Marown Bowling Club were the host club on Saturday as they held the Marown Magic Carpets Mixed Singles for the second time attracting an entry of 56. The competition was played in a big smash style format, which has proved popular in the U.K. and is played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. Players were given a handicap ranging from 0 to 3. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner of the game.

Losing quarter finalists were Bernie Durcan (Port Erin) who lost 7-15 to home greener Matthew Keggen, Frank Watson (Onchan) had his run ended by Marown captain Paul Dunn 10-17, Jordan Cain stormed into a huge unassailable lead to beat South Ramsey team mate David Bradford 17-7, while Rob Middleton did enough to ensure he progressed to the next round with a victory over Stefan Kelly with the latter falling too far behind to play the last end with the score at 12-7 to Middleton.

In the semi-finals club mates Keggen and Dunn clashed, with Dunn doing enough to reach the final courtesy of a 14-10 win, while Middleton just edged home 15-14 against Cain in a nervy finish.

The final started with Dunn conceding the first end with a single and starting three behind on the handicap, he ensured he did not under-estimate his opponent who had taken some good scalps throughout the day. Dunn then clicked into gear to take the next eight ends to lead 14-4 after nine ends. Middleton scored a single on the power end to count for two on end 10 to go eight chalks behind at 14-6. Dunn made sure of the victory over the next few ends with a single and a double to ensure he retained the title he won last season with a well-deserved 17-8 victory.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by club members Brian Kelly and Clare Cooper, who thanked Magic Carpets for their continued sponsorship, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all who came to support. In his speech Dunn reiterated his thanks to the sponsors.

South Ramsey Bowling Club were the hosts for the Jim Senior Any Combination Triples with the format change appearing to prove popular amongst the Islands bowlers as 26 teams – 78 bowlers taking part on a superb playing surface. The competition has a change of sponsor this year with Quay Fitness Gym Ramsey supporting the competition.

Navigating their way through the early rounds to reach the semi-finals were the Marown Trio of Clare Cooper, Debbie Leece and Rebecca Teare, who kept their opponents down to scoring on four ends throughout the game as they secured a comfortable 21-13 win over Wayne Roberts, Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) and Marown’s Glenn Boland.

In the other semi-final it was looking like it could go to the wire between two South Ramsey teams with James Teare, Alan Moore and Jenny Moore up against Glynn Hargraves, Stefan Kelly and Dido Kelly with the score tied at 12-12 after nine ends, however a run of four scoring ends for James, Alan and Jenny with two singles, a three and a four was enough to secure their spot in the final with a 21-12 win.

In the final the Marown Ladies won the first three ends to lead 9-5, with the home greeners bouncing back to take the next five ends to lead 11-9, only for another run of three scoring ends from the Marown trio including picking up a three seen them go ahead 14-11. The South Ramsey trio fought back again scoring a three themselves followed by a single to edge ahead with the score at 15-14. The Marown Team dug deep scoring with a double, a three and another double in between conceding two singles to see the game out and take a deserved 21-17 victory to secure the trophy and the £240 first prize.

At the presentation, South Ramsey Bowling Club Chairman Steve Moore thanked the sponsors and everybody at the club that helped make the competition a success. Sian was then introduced from the Sponsors Quay Fitness to present the prizes with £600 paid out in prize money, with prizes being paid out down to the quarter finalists.

Saturday saw the first ever running of the KNR Construction Mixed Pairs, which was hosted by Douglas Bowling Club at their Villa Marina Green. On a bright but chilly day with the Green running well those watching were treated to some good bowls.

At the quarter final stage Tina Hampson (Onchan) and Dave Naughton (Noble’s) lost 8-21 to the Mother and Son pairing of Paula (Onchan) and Nick Firth (Douglas) and a great battle between Clare Cooper (Marown) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) and home greeners Jan West and Andy Cannell saw the latter pairing use their home green knowledge to take the win 21-18. Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin) and Mark Kelly (Onchan) showed good form to beat South Ramsey pair Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves 21-15, whilst another South Ramsey pairing Jenny Moore and James Teare took a 21-19 win against Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Andy Kennish (Peel).

In the semi-finals Jan West and Andy Cannell were forced to fight hard to eventually overcome Paula and Nick Firth, while Jenny Moore and James Teare put on a great show of bowling to beat Caroline Whitehead and Mark Kelly 21-7.

