The Canada Life International Club Team Championship was concluded at Nobles Park on Thursday evening with the semi-finals being played three days earlier on Monday night. The format for the competition – being played for the fifth time was unchanged with four drawn doubles and six drawn singles with 14 bowlers eligible to play. With nine clubs entering the competition this year, the four teams reaching the semi-finals were Marown, Port St Mary, North Ramsey, and Castletown.

The first semi-final was held at Castletown, between Marown and Port St Mary, the same team they faced at this stage in 2020 and 2022, with the Crosby Team running out winners by 56 chalks (196-140), as Port St Mary won just two games on the night, with Trevor Quayle performing well to beat Tom Kelly 21-12. The other win arrived in the doubles as Robbie Cooil and Mavis Franks beat Rebekah Kelly and Sid Bolton 21-16. Two single figure wins from Marown set them on their way to victory as Lyn Bolton beat Bernard Thackrah 21-7 in the singles, whilst Glenn Boland and Juan Killip beat Wayne Roberts and Tim Williams 21-8.

North Ramsey made the trip to Crosby as they took on Castletown in a match that went down to the wire, with the Mooragh team winning 6-4 on games this proved crucial to the overall result as they won by just two chalks (172-170). A big win arrived from Jordan Drewett for Town as he beat Joe Kneale 21-9, with North Ramsey hitting back with a 21-9 win in the doubles as Tony Smart and Rob Monk beat Ron Williams and Nathan Cooil 21-6. There were several close games with John Piekalns beating Aaron Richardson 21-19, Hannah Drewett held off Madison McMullan with a 21-18 victory, whilst Caroline Parker edged home 21-20 against Town captain Alison Kearsley.

The final got underway with North Ramsey looking to cause a huge upset, however Marown were favourites to retain the title despite missing several key players this week as they were able to utilise their strength in depth in the club.

Marown didn’t disappoint putting in a good performance in the first half of the match to take control. In the three singles games Tom Kelly had a good run on the edge of the green on a short mark to beat Allan Callow 21-6, with Karl Parker following closely with a 21-7 win over Brian Colquitt. The vastly experienced Jimmy Moffatt hit back with a 21-13 win over Marown C Team captain Stevie Rundle with a 21-13 victory, with Steven Waters and Bailey McMullan responding for North Ramsey as they performed well to beat Sid Bolton and Paul Kelly 21-11. Marown got their third win of the night with Lyn Bolton and Glenn Boland helping establish a 19-chalk lead at the halfway point (87-68) with a 21-13 win over Paul Allison and Madison McMullan.

In the second half of the match Marown knew they just needed to score well, avoiding any heavy defeats to ensure the title was theirs for a fifth successive year. Any hopes of a comeback from North Ramsey quickly faded away as a 21-13 win in the doubles from Clare Cooper and Rebekah Kelly against Ray Skelly and Joe Kneale was swiftly followed by a 21-5 win by Peter Jones over John Piekalns.

Caroline Parker managed to pick up North Ramsey’s only win in the second half of the match with a hard fought 21-18 win over Juan Killip. Rebecca Teare could have had a game on her hands with Mooragh man Steve Walmsley, however a 21-11 win for Teare ensured there was no upset on the cards. The last match on the green saw Jayne Smith and Walter McCarthy win a close game 21-19 against Tony Smart and Rob Monk as Marown won the match by 52 chalks (189-137), whilst also winning 7-3 on games in a resounding and deserved victory for Marown.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Committee Officer Steve Moore who thanked Nobles Bowling Club for hosting the final, providing refreshments to the players and spectators. Marown captain Paul Kelly congratulated his team for their performance, whilst also offering his commiserations to North Ramsey.

Men’s Player of the Month: Phil Quayle – Ballaugh

Ladies Player of the Month: Kath Kinley – Castletown

Under 21’s Player of the Month: Bailey McMullan – Mooragh Park 

The men’s pick went in a different direction this month with the first player to receive the award outside of Division One going to Ballaugh Captain Phil Quayle, who continues to drive his team forward all season as he blends the old guard in with the newer bowlers.

