The Isle of Man September Bowling Festival takes place next week with a host of top names from across the game hoping to be the lucky winner who gets their name on the trophy and the winners cheque for £3,000. Entries are up on previous year’s with the highest September Men’s entry since 2009 and there is a good quality field entered.

On the first page of the draw 2010 winner Wayne Ditchfield (Kirkham) is rumoured to be a doubt to make it over for the week, whilst Joseph Cranston (Crossgates) will be hoping for a good run, this page carrying further names with festival history behind them. Neil Withers (Marown) won his title in June 2013, with the man he beat in the final Matthew Quirk (Onchan) a possible third round face off this time round. Two-time winner Martin Gilpin (Kendal Vic) could face former finalist Callum Wraight (Castlefields) should both players win two games for what could be an intriguing encounter half way through the week.

Page two also has three former winners with 2016 June winner Kez Smith (Crossgates), 2012 September winner Dave Phillips (Lloyd Hotel) and local David Bradford (South Ramsey) with his win as far back as 2002, whilst former finalist Craig Grant (Thongsbridge) also features and will be hoping to go one step further to take his first festival win.

Over to page three where another June 2000 winner Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel Sunset) has a tricky first round fixture against regular visitor Andy Mailer (Meersbrook BC), whilst John Bailey (Castlefields) will be keen to pick up his second September title having won his first title in 2017. 

On the next page it is 29 years since Kevan Shaw (Red Lion) picked up his only title, could come up against Stuart Mort (Kirkham) in round three, with a potential clash at the same stage between Steve Freer (Cradley Sports) and Jon Guess (Fairfield BC) should both players win their first two games.

On page five Onchan man Jordan Cain has suffered a blow having fractured a bone on his elbow after recently coming off his bike to put an early end to his season. This opens up a path for Mark Hughes (Crossgates) who lost out to John Bailey in 2017, however Port St Mary man Trevor Quayle will be confident of a good run himself.

Page six sees 1991 winner Phil Kerruish (Onchan) back from his travels in time to take part, whilst Matthew Kelly-Walley (Stretton Anglesey) will be hoping for a good week as will Marown captain Paul Dunn who could go far and will not fear anyone if he carries on his good form.

On page seven 2003 winner Matt Gilmore (Wallasey) is another former winner, whilst the experienced Billy Speed (Alexander Park) will be hoping to go far with a potential last 16 clash this could be a great game to watch for the spectators.

On the next page this has a potential second game clash between two former winners Gaz Lally (Crossgates) who has one festival win to his name from 2015, whilst local John Kennish is the current title holder and has five festival wins to his name. Not to be discounted is Paul Skelly (Port St Mary) another man capable of beating anyone on his day.

On the final page this is heavily littered with previous winners and finalists with 2014 runner up Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly (South Ramsey) potentially facing three-time winner Ian Nicholson (Kendal Vic), whilst regular visitor David Jackson (Knutsford) is another man looking for his second title. Paul Bailey (Meersbrook BC) is rumoured to missing out, whilst Colin Kelly (Marown) has one title to his name from 2008 and will be keen to fly under the radar.

With six greens in use and several different competitions throughout the week there is plenty of bowls for everyone it should make for a great week of bowls.

Have a great week!

On Bank Holiday Monday Port Erin Bowling Club hosted the Sowerbutts Trophy mixed doubles. There were 20 pairs entered who enjoyed the glorious weather.

Losing out in the quarter finals were two South Ramsey pairs, Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves, Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly, Steph Swift (Port Erin) and Rod Swift (Port St Mary) along with home greeners Lynda & Derek Cadamy.

Losing semi-finalists were Joyce Ogden (Marown) & Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) along with Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin) & Edward Carlyle (South Ramsey).

In the final South Ramsey pair Jenny Moore & James Teare went one better than the previous day, having lost in the final at Ballaugh to take a fairly comfortable 21-14 win over Chris Price (Port St Mary) & Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly (South Ramsey).

The presentation was made by competition secretary and sponsor Janet Shilling, who thanked everyone who had entered, then went on to say that the trophy had been put up by her father. After being presented with the trophy James thanked Janet for sponsoring the competition.

On Sunday the Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Maddrell Mixed Pairs. There were 36 pairs entered and they enjoyed the fine weather and some good play.

Bowing out in the quarter finals were Paula Firth (Noble’s) & Sid Bolton (South Ramsey), Kim Hargraves & Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey), Fiona Kennish & Steven Waters (South Ramsey), along with Linda & Derek Cadamy (Port Erin).

Losing semi-finalists were Clare Cooper (Noble’s) & Walter McCarthy (Marown) and Chris Price (Port St Mary) & Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly (South Ramsey) which left the final an all South Ramsey affair between Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves and Jenny Moore & James Teare a replay of the Spar Mixed Pairs Final.

Jenny and James made a good start being 14-9 up after nine ends. Elaine and Glynn then had two three’s to take the lead 15-14, Elaine and Glynn took the last three ends to win 21-16.

The presentation was made by John Keenan on behalf of John Maddrell who could not be there, who thanked the Ballaugh members for organising the competition especially Richard Faragher for running the competition and Pat Mason and her team in the kitchen for such a good spread. Glynn in the speech thanked everyone for such a good competition.

Onchan Bowling Club hosted the Derek Killey Memorial Trophy with the green once again running well 27 pairs entered the competition.

