News: Men’s General
Hat-trick for Kennish
There was a bumper entry of 65 in this years Canada Life International sponsored Manx Championship held at Port St Mary on Saturday with the green running well and proving difficult to master.
The game of the first round on paper had 2017 champion John Kennish taking on Jordan Cain (Onchan). After a shaky start by both players Kennish pulled away to take a big lead to go 20-7 up before Cain replied with an eight point run to get back to 15-20 and was lying one until Kennish took out Cain’s counting bowl to win 21-15.
Home greener Paul Skelly had his work cut out to beat Jimmy Sansom 21-18 to book his place in the second round.
Peel man Gary Smith performed well to dispose of two South Ramsey players defeating Stefan Kelly 21-10 and Glynn Hargraves 21-16 to earn his place in the finals day.
Saturday’s theme seemed to be a tale of comebacks with Sam Clague (Castletown) holding a huge lead on Frank Watson (Peel) before letting it slip losing 21-19 to show the importance of having the jack on a tricky green.
Glenn Boland (Noble’s) was 11-2 down against Dave McCabe (Port Erin) then took 18 consecutive points to go 20-11 up. McCabe got two more points then Boland finished the game off taking a 21-13 victory.
In the second round Peel captain Stevie Kelly was 13-3, 14-7 and then 18-11 up on Onchan captain Peter Slinger who doesn’t know when he is beaten with Slinger just managing to earn his place in the last 16 with a 21-20 win.
Neil Withers (Marown) was 13-18 down to Stuart Garrett (Douglas) to then take four consecutive doubles to win 21-18. John Kennish was pushed even harder in his second game against Frank Watson with a similar story to the first game in that Kennish had a big lead of 17-8 before Watson started to claw his way back into the game. Kennish got over the line 21-17 in the end.
Dan McCabe (Port St Mary) had a fantastic 21-6 win over Tommy McMeiken (Peel). Home greener Wayne Roberts was another victim of letting a lead slip after going 20-16 up before losing out 20-21 to Rob Monk.
David Proctor performed well despite getting a walkover in the first round to beat Peel team mate Tom Kelly to win 21-9 to book his place in finals day.
Last 16 Line Up
Paul Skelly v Gary Smith
Peter Slinger v Neil Withers
Dan McCabe v John Kennish
Reginald Temporaza v David Bradford
David Proctor v Matthew Keggen
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly v Rob Monk
Trevor Quayle v Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly
Colin Kelly v Paul Dunn
Paul Skelly got the action underway on Sunday in front of a good turnout for finals day and kept the home crowds dream of a home greener victory alive by ending the challenge of Gary Smith with a 21-13 win. Peter Slinger had to dig in once again to see off Neil Withers with a hard fought 21-18 victory. Port St Mary man Dan McCabe started well with John Kennish, then Kennish found his groove to book his quarter final spot with a 21-10 win. Noble’s Reg Temporaza’s challenge was ended by David Bradford (South Ramsey) who won comfortably 21-9.
In the second half of games Matthew Keggen (Marown) also had a comfortable win over David Proctor, whilst Onchan’s Rob Monk performed brilliantly to end the challenge of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly for another year also winning 21-9. Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly played as well as anyone to see off Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle with a 21-13 win. In the final game it was two Marown team mates pitted against each other with Colin Kelly holding off Paul Dunn with a 21-12 win.
In the first quarter final Paul Skelly got the applause of the home crowd with a 21-20 win over Peter Slinger after letting an 18-13 lead slip to book his place in the semi-final thanks to a good two to finish on the last end.
In the second quarter final it was another battle between team mates with John Kennish taking on his men’s doubles partner David Bradford with Bradford 13-3, 15-8 and 19-15 up with Kennish clawing his way back constantly throughout the game with Kennish getting over the line thanks to a double and four singles to win 21-19.
