The Club Team Championship was brought to a conclusion at Castletown Bowling club on Sunday afternoon with the semi-finals being played and the final being held immediately after. The format remained the same as last year with four doubles and six singles with 14 bowlers eligible to play. The four qualifiers for finals day were Marown, Port St Mary, Peel & South Ramsey.

Early on there was a good atmosphere around the green. In the first semi-final Marown were up against Port St Mary, with the Crosby outfit proving too strong for the Port team with a 66 chalk win (196-130). Port St Mary did manage to win two individual games with Rob Cooil winning his singles match 21-18 against Phil Kelly, whilst Jayne Kneen won 21-10 against Philippa Taylor. In the other semi-final South Ramsey turned Peel over by an even bigger margin winning by 78 chalks (210-132) to take their place in the final. To compound the loss Peel failed to win a single game, with Dougie Allan losing 20-21 to Fiona Kennish, with David Smith & Joyce Kelly losing to the same score in the doubles to Chas Grills & Ed Carlyle.

The final started immediately after the conclusion of the semi-final matches with Marown heavy favourites to retain the title they have won for the past two years. Marown didn’t disappoint putting in a good performance with Juan Killip storming to a 21-4 win over Alan Moore, whilst Colin Kelly beat James Teare 21-3, with Matthew Keggen getting over the line 21-17 against Sid Bolton. South Ramsey responded with two wins in the doubles with Jenny Moore & Steven Waters winning 21-7 against Walter McCarthy & John Gelling, whilst Glynn Hargraves & Austin Hart won 21-19 against Brian Kelly & Karl Parker. In the second half South Ramsey could only pick up one more win, again in the doubles with Stefan Kelly & Chas Grills winning 21-10 against Rosie Winckle & Paul Dunn. In the last game of doubles Philippa Taylor & Phil Kelly won 21-15 against Gill Dixon & Lyn Bolton, whilst the singles games resulted in comfortable wins for Paul Kelly, Dean Kipling & Neil Withers over Fiona Kennish, Ed Carlyle and Elaine Moore respectively. Marown won by a margin of 46 chalks (183-137) whilst also winning on games 7-3.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Castletown Bowling Club for being superb hosts for finals day, with the club having helpers on hand to measure throughout the day. Marown captain Paul Kelly congratulated his team for their performance, offered his commiserations to South Ramsey.

The highlight of the men’s team calendar the Canada Life International sponsored Rayner Shield final was held at Port St Mary Bowling Club on Friday evening, between Peel A and Marown A. The Crosby men started as heavy favourites as the current league champions, with Peel being the ‘underdogs’ having finished in fourth place in the league in 2019, a massive 52 points behind Marown. With both captains agreeing to do the draw last Sunday, this once again generated a bit of interest with a good crowd in attendance to watch what turned out to be a great final and one of the biggest shocks in recent history.

First off the green for Marown was captain Paul Dunn who was relentless with his 21-5 victory over Dougie Allan. Next off was Tom Kelly who levelled the match on games with a 21-14 win over Phil Kelly with Tom scoring eight doubles to Phil’s three being the difference. The first shock of the night which put Peel 2-1 ahead was former Junior Manx Champion Gary Smith’s win over Neil Withers, with Smith giving up on the corners to play his own game over the middle of the green leading brilliantly to turn the game around from a 10-14 deficit to run out with a 21-15 win. Last game off in the first four was between Stevie Kelly & Paul Kelly with the latter building up a 19-11 lead before finishing the game off with a 21-16 win to level the match on games 2-2 with Marown leading by just eight chalks.

