South Ramsey hosted the Kennish Cup with 72 taking part. The green has improved immensely since the start of the season, however the weather player its part throughout the day with gusts of wind and then heavy rainfall in the latter stages of the competition.

At the end of the competition it was the home green partnership of Jenny Moore and James Teare who ruthlessly nilled their opponents Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) in the final under “cobbing” conditions due to the formation of pools of water with the rain becoming heavier throughout the final.

Losing out to Gawne/Roberts in the first semi were Lynda & Derek Cadamy (Port Erin), who lost 15-21, with their opponents winning 12 ends to the Cadamy’s seven ends. In the other semi-final Moore/Teare booked their place in the final with a 21-16 win over Gill Dixon (Ballaugh) & Alan Moore (South Ramsey).

Losing out in the quarter finals were South Ramsey pairs Fiona Kennish & Steven Waters, Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves, Shelley Kennish (South Ramsey) & Sam Clague (Castletown) and husband and wife Alec & Philippa Taylor (Peel/Marown).

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Glynn Hargraves, who thanked the Kennish/Moore family for their sponsorship, the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and the Ladies for the excellent refreshments provided. South Ramsey President Steve Moore was then introduced to present the prizes.

On Sunday Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Spar Mixed Pairs. There were 29 pairs entered and they enjoyed the fine weather and some good play.

Bowing out in the quarter finals were Shirley and Gordon Corrin (Peel), Chris Price (Port St Mary and Dave Kelly (South Ramsey), Derek and Lynda Cadamy (Port Erin) and Alison Keggen (Noble’s) and Paul Kelly (Marown). 

Losing semi-finalists were Kim Hargraves & Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) and Lil Smith (Marown) & Edward Carlyle (South Ramsey), which left the final an all South Ramsey affair between Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves and Jenny Moore & James Teare. 

Jenny and James made a good start winning the first three ends. After that it was close with only the five points scored in the first three ends the difference. Jenny and James finally won 21-15. 

The presentation was made by Debbie Jones of Mannin Retail (Spar) who was introduced by Competition Secretary Richard Faragher who thanked the members for organising event with thanks given especially to the ladies in the kitchen. James Teare in his speech thanked the Spar – the Sponsors, Ballaugh members for organising the competition especially Richard Faragher for running the competition together with the measurers and markers.

Marown hosted their second open of the bank holiday weekend with 32 pairs taking part in the Heywood Gelling Trophy on Sunday on a scorcher of a day with the green quicker than it was on Friday.

At the end of the competition it was Noble’s/Port St Mary pairing of Rebecca Teare and Paul Skelly, who beat the Noble’s/South Ramsey duo of Paula Firth and Sid Bolton by the closest of margins 21-20. The final started with Firth/Bolton taking a 11-6 lead, then 14-9 and extending this further still to 19-13. At 20-16 it looked like it wasn’t going to be Teare/Skelly’s day however they fought back well from lying game down on more than occasion to take a single, a three with Teare playing a great second bowl under pressure at 20-20 to beat Firth’s bowl which Bolton was unable to beat to give the victory to Teare & Skelly. This win qualifies the winners to play in the UK later in the season.

Both semis were well contested with another Noble’s/South Ramsey pairing of Clare Cooper & Lee Dawson losing out 19-21 to Firth and Bolton, whilst in the other semi a new partnership of Pat Mason (Ballaugh) and Andy Kennish (Peel) almost made it to the final only for Skelly to play a couple of great bowls after earlier fearing for his safety from his partner Teare when lying two up for game he inadvertently flicked the jack to end up two down at a crucial point of the game. His relief was clear for all to see at the end of the game after helping secure a 21-19 win to reach the final.

Losing out in the quarter finals were South Ramsey pair Jenny Moore & James Teare, another new partnership from Onchan Caroline Corlett & Les McClellan, Joyce Ogden (Marown) & Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) along with Sue Gawne (Onchan) & Brian Kelly (Marown).

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Philip Kelly, who thanked the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and the Marown Ladies for the refreshments provided. Marown President Lil Smith was then introduced to present the prizes.

