Marown Bowling Club held the Juan Kelly Cup last week with the competition in its second year being played under the excellent floodlights it was like playing in daylight.

The format was any competition 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 end shootout would take place to decide the winner.

The competition in this format improved on last years entry of 40 pairs, with 42 pairs entering. Again there were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system played over two qualifying nights, with four pairs qualifying from each night for the quarter finals.

On Sunday evening 16 pairs played their qualifying night, with 26 pairs competing on the Monday evening this proved to be the most popular night to play.

The finals night was held on Wednesday evening, with a live re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night.

The eventual winners were the father and son pairing of Bernie Durcan and Steve Durcan (+7), who mastered the green, defeating the home duo of Phil Kelly and Paul Kelly (+2) in the final to a 30-8 score line with the Marown men conceding the game with three ends still to play with the lead having become unassailable. The Durcan’s were helped massively by counting a four on end 10, which was a power end to score a huge eight points at a vital moment in the game, however this shouldn’t take away from their brilliant performance in the final to keep the Marown men down to single figures scoring just six points on their own green.

The Durcan’s were superb throughout the whole competition, taking out some good pairings along the way, and they don’t come any tougher than the South Ramsey pairing of John Kennish and David Bradford ending their challenge with a 21-17 win on Monday evening in the final qualifying game with Kennish and Bradford needing a big score on the power end to progress but just missing out.

Losing out in the semi-finals were Marown C Team captain Stephen Rundle and Celia Joughin (+10) who were beaten 16-21 to the runners up, Losing out to the Durcan’s in the semi-finals were the father and daughter pairing of Arnie Withers and Helen Withers (+9) who just needed to make another counting bowl on the final end to secure a spot in the final, however they just missed out agonisingly 23-24.

Losing quarter finalists were two South Ramsey pairings, Jenny Moore and James Teare (+6), along with Alan Moore and Glynn Hargraves (+3), Peel duo Tommy McMeiken and David Proctor (+6), along with the Noble’s pairing of Alison Keggen and Debbie Leece (+10).

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Neil Withers, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all those who stayed to support.

South Ramsey held the Manx Masters on Saturday with four separate competitions taking place.

Winner of the Young Manx Masters was Sam Colquitt (Marown Juniors) defeating Emily Cooper (also Marown Juniors) in the final. This competition was played in a round robin format over seven ends with both Sam and Emily winning their respective groups to reach the final.

The Junior Manx Masters was played as a straight knockout for the older and more experienced player and the title was retained by Glenn Boland (Noble’s) who beat Austin Hart (South Ramsey) 21-18 in the final, with Boland beating 10 year old Ryan Hargraves to reach the final, whilst Hart beat his younger brother Toby Hart in a close game (21-18) to book his spot in the final.

The standard of play in both events was brilliant and it was great to have over 50 people around the green watching the future of the game with the numbers steadily increasing throughout the morning, making for a great atmosphere on and around the green.

The junior competitions were sponsored by Stonemasons IOM Limited for a second successive year with the presentation made by Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. All those who took part received a prize, with the younger players also receiving a certificate.

Huge thanks must go to the five coaches (Sonya Mercer, Clare Cooper, Phil Kelly, Colin Kelly and Neil Withers) who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning, with their guidance being invaluable to those taking part.

Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion the men’s and ladies events got underway with the ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the men’s event had 32 taking part.

In the ladies losing out at the quarter final stages were Mary Moffatt (Peel), Gill Dixon (Ballaugh), Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Philippa Taylor (Marown).

In the semi-finals Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) was too strong for Chris Price (Port St Mary) taking a 21-14 win, whilst Clare Cooper (Noble’s) ended the challenge of home greener Lyn Bolton with a 21-16 win to book her place in the final.

In the final Moore was quickest out of the blocks under the floodlights with Cooper being kept down to winning five ends throughout the game with Moore scoring six two’s on the way to securing a well deserved 21-9 win to pick up the title.

In the men’s event 12 of the 16 first round games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 15 or more to show there were some good games taking place. This continued in the second round with five of the eight games being played going to 15 and above.

