The Isle of Man Junior Team took part in the British Crown Green Bowling Association six-a-side Championship at Windle Bowling Club in St Helens on Sunday, on what turned out to be another good day for the team. With three of last years’ Junior Team now ineligible to play it was an opportunity for younger Junior bowlers to gain experience representing the Island competing on a different green.

The format was six players in a team in a group of five teams all playing each other, it was a positive start as they won the first game 5-1 against Lancashire by a comfortable margin of 18 chalks (87-69) with Grace Gawne winning 15-6 against Wade Hunting, whilst Ryan Hargraves beat Matthew Finch 15-9.

The second round was against last year’s group winners Cumbria the same side that the team lost out to by a single chalk, however it was a tough fixture as the team won just one game (1-5) with Grace Gawne again winning to single figures 15-8 against Sam Brannon as the team losing out by 43 chalks (40-83).

In the third round the team bounced back in style beating Cheshire 5-1 and by a margin of 37 chalks (83-46) with all of the wins to single figures. Grace Gawne and Alex Hampson won 15-3 against Kannikaa Duncan and Megan Hulme respectively, Sam Colquitt beat Holly MacPake 15-7, whilst Madison McMullan beat Lawrence McNeela 15-9, with Ryan Hargraves matching that win as he beat Max Blackburn.

In the final round they faced South Yorkshire, this game was a lot closer as the team claimed a 4-2 win on games and winning by 12 chalks (80-68). Birthday Boy Ryan Hargraves who was celebrating his 15^th Birthday beat Keira Fox 15-11 to secure his third win of the day, Madison McMullan won 15-5 against Jacob Morgan, Alex Hampson claimed another single figure win beating Liam Dickenson 15-9, whilst Victoria Johnson just got the better of Isaac Cook 15-13. The defeats in this game were also high scoring to help the team claim the win on chalks as Alex Colquitt battled well before losing out 9-15 to Grace Rhodes, whilst Grace Gawne lost out 11-15 against Harley Baker.

The Group was topped by an all-conquering Cumbria on eight points, with two points awarded for a win on chalks, closely followed by the Isle of Man who finished runners up in the group with six points.

The Juniors all did themselves and the Island proud in the way that they performed and more importantly the way they behaved on and off the green. Thank you to everyone who came to support, the Development Committee for organising the travel & accommodation, Team Manager Tina Hampson who was assisted on the day by Steve Hampson, along with Andy Kennish for the transport.

Marown Bowling Club were the host club on Saturday as they held the Marown Magic Carpets Mixed Singles for the third time attracting a healthy entry of 58.

The competition was once again played in a big smash style format, which has proved popular in the U.K. and is played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. Players were given a handicap ranging from 0 to 3. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner of the game.

Losing quarter finalists were Dave McCabe (Finch Hill) who lost 7-15 to Marown captain Paul Dunn, Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) had his run ended by Marown’s Neil Withers 6-15, home greener Glenn Boland edged home 13-10 against Kevin Quirk (Onchan). In the last quarter final David Bradford had a match on his hands with another home greener Jayne Smith with the contest tied at 15-15 after 15 ends it was one bowl shootout, which Bradford managed to win to progress.

In the semi-finals club mates Dunn and Withers clashed, with the latter having two ends to spare as he reached the final with a 12-6 win over Dunn who had won the competition for the last two years, whilst Bradford’s game with Boland went to the deciding end as the former edged home 11-9.

The final started with Withers conceding the first end with a double, to then respond by taking the next three ends. The first power end put Bradford back in the game as he took out Withers counting bowl, with Bradford narrowly missing taking out his own bowl as he scored a single to gain two points.

The South Ramsey man then went on to win four of the following five ends, including another power end to lead 11-6 after 10 ends.

Withers threatened a comeback as he took a single only for Bradford to score a single and a double over the next two ends to lead 14-7 after 13 ends. With not enough ends or points available for Withers to make a comeback the game ended as Bradford claimed his first win in this competition and his second of the season following on from his pre-season win in the Ian Kissack Shield.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition secretary Phil Kelly, who thanked Magic Carpets for their continued sponsorship, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all who came to support.

South Ramsey Bowling Club held the inaugural Chas Grills Memorial Trophy, following the loss of Chas who was a long serving club member who gave so much to the club over the course of six decades. The format of triples once again proved to be extremely popular amongst the Islands bowlers as 28 teams – 84 bowlers took part on a superb playing surface. The competition was once again sponsored by Quay Fitness Gym.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Eddie Carlyle, Les Brookes and Brian Lindsay (South Ramsey, Finch Hill and Peel) 14-21 to South Ramsey’s experienced trio of Roger Thomas, Brian Stewart and Anthony Kelly. Marown’s Clare Cooper, Rebecca Teare and Debbie Leece just lost out 19-21 to club mates Colin Kelly, Walter McCarthy and Neil Withers. Jenny Moore, James Teare and Glynn Hargraves (all South Ramsey) were beaten 18-21 by Peter Jones, Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly (all Marown) whilst another all South Ramsey team Austin Hart, Toby Hart and Alan Moore lost out 16-21 to Jordan Cain, Bob Clark (both South Ramsey) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan).

