There was an excellent entry of 57 who took part in the last Dreswick Cup at Port St Mary’s current bowling green. The competition was once again sponsored by The Albert Hotel – Port St Mary. The hottest day of the year and an extremely tricky green led to an excellent afternoon of bowling.

In the quarter finals the current holder and home favourite Trevor Quayle lost out 12-21 to Bob Clark (Castletown), with another home greener Wayne Robert’s also losing 12-21 to Colin Kelly (Marown). In an all Peel tie Gary Smith got the better of teammate Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-16, while Karl Parker (Marown) performed well before losing out 18-21 to Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey).

In the first semi-final Clark got the better of Kelly with a 21-15 win to take his place in the final, while in the second semi Hargraves looked dead and buried trailing 9-17 to Smith, however and not for the first time that day Hargraves fought back to run out with a 21-18 win.

In the final Clark started off the quicker of the two as he took a 10-6 lead with two doubles. With excellent bowling from both players, Hargraves responded to take the lead 13-10 playing a tricky mark over the crown. A double for Clark had the match finely poised at 12-13 before Hargraves moved up another gear to take firm control of the match to lead 20-14 and within touching distance of the win, however two quick fire doubles then three singles over the next five ends from Clark, who never played the same mark twice was enough to complete a remarkable comeback to win The Dreswick Cup for the first time in what was an entertaining final. This was Clark’s first singles title this season having come close on a number of occasions this season.

At the presentation Club President Peter Collins thanked the Port St Mary ladies for their usual excellent catering, Wayne Robert’s for preparing the green and running the competition along with anyone else that helped on the day. Long standing sponsor of the competition Pat O’Meara from the Albert Hotel was then introduced to present the prizes.

Peel Sunset Bowling club hosted the popular Peel Town Cup, attracting a perfect entry of 64 men. The green was in fantastic condition with a smooth and tricky surface to add to the hottest day of the year. With handicaps ranging from +3 to +9 it made for an interesting day with some shock results. There were a number of high profile casualties early on with some excellent ties.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), who lost out 18-21 to Nathan Hamilton (Castletown), home greener Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was heavily defeated 8-21 by Dean Kinley (Castletown, while Allan Kennaugh (Onchan) fought back from a 15-20 deficit before losing out 20-21 to Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey). Tommy McMeiken (Peel) performed well to end the challenge of Neil Withers (Marown) to book his place in the semi-final.

Incredibly by the semi-final there was not just going to be a new name on the trophy, but also a first time men’s singles open winner with Stefan Kelly’s previous success a few years ago being a mixed singles in the Thurlwell Bowl. Kelly had a tough battle with McMeiken before eventually getting over the line 21-18. In the other semi the two Castletown men also had a close game with Kinley building up a good lead before eventually winning 21-17 against team mate Hamilton to reach his first final.

The final was both players sixth game of the day, with Kinley (+6) only having a slight start on Kelly (+5) it was Kelly who made a good start to lead 9-6 after three ends, before Kinley took four of the next five ends to lead 12-10. Kelly responded with three singles to lead 13-12. Kinley was playing well as he took three ends in a row to once again take the lead at 16-13.

The rest of the game was tense with both players scoring singles all the way as Kinley took three of the next four ends to lead 19-17 he was just one end away from his first open title and was lying game only for Kelly to bowl a winner.

On the next end Kelly forfeited the jack due to not playing his jack far enough, despite this Kelly won the end on a measure along the seaside edge with a good second bowl. Kelly headed for the crown, as he had enjoyed good success playing these marks throughout the day. Once again a great second bowl won the end for Kelly to go 20-19 ahead.

On the final end Kelly put up a superb lead, which Kinley attacked with his first bowl and just missed. Kelly played his second bowl short and in the way to protect his bowl. Kinley once again played a reaching bowl this time on the round peg and took the bowl out cleanly, however with both his own bowl and Kelly’s bowl going off the green it meant Kelly’s short bowl was the one that counted to secure his first men’s singles competition title and the £160 first prize.

