Monthly Archives: May 2015

Canada Life International Manx Championships

There is a real buzz of anticipation around crown green bowls on the Isle of Man right now in the wake of our first ever Senior County Championship match, and I am delighted to say that this has rolled over into the Canada Life International Manx Championship at Douglas this weekend with a bumper entry of 62 players.

There are some mouth watering clashes in the top half of the first round draw which starts at 12pm on Saturday starting with double champion Kevin Quirk taking on Paul Skelly. Defending and 8 times champion John Kennish will have his hands full with the talented veteran Stuart Garrett who is more than capable of causing an upset, especially on his own patch. Two of our Manx young guns slug it out too in the early stages with Matthew Quirk set to take on in form Rob Monk, who has had the recent taste of success and will be hungry for more.

In the bottom half David Bradford, who has had numerous victories on the Villa and must surely be a favourite for his first title, has a very tricky opener in the shape of Jerome Surridge who is capable of beating anyone if he brings his A game. Bradford’s stablemate Jordan Cain will also be hoping to etch his name onto the coveted trophy for the first time but will have to be at his supreme best to do so as former champion Neil Withers, who will be hoping to add to his own trophy cabinet, stands in his way. There is a re-run of the Rayner final clash between Adrian Skinner and Dean Kipling with the latter looking for revenge after he was turned over at Peel in their previous encounter.

There are other interesting ties scattered through the draw with two big in house South Ramsey clashes which see Alan Moore take on Chas Grills and 3 times Champion Andy Kennish takes on in form Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. I will also be interested in seeing how young Stefan Kelly fairs against double champion Glynn Hargraves and lets not forget that we have a multitude of other former champions in the field including 5 times winner Colin Kelly who starts his campaign against Bod Boland.

With such a high quality field it will be anyone’s game on Sunday when the last 16 slug it out to see who will be crowned 2015 champion, and I don’t know why but I get a sneaky feeling that we will see a new name join the illustrious roll of honour.

To view the draw click here

Kneenys Tips

Quarter Finals
Trevor Quayle v John Kennish, Rob Monk v Glynn Hargraves, David Bradford v Dean Kipling, Matthew Keggen v Phil Kerruish

Semi Finals
John Kennish v Rob Monk, David Bradford v Matthew Keggen

Final
John Kennish v David Bradford

Winner
David Bradford

Canada Life International Manx Championship Draw

The draw for the Capital Life International Manx Championship has been made.  Below are all the start times for the entered players.

Full preview is available here

To view the draw click here

Start Times By Club

Ballaugh

Richard Fisher 12:30

Castletown

James Drinkwater 12:00
Mike Hargraves 12:00
Ron Williams 14:00

Douglas

Bob Callow 12:00
Anthony Collis 12:30
Sean Cade 12:30
Stuart Garrett 12:30
Ian Moore 13:00
Bob Clark 13:00
Bod Boland 13:00
Frank Watson 14:00
Jake Cade 14:00
Mark Kneen 14:00
Paul Kelly 14:00
Jimmy Sansom 14:00

Finch Hill

Mick Dransfield 12:30
Mervin Sayle 12:30

Marown

Ian Kissack 12:00
Mike Cain 12:30
Colin Kelly 13:00
Arnie Withers 13:30
Neil Withers 13:30
Paul Dunn 14:00
Dean Kipling 14:00

North Ramsey

Steve Parker 12:00
Rob Monk 13:00
Steve Walmsley 13:30
Allan Callow 14:00
Paul Allinson 14:00

Onchan

Kevin Quirk 12:00
Mike Alexander 13:00
Glynn Hargraves 13:00
Matthew Quirk 13:00
David Bradford 13:30
Jordan Cain 13:30
Matthew Keggen 14:00
Peter Slinger 14:00
Phil Kerruish 14:00
Sam Stannard Duke 14:00

Peel Sunset

Nigel Thomas 12:30
Alec Taylor 13:00
Mike Ashmole 14:00

Port Erin

Derek Allen 12:00
Derek Cadamy 12:00
Bernard Thackrah 14:00
Dave Mcabe 14:00

Port St Mary

Paul Skelly 12:00
Trevor Quayle 12:00
Mike Collister 12:30
Rob Cooil 13:30
Ewan Cooil 14:00
Wayne Roberts 14:00

South Ramsey

John Kennish 12:30
Stefan Kelly 13:00
Alan Moore 13:30
Chas Grills 13:30
Gary Conwell 13:30
Jerome Surridge 13:30
Andy Kennish 14:00
Dido Kelly 14:00
Adrian Skinner 14:00

Heroic Local Showing In First Ever County Match

The Paddy Power sponsored Isle of Man senior men’s team broke new ground on Sunday as they took part in their first ever Senior County Championship Match. Their historic inclusion into the Endleigh Insurance sponsored Crosfield cup was the culmination of so much work by so many people, which started way back in 2012, drew a capacity crowd for the home leg at Peel bowing club.