In the third quarter final Rob Monk took on Matthew Keggen with Monk taking a commanding 19-13 lead with Keggen chipping away at the lead to get back to 18-20 before Monk played a good first bowl to end Keggen’s hopes of a win on his former home green.
In the last quarter final Dido Kelly made a good start to go 11-4 up on Colin Kelly with Dido not sending his jack far enough which allowed Colin the opportunity to set the mark in the corners, which he took full advantage of, to then take a 14-13 lead. Dido responded with a double to re-take the lead 15-14. Colin then managed to see the game out taking a 21-15 win to book his place in the semi-final.
In the first semi-final John Kennish faced local favourite Paul Skelly with Kennish making a strong start going 15-3 up, before seeing the game out to win 21-13.
In the other semi-final Rob Monk started well taking a 7-2 lead with Colin Kelly responding with 12 consecutive points to take a 14-7 lead before Monk took a single and a double. Kelly responded with another run to book his place in the final with a 21-10 win.
The final started with a rematch from 2016 between the top two ranked players on the Island with Kennish making an assured start going 7-0 and then 16-3 up. Kelly started to work his way back into the game pulling the score back to 8-16 and then 11-17. Kennish then took three singles to stand just one point away from victory. Kelly scored two singles to hold Kennish off and then led a good lead before Kennish tapped the jack to lie one for game. Kelly played his last bowl and just missed taking out the counting bowl to hand Kennish his third successive Manx Championship and 11th in total to further etch his name into the history books.
Thanks must go to Port St Mary for the condition of the green, the excellent catering and club members who were on hand to help throughout the weekend.
South Ramsey Retain Division One

South Ramsey A Team 2017
Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter CollisterFront: John Kennish, David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves
South Ramsey A retained the Division One title by beating Port St Mary A 6-4. South have been a dominant force all season and fully deserve to win back to back trophies and will look forward to competing in the 2018 World Club Challenge and going for a hattrick of wins next season.
Marown A pushed hard in the second half of the season to chase down South Ramsey but despite their best efforts settle for second place finishing eight points behind the champions.
Onchan A had already guaranteed third position but Douglas A, Port St Mary A and Peel Sunset A were all fighting for fourth position.
Peel slipped to a 8-2 defeat away to Onchan A leaving them to finish sixth. Douglas A picked up a 8-2 win over North Ramsey A but crucially Port St Mary A picked up four points in their defeat at South Ramsey A pipping Douglas by a single point to claim fourth position.
Castletown B finish bottom following their 8-2 loss at Marown A but Ballaugh A, Douglas B or Port Erin A could still finish in the bottom two. Douglas B sat out Wednesday having already completed all their matches so were sweating on the results from their relegation rivals.
Port Erin A who with only a few games to go were rock bottom found good form in their final few matches finishing the season off by defeating South Ramsey B 7-3 and keeping them in the top flight.
That left Ballaugh A, they went to Castletown A knowing they needed three points to jump Douglas B and save their season. On the night they lost two games 21-18 and another 21-17 and could only manage two wins losing 8-2 on the night and leaving them with Castletown B at the bottom.
Colin Kelly collected the division one merit on the final day of the season with David Bradford finishing second and Trevor Quayle third.
Marown B had already confirmed themselves as Champions and finished the season with a 5-5 draw at Peel Sunset B. Onchan B finished seven points behind the men from Crosby with Nobles B third and a further 20 points back.
Nobles B have enjoyed much success this season incredibly finishing nine points ahead of their A team. In their final matches Nobles B went down 7-3 away to Port St Mary B and Nobles A defeated Port Erin B 9-1.
Douglas C finish bottom along with Onchan C.
The division two merit came right down to the wire and Steve Crampton finished top of the shop signing his season off with a 21-9 victory. Kerry ‘Bod’ Boland finished second.
Division three had a great finale with Ballaugh C leading the division by two points ahead of Peel Sunset C. With both teams having one hand on the trophy the fixture list happened to throw them together on the last night of the season.
