South Ramsey competed in the World Club Championship on Sunday at Spen Victoria Bowling Club, as they were defeated by 36 chalks (125-161) against local Yorkshire side Crossland Moor.
There was some individual success as James Teare won 21-16, Jordan Cain edged home 21-19, whilst Elaine Moore battled well only to lose 17-21, with Peter Collister also just losing 19-21.
League champions South Ramsey A will be wary of the challenge from Marown A, who might well be favourites for the league title in Canada Life International Sponsored Division One following the acquisition of Peter Jones midway through 2022, with John Gelling returning to the fold, whilst Glenn Boland has been promoted to the A team. South Ramsey A meanwhile have made just the one change from last season, with Alan Moore returning to the A team. Just two points separated the teams at the end of the 2022 season.
Newly promoted teams South Ramsey B and Marown C will be looking to consolidate their place in the top division, with Marown C looking well placed to hold their own.
In Division Two Onchan B and Port Erin A will be looking for an immediate return to the top flight. Noble’s A who settled into Division Two will be looking to improve on last year’s ninth place finish. North Ramsey B and Noble’s B were the teams promoted from Division Three last season, as they look to consolidate their place in the middle tier.
In Division Three a number of teams will be looking to push on and improve, with Marown D looking to take the next step as they narrowly missed out on promotion.
There are positive vibes coming from Noble’s, who have introduced two new teams this season. Noble’s C, which is made up of Leeds fans who are new to the game has been put together by Stevie Cain. Other than attending an open day at the end of last season and two weeks of practice recently, the guys really seem to have got the bug. This is a little bit more than a rumour as the team will be playing in Black and Orange shirts (pictured) this season, in line with the club colours, with the twist that they are actually Leeds United shirts!
It is a remarkable turnaround for the club who are one of the oldest clubs on the island which was on the brink of collapsing, to be in a position to now field four teams. The club is going from strength to strength thanks to the work from the new club members.
Marown held the opening tournament of the 2023 season, with the Ian Kissack floodlight competition sponsored by Ardern & Druggan Limited attracting a healthy entry of 76. The competition was played over four days, with handicaps ranging from two to eight with two qualifiers from the four qualifying sessions.
The competition commenced on Sunday afternoon with two visiting bowlers qualifying, as Trevor Quayle managed to see off Port St Mary teammate Wayne Roberts, while new Peel captain Stevie Kelly got the better of his Dad Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly to take his place in the quarter finals.
Sunday evening resulted in two home green players qualifying with Paul Kelly seeing off his teammate Phil Kelly, while Paul Dunn progressed as he beat Marown B Team captain Daren Kerruish in their respective qualifying games.
Monday evening had South Ramsey’s David Bradford navigating his way through his three qualifying games, with Bradford being pushed hard by Andy Kennish (Onchan) in his first game before prevailing 21-19. In the other half of the session Marown’s Colin Kelly had a tough night, but managed to progress thanks to a 21-20 win in his second game, then went on to recover from a huge deficit against club mate Lil Smith to qualify for finals night.
The last qualifying session took place on Tuesday evening, as a further two home greeners navigated their way through to Wednesday evening. Brian Kelly ended the challenge of Stevie Cain (Noble’s), whilst Karl Parker took the bragging rights as he beat fellow Marown player Glenn Boland to take the last two spots in finals night.
The competition was redrawn at the quarter final stage with Paul Dunn taking on teammate Colin Kelly, with the latter winning 21-14. Trevor Quayle progressed thanks to a 21-17 win over Paul Kelly.
In the other half of the draw Karl Parker had a resounding 21-12 win over Stevie Kelly, whilst David Bradford finished strongly to beat Brian Kelly 21-13.
Both semi-finals were well contested, with Trevor Quayle shooting into a 17-8 lead against Colin Kelly, only for the latter to fight back in style and run out with a 21-18 victory as he booked his place in the final. In the other semi-final Bradford ended the hopes of Parker with a 21-15 victory.
