There were 58 entrants at the Mooragh Park in Ramsey for the Centennial Ramsey Town Cup competition hosted by North Ramsey Bowling Club on Saturday. With the green looking better than it has in years and with it running well the scene was set for some good bowling. 

There was a good quality field with many of the islands top players entered. All games were 15 up off scratch. Some early round close games saw home greeners Geoff Porter & Robert Monk losing out by the odd chalk to Edward Carlyle (South Ramsey) & Tony Smart (North Ramsey) respectively. Steve Parker (Onchan) also beat Rob Middleton (Peel) by a single point. Last years winner Steven ’Geordie’ Waters dreams of retaining the cup evaporated with 10–15 defeat to South Ramsey club mate and Island Champion David Bradford.

In round three Bryan Corner (South Ramsey) played well to see off club mate Stefan Kelly 15-10, Peel man Peter Greeenlees was also playing well, putting an end to Edward Carlyle’s day. Former home greener Steve Parker inched past Brian Kelly from Marown 15-13 to make it to the quarter final stages.

In the quarter finals Bryan Corner quickly saw off Adrian Skinner (North Ramsey) 15-5. Paul Quirk (Peel) came back from 6-11 & 9-12 down to run out 15-12 to beat Peter Greenlees. Steve Parker’s 15 single points were enough to get him past Port St Mary’s Trevor Quayle 15-10. The last quarter final saw David Bradford & Colin Kelly (Marown) battling out a close encounter with Kelly eventually edging it 15-13.

In the first semi-final between Bryan Corner & Paul Quirk it was even at 6-6 until Paul put a run of seven together to eventually win 15-7. The second semi-final saw Parker with a 7-2 lead, however with Kelly getting six doubles, this was enough to end Parker’s run in the competition.

In the final Kelly got off to a good start with three doubles, before Quirk pulled it back to 7-6 by playing along the bottom edge in front of the pavilion. However it was the Marown man who won six of the next seven ends, eventually winning 15-8 to claim his first Ramsey Town Cup title in the centennial year.

The presentation was made by North Ramsey Club President & Competition Secretary Gary Merrill who thanked the competition sponsors Corkhill & Callow Ltd and Strix Ltd for supporting the competition. As well as thanking all who had entered and made the Centennial Town Cup such a special day.

Following the presentation Colin thanked all who helped in the running of the competition on the day and his opponents.

League action in Canada Life International Division One took place on Friday evening last week with the match of the week undoubtedly at Crosby between Marown A and Onchan A with the home team edging it 6-4 and winning by just seven chalks (134-127). For the home team two 21-7 wins from captain Paul Dunn and Colin Kelly over Mike Thomas and Reginald Temporaza respectively helped their cause, whilst Paul Kelly wasn’t far behind with a 21-11 win over Will Penhallurick. Dean Kipling had to battle for his 21-18 victory over Kevin Quirk. For the visitors Peter Slinger put in another solid performance with his 21-6 victory over Sam Clague, with Phil Kerruish their next best winner 21-13 against Neil Withers, Matthew Quirk beat Harry Barton 21-15, whilst Andy Kennish won 21-16 against Phil Kelly.

Douglas A hosted Peel A at the Villa, with the match being keenly contested, the visitors won 4-6 and by nine chalks (142-151). For the Villa men Gary Conwell and Andy Cannell both dug deep to win 21-18 against George Gadsby and Tom Kelly respectively, whilst Stevie Kelly returned to the fold to win 21-7 against Shaun Seal. Dave Smith got home 21-17 against Willie Cowley, with Dean Kinley holding his nerve with a 21-20 win over Merv Sayle.

Peel B returned to their home green with the club recently playing at Noble’s for a short period, however the visitors South Ramsey A came away with a solid 2-8 victory. Winning for the home team were David Proctor who was 15-20 down to Alan Moore with the latter lying game Proctor saved game and ran out with a 21-20 win. Also winning for Peel was Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton who held off Stefan Kelly 21-13. For the visitors Peter Collister was the best winner 21-8 against Andy Mackie, with Steven Waters, who was stepping up from the B team next best with a 21-9 win over Brian Lindsay. Bob Clark managed to get over the line 21-19 against Dougie Allan. South Ramsey have now extended their lead to five points over Marown A.