Falling at the semi-final stage after scoring their only point of the game on the first end were Thomas, Stewart and Kelly who lost 7-21 to the Marown men Kelly, McCarthy and Withers.

A close game was expected between Jones, Keggen and Kelly who were up against Cain, Clark and Quirk, however the latter team won comfortably 21-10.

In the final it was a low scoring contest with just two doubles scored after 10 ends the Marown men led 13-10. Two consecutive doubles for Cain, Clark and Quirk put the younger trio in the lead 14-10. The game flipped on its head from there as a single, a four, another single followed by a double from Kelly, McCarthy and Withers was enough to see the game out with a deserved 21-14 victory to become the first winners of the Chas Grills Memorial trophy.

At the presentation, South Ramsey Bowling Club Chairman Steve Moore thanked the sponsors and everybody at the club who helped make the competition a success, especially the catering team who kept everyone well fed over the course of the day. Chas’ sister Sue Nicholas and his son David Grills were then introduced to present the prizes, which were paid out down to the quarter finals. A grand sum of £935 was raised for charity. David announced that IOM Sport Aid would be the nominated charity, with prize winners handing back their winnings the amount increased to £1,259. Sue then went on to say that Chas loved all sports and thanked everyone for the overwhelming support.

Easter Saturday saw the second staging of the KNR Construction Trophy on a well prepared green at the Villa with those who were lucky enough to be there being treated to a display of good bowling from the 25 pairs who competed.

At the quarter final stage we saw Lynda and Derek Cadamy (Marown/Port Erin) lose 13-21 to Rebecca Teare and Paul Dunn (Marown) and it was great to see Helen Martin (Castletown) back on the green partnering Matthew Keggen (Marown) as they beat Margaret Tasker (Port St Mary) and Les Brookes (Finch Hill) 21-20. In the remaining two quarter final matches Lyn Bolton (Marown) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) beat Onchan’s Sandra May and Mark Kelly 21-12 and Kim Hargraves and Peter Collister (both South Ramsey) lost 13-21 to Sue Gawne and Andy Kennish (both Onchan).

As we came to the semi-finals we saw Helen & Matthew face Rebecca and Paul but sadly Helen who had battled gallantly against a lack of match fitness during the afternoon found playing four consecutive games just too much and had to withdraw despite leading 12-9 with the Teare and Dunn pairing going through to the final. The remaining game was a close affair with the Bolton and Roberts duo losing 19-21 to Gawne and Kennish.

In the final Teare and Dunn started well and built up a 15-9 lead after eight ends but by 12 ends the game was level at 16-16 with Gawne and Kennish playing some good bowls to put pressure on their opponents. Teare and Dunn then built up a 20-16 lead but on the 16th end Gawne and Kennish scored a three to make it 20-19 only to lose the next end to give Rebecca Teare and Paul Dunn the win.

The trophies were presented by Neil Clarke of KNR Construction and Paul Dunn thanked the sponsors, Douglas Bowling Club for hosting the event and the Greenkeeper for a great playing surface and the Club Members who had helped on the day.

South Ramsey competed in the World Club Championship on Sunday at Spen Victoria Bowling Club, as they were defeated by 36 chalks (125-161) against local Yorkshire side Crossland Moor.

There was some individual success as James Teare won 21-16, Jordan Cain edged home 21-19,  whilst Elaine Moore battled well only to lose 17-21, with Peter Collister also just losing 19-21.

Marown held the opening tournament of the 2023 season, with the Ian Kissack floodlight competition sponsored by Ardern & Druggan Limited attracting a healthy entry of 76. The competition was played over four days, with handicaps ranging from two to eight with two qualifiers from the four qualifying sessions.

The competition commenced on Sunday afternoon with two visiting bowlers qualifying, as Trevor Quayle managed to see off Port St Mary teammate Wayne Roberts, while new Peel captain Stevie Kelly got the better of his Dad Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly to take his place in the quarter finals.

Sunday evening resulted in two home green players qualifying with Paul Kelly seeing off his teammate Phil Kelly, while Paul Dunn progressed as he beat Marown B Team captain Daren Kerruish in their respective qualifying games.

Monday evening had South Ramsey’s David Bradford navigating his way through his three qualifying games, with Bradford being pushed hard by Andy Kennish (Onchan) in his first game before prevailing 21-19. In the other half of the session Marown’s Colin Kelly had a tough night, but managed to progress thanks to a 21-20 win in his second game, then went on to recover from a huge deficit against club mate Lil Smith to qualify for finals night.