In the final Jenny and James started well to soon build up a lead with Jan and Andy then putting up a comeback but eventually found their opponents too strong and it was James and Jenny that took the win 21-13.

Gordon Wynne-Smythe of Douglas Bowling Club introduced Neil Clarke of KNR Construction to present the prizes and in his speech James Teare thanked the Sponsors, Douglas Bowling Club and the Greenkeeper and everyone who helped to run the event.

Douglas Bowling Club would also like to thank the Sponsors and everyone who helped on the day.

Marown held the opening tournament of the season following a gap of two years due to COVID, with the newly named Ian Kissack floodlight competition sponsored by Ardern & Druggan Limited attracting a healthy entry of 71. The competition was played over four days, handicaps ranging from two to eight with two qualifiers from the four qualifying sessions.

The competition commenced on Sunday afternoon with home greener Colin Kelly doing enough to qualify for the finals night ending the challenge of visitor Peter Jones, whilst club mate Debbie Leece performed well to book her spot in the quarter finals.

Sunday evening continued the run of home green players qualifying with Neil Withers seeing off his team mate and captain Paul Dunn on his way to book his spot in finals night, while Rebecca Teare ensured she progressed with a close fought game against Marown A player Phil Kelly.

Monday evening’s action started to see the away greeners progress with South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves navigating his way through his three qualifying games, with Hargraves being pushed hard by Will Penhallurick (Onchan) who lost out 19-21. In the other half of the session Peel D player Andy Mackie who only took the game up part way through last season, was playing off a handicap of seven, however Mackie was not to be underestimated as he recovered from a 11-14 deficit in his last game of the night to take 10 consecutive chalks to win 21-14 against the highly rated Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary).

The last qualifying session took place on Tuesday evening with new South Ramsey signing Bob Clark squeezing through his last game of the night 21-17 against Peel’s David Proctor, whilst team mate David Bradford who had only had one run out this season following a recent bout of COVID made no mistake in taking his spot in finals night as he beat Marown player Paul Kelly 21-15 on the way to qualifying.

Finals night was highly anticipated with two strong players from the Ladies game, five top Men’s players split between Marown and South Ramsey, with Peel D man Andy Mackie the surprise package.

The competition was redrawn at the quarter final stage with Rebecca Teare leading 18-14 against Clark, only for the latter to fight back and run out with a 21-18 victory. Debbie Leece led 13-10 after nine ends against Andy Mackie only for Mackie to stamp his authority on the game taking a 21-16 win to book his spot in the next round.

In the other half of the draw Glynn Hargraves built up a 17-8 lead only for Withers to fight back to 19-20, with Hargraves securing the single he needed to win 21-19. David Bradford also had a good lead on Manx Champion Colin Kelly, only for Kelly to get back into the game at 17-18. Bradford took the next two ends with a double and a single to win 21-17.

Continuing the trend both semi-finals were well contested with Mackie having a good lead on Clark, with Clark fighting back to lie game counting two at 19-20, however a slice of good fortune with an ‘in-off’ his own bowl secured the single needed by Mackie to book his place in the final. In the other semi-final the South Ramsey team mates had a good battle with Bradford edging it 21-17 against Hargraves.

The final was eagerly anticipated with Bradford starting on a handicap of three and Mackie starting on seven. Bradford pulled the handicap back early, with Mackie picking up the odd point to stay in contention. Mackie fought back with two quick doubles to threaten a huge upset as he took a 15-12 lead, however Bradford’s experience came through as he scored nine chalks over the next six ends to win 21-15 to pick up his second title in this competition after his 2018 success. Huge credit must go to Mackie who has not yet played a full season of bowls and having only played a couple of open competitions.

The presentation was made by Marown President Peter Kelly, with Kevin Druggan introduced from the sponsor Ardern & Druggan, whilst Ian Kissack’s sister Gill presented the shield to the winner. Thanks were given to the Marown ladies for the excellent refreshments provided. In his speech Bradford spoke of the huge loss to Marown over the past couple of months with the passing of Pat Withers and Ian Kissack.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Juan Kelly Cup last week with the competition now in its fifth year it had 48 pairs taking part. As is becoming the norm in these competitions there were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system which was played over two qualifying nights (Tuesday and Wednesday), with four pairs qualifying each night, in order to qualify for the finals night on Thursday 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.