Phil went unbeaten individually and put in a superb performance in the Rayner Plate Final with a 21-13 victory to put a marker down for his team on the night as the Ballaugh men claimed their first ever team title in a knockout competition as they beat first division side Peel B. Ballaugh are one of the ‘youngest’ clubs on the island having been formed in the 1980’s.  A superb achievement as Phil went on to lead Ballaugh A to second place and with it a potential promotion back to Division One in 2024.

The pick from the ladies this month went in favour of Kath Kinley who went unbeaten in both the Open Age league, Over 60’s league and lost just one game for Castletown in the 2023 season, winning 48 out of 49 games played. Throughout the month of August Kath conceded just 68 points from 11 games played.

To cap off a fine month Kath won the over 60’s Ladies Championship in a convincing manner and is certainly deserved of this award.

Bailey picked up the Junior award recording two league wins during August, with one of these a superb performance winning 21-15 against Elaine Moore on South Ramsey, who was unbeaten in the open age league up until that point.

In the Jean Kelly semi-finals Bailey won 21-3 against Rebekah Kelly as the Mooragh Park team narrowly missed out on reaching the final.

Bailey was also a key player in the Junior League for her team Sugarloafs as she won both of her Junior League matches who went on to win the league.

A fantastic achievement at the age of 11 years old, Bailey follows her older sister Madison who picked up the award in July.

Finch Hill Bowling Club held the any combination pairs Open Competition for the Douglas Borough Council Challenge Cup on a rainswept blustery afternoon when it took full concentration to shut out the elements.

At the quarter final stage, there were comfortable wins for the defending champions Glenn Boland and Peter Jones (both Marown) over club mates Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly 21-15. Derek Allen (Port Erin) and Brian Lindsay (Peel) saw off the home greeners Lil Smith and Dave McCabe 21-12, Alison Kearsley (Castletown) and daughter Ruby Keggen (Marown) overcame Peel pair Gilly and Phil Clarke 21-12, whilst Nathan Hamilton (Castletown) and Sam Clague (Marown) beat another Finch Hill pairing Dave Dixon and John Qualtrough 21-11.

In the semi-final games Hamilton and Clague proved too strong for the Kearsley and Keggen running out winners 21-8 while Boland and Jones had a keenly contested match against Allen and Lindsay. Leading 18-13 after 15 ends the Port Erin/Peel combination conceded a single then a four to see the match tied. Jones played a long jack to the corner but this was matched by an excellent wood from Allen and after picking up a double they went on to pick up the single required on the next end to win 21-18.

The efforts of their semi-final seemed to take their toll on Allen and Lindsay as they were unable to raise their game to match Hamilton and Clague’s consistent leads. The one sided affair ended 21-10 to the Castletown/Marown pair.

At the Presentation, Nathan thanked Finch Hill for putting on the event and remarked how well the green had held up in the conditions and he also thanked the Ladies for the catering provided throughout the day.

The Final Mixed Doubles of the season was held on Saturday with 25 pairs taking part to play in good conditions on a late September day, with the competition originally scheduled for July falling victim to the weather, with entries considerably lower than the original date, however they were the same as 2022.

Losing out in the quarter finals were home greeners Jill Quayle and Billy Blair 14-21 to Marown pair Joyce Ogden and Walter McCarthy. Another home green pairing lost out as Sue and Geoff Collier were beaten 16-21 by club mates Jenny Moore and James Teare.

In the other half of the draw Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) and Steven Waters (North Ramsey) ended the hopes of Sue Gawne (Noble’s) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) with a hard fought 21-18 victory. The last of the quarter finals saw Marown pair Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones win 21-10 against Kim Hargraves and Peter Collister (both South Ramsey).