Kelly only scored one double throughout the final, with Kinley scoring three doubles proving how well contested the game was. Kelly proved to be a popular winner and showed great composure and maturity all day.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition secretary Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, who thanked the sponsors IOM Seafoods for their support, Club Chairman Dougie Allan was then introduced to present the prizes, he thanked the team who work on the green for what made an interesting day of bowling, the club members for assisting throughout the day.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One this week vital points were dropped by the top three teams as we reached the halfway point of the season.

League leaders South Ramsey A recorded an 8-2 home win over Douglas A, with the home team missing out on a maximum by just four chalks with Andy Cannell recovering from a 13-18 deficit to run out with a 21-18 win, whilst Shaun Seal trumped that result coming back from 15-20 behind to beat Alan Moore 21-20. For South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves led the way with a 21-3 win over Kevin Firth, whilst Peter Collister had to work hard for his 21-17 win over Keith Rise. Despite dropping two points South extended their lead to nine points over the chasing teams.

Second placed Peel A had a tough night down south against Port St Mary A on a green that is proving tough for visiting teams, however the visitors took a 4-6 win. Winning for the visitors were Tom Kelly, who beat Robbie Cooil 21-17, Ste Kelly won 21-13 against Paul Skelly, Gary Smith seems to be finding some form winning 21-10 against Paul Russell, while Tommy McMeiken beat Tom Collins 21-7. For the home team Trevor Quayle beat George Gadsby 21-9, Tim Williams inflicted a third straight league defeat on Peter Greenlees with his 21-10 win, while Wayne Roberts beat Darren Young 21-18, a score matched by Dan McCabe who beat Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly who suffered his fifth league defeat of the season. Peel took the aggregate by eight chalks (131-139).

North Ramsey A welcomed Marown A to Mooragh Park with the visitors taking a 3-7 away win, for a second week running they will have been disappointed not to get a couple more points in the bag with captain Paul Dunn losing out 20-21 to Robert Monk, while Neil Withers lost 19-21 to Allan Callow. John Cannan had a comfortable 21-10 win against Matthew Keggen, whilst Dean Kipling’s return continues to add value to the Crosby men on the green with a 21-4 victory over Lee Christian, also Kipling’s support around the green will no doubt prove crucial in the second half of the season.

Onchan A continue to work their way up the table after a poor start to the season, they won 9-1 at home to bottom team Noble’s A, with Mark Quinn preventing the whitewash with his 21-17 win over Mark Kelly. Stephen Hampson came closest to picking up another point for Noble’s as he scored 17 against Frank Watson. Four of the home wins were to single figures from Jordan Cain, Matthew Quirk, Phil Kerruish and Jamie Clague who was stepping up from the C Team and jumped at the chance to impress.

Peel B pulled off a mini upset with their 7-3 home win over Castletown A as they reminded everyone what they are capable of doing to teams. The ‘real’ Paul Quirk had a fine 21-9 win over Ian Watson, Gordon Corrin recorded a 21-16 victory against Sam Clague and Michael Kavanagh just scraped home 21-20 against Aaron Richardson. Winning for the Town men were the youthful trio of Jordan Drewett who beat Robert Middleton 21-11, Bob Clark who beat Brian Lindsay to single figures, while Nathan Hamilton battled to a 21-18 win against Dougie Allan. The home team took the win by just seven chalks (142-135) with a result that is a massive boost for their survival hopes.

In Division Two South Ramsey B similar to the Ballaugh Teams in Division three, are another team who need to look at their B and C teams to put out a side that is not just capable of going up to division one, but able to stay there comfortably as they suffered a 4-6 away loss to Douglas B, losing the aggregate by just one chalk (133-132). To put the result into context South Ramsey’s lower ranked C Team visited the same team last week and came away with a 2-8 win. Whilst it is a different night and the pace of the green may be different, however the merit table should give an indication as to who should be playing their bowls for the higher ranked side next season. Tony Dugdale leads the individual merit with a perfect 10 games played and won at the half way point.