The final between the top two bowlers on the Isle of Man – Kelly & Bradford was eagerly anticipated, with both players off a +2 handicap. With neither player taking the initiative in the early ends, it was Bradford who made the first move to build up a 12-7 lead on end 12, as he scored his only double of the game. The Marown man fought back to 12-15, only for Bradford to score three consecutive singles to lead 18-12. The next six ends were shared equally, as Bradford got the three points needed to retain the trophy with a 21-15 victory.
The presentation was made by Marown President Peter Kelly, with Kevin Druggan introduced from the sponsor Ardern & Druggan. Thanks were given to the Marown ladies for the excellent refreshments provided over the four days. In his speech Bradford thanked Marown for running the competition, Ardern & Druggan for the continued sponsorship and congratulated the green keepers on how well the green was running.
Congratulations to September Canada Life International Award winners:-
Men’s Player of the Month: Peter Jones – Marown
Ladies Player of the Month: Joyce Ogden – Marown
Under 21’s Player of the Month: Toby Hart – South Ramsey
Peter was the obvious choice in the men’s game during September, having joined half way into the season ‘Jonah’ has settled in nicely winning his first Manx Masters at the first time of asking beating the best of the best on his way to picking up the title. In addition to this Jones contributed towards Marown’s success winning a fourth successive Club Team Championship title, whilst clearly strengthening their A Team in the second half of the season in their attempt to wrestle the title back from South Ramsey A. In addition to this Jonah won a Doubles competition with clubmate Glenn Boland at Finch Hill, whilst enjoying further success in the Men’s Doubles in the September Festival with teammate Colin Kelly.
The pick from the Ladies Section this month was a difficult choice with two names in the frame, it was Marown’s Joyce Ogden who edged the vote from the Ladies. Joyce started the month in devastating fashion, with a 21-4 win in the final of the JMS Veterans Shield helping her team on the way to victory as Marown retained the title, with another three single figure wins following. The pre-festival competition held at Castletown turned out to be something of a surprise victory on the day as a space opened up in the draw, with Joyce entering and not having any bowls with her used a set of club bowls. Joyce went on to claim her first win in a Ladies singles open beating some top lady bowlers on the day. This teed Joyce up nicely for the week, with the September Festival taking place Ogden reached the quarter finals in the Tourism, then just lost out 19-21 in the main event at the same stage to the runner up.
Toby was the easy choice in the Under 21 category winning his first Junior Manx Masters, with this being his last opportunity to do so, performing well to beat one of the outstanding Junior bowlers Madison McMullan in the final. Toby also performed well four his club team South Ramsey winning four games, while this is not in September – there will be no player of the month for October it is worth noting that I cannot recall two brothers winning an Open Competition as Toby and older sibling Austin performed brilliantly in the Juan Kelly Cup recently as the pair went on to take their first win in a Doubles competition.
Marown Bowling Club hosted the Juan Kelly Cup with the competition now in its sixth year 49 pairs took part just beating last year’s entry of 48. There were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system which was played over two qualifying nights (Sunday and Monday), with four pairs qualifying each night in order to qualify for the finals night on Wednesday evening.
The format was any combination doubles, played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the Men’s and Ladies game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner.
There were some high profile casualties on both qualifying nights, in particular on Monday when a host of strong pairings made an early exit.
For finals night a re-draw took place to determine who the pairings would play on the night, with a good mixture of high and low handicaps still in the competition. The excellent floodlights came into good use for the duration of the competition.