The semi-finals appeared to be straightforward, however Moore and Teare were leading 19-16 against Ogden and McCarthy with the latter pair counting for two the last bowl up from the Marown pair knocked the jack to the South Ramsey pair to gift wrap a 21-16 win and with it a place in the final. The other semi-final was a 21-11 win for Kennish and Waters over Bolton and Jones, with the latter pair scoring on just two ends, however both ends resulted in a three.

The final got underway with the temperature dropping, it was the South/North Ramsey combination who looked like they were going to pull off a huge upset as they went into a 17-11 lead.

Moore and Teare picked up a single, were lying one down on the following end with Kennish putting up a front toucher Moore made good contact to spring the jack to their own bowl as they counted for one, which proved to be vital in the game as the South Ramsey pair went on to run out winning six consecutive ends picking up a three on the fourth end of the run to level the game up at 17-17.

Moore and Teare got themselves one chalk ahead at 18-17. On the last end nobody covered themselves in glory, with room to save points Kennish and Waters were unable to stop their opponents scoring a three as they lost out 17-21 after giving Moore and Teare a run for their money.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Elaine Moore, who thanked the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and the Ladies for the refreshments provided.

The final of the Canada Life International Sponsored Mixed Team Championship and the Inaugural Plate competitions took place simultaneously at Ballaugh on Thursday evening, with the Championship final seeing South Ramsey A take on Marown A. The floodlights were required, whilst the rain just about held off for most of the night.

In the first half of the match Marown were quickest out of the blocks with Neil Withers striking the first blow with a 21-8 win over James Teare, with the Marown man only allowing his opponent to score one more chalk with the score at 13-7 in his favour. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves responded with a win to the same score against Peter Jones in a game which was expected to be close to wipe out the deficit, as he also went on a good run with the score 8-7 in his favour, with Jones picking up just one more chalk.

Marown briefly went into a 11-chalk lead as Clare Cooper won 21-10 against Fiona Kennish, with Bob Clark hitting back with a solid performance to see off one of Marown’s top players Paul Dunn with a 21- 9 win to put South Ramsey one chalk ahead.

The lead was extended further as Peter Collister won 21-16 against Lyn Bolton, with the former leading 9-0, the Marown player battled back to 8-10 to claw her way back into the game. Jordan Cain stormed into a 10-3 lead against Rebecca Teare, with the latter turning the game around to lead 18-14. Cain dug deep to see the game out with a 21-19 victory on a shorter mark.

Game seven was between Kim Hargraves and Marown captain Matthew Keggen with the latter trailing 6-1 early on, a good performance in the corners put Keggen into a 17-6 lead. Hargraves managed to score five more singles to reach double figures before losing out 11-21 as Marown edged into the lead by just two chalks (113-115).

The last two games on the green saw any hopes of a Marown victory quickly fade away as the two South Ramsey Ladies wrapped up victory in style, with Gill Dixon just one chalk ahead at 10-9 against Philippa Taylor, before shifting through the gears to finish strongly to run out with a 21-10 victory. The last game on the green wrapped the match up for South Ramsey as their top bowler Jenny Moore, who is more than a match for any bowler on the island led 11-7 against Paul Kelly, with Moore going on a 10-point scoring streak to seal the victory in style with the biggest win of the night with a 21-7 victory.

South Ramsey have now claimed the Mixed Team Championship 12 times since the competition was first held in 2005, have also won the title for four consecutive years.

Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen thanked Ballaugh for the use of the green, for providing the refreshments and measurers on the night. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves congratulated his team for their performance on the night, offered commiserations to Marown, whilst also congratulating Noble’s on their win in the Plate competition.

South Ramsey A	Score	Score	Marown A
Glynn Hargraves	21	8	Peter Jones
James Teare	8	21	Neil Withers
Fiona Kennish	10	21	Clare Cooper
Bob Clark	21	9	Paul Dunn
Peter Collister	21	16	Lyn Bolton
Jordan Cain	21	19	Rebecca Teare
Kim Hargraves	11	21	Matthew Keggen
Gillian Dixon	21	10	Philippa Taylor
Jenny Moore	21	7	Paul Kelly
6 Games Won	155	132	3 Games Won

The final of the Canada Life International Sponsored Mixed Team Plate competition took place at Ballaugh on Thursday evening with Noble’s B and Port Erin battling to become the second winners of this competition after Noble’s A took the inaugural title last year. There was a good crowd in attendance throughout the evening with the rain just about holding off.