Ballaugh travelled to Sunset City and the match was close, only separated by eight chalks but it was Peel who won 7-3 and took the third division trophy.
The division three merit was also just as close, Dave Smith led the way but three other people were waiting to pounce should he have lost. Away at Ballaugh B Dave won 21-7 and collected the merit in only his second season of league bowls.
So the curtain has fallen on another fantastic season of league bowls. We thank our Sponsors Ellan Vannin Fuels for their continued support along with all the people behind the scenes that help with the running of the league.
Friends Provident Men’s Doubles

Friends Provident Men’s Doubles Winners 2017
Jordan Cain, Katy Williams (Friends Provident) & Nathan HamiltonAn Entry of 32 players (16 pairs) played at Port St Mary Bowling Club.
The 32 players were split into 2 groups, A and B, based on the league merit tables and which league the individuals play in, with group A being mostly 1st division bowlers.
One player was drawn from each group to make up the teams. This made for many close matches in every round of the competition, including the final which was won 21 – 20 by Jordan Cain & Nathan Hamilton against James Teare & Glenn Boland.
Losing at the semi-final stages were Alan Moore & Tom Collins and Glynn Hargraves & Derek Kneen.
With the weather also behaving itself, a very enjoyable afternoon was had by all.
At the Presentation, the President Of P.S.M. Bowling Club Ken Karran thanked the sponsors Friends Provident, the greenkeeper Ewan Cooil, the Ladies catering team, and everyone else that helped on the day.
Ken Karran then introduced Katy Williams of Friends Provident to present the prizes.
This open was added to this season’s schedule after some extra dates became available. After a lot of good feedback on the day from the players and spectators it is hoped that event will go ahead again next season.
Ballacashtal Cup

Ballacashtal Cup 2017
Nicky Burridge (Runner Up), Adam Drewett (Friends Provident International Representative) Mark Hughes (Winner)The traditional curtain-raiser to the week-long Bowling Festival took place on Sunday on a fast and tricky Castletown playing surface. The event has taken an upsurge in popularity in recent years which has prompted the organisers to limit the entries to 96 and from this star studded field it was a previous Festival winner Mark Hughes from the Crossgates club in Leeds who took the honours beating Nicky Burridge from the Wirral 21-16 in a see-saw, quality final.
In the final stages which were dominated by visiting bowlers Hughes had beaten Ian Johnson (Calow BC, Derbyshire) in one semi while Rishton’s Mick Lee fell to Burridge in the other.
Only one local bowler reached the last 8, South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves, while the other losing quarter finalists were Wayne Jeavons (Wirral), John Colebourne (Calow) and Keith Middleton from Chapel Park BC.
At the end of the prestigious competition the home Club’s President Ron Williams mentioned how grateful the club was to Denny Oates and his daughter Kath Kinley for organising the event and he also thanked the club members who had worked through the day.
He finally spoke about the magnificent sponsorship provided by Friends Provident International before introducing company official, and local sportsman, Adam Drewett to present the prizes.
Sun Shines on Kennish in Kernan
The first of the pre-festival opens The Jim Kernan Cup was held in glorious weather on a fantastic South Ramsey green that got quicker throughout the day. The competition attracted an entry of 48 bowlers, which was half price entry for Over 60’s and free for Juniors.
The winner was John Kennish, who mastered the green and made it a staggering 11th time that he has picked up the trophy on his home green.
Losing out at the quarter-final stage were home greeners Steven Waters, David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves, along with visiting bowler Keith Turton.
In the semi-final Kennish ended the challenge of visitor Roger Lunn.
In the other semi-final home greener Dido Kelly booked his place in the final by defeating Edward Carlyle (Onchan).
In a good quality final Kelly got off to a good start against Kennish, before Kennish turned the game round to go 16-12 up. Kelly then dug in to pull the score back to 15-16, before Kennish rallied to see the game out 21-16.
The presentation was made by Steve Moore, who thanked the sponsor George Brew and his family, those who helped run the competition and the Ladies for the excellent refreshments throughout the day. This was the first open that South Ramsey have held using their new clubhouse.