Losing quarter finalists were home greeners Glenn Boland and Peter Jones (+2), who lost heavily to Port St Mary pair Jordan Drewett and Nathan Hamilton (+4) 10-23 with the game finishing two ends early as the latter pair could not be caught, while Derek Allen (Port Erin) and Steve Parker (Onchan) had a +4 handicap against Peel pair Tommy McMeiken and George Gadsby who were off +3, with the Peel men winning 18-15. The Port St Mary Husband and Wife pairing of Steve and Mavis Franks (+7) couldn’t get going until end 10 against South Ramsey’s David Bradford and Peter Collister (SCR) as they lost out 14-21. In the last quarter final another South Ramsey pair progressed with brothers Toby and Austin Hart seeing off Peel men Stevie and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 16-15, with all to play for on the last end the Hart brothers got the single they needed to score a two to leapfrog their opponents to win the game.
The semi-finals were fairly straightforward for both winning pairs with Drewett and Hamilton booking their place in the final with a 22-14 win over McMeiken and Gadsby, while the Hart’s stepped up a few gears – with the match finely poised at 13-14 against Bradford and Collister after 11 ends, the brothers scored a two, a four a three and a single to finish strongly with a 24-14 win.
The final got underway with the South Ramsey pair (+6) having a slight two chalk advantage over the Port pair (+4) it looked like it could be a close final with both pairs exchanging singles over the first four ends to leave the score at 8-6. On the first power end the Hart’s made their move as they scored a two, which doubled up to a four. From there they scored another four on end seven, followed by a single on end nine, in between conceding three chalks over two ends.
With Drewett and Hamilton chasing the game trailing 9-17, the second power end looked to be going against them as they were lying two down, with Hamilton killing the end no points were scored. After scoring a single on the following end any hopes of a comeback were extinguished as they conceded a single, followed by a four to put the score at 22-10 with just two ends remaining. This would have require a minor miracle to score two maximums just to tie, however end 14 became a dead rubber as Toby and Austin had their bowls well positioned to ensure this didn’t happen as they scored two to take their first win in this competition, with both brothers performing extremely well over both the qualifying night and the finals night, they fully deserved this victory.
At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Marown Club President Peter Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments over all three nights, everyone who entered, and all those who came to support. The sponsor Juan Kelly was then introduced to present the prizes with £560 paid out.
The proceeds from the kitchen and the raffle from this competition and the Autumn Shield held at Marown in early September resulted in the club raising over £1,300 towards Charity following the loss of three Life Members this year – Bert Winckle, Ian Kissack and Pat Withers with four charities receiving donations – The Parkinson’s Society, Hospice Care, Peel and District Anti-Cancer and Sight Matters (Manx Blind Welfare).
The 2022 BCGBA Mel Evans MBECentenary Mixed Pairs was held on Saturday 1st October at Owley Wood Recreation Club, Barrymore Road, Weaverham.
The first game of the day got underway at 10:00 with Paula Firth (Onchan) and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) facing Amy Ryder and Mark Owen (Shropshire) on the number one green with the IOM pair going into a 15-4 lead, eventually going onto win 21-13.
South Ramsey’s Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves were on the number two green, as they faced Warwick and Worcester pair Tracey Baker and Jason Galvin with Elaine and Glynn leading 16-10 and counting for three only for a great last bowl from Galvin to trail the block for two. From there the IOM representatives picked up just two more chalks as they lost 18-21.
Also on the number two green another South Ramsey pair – Jenny Moore and James Teare, they managed to see off the Wales pair of Linda Williams and Ritchie Jamieson 21-12, keeping their opponents to just one double with the rest of the points scored being singles.
In the Last 16 Jenny and James were up against Catherine Lockwood and Peter Hawkes (North Lancs & Fylde) finding themselves in a spot of bother trailing 13-19 after conceding two fours, however they did pick up three trebles. Trailing by one chalk at 19-20 and counting for four, with two bowls easily inside a foot, Lockwood pulled out bowl of the day to win the game 21-20 in a tough to take last end for the South Ramsey pair.
Paula and Alan faced Warwick and Worcester’s Michelle Jones and Ben Harris with the latter pair winning just seven ends to Paula and Alan’s 12 ends. The W&W pair went into a 20-17 lead, with Alan saving game on more than one occasion with his ability to strike, as they managed to pick up a double and two singles to sneak home 21-20 to reach the next round.
