing across all disciplines for the squad.
Rive, Le Long and Band each leave Orkney with individual and team honours – a testament to both their technical skill and consistency across formats.
After two decades away from the Island Games programme, lawn bowls made a welcome return in 2025. Jersey’s athletes seized the opportunity to win some silverware.
From Rive’s golden sweep in the singles, to a bronze fightback in the pairs, to a well-earned silver in the triples, Jersey’s bowlers displayed their pedigree in the sport, and showed that on the greens, they remain a force to be reckoned with.