The first two games to come off the green saw Noble’s take a huge 32 chalk lead to put down a huge marker with Alex Yates winning 21-0 against Susan Inch, whilst Jo Smith beat Voirrey Curphey 21-9. Alison Stockham picked up the first Port Erin win on the night with a 21-15 victory over Martyn Hobson.

The next two games to come off extended the lead even further for Noble’s to a somewhat unassailable 46 chalks as Sue Gawne won 21-11 against Jacqui Elliott, whilst the shock of the night was from Jo Kelly who put in a superb performance to beat Port Erin’s Bernie Duncan to the same score.

Game six was another win for Noble’s as Michael Johnson beat Steve Durcan 21-18 in a close game, whilst Derek Allen picked up the Breagle Glen teams second and final win of the night with a hard fought 21-17 win over John Andrew.

Rounding off a resounding victory for Noble’s were Libby Andrade with a 21-8 victory over Mark Stockham, whilst Marilyn Ellison won comfortably 21-14 against Port Erin captain Seamus Whelan.

The overall result was Noble’s B winning by 66 chalks (179-113) with the games 7-2 in their favour as the club continue to go from strength to strength as they picked up a second successive Mixed Team Plate title.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Ballaugh for the use of the green, their club members for the refreshments and providing measurers, with Noble’s captain Terry Bates receiving the Shield.

Noble’s B	Score	Score	Port Erin
Alex Yates	21	0	Susan Inch
Jo Smith	21	9	Voirrey Curphey
Martyn Hobson	15	21	Alison Stockham
Sue Gawne	21	11	Jacqui Elliott
Joanne Kelly	21	11	Bernie Durcan
Michael Johnson	21	18	Steve Durcan
John Andrew	17	21	Derek Allen
Libby Andrade	21	8	Mark Stockham
Marilyn Ellison	21	14	Seamus Whelan
7 Games Won	179	113	2 Games Won

South Ramsey hosted the Manx Masters on Sunday, one of the highlights of the Manx bowls calendar with four separate competitions taking place throughout the day. The weather in the morning was slightly better than forecast with rain holding off for most of the competition.

JP Corry Young Manx Masters

The Young Manx Masters was contested by seven players – with five girls and two boys. This competition was played in a round robin format playing six ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. After a good morning of bowls, it was Bailey McMullan who was the runaway winner with 56 points, to become the first Young Manx Masters winner to retain the trophy in her last year in this category. The runner up with 42 points was Enya Christian (Marown) who also scored particularly well in her games.

JP Corry Junior Manx Masters

The Junior Manx Masters was played as a straight knockout 21up off a handicap of +6 for the older and more experienced players with 12 players braving the early morning start.

The title was won for the first time by Sam Colquitt (Noble’s) following his win in the Young Manx Masters competition in 2018, as he beat clubmate Alex Hampson 21-18 in an entertaining final, with the furthest anyone got ahead in the game was Alex at 13-10 halfway through the game. With Alex leading 18-17, Sam dug deep to see the game out with four singles to secure a 21-18 victory.

Losing out at the semi-final stage was pre-tournament favourite Madison McMullan (Mooragh Park) to Colquitt with the latter putting in a brilliant performance to seal a 21-16 win and a place in the final. Losing out in the other semi-final was Lola Tebay (Ballaugh) by the finest of margins 20-21 to Alex Hampson.

At the quarter final stage Colquitt comfortably beat Dylan Marsh (Port Erin) 21-13, McMullan won 21-11 against Aalish Moore (Castletown), Alex stormed to a 21-7 win over Lacey McMullan (Mooragh Park), whilst Tebay beat Alex Colquitt Noble’s 21-16.