Losing out at the quarter final stage was multi time Manx Masters champion and recent festival winner John Kennish (South Ramsey), who lost out 18-21 to his nephew Alan Moore (South Ramsey). Another home greener who fell at this stage was Chas Grills losing out 15-21 to Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel). In another all home green encounter David Bradford lost out 13-21 to Glynn Hargraves, whilst Dean Kipling (Marown) ended the hopes of Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly with his own 21-13 win.

In the semi-final Alan Moore took on Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly with Moore fighting back from well behind to get back to 19-19 before Kelly picked up a two to secure a 21-19 win. In the second semi-final Glynn Hargraves took on Dean Kipling with Hargraves taking a 17-8 lead with Kipling coming back to 15-17 before Hargraves went on another run to finish the game off to win 21-15.

In the final Kelly made a strong start on the long lengths with Hargraves chipping in with the odd point to trail 7-11. Kelly then took the next four ends with two singles and two doubles to take a huge step towards winning taking a 17-7 lead. Hargraves dug in to take the next seven ends on a short round peg that he had played well in three of his previous games to take four singles and three doubles to drag himself back into the game to sit level at 17-17. Kelly picked the perfect time to stop the rot playing a good first bowl which wasn’t beaten to get back in to go 18-17 ahead. A double and a single on the next two ends was enough to secure a well deserved victory for Kelly, who had performed well all day.

At the end of the competition the prizes were presented by Cleveland Perry of behalf of the sponsors Feltons who have supported this event for the past few years.

Competition secretary John Kennish gave thanks to those who had helped prepare the green, along with those who had helped in any way towards the smooth running of the competitions throughout the whole day. A special mention to the ladies who once again put on a superb selection of pasties, sandwiches, cakes etc along with hot and cold refreshments throughout the entire day.

Also a special mention must go to John Kennish and Alan Moore who put in considerable time and effort to invite the players that took part and did brilliantly to get 21 juniors playing competitive bowls that was enjoyed by all.

Saturday 18th August saw the Mannin Hotel Douglas Town Cup being held by Douglas Bowling Club at the Villa.

With both Ladies and Men’s Singles being played side by side this Competition promised some good bowling and those watching were not disappointed.

We saw some great bowls straight from the start and in the first round of the Ladies Event we saw two epic battles with Lyn Bolton just edging out Paula Garrett 21-20 and Philippa Taylor losing out 21-18 to Jenny Moore despite a valiant effort to come back from trailing early in the game.

At the Quarter Final stage Janet Monk beat Jenny Moore 21-12 and Lyn Bolton went down 21-13 to Amanda Lawler. Debbie Leece beat Maureen Payne 21-8 and Margie Tasker took a victory 21-16 over Kim Hargraves.

In the Semi Finals Janet Monk who always plays the ‘Villa Green’ well beat Amanda Lawler to 13 and Debbie Leece played well to beat the experienced Margie Tasker to 12.

In the Final Debbie Leece started well and at one point had a small lead but in the end the extra experience of Janet told and she came through to win 21-15 in a game that was a credit to both of them.

The Men’s Competition was better supported and the early rounds saw some good bowling and as we got to the Quarter Finals we saw young Sam Aherne have a tough draw against Neil Withers with Neil running out with a 21-10 win whilst Rob Monk defeated Harry Barton 21-14. Glynn Hargraves beat Alec Taylor to 12 and in a tough game Alan Moore squeezed past Andy Cannell 21-19.

The Semi Finals saw Neil Withers beat Rob Monk to 14 and Glynn Hargaves beat Alan Moore to 13 to set up an epic Final.

In a great Final it was hard to predict a winner and it was a close battle all the way with great bowls from both men with Neil eventually taking a 21-18 win after an exciting game.

In his ‘Winners Speech’ Neil thanked the sponsors ‘the Mannin Hotel’ and all who had helped on the day, he also mentioned the excellent Green which although a bit heavy at the start because of the rain was running well at the end of the Competition.