Spot prizes were awarded on both qualifying nights to the pair with the highest break, we did get to see a one-bowl shoot on Wednesday evening between Douglas duo Nick Firth and John Ferguson who took on Peel pair Gordon Corrin and Dougie Allan with the score tied at 21-21 after 15 ends the Peel pair won the shootout to progress to the next round.

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 South Ramsey’s James Teare and Jenny Moore (+2), who lost out heavily to Onchan pair Wil Penhallurick and Jamie Clague (+7) 13-24, while Reg Temporaza and Rob Monk (+2) looked to be going through to the next round against home greeners Phil Kelly and John Gelling (+1) only for a brilliant last bowl from Gelling which swung the game in their favour and ensured a stunning 18-17 win. Marown D team players Phil Dunn and Steve Rough (+8) agonisingly lost out due to the one bowl shootout against Port St Mary’s Steve and Mavis Franks (+7) after tying 23-23 after 15 ends. In the last quarter final, it was an all Marown affair with Withers and Dunn (+0) proving too strong for team mates Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly (+2) as they won 23-8.

The semi-finals were all one-way traffic in the first half of the game in favour of both Marown pairs, with Kelly and Gelling up against Penhallurick and Clague with the Onchan men clawing their way back into the game only to lose out 12-24. Dunn and Withers reached the final with a 29-14 win over the Port St Mary pair.

The final was well contested, with the score tied at 9-9 after nine ends played there was little to choose between the teams. On end 10 Dunn and Withers scored a two which was doubled up to count four to lead 13-9. The following four ends were exchanged with Dunn and Withers scoring another four, while Kelly and Gelling scored three to put the score at 17-12. On end 15 only a three – to score six would do for Kelly and Gelling to win the game, there was a shot on which they couldn’t quite pull off resulting in Dunn and Withers scoring a one to win 19-12 as they won this competition for the first time, carrying on the tradition of different winners every year since the competition was introduced.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Brian Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments over all three nights, the players for entering, and all those who came to support. The sponsor Juan Kelly was then introduced to present the prizes, with Juan paying tribute to everyone at the club including the green keepers for their work on the green.

A field of 38 pairs contested the Douglas Borough Council Challenge Cup on Sunday.

At the quarter final stage Debbie Leece and Neil Withers (Marown) came back from 8-16 down to win 21-17 against Steven Waters and Alan Moore (South Ramsey), while Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly (Marown) got the better of club mate Joyce Ogden and Mike Hargraves (Castletown) 21-12.

Finch Hill pair Pat Maher and Mark Taylor put up a fine show, before eventually losing out 17-21 to South Ramsey’s Jenny Moore and James Teare, while Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Andy Kennish (Peel) were up against Castletown pair Sam Clague and Nathan Hamilton, which was nip and tuck early on, however Gawne and Kennish pulled away to win comfortably 21-13.

In the semi-finals Moore and Teare always had the upper hand against Gawne and Kennish and ran out winners 21-13. The all Marown semi-final was an extremely tight affair which Keggen and Kelly eventually edged it 21-20 against Leece and Withers.

In the final Moore and Teare were always in control of the game as they won 10 of the 13 ends, making light work of Keggen and Kelly as they went on to win 21-10.

Brian Murphy, Finch Hill Competition Secretary presented the prizes on behalf of the club. He thanked the club members for all their hard work in support of the competition which was a great success. 

The crown green bowls league season finished with another double week as the league winners, promotion battles and bottom teams were settled in all three Divisions along with the individual merit winners.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One South Ramsey A proved to be the top team this season as they followed up on their recent Rayner Shield victory as they wrestled the league title back from Marown A. The northern team had the same group of players as they had two seasons ago, improving on their 2019 tally by nine points, to top the table with 173 point as they won the league by 12 points, ending the season in good form as they won 9-1 at home to Ballaugh A on Monday night to secure the title and then came away from the Villa on Wednesday evening with a 2-8 win.

