Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final of the Rayner Plate took place at Onchan on Friday evening with the expected rain holding off for the majority of the match. The two teams contesting the final were Port St Mary A (+10) who currently occupy seventh place in division one and Marown C (+50) who after being promoted from division three last season sit in a respectable ninth place in division two.

The Port men started as favourites on the night, they got off to a good start with Rob Cooil taking a 21-12 win against Matt Derrick. The first shock of the night came from Crosby man Jamie Joughin who performed brilliantly putting in a man of the match performance to record a stunning 21-8 win over Wayne Roberts. In another shock result James Kelly recovered from a 11-17 deficit to stun Paul Skelly with a superb 21-20 win. The last game off in the first half was a second win for Port St Mary with Bernard Thackrah winning 21-15 against Darren Kerruish. At the half way stage with the 40 chalk handicap included the Crosby men still held a big lead of 39 chalks.

In the second half of the match as the skies darkened the floodlights were put on in front of a good crowd there was plenty of support for both teams around the green. First off in the second half was Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle who won 21-12 against Kevin Kelly, who did well to reach double figures against the 2018 league merit winner. Next off for Marown was Walter McCarthy who recorded a great 21-16 win over Tim Williams, whilst Marown captain Stephen Rundle battled well before losing out 15-21 to Dave McCabe. With the match and Rayner Plate now secured for the Crosby men Dan Smith put the icing on the cake to win 21-15 with a superb performance against Dan McCabe.

All the plaudits must go to the Marown men who started as the underdogs, however each and every player raised their game, with a C team winning four games against a first division team almost unheard of. The four players that lost for Marown all contributed heavily by reaching double figures with two losses of 12 and two losses of 15 playing a big part in securing their second Rayner Plate win to add to their 2017 success.

The presentation was made by Association Press Officer Glynn Hargraves, who thanked Onchan Bowling Club for the use of the green and for their hospitality. Congratulations were given to the winning team with commiserations offered to Port St Mary. Stephen Rundle was then presented with the trophy with the Marown captain congratulating his team for their superb performance and thanking the club members for their support on the night which made for a great atmosphere around the green.