The Isle of Man Crown Green Bowling Association put two entries forward for a Crown Green Masters Competition to be held at Euston Green in Fleetwood. A qualifier was held for the two entries, with 29 entering for their chance to qualify.

At the last eight stage Peel man Pip Pemberton lost out 11-21 to home greener Peter Jones, whilst the all Marown battle was won by Matthew Keggen who beat Juan Killip 21-15. In the other half of the draw another home greener Neil Withers won 21-9 against Noble’s Dave Naughton, with South Ramsey’s David Bradford also winning comfortably 21-10 against Peel B captain Paul Quirk.

In the qualifying game Jones stormed into a 14-7 lead against Keggen, with the latter levelling the game up at 14-14. Jones got back in to go into a 20-18 lead, only for Keggen to pick up a double and single to edge home 21-20 to qualify.

In the other game between Withers and Bradford the early stages were always close with the score level after 15 ends, it was the Marown man who made a sprint for the finish line to see the game out with a 21-16 win to take the second qualifying spot.

Both Keggen and Withers will now go on to play in the finals to be played on Friday 29th September with a prize pot of over £3,000 up for grabs. Best of luck to both players.

In good conditions in the Mooragh Park on Saturday North Ramsey Bowling Club hosted the Ken Parker Memorial Rose Bowl, with 16 pairs entered. With the green looking good and playing well this ensured that we were all in for an excellent afternoons bowling.

Games in the first round were mostly one sided with comfortable wins in most games. With the closest game seeing home greeners Lacey & Bailey McMulllan losing out to Jordan Cain (South Ramsey) & Amanda Lawler (Castletown) 21-14.

The quarter finals turned out to be much closer affairs.Cain & Lawler lost out to home greeners Steve Parker & Rob Monk 21-17. Joyce Ogden (Marown) & Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin) started well & were 17-12 up against Marown pair Peter Jones & Andy Kennish with the latter pair coming back strongly before eventually losing out 21-18.
Greg Barlow & Bryan Corner took on another South Ramsey pairing of Glynn Hargraves & Alan Moore in the closest game. Barlow & Corner started strongly going into 18-11 leading, before Hargraves & Moore replied with seven points over four ends to make it 18 across. Barlow & Corner took two points on the next end to leave them needing a single point to secure the win, however a three on the final end secured a place in the semi-finals for Hargraves & Moore.

South Ramsey’s John Kennish & Dido Kelly secured the remaining semi-final spot with a 21-13 win over the North Ramsey pairing of Paul Allison & Allan Callow.

In the first semi-final Kennish & Kelly took an early lead 16-8 against Hargraves & Moore, who fought back before eventually losing out 21-15. The remaining semi-final saw Steve Parker & Rob Monk take on Joyce Ogden & Caroline Whitehead. It was level after the 6th & 11th ends, before Parker & Monk took a 19-14 lead however Joyce & Caroline got it back to 17-19 before a single on end 20 left Parker & Monk requiring a point. However it was not to be with Ogden & Whitehead booking a place in the final with some excellent woods winning the next three ends to win 21-20.

The final saw Joyce & Caroline starting well leading 8-3, John & Dido came back with some excellent bowling, scoring 12 chalks in the next six ends to lead 16-10. With Joyce & Caroline unable to put a good run together it was the South Ramsey pair who ran out 21-13 to secure a victory and the Ken Parker Memorial Cup.

North Ramsey competition secretary Gary Merrill thanked those who had entered the competition in memory of Ken Parker. Ken was a popular member at both North & South Ramsey clubs. Gary presented the prizes & thanked all who had helped in the preparation of the green & running of the afternoon in particular the ladies in the beehive. John Kennish thanked North Ramsey for running the event, and of his fond memories of playing with Ken Parker at both North & South Ramsey.

Blessed with a fine summer’s afternoon, Finch Hill hosted the Apollo Blinds Mixed Pairs Open on Sunday.

In the Quarter Finals, the home pairing of Anne Hon and Stephen Oates had a close fought match with Jan Osborne (Finch Hill) and Peter Greenlees (Peel) until a decisive 19th end when Jan and Peter scored a full house, going on to win 21-16. 

South Ramsey’s Elaine and Alan Moore had a comfortable win over Derek Allen (Port Erin) and Lil Smith (Marown) 21-11. 

Steven Waters (North Ramsey) and Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) overcame another Finch Hill pairing, Iris Kermode and Pat Maher 21-14. The defending Champions Debbie Leece and Glenn Boland (Marown) could not repeat their feat of the previous year going down 21-15 to Margaret Tasker (Port St Mary) and Les Brookes (Finch Hill) 21-15.