In the second half of the match the atmosphere was building in front of a good crowd with fantastic support from both teams around the green with Peel captain Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly putting in a great performance after being nilled by Colin Kelly on his own green last week to win when it mattered, after trailing 3-4 early on Barney went 20-7 ahead before claiming a convincing 21-11 win. This was quickly followed up by Andy Kennish who was always comfortable in his game to see off Matthew Keggen with a 21-13 victory for Peel to go 4-2 ahead on games and take a 10 chalk lead. This left the last two games on the green, with Dean Kipling soaking up the atmosphere and putting in a good performance to lead 15-3 against Tommy McMeiken, which he quickly finished off to win 21-6. This left the last game on the green with the experienced John Gelling for Marown up against Peter Greenlees who is in his third season of bowls, with Gelling needing only to win his game to secure the win with the chalks now in favour of Marown. Greenlees was as cool as a cucumber throughout the match after taking a 10-5 lead early on he kept his focus even after trailing 11-14 and 13-17, changing his peg to play a great bowl to get in then kept his composure taking five successive singles to go 18-17 ahead playing tight to the edge of the green where he had plenty of practice on during the week having paid several visits to Port St Mary to improve his knowledge of the green. With Greenlees lying two Gelling played a great last bowl to level things up at 18-18. On the next end Gelling was lying two only for Greenlees to bowl in with a great second bowl to go 19-18 ahead. Gelling responded with a good two on the next end to jump ahead once again at 20-19 and played a good lead bowl just over a foot away on a long length into the corner, with Greenlees playing the bowl of his life to save game and count for one to level the game at 20-20. On the deciding end Greenlees played a great lead, which Gelling just failed to beat with his first. Greenlees second bowl was in a great spot covering the line of the counting bowl, with Gelling playing his second bowl tight which resulted in a 21-20 victory for Greenlees which ultimately secured a 5-3 win and the Rayner Shield for Peel. There was a huge cheer around the green with Greenlees deservedly becoming the hero and he was quickly congratulated by his team mates for his heroic performance.

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Mark Kneen, who thanked Canada Life International for their continued sponsorship of the competition, Port St Mary Bowling Club for the use of the green and their club members for assisting throughout the evening. Peel captain Barney Kelly then accepted the Rayner Shield saving the hero of the night Peter Greenlees until last when calling up his team.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Henry Kissack Memorial Trophy on Saturday attracting an entry of 58. With the handicaps ranging from +3 to +9 this resulted in some interesting early round shocks.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Alec Taylor (Peel) who had his challenge ended by Kevin Quirk 17-21, whilst former home greener Gary Smith (Peel) was well beaten 7-21 by home greener Colin Kelly, whilst Marown C Team player Karl Parker just lost out 19-21 to 2019 winner Phil Kerruish (Onchan). Castletown player Sam Clague was defeated 16-21 by Andy Kennish (Peel).

The semi-finals could probably not have had a more experienced line up with a huge number of the islands top trophies having been won between these four players over the past five decades, with this particular trophy having been won no fewer than 14 times between the four semi-finalists. Both matches were straightforward with Andy Kennish seeing off Phil Kerruish with a 21-12 win, whilst Kevin Quirk inflicted a second defeat on Colin Kelly in the space of a week this time with a 21-11 win to take his place in the final.

The final started with both players being well known for their ability to play good length bowls, it was Quirk who took a 10-8 lead after eight ends looking to go a bit further than he normally plays. Kennish responded to win the next five ends playing brilliantly over the middle of the green to turn the game on its head to lead 15-10. From there Kevin chipped in with two more singles, whilst Andy continued to play well scoring three singles and a double in between to go 20-12 ahead. Kevin got in with another single to bring the score to 13-20. The last end summed up the ability of both bowlers perfectly. Kevin played a good lead when heading for the corners, with Andy just tipping the jack, however Kevin was still counting. Kevin’s second bowl was a perfect length, just a bit wide. Andy played his last bowl, with the bowl rolling in perfectly to beat a seven inch bowl to win 21-13 and claim the victory in style.

Andy’s victory was thoroughly deserved, his return to form is in part due to turning 60 a couple of years ago, with afternoon league games twice a week Andy has been challenging in a number of opens of late, with his ability to play good length bowls still very apparent. This was Andy’s fourth win in this competition following on from his three previous wins all in the 1980’s (82,86 & 88) and this is believed to be Andy’s first open win since the last of this three Manx Championship wins in 1999 to show once again that he can still mix it with the best. If crown green bowls proves anything then one of those is that green time is important and there are very few sports around where players can genuinely compete at the top level for five decades or more.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Phil Kelly who thanked all 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. Newly crowned Manx Champion Paul Dunn was then introduced to present the prizes.

Marown was the venue agreed by the captains of Castletown B & Port St Mary A to host the final of the 2020 Rayner Plate.