Castletown A beat Port Erin A 8-2 at home with Juan Kermode their best winner 21-7 against Peter Hulley, at the other end of the spectrum George Foy beat David Cain 21-20. For the Breagle men Derek Allen won comfortably 21-12 against Town captain Ian Watson, with Steve Durcan their other winner 21-19 against Peter Oates.

Another close contest took place at Mooragh Park between North Ramsey A and Marown B with the visitors taking the spoils 4-6 and matching their A team by taking the aggregate by seven chalks (123-130). Both teams had two single figure winners with Brian Kelly beating Paul Cannan 21-5, whilst Juan Killip beat John Corteen 21-6. For the home team Allan Callow impressed with a 21-7 win over Glenn Boland, whilst Rob Monk won 21-9 against Darren Kerruish.

Port St Mary A hosted Onchan B at Breagle Glen with the home team winning 7-3. Home captain Wayne Roberts was the best winner 21-9 against Denis Maxwell, whilst their other four wins were comfortable. For Onchan Steve Parker was their best winner as he beat Nathan Hamilton 21-8, with Mark Kelly winning 21-19 against Dan McCabe.

In Division Two pacesetters South Ramsey B had a setback at home to Marown C, with a 3-7 defeat although they still have an eight point lead. For the home team Tony Dugdale did his best to lead from the front with a 21-6 win over Conor Keenan, whilst their other two wins were not so comfortable with Bryan Corner winning 21-19 against Steven Rough, whilst captain Ben Dugdale crept home 21-20 against John Kelly. For the visitors Jamie Joughin was the best winner 21-11 against Austin Hart, with their closest wins being slightly more comfortable with Kevin Kelly beating Eddie Carlyle 21-17 and Stephen Rundle won 21-8 against James Moore. Walter McCarthy impressed with a 21-14 victory over Chas Grills.

Ballaugh A didn’t manage to fully punish the slip up from the league leaders, with a 6-4 home win over Castletown B. Richard Hainge recorded his best win to date with a 21-1 victory over Dave Hollingworth. The visitors earned two of their points thanks to hard fought 21-19 wins from John Matheson and George Peach over Gordie Moore and John Maddrell respectively.

Noble’s A had a great week thanks to their 9-1 home win over Ballaugh B as they continue to find their feet, with single figures wins from Mark Bradshaw, Dave Naughton and Michael Johnson. With one comfortable win and three further wins being a lot closer from Stephen Hampson, Jay Elliott and Martyn Hobson. Preventing a whitewash for the visitors was Mike Buckeridge with a 21-16 win over John Andrew.

Port St Mary B and Peel C played out a true draw at Breagle Glen as both teams won 4-4 and scored 135 chalks each to split the aggregate for a 5-5 match result. Only one game was kept to single figures with Tony Carroon winning 21-8 against Port’s Bernard Thackrah.

Douglas B had a short journey home taking on Onchan C at the Park, as they won 3-7 with three single figures wins from Stuart Garrett, Geoff Mayles and Bob Callow. For Onchan two 21-19 wins from Ken Clarke and Ray McMullen over Steve Cook and Keith Fearnley, backed up by Roger Payne who won 21-10 against Les Quayle helped them earn three points on the night.

Finch Hill A slumped to a 4-6 home defeat to South Ramsey C despite drawing 4-4 on games, bigger wins from the visitors saw them take the aggregate by 11 chalks (137-148). Brian Murphy was the best winner for Finch with a 21-9 win over Ian Moore, Sefton Dent won 21-17 against Tony Hart, whilst a further two 21-19 victories followed from Dave Jones and Dave McCabe. For the visitors Lee Dawson was the biggest winner on the night winning 21-8 against Tony Epifani.

In Division Three North Ramsey B continue to show no mercy as they won 9-1 at home to Castletown B with four single figures wins and a walkover keeping the visitors to just 59 chalks. The lone winner for Castletown was Thomas Keggen who beat Adam Greenwood 21-12.

Noble’s B kept in touch with their 2-8 away win over Peel D. Single figure wins came from Grahem Moore and Stephen Corkill, whilst Michael Cooper and Stan Cooper both had to work for their 21-19 wins. The two winners for Peel came from Will Mitchell who beat Junior bowler Alex Hampson 21-14, whilst Andrew Cover beat Barry Salmon 21-17.

