The final of the Plumbmaster Rayner Plate took place on Friday evening in windy conditions between second division side Ballaugh A (+45) who are battling for promotion as they occupy second place and first Division side Peel Sunset B (+35) who sit in 9th place in the top division.

Peel would have started as favourites as they ply their trade above the Ballaugh men, with the latter team having a 10 chalk start this was just over one chalk a man for Peel to claw back, however Ballaugh have a good mix of new bowlers, along with their experienced players.

The evening started positively for Peel as captain Paul Quirk stormed to a 21-6 win over John Keenan, with the Ballaugh man never getting a look in as Peel went five chalks ahead on the night. The next game off was a first win for Ballaugh as Mike Spooner one of the newest bowlers in the team beat Geoff Rice 21-15, with Spooner keeping Rice down to scoring just one double, whilst scoring seven doubles himself, with this being the main difference.

The third game went to one of the most experienced players on the green, with John Maddrell determined to show he can still mix it with the younger players as he beat Andy Mackie 21-13. Another one of the Ballaugh stalwarts delivered as Edgar Cowin recovered from a 6-11 deficit against Rob Middleton to take a 21-19 victory, with Cowin seeing the game out with five successive singles, when trailing 16-19.

At the half way stage Ballaugh had maintained and extended their 10 chalk head start over Peel by a solitary chalk to 11 chalks (114-103).

In the second half of the match, with a first ever Team Cup win in their sights Ballaugh captain Phil Quayle ensured the pressure was kept on Peel as he put in a good performance to beat Mick Kavanagh 21-13 to build up a 19 chalk lead. With the remaining three games for Ballaugh going in their favour, the win was all but confirmed as game number six came off, with Richard Hainge also winning to 21-13 as he put in a solid performance to beat Dave Smith.

Next off was the youngest player to play on the night in Patrick Grant, who looked like he could have a game on his hands with Dougie Allan, who is a tough customer. The younger and less experienced bowler never looked in doubt as he went on to seal a 21-13 win over Allan. Putting the cherry on the cake on the night was Nigel Tebay who ensured it was a resounding win for Ballaugh as he beat Alan Cromwell 21-16.

The all-important chalks went in Ballaugh’s favour as they won by a massive 40 chalks (198-158) to ensure the handicap difference of 10 chalks never came into play, whilst also winning 7-1 on games.

The presentation was made by Competition Committee Officer Steve Moore who thanked Finch Hill for hosting the final, along with providing measurers and the refreshments. Captain Phil Quayle was then presented with the trophy, he congratulated his team on their performance and offered his commiserations to Peel.

Rayner Plate Final Results

The Isle of Man Team took part in the 2023 BCGBA Senior Supplementary County Championship which was held on Sunday at Bellingham Bowling Club in Wigan on a good playing surface.

Drawn in Group 1, as expected the opposition was tough with Cheshire, South Yorkshire and Wales awaiting.

In the first round of matches the eight man team were up against Cheshire as the
the Manx men won 5-3 on games with Peter Jones, Paul Dunn, David Bradford, Bob Clark and Glynn Hargraves all winning, with the three games lost being to high scores (17,19 & 19) as they scored highly to win by 25 chalks (160-135) to make a positive start to pick up two points for the win.

In their second round match South Yorkshire were the opposition, the team managed to win three individual games with the winners being Paul Dunn, Jordan Cain and Bob Clark. Losing out in close games were David Bradford who lost 17-21 to Ross Meese and Neil Withers who was beaten 17-21 by Tom Boyd as they lost this one by a margin of 13 chalks (137-150) just two chalks a man to show the very fine margins between victory and defeat.

In their final match they faced Wales with all still to play for, winning four individual games from Peter Jones, Jordan Cain, David Bradford and Matthew Quirk. The team ultimately won the all important chalks as they won by 9 chalks (150-141) to pick up two points for the victory, helped by high scores from Neil Withers (20), Glynn Hargraves (18) and Bob Clark (17).

Cheshire ended up topping the group, going on to the reach the final where they came up against Warwick & Worcestershire who prevailed in Group 2, in a group that included Merseyside, North Midlands and Potteries. In the final Warwick & Worcestershire edged out Cheshire as they won by just four chalks (146-142) with the winners hanging on to a 22 chalk lead at the half way stage to take the title home.