At the quarter final stage Firth and Moore were the last IOM representatives left as they faced Abbie-Jo Rhodes and Simon Rhodes from South Yorkshire. Trailing 7-9 the Onchan/South Ramsey pair shifted up a few gears as their opponents scored just one more chalk, scoring two fours, a double and four consecutive singles to see the game out 21-10.
At the semi-final stage Firth and Moore were always in control of the game against another South Yorkshire pair Andrea Ainley and Richard Moore as they booked their place in the final with a solid 21-13 victory.
In the final Firth and Moore faced Staffordshire pair Jordan Picken and Steve Davis who had just seen off the pair that had earlier put Jenny and James out of the competition. In their fifth game of the day they struggled to get going as whilst they kept their opponents down to singles and doubles they found themselves with a 4-17 deficit.
A mini comeback followed as they managed to sneak into double figures as they lost out 10-21, however both should take pride in their performances over the day.
The Club Team Championship was brought to a conclusion at Nobles Park on Wednesday evening with the semi-finals being played two days earlier on Monday night. The format for the competition – being played for the fourth time was unchanged with four doubles and six singles with 14 bowlers eligible to play. The four teams reaching the semi-final were Marown, Port St Mary, South Ramsey and Onchan.
The first semi-final was held at Castletown, between Marown and Port St Mary, the same team they faced at this stage in 2020 with the Crosby outfit having a much tougher battle than their last clash which they won by 66 chalks, this time round winning by 16 chalks (195-179) proving too strong for the Port team. In terms of games Marown won 7-3, with the lowest score being 13, and five of the matches going to 17 or more. In the singles Nicola Cain caused the biggest upset for Port as she stunned Marown Captain Paul Kelly 21-19, Trevor Quayle won 21-15 against Clare Cooper, while Bernard Thackrah and Robbie Cooil performed well to beat Dean Kipling and Paul Dunn 21-14.
South Ramsey made the trip to Crosby as they took on Onchan in a fairly straightforward win by 45 chalks (189-144). Onchan did manage to win three of the 10 games with Mike Alexander edging home 21-20 against Stefan Kelly, Sue Gawne & Matthew Quirk won 21-13 against Steven Waters and Peter Collister, while Jamie Clague and Mike Thomas won to single figures (21-9) against Fiona Kennish and Glynn Hargraves.
The final got underway with South Ramsey putting out a stronger team in this competition than they have done since the competition was first played, as they looked to take home a clean sweep of the Associations top team prizes for the season, however Marown were favourites to retain the title that they have won for the previous three years the competition has been played.
Marown didn’t disappoint putting in a good performance in the singles games in the first half of the match with captain Paul Kelly gaining his revenge on Gill Dixon following the Mixed Team final last month as he won 21-14, while Rebecca Teare brushed aside Jenny Moore 21-8 on the same green that Teare recently won the IOM Bowls Festival on. Win number three arrived with Clare Cooper winning 21-16 against Toby Hart as the Crosby team opened up a commanding 25 chalk lead. In the doubles Debbie Leece and Paul Dunn extended the lead by another point as they beat Peter Collister and David Bradford 21-20. South Ramsey then picked up their first win of the night with their own 21-20 victory with Glynn Hargraves and James Teare recovering from a 14-19 deficit to sneak home against Brian Kelly and Philippa Taylor.
In the second half of the match Marown knew they just needed to score well in the games, avoiding any heavy defeats to ensure the title was theirs once again. Juan Killip and Karl Parker picked up Marown’s second 21-20 of the night in their favour as they held off Lee Dawson and Steven Waters, while Tony Dugdale fought back from a 3-13 deficit against Peter Jones only to eventually lose out 17-21. Jordan Cain then secured South Ramsey’s second win of the night with a 21-13 victory over Walter McCarthy.