The only matter to be settled in their last match was who would be the individual merit winner. The overall and deserving winner was recent Manx Masters champion David Bradford (pictured below) who secured the accolade with 21 wins from 21 games played to cap a fine season. Finishing in second place was team mate Glynn Hargraves with 21 wins from 22 games played (3 chalks dropped), while Dido Kelly completed an all South Ramsey top three in the merit with 19 wins from 20 played (5 chalks dropped). The one match Bradford missed due to a back injury was at home to Marown A, which coincidentally was the same night that the home team lost 3-7, with both Hargraves and Kelly losing their one and only league game this season.

Marown A finished the season in second place with a hard earned 3-7 away win over Peel B, followed up by a 9-1 home win over North Ramsey A.

The Crosby men will be taking a hard look at where they can improve next season, despite continuing a run that has resulted in them finishing no lower than second place in every season since 1996 as they finished the season 19 points worse off than 2019.

Peel A had a tough night on Monday as they lost 4-6 away to Marown B, a damaging result for their hopes of a second placed finish, as they suffered a second successive defeat, however they bounced back on Wednesday with an 8-2 home win over Port St Mary A.

The Peel men managed to finish in third – their highest league finish for a long time as they improved on their 2019 points total by 26 points, they will look to continue to improve next year as they finished the season just seven points behind Marown A following two damaging defeats towards the end of the season to fall into third place after occupying second place for most of the season only to be pipped at the post by Marown.

Ballaugh A finished in the bottom two to confirm an immediate return to Division Two as they join Noble’s A who had already been relegated, while Peel B will be delighted to have comfortably retained their top flight status having been promoted in 2019.

In Division Two Onchan B had the unenviable task of knowing what score they needed to win to with the other teams in contention having played the night before, with a tricky looking trip north to take on South Ramsey C, however they brushed aside the home team 2-8 to seal top spot and a long awaited return to Division One by a single point in a nervy ending to the season.

Finishing in second place were Port Erin A on 129 points, as they finished just one point behind Onchan B, with the Port men finishing four points clear ofboth South Ramsey B and Castletown B as the Breagle Glen outfit ensured they returned to the top flight with a 7-3 home win over Marown C, then turned over Port St Mary B 10-0 to finish the season strongly.

South Ramsey B probably did as well as they could this week, but will rue a number of poor results throughout the season as they just fell short despite winning a tough game 3-7 away to Finch Hill A, followed by a 9-1 home win over Douglas B, whilst Castletown B dropped seven costly points in their last two outings as they beat Port St Mary B 7-3, then won 4-6 away to Peel C.

Finishing in rock bottom, a massive 46 points from safety on just 41 points were Finch Hill B, while Port St Mary B were also in one of the relegation spots as they finished 17 points from safety on 70 points, with the club looking to regroup over the winter, as they move onto pastures new.

The individual merit went to Onchan B player Mike Thomas (pictured below), despite missing a game as he managed to finish top of the pile with 18 wins from 19 games played (10 chalks dropped). Finishing in second place was Finch Hill A man Dave McCabe who won the same number of games as the Onchan man, however 14 chalks dropped in his two losses ultimately cost McCabe. In third and fourth place were two South Ramsey B players, Steven Waters and Tony Dugdale with both missing two games, as they stepped up to help out their A Team who were battling for the title.

In Division Three Ballaugh B doubled up as they won the title with 146 points, while their star man John Bolton (pictured below) sealed the individual merit with a 21-5 win over South Ramsey D player Matthew Corkill. Upon being told he had won the individual merit Bolton was clearly shocked and delighted as he won 18 games out of 20 games played in a fine season for his team and on a personal level.

The Ballaugh men finished the season strongly with their 2-8 away win over Port Erin B, then followed this up with an 8-2 home win over South Ramsey D.

Onchan C finished the season in second place with 129 points, 17 points behind the league winners and 12 points ahead of third place Ballaugh C. It proved to be a poor week for Onchan as while they did enough to secure second place they lost 8-2 away to Ballaugh C then drew 5-5 at home to Marown D with the visitors winning five games, however the home team edged the aggregate by one chalk (149-148) to avoid a second successive defeat.

Rounding up the individual merit places in Division Three James Drinkwater (Castletown C) won 17 games from 19 played (13 chalks dropped), while Peel D player Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton can be proud of his efforts this season with 17 wins from 20 games played and just 15 chalks dropped.