In the Semi-Finals Elaine and Alan proved too strong for Jan and Peter although they did concede a four on the sixth end before going on to win 21-12. In the other semi-final, Steven and Fiona also conceded a four but were too strong for Margaret and Les winning 21-16.

The Final was a hard fought affair with nothing to choose between them after 10 ends, tied at 12 across. Steven and Fiona edged ahead and were 18-14 in front after 16 ends but a mistake on the next end allowed Elaine and Alan back into the game and they made the most of the opportunity, winning 21-18 with a decisive three on the 20th end.

Chris Reynolds from Apollo Blinds presented the prizes and Elaine thanked the sponsors for their continued support and Finch Hill for their hospitality in putting on the event.

Port St Mary captain Wayne Roberts & Marown’s Lynda Cadamy picked up the title on a wet Saturday afternoon, as they beat the Marown pairing of Lyn Bolton & Walter McCarthy 21-16 in the final.

Awaiting full report/details from Onchan.

Congratulations to July Canada Life International Award winners:- 

Men’s Player of the Month: Neil Withers – Marown  

Ladies Player of the Month: Jenny Moore – South Ramsey

Under 21’s Player of the Month: Madison McMullan – North Ramsey 

Neil or ‘Nev’ to most had reached four finals prior to July, without quite getting over the line. I did call out in my Manx Championship Finals Day Preview that he was knocking on the door. In July Nev didn’t just open the door, he knocked it down!

A second Manx Championship was picked up at Castletown at the start of the Month, coming through a tough draw as he followed up on his 2009 success. A first win in the Dreswick Cup soon followed, then two days later a third time of lifting the famous Peel Town Cup. For his club team Withers won all seven games, which included a particularly impressive 21-13 win over Kevin Quirk at Onchan.

Jenny was the obvious choice for the Ladies section this month as she picked up Manx Championship title number six, retaining the title successfully. Jenny also had success in the Spar Mixed Doubles at Ballaugh with her partner James Teare. Further individual success followed in the Jordan Cup held at Noble’s with Moore beating Jayne Smith in the final. For her club team it was eight wins out of eight games played, with Moore looking odds on to go the season unbeaten in the Ladies Night league with 18 wins from 18 games played, with just four games left in the 2023 season.

Madison had a great month as she picked up the girls Junior merit sweeping aside all opponents on the day. McMullan’s club form was particularly impressive beating some tough and experienced players throughout the month, with wins against Keith Rise in the Mixed Team Championship, Debbie Leece in the night league, and Hannah Drewett in the Jean Kelly Knockout competition. Five of Madison’s team victories during the month were to single figures.

Sunday saw the holding of the Douglas Town Cup Ladies and Men’s Singles hosted by Douglas Bowling Club at the Villa. The Men’s event started at 10:30 in the morning with 42 entries, with the Ladies competition starting later in the day had an entry of 19 Ladies competing.

In the Men’s singles at the quarter final stage Peter Jones (Marown) beat David Bradford (South Ramsey) 21-11, whilst Keith Rise held off a late comeback from Walter McCarthy to win 21-19. In the other half of the draw Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) won 21-8 against Rob Monk (North Ramsey), whilst Phil Kelly beat Marown clubmate Juan Killip 21-17 to progress to the next round.

At the semi-final stage Jones ensured it was the end of the road for Rise, with the Marown man winning 21-13. In the other semi-final Hargraves led 18-12 against Kelly, only for the Marown man to score seven consecutive chalks to lead 19-18. Hargraves got back in at the right time to seal his place in the final with a 21-19 victory.

In the Men’s final the rain set in as Hargraves (+6) won the first end, only to concede two doubles to Jones (+5) who was the current holder to fall 9-7 behind. Hargraves took the next three ends to go two chalks ahead at 11-9, then Jones got in to settle on a longer length as he scored seven chalks over six ends to lead 16-11.

A slice of fortune got Hargraves back in, with the South Ramsey man then closing the deficit to two chalks at 16-18, however Jones played two good bowls on the following end to lead 20-16.

On the next end a good lead from Jones was beaten at the first attempt, then a further single followed for Hargraves to put the score at 18-20. On the next end Jones was in after a measure as he retained the trophy for another year with a hard earned 21-18 victory in an entertaining final.