Castletown B started the evening off a handicap of +32 as they were relegated from the top tier last season, were due to play second division bowls this season. The town men received a boost with Mark Moorley returning to the fold after a couple of years out of the game, having played for Marown A for a number of years, with Moorley having good knowledge of the Marown green, whilst the addition of Glenn Boland from Noble’s after a solid first season in division one was also a good addition. Port St Mary A were off a handicap of +10, having lost a couple of players from their first team last year, they were looking to go one better than 2019 when they lost in the final to Marown C.

In the first half of the match Castletown took control of the match with an almost unassailable lead, with Moorley storming  to a massive 21-2 win over Will Cain, who was experiencing his first team final to stretch the lead to 41 chalks. Eating away at the lead for Port St Mary were Trevor Quayle who recovered from a slow start to win 21-15 against James Drinkwater, whilst Tim Williams had a comfortable 21-12 win over the experienced George Foy. Glenn Boland had a tight game with Dan McCabe with Boland winning 21-17 to ensure the town men had a 30 chalk lead at the half way stage.

In the second half of the match Port St Mary captain Wayne Roberts reduced the deficit to 19 chalks after his 21-10 victory over Ross Moore. The next two games to come off put the final nail in the coffin for the Port men with the game of the day on paper going all the way between Bob Clark & Paul Skelly with Clark just getting home 21-20, whilst Alan Phair excelled to see off Paul Russell 21-19. With the last game on the green Castletown had enough chalks on the board by this point, with captain Nathan Cooil losing out 16-21 to Rob Cooil. This resulted in a win for the Town men by 17 chalks (169-152), with the match games ending 4-4. If there were no handicaps in play then Castletown would have lost by just five chalks to show how well matched up these teams were.

The presentation was made by Association Chairman Neil Withers who presented the Castletown captain Nathan Cooil with the trophy. Neil congratulated Castletown on their win, also offered his commiserations to Port St Mary. Neil also thanked Marown for hosting the final, their club members for assisting and the greenkeeper for preparing the green.

Onchan Bowling Club hosted this year’s Canada Life International sponsored Manx Championship. The competition attracted 73 entries, with the qualifying day held last Sunday with players having to win a minimum of two games on qualifying day to reach the finals day on Sunday. There was a crowd of well over 150 who came to support their club mates, which added to the atmosphere and the green was in fantastic condition for finals day, which made for some quality bowling.

Last 16 Results

Paul Dunn 21-5 Reginald Temporaza
Stefan Kelly 16-21 Tom Kelly
Neil Withers 21-19 Paul Skelly
Glynn Hargraves 21-9 Frank Watson

Matthew Keggen 21-12 James Teare
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-18 Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly
Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk 5-21 Brian Kelly
Colin Kelly 13-21 Kevin Quirk

In the quarter finals Tom Kelly (Peel) had his challenge ended by Paul Dunn (Marown) losing 13-21, whilst former home greener Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) disposed of Neil Withers (Marown) with a 21-10 win. Matthew Keggen (Marown) lost 11-21 to Dave ’Barney’ Kelly (Peel), whilst Brian Kelly (Marown) pushed Kevin Quirk (Onchan) before losing out 17-21.

The semi-finals had representation from each of the ‘big four’ clubs, with Dunn putting in a brilliant performance against Hargraves to win 21-9 to take his place in the final. The second semi-final was a lot closer with Quirk taking a 7-1 lead, only for Kelly to turn the game on it’s head to lead 15-10. Quirk responded to level things up at 17-17. This was a great game which either player could easily have gone on to reach the final, however Kelly just had enough to run out with a 21-17 victory.