The top prizes in the Isle of Man June Bowls Festival went to two visitors with Jack Dyson (Thongsbridge) winning the men’s event, whilst Lynsey Gorman (Wirral) won the ladies event.

Popular Yorkshire man Dyson known throughout the bowling community as ‘Hoover’ – no explanation required, picked up his first June Festival win and the winners cheque for £3,000. Dyson had to overcome the challenge of Andy Spragg in a thrilling final on a tricky green. Dyson was quickest out of the blocks taking a 12-5 lead, then 14-9 and 16-11 to keep his opponent at arm’s length. Spragg responded with a double to sit just three points behind at 13-16, only for a determined Dyson to take two singles and a double to sit just one point away from glory. Spragg counted one next end and headed towards the corner, Spragg’s first bowl was about 18 inches off the jack, with Dyson putting his first bowl approximately 12 inches away to count one for game. Spragg made sure he reached with his second bowl, just tipping Dyson’s bowl, however it wasn’t enough to save game with Dyson taking a 21-14 victory. Dyson’s joy was clear for all to see with his second bowl still in his hand he threw it up in celebration. Spragg had the blow softened in receiving a cheque for £1,000.

Dyson reached the final courtesy of a quick fire 21-7 win over Wayne Jevons (Wirral), whilst Spragg booked his place in the final with a hard fought 21-18 victory over Andy Limbert (Brighouse).

In the quarter finals Dyson ended the challenge of Chris Bly (Hopwood) with a 21-13 win, whilst Jevons won 21-8 against David Halstead (Kirkham). The closest game of the quarter finals was between Mark Rose (Royal Oak BC) and Spragg, with Spragg having to dig deep to get over the line 21-20. Limbert ended the run of Robert Hopper (Brighouse) with a 21-16 win.

Receiving the George Craine Trophy for the furthest local player was Stevie Kelly (Peel) who lost out agonisingly 20-21 in the last 16 to Wayne Jevons to just miss out on finals day.

In the ladies main competition Lynsey Gorman (Wirral) won her first June title receiving a cheque for £1,000 to take a deserved 21-7 win over Sarah Fox (Woodlands Park). Fox received £600 as runner up.

In the semi-finals Gorman ended the run of Bev Beeley (Houldsworth WMC) with a 21-13 victory, whilst Fox ended the hopes of two time June winner Alexis Lunn-Gadd (Ossett Flying Horse) with a 21-19 win in an entertaining game.

Furthest local player reaching the quarter finals was South Ramsey’s Kim Hargraves who received the Visit IOM.com trophy to claim bragging rights in the Hargraves household. Hargraves would have been delighted with her weeks work and can now take confidence in her own ability going forward, however her challenge was ended by Fox who won 21-8. Lunn-Gadd ended the hopes of Rachel Quirk (Crossgates) with a hard fought 21-19 win, whilst Bev Beeley booked her place in the semi-finals with a 21-20 win over Caroline Bushell (Co-op) with Gorman taking a comfortable 21-14 win over Wendy Allen (Castle Private).

The Men’s Tourism was played down to the winner on Thursday morning on Noble’s 1 with Mark Hughes (Crossgates) taking the Tourism title defeating Chris Mordue (Pudsey) with a convincing 21-13 victory.

Losing semi-finalists were Martin Gilpin 15-21 (Kendal Vic) to Hughes, whilst Chris Ellis (Brighouse) just lost out 20-21 to Mordue.

The Ladies Tourism was also played down to the winner on Thursday morning on Noble’s 2 green with another entertaining final it was Rebecca Teare (Noble’s) who held her nerve to take a deserved 21-18 victory over Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) to pick up her first win in the Tourism event.

Teare earned her place in the final following a fairly comfortable 21-15 semi-final win over Lynsey Gorman (Wirral) with Gorman bouncing back in style the following day going on to win the main event. In the other semi-final Moore recorded a 21-16 win over Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) to book her place in the final.