Douglas C won 9-1 at home to Port Erin B with their cause helped courtesy of three walkovers with the visitors only able to field five players on the night. For the home team Juan Readshaw beat Christopher Dent 21-8, Nick Firth continued his good form with a 21-19 victory over Ed Benson, whilst Ben Mowle impressed with his 21-6 win over David Beynon.

Elsewhere South Ramsey D took a 6-4 home win over Douglas D, with Junior bowler Ryan Hargraves winning 21-16 against Mark Clarke, whilst Peter Kennaugh stepped in at short notice to beat James Teare 21-11. For the visitors Greg Brew won 21-10 against Billy Blair, whilst Bob Banning performed well to beat Richie Davies 21-13.

The final match of the week was between Finch Hill B and Ballaugh C with the Finch men winning 7-3. Father and son were the best winners for the home team with Kevin Stannard winning 21-7 against Jamie Hinchcliffe, whilst Sam Stannard-Duke won 21-5 against David Dobbie.

Mixed League Championship

In Championship Group A, South Ramsey A won at 8-1 at home dropping just two chalks (187-141), whilst Castletown A lost by nine chalks (146-155) in their 4-5 defeat.

In Group B Marown A also won 8-1 at home to Port Erin (187-112) to stay on course to reach the final whilst Port St Mary A slipped to defeat by just three chalks (154-157) at home to Douglas A with the visitors winning five games.

Mixed League Plate

In the Plate competition in Group A, Nobles won by 41 chalks (174-137) at home to Castletown B as they won 5-4 on games, whilst Peel won 2-7 away from home by a 48 chalk margin (123-171) against North Ramsey B.

In Group B, Ballaugh hosted South Ramsey B with the home team winning 7-2 on games and by 46 chalks (172-126) as they remained on course to progress. Douglas B won by 30 chalks (171-141) at home to Marown B as both teams once again fielded mostly new and junior bowlers.

Marown hosted the ever popular Tynwald Day R & A Grimshaw Pairs Trophy on Bank Holiday Tuesday. 28 pairs took part and the competition was sponsored for the first time by Investasure Financial Services Ltd.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Alex Hampson (Noble’s) and Ryan Hargraves (South Ramsey) 10-21 to Brian Kelly (Marown) and Harry Kelly (Peel), James Teare (South Ramsey) and Andy Kennish (Onchan) were beaten 9-21 by Colin Kelly (Marown) and Tom Kelly (Peel). In the other half of the draw Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker (both Onchan) edged home 21-20 against Marown pair Stephen Rundle and Walter McCarthy, whilst another Marown duo Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly beat Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) and Jamie Joughin (Marown) 21-18.

At the semi-final stage Quirk and Parker took on Keggen and Paul Kelly with the Marown pair trailing 7-12, they went ahead after scoring a two and a four to lead 13-12, then conceded a single for the game to go level. A good run did see the Crosby men go 20-13 up, despite giving three points away they got the single they needed to win 21-16 to take their place in the final.

The other semi-final featured four Kelly’s, with Brian and Harry up against father and son Colin and Tom, with the latter pair having a straightforward 21-12 win.

The final got underway with three of the finalists being home greeners, whilst Tom Kelly has played for the club previously. The game went on to have everything you could hope for with good lead bowls, strikes, dead ends and great last bowls when under pressure.

On the first end a loose end from Keggen and Kelly was fully punished with a four scored by Colin and Tom to jump into a 10-6 lead. The Marown pair responded immediately to win five of the next six ends  scoring an impressive three on the 6th end as they crept ahead 13-11, were then counting for three only for Tom to pull off another fine hit to clear the jack off the green for a dead end, with Tom’s hit rate throughout the day being outstanding. Over the next five ends the father and son pairing played extremely well to jump into a 19-14 lead and seemingly take control of the game as they picked up a single, two doubles and a three.

Keggen and Kelly weren’t done there and regrouped, despite Colin being on his famous ‘cabbage patch’ the former picked up a vital three with Keggen grabbing the jack to count for two and Kelly then put in another bowl himself, which they followed up on the next end with a single after counting for four and game only for Tom to save three. With the score now 18-19 to the Marown pair, two good bowls from Colin, with the second widening the target meant they were lying game themselves, with Paul having no hesitation in taking his turn to save the game by taking the jack off the green to kill the end. 