The last qualifying session took place on Tuesday evening, as a further two home greeners navigated their way through to Wednesday evening. Brian Kelly ended the challenge of Stevie Cain (Noble’s), whilst Karl Parker took the bragging rights as he beat fellow Marown player Glenn Boland to take the last two spots in finals night.

The competition was redrawn at the quarter final stage with Paul Dunn taking on teammate Colin Kelly, with the latter winning 21-14. Trevor Quayle progressed thanks to a 21-17 win over Paul Kelly.

In the other half of the draw Karl Parker had a resounding 21-12 win over Stevie Kelly, whilst David Bradford finished strongly to beat Brian Kelly 21-13.

Both semi-finals were well contested, with Trevor Quayle shooting into a 17-8 lead against Colin Kelly, only for the latter to fight back in style and run out with a 21-18 victory as he booked his place in the final. In the other semi-final Bradford ended the hopes of Parker with a 21-15 victory.

The final between the top two bowlers on the Isle of Man – Kelly & Bradford was eagerly anticipated, with both players off a +2 handicap. With neither player taking the initiative in the early ends, it was Bradford who made the first move to build up a 12-7 lead on end 12, as he scored his only double of the game. The Marown man fought back to 12-15, only for Bradford to score three consecutive singles to lead 18-12. The next six ends were shared equally, as Bradford got the three points needed to retain the trophy with a 21-15 victory.

The presentation was made by Marown President Peter Kelly, with Kevin Druggan introduced from the sponsor Ardern & Druggan. Thanks were given to the Marown ladies for the excellent refreshments provided over the four days. In his speech Bradford thanked Marown for running the competition, Ardern & Druggan for the continued sponsorship and congratulated the green keepers on how well the green was running.

Congratulations to September Canada Life International Award winners:-

Men’s Player of the Month: Peter Jones – Marown

Ladies Player of the Month: Joyce Ogden – Marown

Under 21’s Player of the Month: Toby Hart – South Ramsey

Peter was the obvious choice in the men’s game during September, having joined half way into the season ‘Jonah’ has settled in nicely winning his first Manx Masters at the first time of asking beating the best of the best on his way to picking up the title. In addition to this Jones contributed towards Marown’s success winning a fourth successive Club Team Championship title, whilst clearly strengthening their A Team in the second half of the season in their attempt to wrestle the title back from South Ramsey A. In addition to this Jonah won a Doubles competition with clubmate Glenn Boland at Finch Hill, whilst enjoying further success in the Men’s Doubles in the September Festival with teammate Colin Kelly.

The pick from the Ladies Section this month was a difficult choice with two names in the frame, it was Marown’s Joyce Ogden who edged the vote from the Ladies. Joyce started the month in devastating fashion, with a 21-4 win in the final of the JMS Veterans Shield helping her team on the way to victory as Marown retained the title, with another three single figure wins following. The pre-festival competition held at Castletown turned out to be something of a surprise victory on the day as a space opened up in the draw, with Joyce entering and not having any bowls with her used a set of club bowls. Joyce went on to claim her first win in a Ladies singles open beating some top lady bowlers on the day. This teed Joyce up nicely for the week, with the September Festival taking place Ogden reached the quarter finals in the Tourism, then just lost out 19-21 in the main event at the same stage to the runner up.

Toby was the easy choice in the Under 21 category winning his first Junior Manx Masters, with this being his last opportunity to do so, performing well to beat one of the outstanding Junior bowlers Madison McMullan in the final. Toby also performed well four his club team South Ramsey winning four games, while this is not in September – there will be no player of the month for October it is worth noting that I cannot recall two brothers winning an Open Competition as Toby and older sibling Austin performed brilliantly in the Juan Kelly Cup recently as the pair went on to take their first win in a Doubles competition.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Juan Kelly Cup with the competition now in its sixth year 49 pairs took part just beating last year’s entry of 48. There were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system which was played over two qualifying nights (Sunday and Monday), with four pairs qualifying each night in order to qualify for the finals night on Wednesday evening.

The format was any combination 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 bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner.

There were some high profile casualties on both qualifying nights, in particular on Monday when a host of strong pairings made an early exit.

For finals night a re-draw took place to determine who the pairings would play on the night, with a good mixture of high and low handicaps still in the competition. The excellent floodlights came into good use for the duration of the competition.

Losing quarter finalists were home greeners Glenn Boland and Peter Jones (+2), who lost heavily to Port St Mary pair Jordan Drewett and Nathan Hamilton (+4) 10-23 with the game finishing two ends early as the latter pair could not be caught, while Derek Allen (Port Erin) and Steve Parker (Onchan) had a +4 handicap against Peel pair Tommy McMeiken and George Gadsby who were off +3, with the Peel men winning 18-15. The Port St Mary Husband and Wife pairing of Steve and Mavis Franks (+7) couldn’t get going until end 10 against South Ramsey’s David Bradford and Peter Collister (SCR) as they lost out 14-21. In the last quarter final another South Ramsey pair progressed with brothers Toby and Austin Hart seeing off Peel men Stevie and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 16-15, with all to play for on the last end the Hart brothers got the single they needed to score a two to leapfrog their opponents to win the game.