The final started with the crowd knowing there would be a new name on the trophy for the first time since 2015. Both players had lost in the final previously, Dunn having lost to John Kennish at Port Erin in 2006 and Kelly at Castletown to Phil Kerruish in 1986 and Kevin Quirk at Ronairco in 2005. Dunn was quickest out of the blocks playing the marks that had served him well all day to take a 7-1 lead, with Kelly responding by getting into the corners taking a single and three doubles in between a single for Dunn to level things up at 8-8. Dunn went on another good run to lead 14-9 with his strike success rate making a huge difference in the game hitting four strikes from his first four attempts. During the middle of the game it is difficult to say if it is was the changing pace of the green or nervousness from the players who were attempting to win their first title that led to a few stray bowls. Kelly was lying one on a straight peg mark at 14-17 heading into the corner, having beaten Dunn’s first bowl after Dunn had gone in on the round peg to beat his lead. Dunn’s second bowl was crucial tipping the jack to count for two to lead 19-14. From there Dunn claimed a single to reach 20, then Kelly responded with a single and headed into the corners at 15-20 for a last throw of the dice. Kelly kept his jack on the green after previously sending off two jacks, playing cautiously into the corner leading with a yard bowl which he was unable to improve on. Dunn held his nerve to bowl in and claim the all important point needed for a 21-15 victory to deservedly be crowned Manx Champion. The win caps a fine couple of years for Dunn, who having picked up a number of titles over the past couple of seasons has gone on to deservedly win the big one, having been tipped by a number of bowlers to win his first title this year. The wait goes on for Barney, who despite having recently turned 60 proved he is more than capable of mixing it with the best.

The presentation was made by Association President John Ryder, who presented the prizes. Thanks were given to the competition committee for running the competition, Onchan for hosting the event, the greenkeeper for the excellent condition of the green, the ladies for the refreshments provided, and all the club members who assisted with the measuring & stewarding throughout. In his speech Dunn was clearly delighted and emotional upon claiming his first Manx Championship title with his parents, partner and club mates watching.

Port Erin Bowling Club hosted the F.M. Sowerbutts Memorial Trophy Mixed Doubles on Bank Holiday Monday. This was another competition that was well supported with some pairs needing to play six games to reach the final.

Bowing out at the semi-final stage were Philippa Taylor (Marown) & Alec Taylor (Peel) to Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), whilst in the other semi-final Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey) & Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) were beaten by Jenny Moore & James Teare (South Ramsey).

With the nights drawing in the final started under floodlights with Jenny & James making the better start building up a 13-10 lead, only for Elaine & Glynn to respond to turn the game on it’s head to go ahead 19-13 with Elaine leading well in the corners. Jenny & James got back in and started to eat away at the lead and at 17-19 were lying four for game only for Hargraves to save three with a good second bowl, which didn’t quite count to bring the score to 18-19. On the next end Jenny & James were counting one only for this to be beaten. On the final end Jenny & James were counting two, only for the counting bowls to again be beaten to ensure Elaine & Glynn secured a 21-18 victory to take the title.

The presentation was made by Janet Latham who thanked everyone who had entered, the club members for their support & providing the refreshments. In his speech Glynn thanked Port Erin for running the competition, Janet Latham for once again sponsoring the competition in memory of her father, also remarked on the significant improvement in the condition of the green this season since the club have taken over the maintenance of the green. Glynn also thanked everyone who had stayed to watch the final.

Saturday saw a field of 33 teams of mixed pairs take to the green at Finch Hill on what was a cold but generally sunny day. After losing the main sponsor for this competition earlier in the year Pat Maher came forward to sponsor this enjoyable and well supported competition and it is only thanks to him that Finch Hill was able to host the competition.

One of the novel features introduced by Pat was the lottery to give two pairs their entry fee back and this seemed to be very well received.

With 33 entries we only had one preliminary round match which saw Sid Bolton and Paula Firth come through a tough match against Karl Parker and Helen Withers and showed that they would be serious contenders.

The first round proper saw numerous close matches with the home team of Frank Christian and Iris Kermode just losing out to Celia Joughin and Jay Waters while Les Brookes and Pauline Cowley took a single on the final end to beat Sylvia Kennaugh and Terry Bates 21-20. The first upset nearly came in the match involving Debbie and Evan Leece who led all the way up until the last three ends against Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters but thanks to six points from those three ends it was Kennish and Waters who took the match 21-17. This near shock obviously provided a wake up call for the pairing as you will see later. Expected front runners Glynn Hargraves and Elaine Moore were put under pressure right from the start by Derek and Lynda Cadamy who would lead 20-13 after 13 ends but it took another six ends to get them over the line for a 21-20 win. Preliminary round winners Sid Bolton and Paula Firth were pushed hard by Dave Naughton and Tina Hampson but did just enough to come through 21-18.