Onchan B hit top spot despite a tough looking home fixture against South Ramsey C as they managed to take a solid 8-2 victory, thanks to two 21-20 wins from Mike Kelly and Paul Clinton who edged home against Tony Hart and his son Toby Hart respectively.

Port Erin A made the short trip to take on Port St Mary B on a tricky green, with the hosts used to a fast green they would have been hoping to catch the Breagle Glen men out, however the visitors took a hard earned 4-6 win with Derek Allen’s 21-4 victory over Derek Cain helping his team to take the aggregate by 12 chalks (136-148).

Castletown B didn’t have the best of results with their 6-4 home win over Peel C. For the visitors Ian Pendlebury and Jeff Wilson both won 21-19 against Derek Lewney and Ron Williams respectively, whilst Collin Holland made the difference for the Town men with a ruthless 21-3 win over Kevin Mort, as the home team took the aggregate by 13 chalks (148-135).

Finch Hill A slumped to a second successive 3-7 defeat, this time at home to the impressive Marown C, who I am sure will have a few players knocking on the door to get into the B Team next season, which would involve taking the next step up to the first division. Jamie Joughin is performing particularly well with nine wins from 10 games played, while team mate Walter McCarthy is hot on his heels with eight wins from nine games played. Marown sit in a comfortable seventh place, will no doubt be looking at the teams above them rather than below them as they head into the second half of the season.

In Division Three Onchan C recorded a 0-10 away win over Marown D, with the result putting them into top spot on 71 points. A point further back on Onchan are Ballaugh B who had a good 3-7 away win over South Ramsey D.

In third place with 64 points Port Erin B had a tough home game against Castletown C with the Breagle Glen men taking a 6-4 win, while Ballaugh C also have 64 points at the half way point after their 7-3 home win over Noble’s B.

Peel D rounded off the fixtures with a 7-3 home win over Douglas D. For the home team Andrew Cover and Andy Jackson both won 21-4 against John Harrison and Ashley Halsall respectively, while the visitors recorded two impressive wins of their own with John Ferguson beating Charlie McMeiken 21-3, while Nick Firth won 21-5 against Owen Crompton.

Wednesday night had the quarter final stages of the Rayner Shield take place with South Ramsey B hosting fellow division two team Castletown B on an extremely tricky green. The match was high scoring with the worst losses being to 16 by both teams. The Castletown team is packed with unbelievable experience and managed to draw 4-4 to ensure the result went down to chalks, with the Town men nicking the win by five chalks (152-157) to progress to the semi-finals. For the visitors Mike Hargraves and Derek Lewney both won 21-18, with George Peach and Ron Williams winning slightly more comfortably with 21-16 wins. For the home team Tony Dugdale and Ian Moore scraped home 21-20 against Juan Kermode and Peter Oates respectively, while Ben Dugdale beat Collin Holland 21-17 with Austin Hart taking the kitty after his 21-16 win over George Foy.

Marown A had their second visit of the week to Mooragh Park to take on North Ramsey A, this time taking a 2-6 away win with four of the wins to single figures from Juan Killip, Neil Withers, Paul Dunn and Matthew Keggen. Robert Monk and Allan Callow both won their second game of the week against the Marown men, this time more comfortably with Monk beating Phil Kelly 21-6 and Callow inflicting a 21-12 defeat on Dean Kipling.

South Ramsey A had what looked to be a comfortable 2-6 away win over Castletown A, however this was anything but the case after the first four games. For Castletown Aaron Richardson beat Chas Grills 21-7, with Nathan Hamilton seeing off James Teare 21-8. David Bradford responded with a good performance to win 21-14 against Bob Clark, while Stefan Kelly had to dig in at 18-20 behind against Dean Kinley to win 21-20, with the result taking the wind out of the Town men’s sails. In the second half South Ramsey won all four games, with two single figure wins of their own from Peter Collister who beat Ian Watson 21-6 and Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly who beat Sam Clague 21-8.  