The Isle of Man Team who were managed by Phil Kerruish and assisted by Juan Kermode finished in a very respectable second place on four points in the group to surpass last years performance in this competition, as they also finished +21 on aggregate chalks to show they can compete with other counties, with Cheshire progressing largely thanks to a huge 50 chalk win over Wales in their second round match, they then went on to beat South Yorkshire by seven chalks to also finish on four points and progress to the final with a better aggregate (+32) than the Isle of Man.

To put this into perspective the Isle of Man have just 13 bowling greens available on the Island, with a limited pool of bowlers to choose from. Whilst other counties have hundreds of greens to play on and thousands of bowlers to pick from, it could well be argued that the Isle of Man are punching above their weight.

A great team effort overall, with all players winning at least one game, no defeats to single figures and generally high scores even in defeat helping contribute to the overall result. It says a lot that the team were disappointed not to reach the final, to show the expectation has increased within the squad.

The Plumbmaster Limited Rayner Shield final between South Ramsey A and Marown C was held at Noble’s Bowling Club on Friday evening on a superb playing surface. The draw took place ahead of the match, with a short video of the draw put together to generate a bit of interest. This appeared to pay off with over 120 spectators in attendance to watch events unfold, on a fine evening for bowls with fantastic support for both teams. League leaders South Ramsey were the clear favourites on the night, however the Marown men would have been hoping to pull off a huge upset.

First off the green for South Ramsey was Jordan Cain who beat Peter Kelly 21-6, with Cain helped by a 11 point scoring streak over eight consecutive ends. Next off was David Bradford who beat Sam Clague as he finished the game in just 19 ends with a solid 21-7 victory.

The next game off the green was a hard earned win from South Ramsey, with both players performing well as James Teare was level with Kevin Kelly after 14 ends at 10-10, as Teare went on to build up an 18-14 lead. Two singles for Kelly closed the deficit to two chalks at 16-18, then Teare closed the game out with three singles to earn a 21-16 win.

The last game off in the first half ended up a good contest. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves was fully in control as he went into a 14-6 lead over Tom Kelly, keeping the latter down to six singles at that point. On the 18th end the momentum of the game shifted, with Hargraves counting for two a fortuitous hit from the Marown man on his own bowl hit the jack, which then ricocheted off Hargraves’ bowl and fell kindly for Kelly to count two. Kelly went on to turn the game around performing brilliantly to score nine chalks over five ends and briefly went into the lead at 15-14, only for Hargraves to get back in before eventually going on to close the game out 21-17, on the final end lying two down a reaching bowl from Hargraves came off Kelly’s bowl furthest away from the jack, to spring Kelly’s bowl onto the jack, with a measure called this went in favour of Hargraves.

With South Ramsey 4-0 up and dominating the chalks, this didn’t take anything away from the support given by the spectators around the green, as Marown captain Stevie Rundle pulled off the shock of the night as he went into a 16-0 lead against Dido Kelly. The South Ramsey man started to work his way back into the game, however with little margin for error Rundle held his nerve to see the game out with a 21-12 win as he put in a captains innings. The sixth game off the green resulted in South Ramsey’s fifth win and officially sealed the Rayner Shield heading back north as Peter Collister beat Jamie Joughin 21-16, with the latter leading 11-10 at the half way point in the game, before the South Ramsey man’s experience came through to seal the victory.

Game number seven resulted in the biggest win of the night as Bob Clark romped home 21-5 against Steve Rough, with Clark leading 19-1, the Marown man managed to get another four chalks on the board. The last game on the green was on for the some time after game seven came off , with the score 9-6 to Crosby man Dan Smith who was up against Stefan Kelly. The South Ramsey man fought back to lead 10-9 after 15 ends, only for Smith to score five singles over six ends to lead 15-11. Kelly started to find his length, as he managed to see the game out with 10 chalks scored, losing just two of the last nine ends to win 21-18. Smith performed admirably to give the South Ramsey man a scare.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Plumbmaster for sponsoring the competition, Noble’s Bowling Club for the use of the green and their club members for assisting throughout the evening. The Rayner Shield was presented to South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves, who offered his commiserations to Marown who had put up a spirited performance and congratulated his side for a superb team performance. South Ramsey’s win sees them take their 7th win in the competition, along with retaining the Shield to hold the title for a third consecutive season.