Last year’s finalists Philippa and Alec Taylor were tested by the home favourites John Harris and Sue Collier who led 16-13 after 12 ends but a four on the next end from the Taylor’s did the damage and they ran out winners 21-17. Our sponsor Pat Maher partnered by Ann Hon easily overcame Michelle and Pauline Cowley 21-12, while the other home team of Hazel and Peter Hughes were no match for Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly. A number of other strong pairings made it through this first round easily and will be mentioned later but I must mention the young players who took part and showed that the future is bright for our sport. I have already mentioned the strong showing of Evan Leece, and for the first time at Finch Hill we saw Megan Hargraves take to the green and then Ryan Hargraves partnered by Victoria Johnson easily came through their first round match.

First up in the second round were Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters although it took them five ends to get the final point for a 21-17 win over Wayne Roberts and Joyce Ogden. Les Brookes and Pauline Cowley overcame the strong pairing of Sue Gawne and Brian Kelly 21-17, as did Matthew Keggen and Lyn Bolton over Mark Kelly and Caroline Whitehead. Philippa and Alec Taylor put in a strong performance to beat the home team of Pat Maher and Ann Hon and Sid Bolton and Paula Firth continued their good run with a 21-11 win over Celia Joughin and Jay Waters. The young partnership of Ryan Hargraves and Victoria Johnson were unable to match the consistent scoring of the experienced pairing of Derek and Lynda Cadamy.  Chris Price and Dave McCabe had each won this competition with different partners in the past and they easily overcame Shannon McMullan and Lee Dawson. The toughest match of the round saw James Teare and Jenny Moore do just enough to beat Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly 21-18.

In the quarter finals Matthew Keggen and Lyn Bolton ended the challenge of Les Brookes and Pauline Cowley 21-13 and Steven Waters and Fiona Kennish started to show their true form as they beat Sid Bolton and Paula Firth 21-12. A slow start from Derek and Lynda Cadamy probably cost them their match against Philippa and Alec Taylor who ran out 21-16 winners. A very even match ensued between the pairings of James Teare and Jenny Moore and Chris Price and Dave McCabe. After 18 ends Price and McCabe led 19-17 only to see Teare and Moore score four points on that final end to take the win.

The semi-finals saw Jenny Moore and James Teare take on Matthew Keggen and Lyn Bolton and it was the former that led from the start and with consistent scoring throughout ran out 21-13 winners. Philippa and Alec Taylor started strongly and ran up a 16-10 lead after 10 ends but were only able to score another three points in the next 10 ends as Steven Waters and Fiona Kennish came from behind to win 21-19.

In the final Jenny Moore and James Teare raced into a 18-12 lead after 11 ends but yet another strong comeback saw Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters reel them in and win 21-19 after 18 ends.

Special thanks go to our generous sponsor Pat Maher , to our ladies for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon and to all those stewards, measurers and markers who helped make this such a successful competition

Douglas Bowling Club hosted the Haldane Fisher Mixed Doubles on the bonus Friday Bank Holiday. The competition was well supported with some pairs needing to play six games to reach the final.

Bowing out at the semi-final stage were Alison Keggen (Noble’s) & Bob Clark (Castletown) to Joyce Ogden & Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary), whilst in the other semi-final Derek & Lynda Cadamy (Port Erin) were beaten by Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey).

The final started with Moore & Hargraves favourites, however despite lying three down on the first end, Roberts sat out their nearest counting bowl to score a single. On the next end Moore & Hargraves were counting for one, only for Roberts to again play out their counting bowl. From there Ogden played along the edge by the shelter leading brilliantly and was nothing short of relentless with Roberts also scoring well and ably backing up when required. Moore & Hargraves found themselves trailing 6-15 without scoring before finally counting for one. Odgen & Roberts extended the lead to 20-8, only for Moore & Hargraves to respond getting in to the corners to pick up some points over a number of ends to drag themselves back into the game, including a four and a three to recover back to 19-20. Playing into ‘Amen’ corner Ogden jumped at the chance to step in and did so putting up a bowl just over two foot away, which Roberts also added to by counting a second bowl. These bowls remained unbeaten resulting in a hard earned 21-19 win for Ogden & Roberts.

The presentation was made by Mark Kneen who thanked the players for supporting the event and the club members for organising the day and running the competition.