Peel A despite missing two regulars managed to progress to the next round with a solid 5-3 home win over Douglas A with none of the games looking like they could have gone the other way. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly suffered a second defeat of the week this time at the hands of Jimmy Sansom who won 21-18. One of the men to step in for the A Team was Tony Carroon who beat Andy Cannell 21-15 with Cannell being in fine form so far this season.

In the Rayner Plate three quarter final fixtures were played on Wednesday evening with Noble’s B (+70) well beaten at home to Ballaugh C (+66) by 43 chalks (186-229).

Third division side Onchan C (+48) were at home and they couldn’t hold on to their 33 start against first division side Port St Mary A (+15) as they lost by 26 chalks, however Kelvin McNicholl was their only winner with his 21-14 victory over Paul Russell.

The closest match of the night was between Marown B (+9) who hosted Ballaugh B (+60) with the Crosby men having to give a 51 start to the visitors on the handicap, they managed to do this by just two chalks (168-166) thanks in part to three single figure wins from John Kelly, Brian Kelly and Glenn Boland to make sure they progressed to the next round. Winning for the third division team were Mike Buckeridge who beat Karl Parker 21-20, while John Bolton performed impressively to see off Bobby Thorne 21-13.

The remaining fixture between Marown C (+27) and Port St Mary B (+54) will be held on Wednesday 28th July at Crosby.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Henry Kissack Memorial Trophy on Sunday attracting an entry of 45 with an early start to ensure the competition would be finished in time to allow everyone to watch the football.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Reg Temporaza (Onchan) who had his challenge ended by home greener Colin Kelly 19-21, whilst fellow Marown man Paul Dunn beat team mate Neil Withers 21-13. South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves was well beaten 10-21 by Andy Kennish (Peel), whilst Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel) beat Brian Kelly (Marown) 21-13.

The semi-finals had team mates from Peel and Marown taking each other on with Andy Kennish and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly playing each other, with Kennish the current holder just edging home after battling back from a 6-18 deficit to win 21-20. Colin Kelly had things a bit more his own way with a 21-15 win over his captain Paul Dunn.

The final started with ten Manx Championship titles between the pair, with seven time Champion Kelly taking on three time winner Kennish. The latter got off to a flying start to go 17-7 up with 11 ends played. Kelly responded to pull the deficit back to 13-17 over the next five ends with Kelly having to strike to kill an end. Kennish got back in with a good bowl to score a single to take Kelly out of the corners and back on his favoured length. Two singles took Kennish to 20-13. Kelly fought back again with three doubles and a single to make the score 20-20. On what everyone thought was the last end Kelly killed the end once again to save the game. Kelly played a good lead only for Kennish to pull out another great bowl to see the game out to take a deserved win to retain the trophy and win it for a fifth time overall with a 21-20 victory.

The presentation was made by Neil Withers who thanked the Marown members for assisting throughout the day, the team in the kitchen for the refreshments and the green keepers for the preparing the green.

Mooragh Park was bathed in sunshine on Saturday afternoon when 48 bowlers took part in the Men’s Ramsey Town Cup sponsored by Corkhill and Callow.

In ideal bowling conditions the preliminary rounds were contested and some great games were won or lost with many of them down to the last point.

Making it through to the quarter finals Tom Kelly just pipped Peel team mate Gary Smith 21-19 as did home greener Gary Lenton who beat Tony Carroon (Peel) 21-20. South Ramsey’s Steven Waters and Glynn Hargraves had slightly easier wins and came out on top against Steve Walmsley (North Ramsey) 21-14 and Dave McCabe (Finch Hill 21-15.

The semi-final between Gary Lenton and Steven Waters was very close laying 19-19 after 17 ends. Gary claimed one point on the 18th end but Steven played a fantastic bowl on the 19th end to grab two points and claim his place in the final 21-20. The other semi between Glynn Hargraves and Tom Kelly was equally exciting with both players matching each other end to end and laying 20-20 after 19 ends. Glynn kept his cool winning the final point 21-20.