Thanks to Gary Weightman for the photos
Roberts & Ryan Win September Festival
Welsh wizard Leighton Roberts (Cunliffe) picked up his first ever Isle of Man Main Men’s Bowls Festival title last week at the second time of asking.
After falling at the final hurdle in June last year, Roberts was in no mood to let this final slip through his fingers against former Champion, and festival stalwart, Martin Gilpin (Kendal Vic).
That said he didn’t have things his own way and despite leading 14-10 found himself level at 15-15 and then again at 17-17 as Gilpin, the master tactician from Cumbria, tried to use all his experience to outfox the youngster and add another festival title to his long list of honours.
Conditions on finals day deteriorated with every bowl sent, but not even the foul weather could stop Roberts who dug deep, and when some thought he might falter due to nerves he found the composure of a true champion. as he managed to seal the win 21-18.
Champion Roberts booked his final birth thanks to a 21-12 win over James Wilcox (Crossgates) and a nail biting 21-20 win over Neil Slattery (Nimble Nook), in which he came from behind with some brilliant bowls to edge to victory.
Gilpin was on song in the semi-finals where he eliminated bookies favourite, close friend and Kendal Vic stable mate Ian Nicholson 21-15 after starting the day with a 21-9 win over Graham Higgins (Lower Hopton).
Marown’s Colin Kelly was the furthest local in the men’s main competition losing out in the last eight to James Wilcox.It was a much better showing for Manxmen in general as in June they failed to get a single player to the last 32 of the competition and this time around eight of our own made it to the same stage.
Tracy Ryan (Meole Brace) bagged the ladies title with a dominant finals day display which never really saw her threatened. She lifted the trophy after a 21-16 final victory over Olwen Edwards (Llanfair Pwll).
Ryan was control from the off and after going 11-6 up managed to ensure Edwards never closed the gap moving to 19-14 up before the latter rallied but could never get back on terms.
Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) was the furthest local lady in the competition as she did exceptionally well to make the semi-finals before going down to Ryan 21-10.
Monk wasn’t the only Manx player in finals day and was in good company as Lyn Bolton and Elaine Moore (both South Ramsey) made the last eight. In fact Monk played Bolton winning 21-14 to make the semis whilst Moore fell 21-18 after a highly entertaining affair against Carleen Doody-Millington (Meole Brace).
Thursday morning saw the final stages of the Mens and Ladies Tourism Competitions and there was some good local presence and some brilliant performances as both Glynn Hargraves and Christine Price made it to the finals of their respective competitions.
Hargraves eventually lost out 21-11 to Ian Nicholson after battling hard in his two previous matches, beating Paul Beer (Meole Brace) 21-20 in his first match of the morning and David Halstead (Kirkham) 21-16 next time out. It was a good week for Glynn who showed some of his best form throughout the week, as he also made the last 32 of the main competition and he should be very proud of his efforts.
South Ramsey team mate John Kennish was also in fine fettle to make the last eight before being eliminated by eventual winner Ian Nicholson 21-16 in the quarter-finals.
It was a similar story for Price who won well in her first two games before going down after a fight 21-17 to Sarah Fox (Woodlands Park). In her semi-final she beat Julie Pearce (Meole Brace) 21-12 after taking down Doody-Millington 21-15 in the quarters. Again Christine should be really proud of her efforts as she really did give a great showing in the competition.
In the Men’s consolation competition Peter Yates (Kirkham) took the win with a 21-15 result over Merseyside’s Danny Barwise. Hazel Borrowdale (Nether Field) won the ladies competition with a win by the same score-line over Joyce Jones (Syke BC)
The last chance Mixed Final saw one of the main competitions pre-tournament favourites Chris Slater (Colwyn Bay Legion) produce a good display to beat Martin Middleton (Meole Brace) 21-14.