South Ramsey hosted the Manx Masters on Sunday, one of the highlights of the Manx bowls calendar with four separate competitions once again taking place throughout the day.

The Young Manx Masters was contested by seven players of Primary School age. This competition was played in a round robin format with seven players in the group playing six ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. After a good morning of bowls, it was Evan Leece (Marown) who won the title topping the group with 48 points, with Bailey McMullan (Mooragh Park) finishing in second place on 40 points.

The Junior Manx Masters was played as a straight knockout for the older and more experienced players with 19 players taking part as a number have moved up into this category this year. The title was won for the first time by 15-year-old Madison McMullan (North Ramsey) who beat 12-year-old Sam Colquitt (Marown) 21-18 in a well contested final, with Madison just edging her semi-final game to beat Grace Gawne (Onchan) 21-20, whilst Sam beat Katie Jacobs (Douglas) 21-13 to take his spot in the final.

The standard of play in both events was excellent and there was a fantastic crowd around the green supporting the future of the game with the numbers steadily increasing throughout, it made for a great morning.

The junior competitions were sponsored by Stonemasons (IOM) Limited for a fifth successive year with the prizes presented by Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. Everyone 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 the ladies event losing out at the quarter final stages were Sue Gawne (Onchan) 10-21 to Clare Cooper (Marown), Margie Tasker lost to the same score against Port St Mary team mate Trish Bull, while Rebecca Teare (Marown) lost 16-21 to Jenny Moore (South Ramsey). The closest game of the quarter finals was between Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) and Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) with the latter winning 21-17.

In the semi-finals Clare Cooper seen off Trish Bull with a 21-15 win, whilst Jenny Moore had things a bit easier with a 21-9 win over Janet Monk to go through to the final.

In the final Cooper won six of the first 10 ends, scoring singles with some good second bowls, while Moore scored four doubles to lead 11-9. Moore stepped up a gear to take four consecutive singles, before finding another gear to finish with three consecutive doubles to see the game out with a 21-9 win over Cooper to take her fourth consecutive ladies Masters title. Moore’s day was almost over before it had started, very nearly going out in the first round finding herself 17-9 down against Debbie Leece (Marown) only to claw her way back into the game on a longer length to win 21-20, showing that a game is never over as she battled back to come through as all top players do.

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 Tom Kelly (Peel), who lost 8-21 to Kevin Quirk (Onchan), Matthew Quirk (Onchan) had his challenge ended by Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) 16-21. In the bottom half of the draw Reg Temporaza (Onchan) lost out 17-21 to David Bradford (South Ramsey), while Glynn Hargraves beat South Ramsey team mate Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 21-16 to progress to the next round.

In the semi-final Quirk took a convincing 21-8 win over Wayne Roberts with the latter reaching his second successive Masters semi-final, whilst in the other semi-final team mates Bradford and Hargraves were finely poised after the first 15 ends with the score at 13-12 it was Bradford who went on to run out with a 21-12 victory to earn his place in the final.

In front of a good crowd who had stayed for the duration, the final started with the light fading quickly, with both players reluctant for the floodlights to go on, this however did not reduce the quality of play from either player. After the early exchanges, with both players trying different marks and lengths Bradford led Quirk by one chalk at 13-12 with 16 ends played. Bradford took four of the next five ends to lead 18-14, with Quirk then scoring singles on three of the next four ends in between a double from Bradford who led 20-17. On the last end Bradford made sure of the win as he played a great last bowl to seal a 21-17 victory over Quirk and claim his third Manx Masters title, following on from his back to back successes in 2014 and 2015.

At the end of the competition the presentation was made by South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves, who thanked Alan Moore for his excellent work running the sheet for all four competitions all day, the team involved with the preparation of the green. Chris & Lynnette Perry were then introduced to present the prizes on behalf of the sponsors Felton’s Ironmongers who without their support this event would not be possible.

Upon accepting the trophy Bradford thanked the green keepers for the work that goes into maintaining the green all year round, again thanking Alan Moore for his hard work keeping the competition moving, along with everyone who had helped in any way towards the smooth running of the competitions. A special mention was given to the ladies who once again put on an ever increasing range of superb refreshments throughout the day. It was also great to see such a large crowd stay for to watch a superb final. £1,000 was paid out in prize money on the day.