With the last two games on the green Marown had enough points on the board to be safe in the knowledge the title was theirs once again as Bob Clark managed to beat Glenn Boland 21-14, with Clark leading 12-1, Boland dug deep playing a longer mark to get back into the game before losing out. The last match of the night was a good battle between Matthew Keggen and Neil Withers who were up against Elaine Moore and Fiona Kennish with the South Ramsey ladies just losing out 20-21 to the Marown men. The final score on games was 7-3 to Marown, with the all important chalks also going in their favour 194-178 as they won by 16 chalks. The match was well contested throughout with four games going to the wire 21-20, however Marown were deserved winners on the night.
The presentation was made by Association Press Officer Glynn Hargraves 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 South Ramsey.
The BCGBA Champion of Champions Event returned to the bowls calendar for the first time in three years, with the last time it was held in 2019 the Men’s title was won by Manx Man Colin Kelly at the famous Waterloo Bowling Green in Blackpool at ‘The Wembley of Bowls’ which is sadly no longer. The Men’s competition was held on Saturday at Monk Sports & Social Club in Warrington.
Representing the Isle of Man was South Ramsey’s David Bradford, who qualified in July having won the Manx Championship for a second time. He had the unenviable task of facing Callum Wraight in the first round, with his opponent having qualified through winning the BCGBA Senior Individual Merit for the second time. In truth Wraight could have qualified for this event many times over having won over 20 competitions this season, this in itself showing the task ahead of Bradford.
The Manx Man was a last minute arrival to the venue, having difficulty getting a taxi to the bowling green that morning, however Bradford arrived with a minute to spare before going on in the first round of games. Settling into the game early Bradford opted for a longer length, with Wraight preferring a shorter mark. The game was keenly contested throughout with the score tied at 14-14, then 16-16 only for Bradford to take the initiative and go into a 19-17 lead and then 20-18 to maintain his two point lead, as Bradford made no mistake as he went on to seal a famous 21-18 victory.
In the Last 16 Bradford went on to play Alex Hassall – Midland Masters Merit winner. In this game Hassall become something of a one bowl wonder with 15 singles scored and just one double, while Bradford scored four doubles which was ultimately the difference in a keenly contested game as he went on to win 21-17 to progress to the next round.
At the quarter final stage Bradford was up against Andy Proctor winner of the BCGBA Jack & Jean Isherwood Championship, with Proctor a IOM June Festival winner in 1993 enjoying something of a renaissance of late, as he built up a 10-5 lead over the South Ramsey man, with Bradford doing nothing wrong. With Proctor renowned for his striking ability enjoying considerable success with four hits from four strikes in the early stages of the game. Bradford had to big deep to get back into the game and managed to turn the game around to go into the lead by four points at 16-12. Proctor responded with two singles and two doubles to lead 18-16, only for the pair to exchange singles over three ends to put the score at 18-19. On the next end Bradford was counting for one, however a great last bowl from Proctor somewhat unbelievably made two to win the game 21-18 to end the hopes of Bradford.
In the semi-finals Proctor faced Chris Kelly winner of The Sandal Classic, with the former having built up a huge lead over his opponent, Kelly fought back to see the game out with a 21-19 win to reach the final. The other semi-final had Lee Kington winner of the Warwick & Worcester Merit have his run ended by IOM June Festival winner James Wilcox.
The final went to the wire with Kelly edging home 21-20 against Wilcox to pick up his first Champion of Champions title.
Ladies Event
On Sunday it was the Ladies turn to impress at the same venue with two local representatives competing, with more South Ramsey players featuring as Elaine Moore – September Isle of Man Tourism Winner took to the green with daughter Jenny Moore – Ladies Manx Champion also qualifying.
Elaine battled well in her game with Emma Tobin (British Parks Merit Winner) before succumbing 18-21 in her first round tie.