Logistically and financially this is the biggest and most complex project in the history of Crown Green bowls, not just on the Isle of Man but in Britain as there are four flights and UK travel to contend with and whilst there are always learning points from a venture like this, the day could not have run any smoother. It ended up a day in the sun, not only for the Manx men, but also for their opponents Shropshire who did their part in making this the most momentous day in the history of the game.

If organisational lessons were learned there were also some handed out on the bowling green with Shropshire in devastating form in both home and away legs. They are one of the favourites to win the entire competition and certainly held no punches against the Manxies. Our lads though can be extremely proud of how they played and whilst they didn’t win the match they certainly raised a few eyebrows with some scintillating performances of their own, in fact after four games in the away leg they actually led by three points.

The home side played well and despite some extremely close matches only picked up two wins, with Trevor Quayle recording a great 21-15 win over the talented Andrew Moss and young Adrian Skinner winning Endsliegh Insurance Man of the Match with his terrific 21-16 win against Andrew Judson. This is crown green bowls at the highest level and like all sports at elite level games are won and lost by fine margins and but for the rub of the green it could have been a very different story win the locals recording two 20’s a 19 and two 18 defeats. Ten more points from 5 games would have seen the draw 6-6 on games.

In Shropshire, as mentioned earlier, the team started superbly winning two of the first four matched and narrowly losing out 19 in the others to take a slender lead. John Kennish and Phil Kerruish led the way with good wins and Glynn Hargraves can be pleased to have played really well at this level. For me though David Bradford was the star of the show in the early stages and despite training 19-10, to arguably the best player in the Shropshire home side, he showed us what county bowling is all about having the resolve to fight his way back to narrowly lose out 21-19. The adventure into the unknown was always going to be difficult and their strength in depth really showed in the mid order; however we saved the best to last with Phil Kelly stealing the show with a mouth watering 21-11 victory over Peter Farmer.

Overall Shropshire won the 24 game match 477 to 358 but the local lads should be very proud of what they achieved in their first outing on the big stage. I cannot emphasise enough how much work has gone in the background to make this long standing dream a reality, and not just the player but the organisers and anyone who had ever had an association with Crown Green Bowls should be very proud of what was achieved yesterday. Shropshire may have won the match yesterday but without question the real winner was Crown Green Bowls on the Isle of Man.

Home Leg – Peel Sunset Bowling Club
Isle of Man 182 v Shropshire 241 – Colin Kelly 18, Martin Lloyd 21; Kevin Quirk 20, Richie Goddard 21, Neil Withers 18, Glyn Herbert 21; Paul Skelly 8, Darren Welling 21; Dean Kipling 20, Wayne Phillips 21; Stuart Garrett 8, Clay Flattley 21; Adrian Skinner 21, Andrew Judson 16; Jerome Surridge 16, Michael Beer 21; Chas Grills 5, Callum Wraight 21; Trevor Quayle 21, Andrew Moss 15; Peter Collister 8, Kiah Roberts 21; Barney Kelly 19, Wayne Rogers 21.

Away Leg – Sinclair Bowling Club
Shropshire 236 v Isle of Man 176 – Scott Haries 21, Glynn Hargraves 19; Spencer Clarke 16, John Kennish 21; Colin Beaman 21, David Bradford 19; Stuart Rutter 20, Phil Kerruish 21; Phil Emery 21, Matthew Keggen 17, Alex Jones 21, Jordan Cain 8,; Rich Lawson 21, Dido Kelly 7; Glyn Picknell 21, John Gelling 15; Alin Palin 21, Peter Slinger 6; Jamie King 21, Ewan Cooil 9; Peter Grimston 21, Paul Kelly 13; Peter Farmer 11, Phil Kelly 21.

Douglas stun League Leaders – Games 5 & 6

  In another breathtaking Isle of Man Bank Men’s division one match league leaders Onchan A were narrowly beaten on their travels to Douglas A last Monday. The villa men were in fine form and managed to win four games and edge the aggregate by a solitary point to seal an historic 6-4 win over Onchan.

It may have been the wake up call that the leaders needed as they were back to their scintillating best on Wednesday as they bounced back with an 8-2 win over old enemy Marown A. Marown will be disappointed with the result after some good work saw them record a 9-1 win over Castletown A earlier in the week.