Taking the win in an entertaining final were the South Ramsey pairing of Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves who defeated Alison Keggen (Noble’s) and Neil Withers (Marown). The South Ramsey pair took the lead 13-7, then maintained a six point lead at 16-10. Keggen and Withers then took a single and a double. From there neither pairing were able to win two consecutive ends, however Keggen and Withers did manage to score two further doubles to bring the score back to 17-18 and were then lying two before Hargraves bowled in twice for the South Ramsey pair to go 20-17 ahead. On the next end Moore led a bowl less than a foot to the side only for Keggen to put one closer still, which wasn’t beaten to bring the score to 18-20 . On the last end with Keggen and Withers lying three for game Hargraves changed his peg and just made enough connection with the jack to take the win 21-18 in a keenly contested final.

Both semi-finals could not have been any closer with Moore & Hargraves taking on Rebecca Teare and Nathan Hamilton with the latter pair fighting back from a 13-18 deficit before eventually losing out 20-21. In the other semi Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle also lost to the same score to Keggen and Withers after recovering from a 13-17 deficit to just lose out.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Paula Firth (Noble’s) and Sid Bolton (South Ramsey), Chris Price (Port St Mary) and Dave Kelly (South Ramsey), Dee Lewis (Onchan) and Kevin Firth (Noble’s) along with Lynda and Derek Cadamy (Port Erin).

The presentation was made by Mike Thomas who thanked everyone that had entered, the ladies for running the competition along with the superb refreshments provided. Mike then said that the competition had raised a fantastic amount of £450 for Cruse Bereavement, this amount was then boosted by the runners up and winners handing back their winnings to go towards the donation. When accepting the trophy Elaine said she was pleased to win the trophy played for in memory of Derek Killey, who was well known around the greens, his legacy lives on with the popular outdoor winter league still going strong.

Onchan Bowling Club hosted the Commissioners Cup for the second any combination doubles of the weekend with the green running well and 33 pairs taking part.

Taking his second win of the weekend and third win in this competition in four years South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves paired up with teammate Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly taking on fellow teammates Alan Moore and Stefan Kelly in an entertaining final with the latter pair just losing out 18-21. Dido Kelly & Moore both played some superb bowls throughout a well contested final.

Both semi-finals were well contested with the home pairing of Maureen Payne and Mike Thomas losing out to the winning pair 17-21, whilst the other semi-final was even closer with another South Ramsey pair Jenny Moore and James Teare reaching the latter stages before losing out 19-21 to the runners up.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the home pairing of Kelvin McNicholl and Allan Kennaugh, the South Ramsey pairing of Elaine Moore & Steven Waters, Sue Gawne (Onchan) & Brian Kelly (Marown) along with the Marown pair Walter McCarthy & Colin Kelly.

The presentation was made by Kevin Quirk who thanked everyone that had entered, the club members for their help with the running of the competition and the ladies for the superb refreshments. The prizes were then presented by competition secretary Mike Thomas. In his speech Glynn Hargraves commented on the good condition of the green, which had suited them throughout the day.

North Ramsey hosted the Ken Parker Trophy any combination doubles on Saturday with the green holding up well despite the wet weather throughout the day 28 teams took part.

The eventual winners were the South Ramsey partnership of David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves who favoured playing the corners all day, seeing off the North Ramsey/Ballaugh pairing of Allan Callow and Fred Waggett with a 21-10 victory.

Losing out at the semi-final stage were the home pairing of Shannon McMullan and Alex Yates who lost 13-21 despite scoring a four on the first end, they reached the highest score of anyone against the eventual winners.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the home pairing of Katie Johnson and Vicky Lloyd-West, the South Ramsey pairings of Anthony Kelly & Dave Corkill, Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly & Steven Waters along with mother and son Janet & Rob Monk (Mooragh Park/Onchan).

At the conclusion of play North Ramsey Competition secretary Gary Lenton thanked everyone who had took part, the club members for their help with the running of the competition and the ladies for the refreshments. The prizes were presented by Ken Parker’s son Steve who sponsors the competition. In his speech David Bradford spoke well of Steve’s father Ken who was a well liked member of the bowling community for many years. Bradford managed to retain the trophy having won it with John Kennish last year.

Saturday 3^rd August saw the Phil Johnson Memorial trophy return in a revamped format. The IOMCCGBA would like to thank Canada Life International for supporting the association for helping get this event up and running.

Phil worked at Canada Life International before he suddenly passed away in 2011 with an undiagnosed heart condition, thought to have been Long QT Syndrome. His family came up with the idea of remembering Phil by presenting this trophy after speaking with Mark Kneen who at the time was the IOM Bowls Development Officer and worked at Canada Life with Phil and Mike Johnson (Phil’s father).

The IOMCCGBA have been working on the development of a junior league with great strides being made in 2019. The focus on the monthly events being held are effectively follow on events from the Manx Youth Games to ensure opportunities are given to all the young bowlers to continue their bowls in a fun yet competitive environment.

The format of the events is that the regional teams (North/South/East/West) all compete against each other in doubles games with some fun events added in along the way.

Over 20 juniors took part in the most recent event held at Marown Bowling Club, with the East team being crowned as the Phil Johnson Memorial Trophy winners for 2019 just pipping the other teams in a very tight contest.

Results (Points Per Game Average)

East – 3.8
West – 3.5
North – 3.4
South – 3.5

Thanks must also go out to all the coaches who volunteer their time every week to run the junior clubs around the Island as well as Phil Kelly as head coach on the Island and Sonya Mercer as MYG Coordinator.