Jenny had the tough task of facing one of the top UK bowlers in Alexis Lunn-Gadd (Yorkshire Merit Winner) with Jenny putting in a good performance to win her first round game 21-14, with the final score only telling half the story as Jenny trailed 1-9 before hitting top gear as Lunn-Gadd scored just five more points to Moore’s 20 points from end seven onwards.
In the second round Jenny made a much better start against North Derbyshire Merit winner Janice Wilson with a 21-4 victory, keeping her opponent to four singles throughout the game as she progressed to the next round.
In the quarter final the game was much more evenly contested with a tough battle with Christine Davies winner of the Blackpool Spring Festival. Jenny managed to build up a seven chalk lead over her opponent to sit just one point away from victory at 20-13, however Davies had other ideas fighting back well scoring five singles and a double to tie the score at 20-20. On the deciding end Davies was counting one for game, however Jenny knocked her opponents bowl off to seal a 21-20 win.
At the semi-final stage and in her fourth game of the day Jenny faced Lynsey Gorman winner of the Merseyside Merit and another well known bowler. The game was once again well contested with Gorman eventually going into a four point lead at 14-10 after 20 ends. Jenny hit back to lead 15-14, only for Gorman to recover her four point lead at 19-15. The game looked to be going to the wire and so it proved with Jenny picking up three singles, then conceded a single to trail by two points at 18-20. A good two from Jenny tied the game at 20-20. On the deciding end Gorman played a good first bowl to beat Jenny’s lead, with Moore taking the block off the green to save the game. On the next end Lynsey once again put up a good first bowl to beat Jenny’s lead, which went unbeaten as Jenny ended up on the wrong side of a 21-20 score in this round to narrowly miss out on the final.
In the other semi-final Shannon Kernick winner of the Norden Open Singles managed to see off Lorraine Hirst (Enid Blackburn Trophy winner) with a 21-11 win to reach the final.
In the final the less experienced Kernick, had a tough battle with Gorman, however Kernick prevailed 21-17 to seal the title with a solid performance.
The crown green bowls league season came to a conclusion this week as the league winners, promotion battles and bottom teams were settled in all three divisions along with the individual merit winners.
In Canada Life International Division One South Ramsey A proved to be the top team – but only just as they retained the Warburton Trophy after doing what needed to be done in their last game of the 2022 season with no nerves evident in their 2-8 win over Castletown A at the Crofts, to seal a back to back League and Rayner Shield double. South Ramsey were expected to walk the league this season following two good signings over the winter, however they faced some difficulties in the second half of the season following a tough to take 8-2 away defeat to Marown A. That result looked to have put Marown A in the driving seat, however the return of John Kennish to the side after almost four years out of the game gave a huge lift to the team on and more importantly off the green. The team finished three points worse off than 2021 with 170 points.
Marown A finished the season in second place with an expected 1-9 away win over Port Erin A, with Bernie Durcan once again the man preventing a whitewash for his team. The Crosby men will once again be taking a look at where they can improve next season, having got themselves into a position where the league was theirs to lose, a damaging 6-4 away defeat to a struggling Peel B ultimately cost them the league. Marown continued a run that has resulted in them finishing no lower than second place in every season since 1996 as they finished the season seven points better off than 2021, just two points off top spot. They can take heart in their improvement in points this season, were undoubtedly boosted by the signing of Peter Jones who relocated to the Island half way through the season and there are already rumours of a signing from outside the club for next season as they look to wrestle the league title back from South Ramsey.
The individual merit winner went to the wire, it was Marown stalwart Colin Kelly who sealed the accolade as he won 21 games from 22 played, his one and only defeat of the season arrived in the first game at the hands of Nathan Hamilton. Finishing in second place was Onchan’s Matthew Quirk who ended the season with a 20-21 defeat to Dean Kinley as Quirk won 20 games out of 22. Marown Captain Paul Dunn finished in third place with 19 wins from 21 games, followed closely by three South Ramsey players all with 18 wins.