A single followed on the next end after once again Keggen and Kelly were counting three for game only for Tom to play a great pressure bowl to stand on the brink at 20-18. On the next end Keggen and Kelly had a free shot to make three for game but the last bowl agonisingly pulled up short with an opportunity missed.

With the score 20-20 a good lead bowl from Keggen, soon became about protecting what they had, with a back bowl in place Paul attempted to put blockers in the way. Unfortunately for Colin and Tom they were unable to find a way through, which secured the title for Keggen and Kelly for the first time after having lost in this final on more than one occasion, it was truly entertaining to watch.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Philip Kelly, who thanked the sponsors for their support, everyone who had helped with the running of the competition and the Marown Ladies for the refreshments provided. Martin Corkish from Investasure Financial Services Ltd was then introduced to present the prizes.

The final stages of the Canada Life International Manx Championship was played at Ballaugh Bowling Club on Sunday afternoon, with the qualifying rounds having taken place the previous weekend in very wet conditions, which improved as the day went on. Better weather was experienced this week for an afternoon of bowls in front of a good crowd.

Juan Killip	12	21	Glynn Hargraves
Paul Dunn	12	21	Stevie Kelly
Colin Kelly	21	9	Jay Elliott
Reg Temporaza	12	21	David Bradford
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly	21	14	Peter Collister
Matthew Keggen	21	10	Derek Allen
Tom Kelly	18	21	Neil Withers
Jordan Cain	21	w/o	Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly

At the quarter final stage Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) back to back winner in 2012 and 2013 was ruthlessly disposed of by Peel man Stevie Kelly who performed brilliantly to win 21-6, whilst current holder and seven time champion Colin Kelly (Marown) lost out to 2015 winner David Bradford (South Ramsey) 17-21. Peel veteran Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly ended the challenge of Matthew Keggen (Marown) with the scores tied at 10-10 Kelly went on to win 21-13, whilst Jordan Cain managed to see off 2009 Champion Neil Withers (Marown) 21-16 despite going on the green cold.

At the semi-final stage the matches were expected to be well contested, however it was quite the opposite as Stevie Kelly had his hopes of etching his name on the trophy for the first time extinguished by Bradford, with the latter winning 21-10 to end any hopes of a first father and son Manx Championship final. In the other semi-final Barney Kelly made light work of Cain as he progressed to the final thanks to a 21-6 victory.

The final started with Kelly winning the toss of the coin and with it the opportunity to head for a corner, however he pushed the jack too far, with the jack just trickling off the green. Bradford headed for a mark over the middle of the green and won the first end to punish the mistake of sending the jack off. From there he settled into the game swiftly to storm into a 8-0 lead, before Kelly got in after a loose end from Bradford, who got back in immediately beating a good lead bowl to regain his eight chalk lead at 9-1. Another poor end from Bradford to his own jack gifted Kelly an easy two, who then proceeded to get into the corners to score a further three doubles on the bounce.

With the match now level at 9-9 it was game well and truly on. On the next end Kelly pushed his jack right up to the edge and was counting for two, with Bradford playing a good second bowl which just stayed on the green to count. Kelly hit back to take the next three ends with singles to lead for the first time in the game by two chalks at 12-10. Kelly was back in the corners, however a good first bowl earnt Bradford a point to get back in.

A single followed on the next end to level things up at 12-12. Kelly edged ahead once again to lead 13-12, from there Bradford found a new determination as he shifted up a few gears on a mark over the middle of the green, but in a different direction to which he had started the game on as he won six consecutive ends with three singles and three doubles to run out with a deserved 21-13 victory to seal his second Manx Championship, with his delight clear to see to those spectating, with the victory made even more special with the win arriving on the green that he learnt his trade at as a youngster.

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Steve Moore who thanked Ballaugh Bowling Club for preparing the green, providing the refreshments and measurers. In his speech Bradford thanked the green keeper for preparing an excellent surface, everyone who had helped run the competition and said he was chuffed to win the Championship on the green that he started at over 30 years ago. To make the win even more special his Dad was watching on, along with many of the bowlers who still play at the club to this day who were clearly delighted for him. Both Bradford and Kelly now go onto to represent the Isle of Man on Saturday 30th July at Hawcoat Park BC in Cumbria.