The final between two of South Ramsey’s most popular players was always going to be exciting. After 14 ends Glynn was playing catch up 12-16 but he played some great shots to overtake Steven on the 21st end leading 20-18 but two points to Steven on the next end left them 20-20 for the final end which was very close, but the final point went to Steven Waters and crowned him the winner of the Men’s Ramsey Town Cup 2021.

The prizes were presented by Tim Pressley Managing Director of Corkhill and Callow Funeral Directors who had kindly sponsored the competition. Thanks were given to the sponsors by Steven Waters who also thanked everyone at North Ramsey for hosting the event and all the work that has been done recently on the green to improve it’s condition.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One fixtures were put back to Wednesday evening due to the Bank Holiday on Monday, with some teams making an early start to allow players to get home to watch the big game!

Third placed Marown A hosted Peel B at Crosby, the home team whilst winning 7-3 would have been disappointing to drop three points with Peel’s Dougie Allan beating Matthew 21-18, whilst Brian Lindsay and Gordon Corrin both pipped Paul Kelly and Juan Killip 21-20 respectively. Peel will have been delighted with the three points. For the home team all their wins were comfortable, it looks like Dean Kipling could be a permanent fixture for the second half of the season, he won his game 21-14 against David Proctor.

Second placed Peel A bounced back from last week’s heavy defeat to win 8-2, they had the pleasure of hosting Marown B in the sunset city with Brian Kelly returning to his old stomping ground, he was one of two winners seeing off Tom Kelly 21-19, whilst Glenn Boland inflicted a second straight league defeat on Peter Greenlees with Boland winning 21-11. Winning to single figures for the home side were Gary Smith, Ste Kelly and George Gadsby.

Ballaugh A welcomed league leaders South Ramsey A, with the home team losing 2-8 to the visitors. Winning for the home team were John ‘Shirt’ Keenan who shown his class to recover from a 2-12 deficit against Grandson Stefan Kelly to run out with a 21-15 win, whilst John Maddrell never knows when he is beaten, fighting back from a 15-20 deficit to Chas Grills to win 21-20. Ballaugh could have had a third win on the night with Richard Hainge leading 17-11 against James Teare, who dug in to run out with a 21-18 victory. The visitors had two single figure victories with Dido Kelly winning 21-8 against Tony Quine, whilst Alan Moore continues his return to form playing brilliantly to win 21-6 against Patrick Grant.

Port St Mary A are in somewhat of a false position having played seven of their 11 home league games due to not having floodlights for later on in the season, they held off Castletown A on a fast home green to record a 6-4 win, with Ray Watterson showing he has still got what it takes to compete in division one with a stunning 21-0 victory over Nathan Cooil. At the other end of the spectrum captain Wayne Roberts was on the right side of a 21-20 this week, beating opposing captain Ian Watson. Trevor Quayle returned to winning ways with a 21-7 win against Dean Kinley, whilst Robbie Cooil continues to fly high in the overall merit defeating Aaron Richardson 21-12 to make it eight wins from 10 games. For the visitors Jordan Drewett just edged home 21-20 against Tim Williams, Bob Clark won to single figures against Paul Russell, whilst Sam Clague won 21-14 against Juan Hargraves, with the latter helping out his club playing in just his fourth game of bowls since 2017 and first since 2019.

Two teams suffered 10-0 home defeats, with Noble’s A losing to Douglas A, with Martyn Hobson coming closest to picking up a point for his team, before losing out 18-21 to Gary Conwell, whilst North Ramsey A didn’t make home advantage count with their heavy defeat at the hands of Onchan A.