Onchan A had a tough night on Monday losing 3-5 on games at home to Peel A, however they won the aggregate by 15 chalks to draw 5-5 on the night.
Marown B suffered the shock of the night losing 2-8 at home to Port St Mary A, this didn’t stop the Crosby men finishing in fourth spot to confirm my early season prediction, which they achieved fairly ahead of Peel A who were six points off the pace.
Both teams that were promoted last season, Onchan B and Port Erin A finished in the bottom two to confirm an immediate return to Division Two, with the three teams above them Peel B, Castletown A and North Ramsey A never really in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle.
In Division Two runaway league leaders South Ramsey B had no pressure on them going into their last game of the season at home to Castletown B as they could enjoy the night with a 10-0 victory to win the league by a staggering 19 points with 169 points. This bodes well for them in 2023, as they look to ensure they do not become another yo-yo team.
Finishing in second place were Marown C on 150 points, as they finished seven points ahead of Ballaugh A thanks to their 8-2 away win over Noble’s A. It is great to see a team – led by Stephen Rundle start together and come through the leagues, with a little ambition going a long way as they have all improved with a number of their players pushing for a place in their B Team. Bar a major restructure of the divisions next season they will be gaining vital first division experience whilst also competing against their higher ranked teams.
Ballaugh A finished in third place, as they face another season in division two, they may well be looking to bring players into their A Team who will be keen to test themselves in the first division as they look to gain promotion.
Finishing in rock bottom on 66 points were 2021 division three winners Ballaugh B, who like most promoted teams went straight back down. Also finishing in the bottom two were Port St Mary B, who probably struggled to adapt to their temporary home at Breagle Glen as they finished on 69 points despite a 7-3 home win against Douglas B. Bucking the trend of immediate relegation back to the third division were Onchan C, who picked up enough points in their last game of the season as they lost 4-6 at home to a tough South Ramsey C team.
The individual merit went to South Ramsey B player Alan Moore, who managed to finish top of the pile with 18 wins from 21 games played (10 chalks dropped). Finishing in second place was team-mate Tony Dugdale, who led for most of the season before suffering a defeat in the South Ramsey derby to James Evans last week as Dugdale won 18 out of 22 games (14 chalks dropped). Marown man Peter Kelly proved he can still compete with 17 wins from 19 games played as he finished in third place (11 chalks dropped).
In Division Three it was North Ramsey B who made it a clean sweep for the Ramsey teams as they won the Chatel Cup sealing the title with 145 points following their 3-7 win at the Villa. Their cause was undoubtedly helped with five of players having previously played first division bowls now plying their trade in the lower leagues.
Finishing six points behind the league winners were Noble’s B, who had a tough looking and season defining away fixture against Marown D with the hosts needing to win 8-2 to ensure they finished in second place. The match was as well contested as expected, for the home team Richard Bregazzi lost out 17-21 to Alex Hampson, while Alan Gault just fell at the last hurdle 20-21 to Phil Salmon. James Kelly managed to hold off Terry Bates 21-19, while Phil Dunn beat Noel Ash 21-18. Marown D cruelly just missed out on finishing in second place by two points despite winning 6-4 on the night.
Sealing the individual merit was Marown D player Jay Waters with a 21-14 win over Grahem Moore, with Waters safe in the knowledge the merit was already his – with 19 wins from 20 games played (four chalks dropped). Finishing second overall was another young player with Sam Stannard-Duke winning 17 games out of 19 (27 chalks dropped).
It is great to see a healthy number of new and junior bowlers gaining vital experience, with Alex Hampson proving to be the most successful junior bowler in division three with 11 wins out of 20 as he capped off a fine season having impressed for the Junior Island Team back in June.
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 green proved a challenge, with it running as well as it has all season.