The standard of play in both events was excellent and some of the bowls played would not have been out of place in the senior events taking place in the afternoon.

JP Corry Isle of Man supported the event once again with the prizes presented by Keith Quane. All competitors who took part received a prize, with Saskia Tebay receiving a special prize for the young player who had smiled the most all morning. Thanks were given to everyone who had helped throughout the morning.

Once the Junior competitions concluded the Felton’s sponsored Men’s and Ladies events got underway with the Ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the Men’s event had 32 invited to play.  Once again home greeners forfeited the jack on the first end to visiting bowlers.

Ladies Manx Masters

In the Ladies event losing out at the quarter final stages were home greener Gill Dixon 15-21 to teammate Jenny Moore, whilst Madison McMullan (Mooragh Park) battled well before losing out 18-21 to Clare Cooper (Marown).

In the other half of the draw Louise Tebay (Ballaugh) lost out 17-21 to Rebecca Teare (Marown) with Teare scoring two more doubles in the game this proved to be the difference. Another two home greeners clash in the last of the quarter finals with Sue Collier leading 10-3 against Kim Hargraves, as the latter fought back to 9-10 only for Collier to rally once more to seal a 21-12 to book her place in the semi-finals.

At the semi-final stage both were comfortable wins as Moore won 21-11 against Cooper, whilst Teare eased to a 21-9 win over Collier.

In the final Moore took the initiative early on a round peg mark to lead 16-5 against Teare. The Marown player got in and headed for the bank edge of the green, which is well known for being a big pegging mark in both directions. Teare got a run of fiver chalks together to get into double figures at 10-16.

Moore then picked up a single and double to lead 19-10, with Teare picking up another five chalks in between conceding a single to put the score at 15-20. On the following end a loose lead was punished by Moore to full effect who put her first bowl within six inches of the jack, with Teare failing to beat it this secured a 21-15 victory for Moore to win the title for a sixth successive year.

Mens Manx Masters

In the Men’s event five of the eight last 16 games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 17 or more.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Stevie Kelly (Peel) who was well beat 11-21 by Colin Kelly (Marown), Harry Barton (Marown) reached the end of the road as he was defeated 4-21 by Jordan Cain (South Ramsey). Matthew Keggen (Marown) beat James Teare (South Ramsey) 21-17 in the closest game of the quarter finals, whilst Paul Dunn comfortably beat Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) 21-8.

Similar to the ladies competition the victories were comfortable as Kelly trailed to Cain by a single chalk at 9-10, before going on to concede just two more chalks to seal a 21-12 win. Keggen booked his spot in his first Manx Masters final with a 21-14 victory over Dunn, with the former having led 14-7 and 18-12 this lead was enough to keep his opponent at arm’s length.

In front of a healthy crowd who had stayed for the duration, the final started under the floodlights, with Kelly taking an early lead at 7-4, with Keggen opting to come out of the corners that had served him well throughout the day. Keggen got back in and did go into the corners to level the game up at 8-8.

Kelly restored a three-chalk lead at 12-9, then built this up further on a longer mark in the opposite corners to which Keggen had been playing to lead 17-10. A single and a double from Keggen was responded to equally by Kelly to lead 20-13, with Keggen scoring a single and in the last chance saloon needing to run out, however a good first bowl from Kelly secured a 21-14 victory and the eighth time Kelly has picked up the trophy since 1994, with the competition having previously been played as the Champion of Champions which Colin won five times in the previous format.

At the end of the competition the presentation was made by South Ramsey Chairman Steve Moore, who thanked everyone who had helped with the running of the competitions. The Ladies who once again outdone themselves with the catering and the club members who assisted throughout the day. Long term supporters of the event Chris & Lynnette Perry were then introduced to present the prizes from the sponsors Felton’s Ironmongers who without their support this event would not be possible. Upon accepting the trophy Kelly stated he was delighted to have won the competition.