The semi-finals were fairly straightforward for both winning pairs with Drewett and Hamilton booking their place in the final with a 22-14 win over McMeiken and Gadsby, while the Hart’s stepped up a few gears – with the match finely poised at 13-14 against Bradford and Collister after 11 ends, the brothers scored a two, a four a three and a single to finish strongly with a 24-14 win.

The final got underway with the South Ramsey pair (+6) having a slight two chalk advantage over the Port pair (+4) it looked like it could be a close final with both pairs exchanging singles over the first four ends to leave the score at 8-6. On the first power end the Hart’s made their move as they scored a two, which doubled up to a four. From there they scored another four on end seven, followed by a single on end nine, in between conceding three chalks over two ends.

With Drewett and Hamilton chasing the game trailing 9-17, the second power end looked to be going against them as they were lying two down, with Hamilton killing the end no points were scored. After scoring a single on the following end any hopes of a comeback were extinguished as they conceded a single, followed by a four to put the score at 22-10 with just two ends remaining. This would have require a minor miracle to score two maximums just to tie, however end 14 became a dead rubber as Toby and Austin had their bowls well positioned to ensure this didn’t happen as they scored two to take their first win in this competition, with both brothers performing extremely well over both the qualifying night and the finals night, they fully deserved this victory.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Marown Club President Peter Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments over all three nights, everyone who entered, and all those who came to support. The sponsor Juan Kelly was then introduced to present the prizes with £560 paid out.

The proceeds from the kitchen and the raffle from this competition and the Autumn Shield held at Marown in early September resulted in the club raising over £1,300 towards Charity following the loss of three Life Members this year – Bert Winckle, Ian Kissack and Pat Withers with four charities receiving donations – The Parkinson’s Society, Hospice Care, Peel and District Anti-Cancer and Sight Matters (Manx Blind Welfare).

The 2022 BCGBA Mel Evans MBECentenary Mixed Pairs was held on Saturday 1st October at Owley Wood Recreation Club, Barrymore Road, Weaverham.

The first game of the day got underway at 10:00 with Paula Firth (Onchan) and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) facing Amy Ryder and Mark Owen (Shropshire) on the number one green with the IOM pair going into a 15-4 lead, eventually going onto win 21-13.

South Ramsey’s Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves were on the number two green, as they faced Warwick and Worcester pair Tracey Baker and Jason Galvin with Elaine and Glynn leading 16-10 and counting for three only for a great last bowl from Galvin to trail the block for two. From there the IOM representatives picked up just two more chalks as they lost 18-21.

Also on the number two green another South Ramsey pair – Jenny Moore and James Teare, they managed to see off the Wales pair of Linda Williams and Ritchie Jamieson 21-12, keeping their opponents to just one double with the rest of the points scored being singles.

In the Last 16 Jenny and James were up against Catherine Lockwood and Peter Hawkes (North Lancs & Fylde) finding themselves in a spot of bother trailing 13-19 after conceding two fours, however they did pick up three trebles. Trailing by one chalk at 19-20 and counting for four, with two bowls easily inside a foot, Lockwood pulled out bowl of the day to win the game 21-20 in a tough to take last end for the South Ramsey pair.

Paula and Alan faced Warwick and Worcester’s Michelle Jones and Ben Harris with the latter pair winning just seven ends to Paula and Alan’s 12 ends. The W&W pair went into a 20-17 lead, with Alan saving game on more than one occasion with his ability to strike, as they managed to pick up a double and two singles to sneak home 21-20 to reach the next round.

At the quarter final stage Firth and Moore were the last IOM representatives left as they faced Abbie-Jo Rhodes and Simon Rhodes from South Yorkshire. Trailing 7-9 the Onchan/South Ramsey pair shifted up a few gears as their opponents scored just one more chalk, scoring two fours, a double and four consecutive singles to see the game out 21-10.

At the semi-final stage Firth and Moore were always in control of the game against another South Yorkshire pair Andrea Ainley and Richard Moore as they booked their place in the final with a solid 21-13 victory.

In the final Firth and Moore faced Staffordshire pair Jordan Picken and Steve Davis who had just seen off the pair that had earlier put Jenny and James out of the competition. In their fifth game of the day they struggled to get going as whilst they kept their opponents down to singles and doubles they found themselves with a 4-17 deficit.

A mini comeback followed as they managed to sneak into double figures as they lost out 10-21, however both should take pride in their performances over the day.