The Men’s consolation was won by Peter Jones (Wirral) who beat Craig Gant (Thongsbridge) 21-12. The Ladies consolation was won by Lorraine Hirst (New Mill) defeating Julie Green 21-13.

The Visit.Com Flyer title went to Gerald Merry who wasted no time with his 9-0 win over Craig Ramell (Rishton), whilst the Last Chance Mixed Final was won by Jack Bushell (Knutsford) who beat Katie Morgan 21-11.

The men’s Open doubles was won in style by Larry Wells (St Oswalds) & David Penketh (St Oswalds) who beat the top pairing of Martin Gilpin (Kendal Vic) and Ian Nicholson (Kendal Vic) with a convincing 11-2 victory in the final.

The men’s pairs was won by Richard Hodgson (Pudsey) & Craig Shore (Burbage) beating Michael Andrews (Wirral) & Michael Upton (Myrtle Park) 11-9 in a close final.

The ladies pairs final was won 11-6 by Debi Davis (Brighouse) & Pam Nixon (Poynton Sports) who beat Sarah Fox (Woodlands Park) and Eileen Pye (Acregate).

The Mixed pairs ended in defeat for Sarah Fox (Woodlands Park) & partner John Colebourne (Eastwood Park) losing out 4-9 to Eileen Pye (Acregate) and Joseph Cranston (Crossgates) in the final.

The PokerStars IOM Invitation took place on Friday evening with the event being hosted by South Ramsey Bowling Club at Noble’s Park immediately after the conclusion of the IOM bowls festival. The change in venue allowed the field to increase from last years format of 16 to go back up to 32.

It was a strong field taking part with every player in the field having played county bowls. The format was 21 up with 3 on the card.

There was plenty of local interest in the first round, however Peel favourite Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was beaten 15-21 by Andy Sorsby (South Yorkshire), Jordan Cain (Onchan) lost 14-21 to Kev Shaw (North Lancs & Fylde), whilst Marown captain Paul Dunn lost 13-21 to Craig Gant (Yorkshire).

Faring better were South Ramsey’s David Bradford who won 21-13 against Dave Jackson (North Lancs & Fylde), Neil Withers made light work of Ian Nicholson (North Lancs & Fylde) with a 21-12 win, whilst Marown stalwart Colin Kelly seen off Richie Goddard (Shropshire) with a 21-10 win.

There were several close games in the first round with James Wilcox (Yorkshire) seeing off South Yorkshire rival Nick White 21-20, whilst another South Yorkshire man Paul Bailey got over the line 21-19 against Martin Gilpin (North Lancs & Fylde) after Gilpin recovered from a 12-19 deficit to level the game at 19-19, only for Bailey to take two singles to progress to the next round. Chris Barton (Merseyside) also lost out 19-21 to Jon Palmer (Shropshire), whilst another Merseyside man Danny Barwise lost 20-21 to 2018 British Merit Winner Chris Mordue (Yorkshire). Melvyn Byron (North Lancs & Fylde) recovered from a 14-19 deficit to win 21-20 against Nidge Hughes (Merseyside), whilst newly crowned June festival winner Jack Dyson (Yorkshire) held off Merseyside man Peter Jones 21-18.

In the second round Gareth Herbert (Warwick & Worcs) won a close game 21-18 against Sorsby to take his place in the quarter finals, whilst Bradford lost out 18-21 to Dan Jones (Wales) after recovering from a 10-16 deficit to go 18-16 ahead with eight singles before Jones got back in to finish the game. Paul Bailey came back from 11-19 to run out with a 21-19 victory over Jon Palmer. In an all Yorkshire clash Gant lost out 19-21 to Chris Mordue, whilst Byron lost 18-21 to Dyson.

At the quarter final stage it was all visiting bowlers who had progressed, in the top half of the draw Herbert lost 19-21 to Dan Jones, whilst Wilcox lost out for a second year running to Callum Wraight (Shropshire) 17-21. In the bottom half of the draw Paul Bailey ran out from 11-11 against Mordue to win 21-11 to take his place in the semi-finals, whilst Dyson won 21-13 against John Bailey (Wales).