In Division Two South Ramsey B moved their home match with Finch Hill A to Friday evening with both teams having the opportunity to go top if they recorded a big win. The home team made home advantage count winning 7-3 with Tony Dugdale and Steven Waters both winning to single figures, whilst Ben Dugdale had to work hard to beat Dave Jones 21-19, and Eddie Carlyle just got home 21-20. For the visitors Tony Epifani made sure it wasn’t an even heavier defeat winning 21-19 against Christian Caley, whilst Dave McCabe and John Harris won comfortably against Bryan Corner and George Brew respectively. The result put the South Ramsey men joint top with Castletown B on 56 points.

Port St Mary B and Castletown B played out a true draw 5-5 with both teams winning four games and tying on chalks (140-140) to share the aggregate.

Marown C suffered a 2-8 home defeat to Port Erin A with both teams winning and losing a 21-20, For the Crosby men Jamie Joughin was on the right side of the score, whilst captain Stephen Rundle, was the wrong side losing out to Bernie Durcan.

South Ramsey C came away from the Villa pleased with their 8-2 away win over Douglas B, just missing out on a 10-0 win by just seven chalks, with David Corkill losing 17-21 to Bob Callow, whilst Andy Morgan recovered from a slow start before losing out 18-21 to Steve Gregg.

Onchan B stay in the mix for a long awaited return to division one, following their 8-2 away win against Finch Hill B, with Will Penhallurick continuing to impress at this level, he recorded a 21-15 win over Kevin Stannard.

The Division Three fixtures were unusually held before the top two divisions last week due to the Bank Holiday, with league leaders Ballaugh B not having it all their own way dropping four points with their 6-4 home win over Port Erin B.

Ballaugh B were well beaten 8-2 away to Onchan C with Gordie Moore winning 21-20 against Sid McKnight for the visitors to prevent an even heavier defeat.

Something doesn’t sit quite right with me following the Douglas D result against Douglas C, with the lower ranked D team winning 9-1 this could mean a reshuffling of the teams is required for next season to get the teams right, however the D side is full of new bowlers who appear to be enjoying the game since they took it up. Three single figure victories for the D team, is proof the result was well deserved.

Castletown C suffered a 7-3 home defeat to Peel D who themselves have a number of new bowlers who continue to impress, they have Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton leading the way for them as he won 21-8 against Byron Mercer to make it eight wins from nine games played, whilst for Castletown John Matheson was one of three home team winners and currently sits top of the individual merit to remain unbeaten this season thanks to his 21-7 win over Andy Morrison.

South Ramsey D slipped to a 4-6 defeat at home to Noble’s B, with players on both teams all reaching double figures, with the visitors taking the aggregate by 10 chalks (129-139).

Marown hosted the ever popular Tynwald Day R & A Grimshaw Pairs Trophy on Bank Holiday Monday with 30 pairs taking part.

At the end of the day it was the Marown duo of Neil Withers and Paul Dunn, who beat the Castletown pairing of Nathan Hamilton and Bob Clark 21-12 in the final to continue their success in doubles competitions this season. The game was well contested early on, with the score 14-12 to Withers and Dunn after 11 ends, it looked like the match could go the distance. From there the home pairing shifted up a few gears to pick up a three, followed by two doubles to ensure the trophy went home with the Crosby men.

Losing out in the semi-finals to the winners were South Ramsey’s Peter Collister and Glynn Hargraves (Castletown) to Withers and Dunn, with the former pair trailing all game before making a mini recovery only to eventually lose out 15-21. The other losing semi-finalists were Andy Kennish (Peel) and James Teare (South Ramsey) who lost 18-21 to Hamilton and Clark.

Losing quarter finalists were home greeners Walter McCarthy and Phil Kelly, Juan Killip and Colin Kelly, South Ramsey’s Tony Hart and Lee Dawson along with 2020 winners Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore (also South Ramsey).

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Philip Kelly, who thanked everyone who had helped with the running of the competition and the Marown Ladies for the refreshments provided throughout the day. The newly crowned Manx Champion was then introduced to present the prizes.