Young Manx Masters
The Young Manx Masters was contested by six players – all girls. This competition was played in a round robin format with the girls in the same group playing eight ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. After a good morning of bowls, it was Grayse Blencoe and Bailey McMullan (Both Mooragh Park) who topped the group tied on 44 points. This resulted in a three end shootout with the latter winning all three ends to go one better than last year to pick up her first win in the competition.
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 home greener Toby Hart in his last year of being eligible to play, as he defeated the 2021 winner Madison McMullan (North Ramsey). Toby made a good start going into a 13-8 lead, which he extended further to lead 17-10. Madison pulled the score back to 14-17, however four successive singles from Toby was enough to secure the victory.
Losing out at the semi-final stage were the Colquitt brothers from Marown, with the younger brother Alex putting up a good fight against Toby Hart before losing 15-21, while Sam lost out 8-21 to Madison McMullan.
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, made all the more remarkable with having to contend with a tricky green.
The junior competitions had a new sponsor on board this year with JP Corry Isle of Man pleased to be supporting the event for the first time with the prizes presented by Steven Waters. All competitors who took part received a prize. A huge thanks must go to the coaches – Clare Cooper, Phil Kelly & Colin Kelly who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning.
Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion 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. In a change this year 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 Louise Tebay (Ballaugh) 14-21 to Jenny Moore (South Ramsey), Jayne Smith was well beaten 7-21 by home greener Fiona Kennish. Clare Cooper edged home 21-20 in a battle with team-mate Debbie Leece, while Paula Firth ended the challenge of Kim Hargraves (South Ramsey) 21-15.
At the semi-final stage Moore ended the run of Kennish with a 21-10 win to book her place in the final, whilst Firth managed to see off Cooper with a hard fought 21-18 victory to reach her first final in this event.
In the final Firth kept in touch with Moore trailing by just two chalks after 10 ends at 9-11. From there the latter stepped up a couple of gears to score three doubles and four singles, conceding just one more chalk to run out with a deserved 21-10 victory to win the title for a fifth successive year, with Moore reaffirming her status as the number one player in the Ladies game.
Mens Manx Masters
In the Men’s event four of the eight last 16 games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 16 or more. Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greener Bob Clark who battled well before losing out 18-21 to team-mate Glynn Hargraves, Matthew Quirk (Onchan) was beaten 15-21 by Marown captain Paul Dunn. In the bottom half of the draw Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) was well beaten 13-21 by Peter Jones (Marown) while last year’s finalist Kevin Quirk (Onchan) had his hands full with Stevie Kelly (Peel) as the Onchan man lost out 18-21.
In the semi-final Kelly was just two points behind Jones at 14-16 after 18 ends, with the latter going on to score a single and two doubles to run out with a 21-14 win. In the other semi-final it went to the wire with the game well contested throughout, with Dunn prevailing 21-20, the difference being Dunn scoring five doubles to his opponents four to book his place in the final.
In front of a healthy crowd who had stayed for the duration, the final started under the floodlights, however this did not reduce the standard of bowls from either player. It was nip and tuck in the early stages of the game with the score tied at 9-9 after 10 ends. Jones went on take control of the game with some excellent first bowls to his own jack to build up a seven-point lead at 17-10.
Dunn got in with a double just before a break in play as a minute’s silence at 8pm was impeccably observed by the players and spectators. The Marown captain went on to concede a single, then scored four successive singles to close the gap to just two chalks at 16-18 to stand a fighting chance. Jones ensured the comeback ended there as he got in with his first bowl, then scored two more singles to see the game out with a 21-16 victory to seal his first win in this competition in his first time playing in the event.
At the end of the competition the presentation was made by South Ramsey club captain Glynn Hargraves, who thanked Alan Moore for his excellent work running the sheets for all four 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 Jones thanked the club for hosting the event, stating he was delighted to have won the competition and was made up with how welcoming the local bowls community had been since he & his wife Cathy had moved to the Island three months ago.