Both semi-finals could not have been any close with Wraight taking a 11-3 lead against Jones, only for Jones to level the score at 13-13. Jones then scored better than Wraight over the next nine ends to lead 20-18, only for Wraight to hit back to see the game out 21-20 to book his place in the final. In the second semi-final Dyson took a 13-8 lead, with Paul Bailey recovering to level the score at 14-14. Dyson then went 20-15 ahead, however Bailey managed to find a bit more in the tank to run out with a 21-20 win.

In the final there was plenty of striking and dead ends with Wraight and Bailey up against each other. It was Wraight who was quickest out of the blocks taking a 13-3 lead against Bailey, then led 16-7 and 19-10 under the fading light the floodlights had to be put on. Bailey then took three singles before Wraight retained the trophy and in doing so secured the £1,000 first prize with a double to win 21-13. Bailey will no doubt have been cheered up with his cheque for £500, with the losing semi finalists each receiving £250, and the losing quarter finalists taking home £125. Those who lost out in the second round took home £75 each.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by event organiser Glynn Hargraves, who thanked the sponsors PokerStars for their continued support, Noble’s Bowling club, the Department for Enterprise and Douglas Corporation, all the players for what made for an entertaining evening of bowls, the spectators for turning up to support along with anyone who had helped in the running of the event.

14 year old Shannon McMullan realised an ambition watched on by her proud parents and younger sisters by winning the Ellan Vannin Fuels Junior Manx Championship for the first time.

A product of the Manx Youth Games which was in only its second year in 2014, Shannon first took up the game at the tender age of nine. Today was also a proud day for her team mates, some of who were her MYG coaches. Shannon is now a regular fixture in the Ladies night league team at Mooragh Park, who are finally starting to reap the rewards of the hours of effort they have put in to coaching their junior players. Shannon has put a great amount of time and effort into her bowls and her improvement over the past year is clear for everyone to see.

Shannon certainly did it the hard way seeing off the up and coming Patrick Grant (Ballaugh) in her first round game recovering from a 17-19 deficit to pick up four singles to take a 21-19 win.

In the quarter finals Shannon was up against 2017 winner Marown B team captain Harry Barton with this year’s competition being the last time Barton was eligible to enter. Shannon took a 14-3 lead before Barton started to chip away at the lead, however the deficit proved too big with Shannon winning 21-14.

In the semi-finals home greener Austin Hart was up against Victoria Johnson (Mooragh Park) with Hart performing well to book his spot in the final with a 21-8 win. In the second semi-final Shannon was up against the current champion Glenn Boland (Noble’s) with Shannon starting well taking the lead 11-4. Boland hit back to edge ahead 12-11, with Shannon once again going on a good run to go 18-15 ahead then 20-17 only for Boland to score two to lie just one point behind with the score at 20-19 to Shannon. Boland played along the edge of the green putting up a lead six inches away from the jack, with Shannon’s first bowl just 18 inches away Boland couldn’t quite get a second counting bowl in. With her last bowl Shannon played a great bowl under pressure to trail the jack to take a fantastic 21-19 victory to reach the final.

In the final Shannon started strongly taking a 7-2 lead over 16 year old Austin, then extended the lead further still to 16-8. Shannon kept her composure well and her level of concentration was beyond her years, which helped to see the game out with a 21-12 win to take the title in what was a stunning performance.

The presentation was made by Association press officer Glynn Hargraves who thanked all the juniors for taking part, Association Secretary Alan Moore for running the competition, South Ramsey for providing the refreshments and putting on a BBQ with meat provided by Ballakelly Farm. It was also commented on that it was great to see the winner was someone who prior to 2014 had no family link to crown green bowls, which really demonstrated the great work done by those involved when crown green bowls became part of the Manx Youth Games for the first time in 2013.

Both Shannon and Austin will go on to represent the IOM at Netherfield BC, Kendal, Cumbria on Saturday 17th August.