Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Once again the weather suited the occasion as thirty-two ladies battled for the Top Lady title at South Ramsey on Sunday 12^th. May. The players had all received an invitation to play based on their performances in 2018, so some cracking bowling was anticipated and the spectators were not disappointed.

In the first round a close match saw Rebecca Teare come through 21-18 against Caroline Parker in a nip-and-tuck game. It also saw Alison Keggen winning three ends to take the game from 17-18 down against Ann Gale, while Bethany Kennish shrugged off a poor start, which left her 11 – 0 down against Peel’s Lynda Wilson, to progress through to the second round 21-20.

Alison had another tight game in the second round, winning 21-18 after a strong recovery from 20-13 down to 20 –18 by her opponent, Fiona Kennish. Mavis Franks was 16 -11 up on her club mate, Tricia Bull, when Tricia made a remarkable come back to lead 19-16. However it was not enough as Mavis dug in to come through 21-19. Once again it was a Peel player involved in the closest match of the round. Mary Moffatt raced ahead of Paula Garrett to lead 16-10, before Paula  got hold of the jack and clawed her way to 20-17 before letting Mary have it back. Once she had control of the jack again, Mary came through to take the game 21-20.

In the top half of the draw, Margaret Tasker had made her way through to the semi-finals to meet Debbie Leece with wins against Jenny Moore and Lyn Bolton. In the quarter-final the players were evenly matched with Debbie just having the edge at 19-17, when Margaret scored two twos to take the match 21-19. Rebecca Teare and Alison Keggen also had tough matches coming through 21-17 against Sue Gawne and Lynda Cadamy. Mary Moffatt had a slightly easier ride coming through21-12 against Mavis Franks.

The two semi-finals saw the young guns taking on the two seasoned campaigners. Margaret got off to the better start against Rebecca leading 9-4 and hanging on to a lead up to 17-15, when winning four ends in a row put Rebecca into the final 21-17. A tremendous start by Alison saw her sprint into a 12-2 lead against Mary,  who started to come back, reaching 11 -15, but had left herself too much to do winning only one more end before Alison progressed to the final 21-12.

In the final Rebecca was rampant, playing the corners very well. From 16-4 down Alison started to match Rebecca, but it was too little too late, Rebecca taking the title 21-9. Both girls are to be congratulated on their standard of play throughout the afternoon.

Association Competition Secretary, Heather Horsburgh, thanked all those who had competed, and also the spectators who had enhanced the atmosphere of the event. Thanks also went to South Ramsey for the use of their green, their members for their work measuring and stewarding, and particularly their “Kitchen Staff” for the wonderful refreshments.

 The prizes were presented to the two finalists by Association President Sue Peach.