Marown Bowling Club hosted this year’s Canada Life International sponsored Manx Championship with the competition once again played over two weekends. The competition attracted 91 entries – the highest entry seen the 1980’s, with the qualifying day held last Sunday whittling the field down to 32 for finals day. At the start of the day there were five previous winners in the field, however four of them fell before the quarter finals to leave the six time champion Colin Kelly as clear favourite on his home green. There was an excellent crowd who came to support their club mates, which added to the great atmosphere.

Last 16 Results

Phil Kerruish 20-21 Dean Kinley
Stevie Kelly 17-21 Bob Clark
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-9 Gary Smith
Matthew Quirk 21-12 Robert Monk

Neil Withers 13-21 Colin Kelly
Stevie Rundle 12-21 Trevor Quayle
Jordan Cain 21-17 Peter Collister
Walter McCarthy 21-19 Jamie Clague

In the quarter finals Dean Kinley (Castletown), who had put out last year’s champion Paul Dunn 21-7 in his first game of the day had his challenge ended by teammate Bob Clark losing 16-21, whilst Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel) recovered from a poor start only to lose out 18-21 to Onchan’s Matthew Quirk. Home favourite Colin Kelly had to battle hard to beat Port St Mary’s Trevor Quayle 21-17, whilst Marown C Team player Walter McCarthy performed brilliantly to claim a nerve-wracking 21-20 victory over Jordan Cain (Onchan), playing a brilliant last bowl to progress to the semi-final.

The semi-finals had Kelly up against McCarthy, with Kelly wasting no time in booking his place in the final, thanks to a 21-6 win over his club mate. In the other semi Clark just about kept his nose in front for most of the game against Quirk, leading 15-10, then 18-11 and 19-13 only for Quirk to take a double, a single and another double to close the deficit to just one chalk at 18-19. Clark then made sure of his place in the final with a double on the last end to take a deserved 21-18 win in a good quality contest.

The final started with Kelly the hot favourite on his own green, however Clark had been the favourite from those never to have won the Manx Championship previously to get their name on the trophy, has a good record in head to heads against Kelly and is unflappable under pressure. Both players preferred to play a fair distance, with Kelly leading 9-6 after 12 ends with two doubles from Clark thanks to Kelly uncharacteristically putting both bowls in the ditch in the same corner on two separate occasions. From there the final was thrilling to watch, with Clark having to pull out some great bowls on a number of occasions to stay in touch with Kelly.

One of the defining moments of the game came on the 26th end with Kelly jumping in on Clark’s lead to play a good first bowl with the score 16-15 to the former. With his second bowl Clark ran into the back of Kelly’s bowl and Clark probably felt confident he would only be one down, however Kelly had other ideas, sending his bowl on the other peg to flick off his own bowl then trail the jack to make a brilliant two and increase his lead to 18-15. Kelly then picked up a single on the next end thanks to a great second bowl to play Clark out, only to then have a good lead beaten by another fantastic bowl from Clark to stay in the game at 16-19 to keep the pressure firmly on. On the following end Clark played his lead eight inches to the side of the jack, only for Kelly to play him out once again to lead 20-16. On the final end Kelly played a good lead, with Clark’s bowl just clipping Kelly’s bowl and running through. With his final bowl Clark changed his peg to play a reaching bowl, cruelly missing everything to give Kelly a 21-16 victory in a thrilling final for the spectators. The standard of bowling over distance was of an excellent standard from both players, this final will be remembered for a long time.

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Steve Moore, who introduced Daniel Pownall from the sponsors Canada Life International to present the prizes. Thanks were given to Marown for hosting the event, the greenkeepers for preparing the green, the ladies for the refreshments provided, and all the club members who assisted with the measuring & stewarding throughout. In his speech Kelly was understandably emotional upon claiming his first Manx Championship win on his own green, seventh title overall and this was the fourth different decade that he has won the Manx Championship, with this one being watched by his wife Margaret, children Tom and Kevin and parents Juan and Isabel, it was clear to see how much it meant to him. Both finalists are now eligible to play in the Senior Merit Trophy at Heaton Park BC in Manchester on Saturday 24th July.