In the Ladies quarter finals Lyn Bolton (Marown) beat Michele Cubbon (Ballaugh) 21-9, Janet Monk beat Mooragh Park teammate Shannon McMullan 21-12. Marown’s Debbie Leece beat Margie Tasker (Port St Mary) 21-14, whilst home greener Paula Garrett beat teammate Katie Jacobs 21-10.

In the Ladies semi-finals Bolton got the better of Monk, with a comfortable 21-11 win, whilst Garrett won 21-14 against Leece.

The Final got underway with Bolton making the better start to lead 11-6, then Garrett closed the gap to two chalks at 10-12.

Belton stepped up another gear or two, as the Marown player restricted her opponent to scoring on only two more ends for Bolton to run out with three two’s and three singles to seal a comfortable 21-13 to win the Ladies Douglas Town Cup.

There was also a prize for the Juniors going furthest in the competition and the Junior Girls was won by Katie Jacobs (Douglas) and the Junior Boys was shared by Kian Bradford (South Ramsey) & Clark Kelly (Douglas).

At the conclusion Gordy Wynne-Smythe thanked all those who supported the event and the Douglas Club Members for a great effort in putting on the event. He then announced that they had raised funds for A Little Bit of Hope to the total of £450. He then went on to thank Jaks & Barbary Coast for sponsoring the event, with Andrew Gibbs presenting the prizes.

Ballaugh Bowling hosted the Spar Mixed Doubles on Sunday afternoon with 34 pairs taking part with the rain holding off for the entire competition.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Douglas pair Pauline and Willie Cowley, who lost 14-21 to Marown’s Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones, Clare Cooper (Marown) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) were well beaten 8-21 by South Ramsey’s Jenny Moore and James Teare. Home green pair Rose Waterworth and Paul Cubbon put paid to the hopes of Marown duo Rebecca Teare and Paul Dunn with a 21-16 win, whilst another South Ramsey pair Gill Dixon and Stefan Kelly won 21-10 against Margaret Tasker (Port St Mary and Les Brookes (Finch Hill).

The first semi-final saw Moore and Teare up against Bolton and Jones, with the Marown pair building up a four point lead after 10 ends at 15-11. The South Ramsey pair rallied over the next three ends scoring two consecutive three’s and a single to lead 18-15. Bolton and Jones responded with three singles to level the game up at 18-18, then three consecutive singles of their own saw Moore and Teare win 21-18 to reach the final.

In the other semi-final Waterworth and Cubbon took on Dixon and Kelly with the latter pair scoring just three doubles on their way to a hard earned 21-16 victory.

The final was expected to be a tight match with both pairs performing well all day. Dixon and Kelly scored a double first end to lead 8-6, then lost six consecutive ends as Moore and Teare scored heavily to go within touching distance of victory. A two for Dixon and Kelly on the eighth end for them into double figures at 10-20 and they were lying four on the following end only for Moore to find a gap and score the one point needed to secure victory.

The presentation was made by Chairman Gordie Moore, who thanked Maurice O’Reilly and the club members for helping run the competition along with the ladies for providing the catering throughout the day. In his speech James passed on his condolences to the members of Ballaugh Bowling Club following the recent loss of a great club man Richard Faragher, with a minutes silence held before play got underway for the day.

Congratulations to June Canada Life International Award winners:- 

Men’s Player of the Month: Bob Clark – South Ramsey  

Ladies Player of the Month: Louise Tebay – Ballaugh

Under 21’s Player of the Month: Ryan Hargraves – South Ramsey 

Bob was in top form in June as he picked up his second open competition win of the season as he won the Ken Williamson Cup for a second time having previously won the competition in 2010 as a 17-year-old, he won it this year as a 30-year-old. Clark brushed aside all before him on the day, as he beat Glenn Boland, Kevin Quirk, Matthew Quirk, Peter Jones and Glynn Hargraves. For his club team South Ramsey Clark maintained a 100% record winning all four games, including a vital home win over Peter Jones in the Rayner Shield quarter finals.

Louise Tebay was the clear choice for the Ladies section this month winning the award for the first time, with the highlight of the month being a first singles open win having recently won a ladies doubles at Onchan, Louise went on to win the Ladies Ramsey Town Cup beating Sue Gawne in the final. Louise also reached the latter stages of the June Festival. In a display of dedication towards the sport taken up just over two years ago Louise has recently obtained her Level 1 coaching qualification.

Junior bowler Ryan is the third person to win the award for the first time this month as he picked up the under 21 title, having recently represented the Junior Island team in St. Helen’s the 15-year-old has kicked on this season with his league form seeing him win all four games played in June, to rise to third place in the Division Three night league individual merit.