Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

South Ramsey hosted the first open competition of the 2021 season with the Jim Senior any combination doubles on Sunday attracting 74 players to compete for the trophy. The green was in superb condition, with the weather once again being kind.

The quarter finals had the father & son pairing of Colin Kelly (Marown) & Tom Kelly (Peel) seeing off club mates Walter McCarthy & Darren Kerruish (Marown) with a 21-7 win. Castletown pair Sam Clague & Bob Clark ended the excellent run of Alex Hampson (Noble’s) & Ryan Hargraves (South Ramsey), two juniors, both just 12 years old with a 21-10 win. The two youngsters gave a good account of themselves and will be a pairing to watch out for in the future. Losing out 6-21 were Alison Kearsley (Marown) and Nathan Cooil (Castletown) to home greeners David Bradford & Glynn Hargraves, whilst Derek & Lynda Cadamy lost out 10-21 to Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) & Jordan Cain (Onchan).

In the first semi-final Sam Clague & Bob Clark battled well before losing out 19-21 to the father & son pairing of Colin Kelly & Tom Kelly. In the other semi-final Stefan Kelly & Jordan Cain never really got going, losing out 13-21 to Bradford & Hargraves.

The final started with daylight slipping away, with the father & son duo winning the first four ends to take a 13-4 lead, scoring big with a four and a three to get off to a flier with Colin leading well at the front. Bradford & Hargraves responded winning the next four ends to pull the score back to 9-13 and were lying three only for Tom to play a great length bowl on a long mark to maintain a strong lead and go 14-9 ahead, from there Colin & Tom stretched their lead out to 19-12 after picking up a crucial three on the 13^th end with Tom doing the damage at the back with Bradford lying one on, Tom played the counting bowl out to lie two and compounded the damage by playing a good second bowl to count for three, this was followed up on the next end with a single. Bradford & Hargraves weren’t done there, scoring two doubles, and a single over the next three ends to get the score back to 17-19. Colin then played a good second bowl, which wasn’t beaten. The win was secured for Colin & Tom on the next end with Tom once again doing the damage to secure the win and the £200 first prize to the winners.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Kim Hargraves, who thanked IPS Admin for sponsoring the competition, the club members who helped with the running of the competition and the Ladies for the refreshments provided throughout the day. James Teare from IPS Admin presented the prizes with over £500 paid out. In his speech Tom Kelly thanked South Ramsey for holding the competition and stated the green was superb.