Douglas A finished a successful week with a 8-2 away win over Nobles A. Port St Mary were another team in fine fettle last week and they will have raised a few eyebrows with their 8-2 win over high flying South Ramsey A on Monday. They backed this up with a good 8-2 win away at Castletown A to really get some momentum going in their campaign. South responded with a midweek 8-2 win over Ballaugh A.

North Ramsey A are the only side still to have a 100% record and had another very successful week with respective 7-3 wins away to Port Erin A and at home to Castletown B. They face a sterner test against Douglas and Marown this week and it will be interesting to see how this ever improving team get on.

Port St Mary B are flying high at the top of division 2 and two 8-2 wins, most notably their home victory over second placed South Ramsey B will have done their title credentials no harm at all.

Douglas B are third and only two points off the top despite playing a game less. They still have a 100% record and a solid 7-3 win over North Ramsey B keeps them in the hunt for silverware.

Only four points separates the top five teams in division 3 with Peel C leading the way on 34. They are closely followed by Onchan C and Ballaugh C on 33 and Douglas C and Finch Hill B are both on 30.

Ladies’ over 60’s Tuesday 5 May

The weather was the winner in the Trend sponsored over 60’s ladies’ league on Tuesday 5 May when only two of the scheduled seven matches took place.

Unfortunately Douglas could only field five players at Noble’s where the home team reached 120 points with Jan Osborne spoiling their party by winning her game to deny them a maximum. In the other game played Castletown had the better of Breagle by 4 games to 2 with Ann Hollingworth and Marie Ashurst winning to single figures. The two winners for the home side were Sylvia Maddrell and and Suzanna Ali while Joyce Henry almost added another game reaching 19 against Sue Peach.

Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 30 April

There were some close matches in the Trend ladies’ over 60’s league on Thursday 30 April but that was not the case at Port St Mary where the A team extended their lead at the top of the table with a full house against their B team, despite valiant efforts from Roma Ware, reaching 19 against Win Collister, and Edwina Reid who lost out 20-21 to Wendy Kennaugh. Ballaugh also won by a fair margin in a low-scoring match with both teams having two wins to single figures, the highest losing score being 11.At Castletown the match ended level on games, with Villa ending with a four point advantage. It was a similar story at Douglas, level on games with Mooragh Park,but a 4 point win for the home side, while at Noble’s Peel Sunset won 4 games but lost by 6 points. Noble’s registered two 20’s with Lin Ruscoe just losing out to Cath Parker and Flo Price being edged out by Mona Kerruish. Onchan A won 4-2 on games and by 6 points while Onchan B lost 2-4 to Breagle but showed the importance of fighting for every point as they drew on points with Eileen Killey reaching 19 against Kay Primrose-Smith and Barbara Kennaugh losing out 20-21 to Audrey Gardner.

 

Isle of Man vs Shropshire Results

The full results from yesterdays historic County match between the Isle of Man and Shropshire.

Home Leg

Players
Colin Kelly Marown 18-21 Martin Lloyd Chester Road
Kevin Quirk Onchan 20-21 Richie Goddard Castlefields
Neil Withers Marown 18-21 Glyn Herbert Castlefields
Paul Skelly Port St Mary 8-21 Darren Wellings Meole Brace
Dean Kipling Marown 20-21 Wayne Phillips Hanwood
Stuart Garrett Douglas 8-21 Clay Flattley Castlefields
Adrian Skinner South Ramsey 21-16 Andrew Judson Castlefields
Jerome Surridge South Ramsey 16-21 Michael Beer Battlefield
Chas Grills South Ramsey 5-21 Callum Wraight Castlefields
Trevor Quayle Port St Mary 21-15 Andrew Moss Chester Road
Peter Collister South Ramsey 8-21 Kiah Roberts Burway
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (C) Douglas 19-21 Wayne Rogers Burway
Result 182-241

Away Leg

Players
Scott Harries Newport 21-19 Glynn Hargraves Onchan
Spencer Clarke SJ Bayley 16-21 John Kennish South Ramsey
Colin Beaman Meole Brace 21-19 David Bradford Onchan
Stuart Rutter Wrockwadine 20-21 Phil Kerruish (C) Onchan
Phil Emery Newport 21-17 Matthew Keggen Onchan
Alex Jones SJ Bayley 21-8 Jordan Cain Onchan
Rich Lawson Bowring 21-7 Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly South Ramsey
Glyn Picknell St. Georges 21-15 John Gelling Marown
Alan Palin St. Georges 21-6 Peter Slinger Onchan
Jamie King Newport 21-9 Ewan Cooil Port St Mary
Peter Grimston Newport 21-13 Paul Kelly Douglas
Peter Farmer Newport 11-21 Phil Kelly Marown
Result 236-176