The final singles competition of the week, the visit.com flyer, saw two locals battling out with Alec Taylor (Peel Sunset) handling the conditions better to defeat Edward Carlyle 7-0. Congratulations to Alex on his win.
As always the doubles competitions provided a lot of entertainment and another chance of success for visiting and local bowlers alike. The main open doubles was won by Dave & Ben Phillips (Lloyd Hotel) who were on song winning 11-2 against Leighton Roberts & Nick Hughes (Cunliffe).
In the men’s event Bob Whyatt & Steve Baskerville took the title with an 11-1 victory over Mel Hobson & Andrew Moore. Jimmy Samson (Douglas) was the furthest of the locals losing out with visitor Stuart Marshall 11-8 to the eventual winners at the semi final stage.
In the ladies competition there was a Manx victor as June festival champion Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) took the crown with Patricia Lonsdale (Morecambe Bay Mixed) as they beat Dawn Bray and Janet Cropper 11-5.
Elaine Moore just missed out on a mixed doubles win as her and partner Tony Parsons went down 9-5 to Paul Drabble & Nicola Gilmore.
Thanks as always goes to the Department of Economic Development for their continued support of what is without doubt one of the premier events on the bowling calendar.
It was also great to see quite a lot of new faces, as well as regular ones, which is a good indicator that Steve Moore and his team are continuing to do a fantastic job in both promoting and running both the June and September Bowls Festivals.
Keenan 4’s Mens Doubles Trophy
On Saturday the Ballaugh Bowling Club held the Keenan 4’s Mens Doubles Trophy. With an entry of 39 pairs it was always going to be a long day for both the Competition Hut and the Kitchen teams as well as the players. Despite the forecasted bad weather most of the rain passed us by and the green was running well. By the time the final was played there was blue skies over Ballaugh..
After nearly 7 hours play the winners were Matthew Keggen & Rob Monk who beat Colin & Tom Kelly In the final. Losing semi-finalists were Jordan Cain & Bob Clark and Neil Withers & Paul Dunn and the losing quarter finalists were Adrian Skinner & Kevin Quirk, Mike Hargraves & Ian Kissack, John Keenan & Peter Graham and Geoff Porter & Norman Radcliffe.
At the conclusion Club President John Keenan thanked all those who helped to make it a success and presented the prizes..
Best placed home greeners were John Keenan and Peter Graham getting into the quarter finals with three other pairs getting two games.
Once again thanks to the lades keeping us fed and watered together with Paul Bradford and Ann Gale for help in the Competition Hut
Dreswick Cup
The annual Thursday afternoon Dreswick Cup was held at Port St Mary BC on the 21st of July once again kindly sponsored by the Albert Hotel P.S.M, with a good entry of 45 making the trip south to tackle the tricky ever quickening green. The competition was played in excellent conditions all day and the competitors were kept well refreshed as always by the ladies section of the host club.
At the conclusion of play it was down to a closely fought final between two multiple winners in the form of South Ramsey’s John Kennish and David “Barney” Kelly from Douglas with the former just taking the honours 21-20 after a mini comeback at the end when it looked like Barney might just have enough to get over the line.
In the semi’s Barney won a comfortable game 21-12 over Ewan Cooil from P.S.M with Kennish coming through to the same scoreline against a new face to many in the form of Steven Waters from North Ramsey who only started playing the game a couple of months ago but belied his inexperience to take some good scalps along the way. Fallers at the Quarter final stage were Ray Maddrell (P.S.M), David Bradford (South Ramsey), Mike Ashmole (Peel Sunset) and the newly crowned over 60’s Manx Champion Dave Faragher from Castletown.
Robert Cooil the clubs Vice President was on hand at the end of play to thank all the entrants for making it a good day, he also thanked Ray Watterson for producing a challenging playing surface, Sean Lillee for running the sheet and the clubs ladies section for all their hard work creating and serving all the refreshments. He then introduced Pat O’Meara from the Albert Hotel P.S.M to present the prizes and the trophy to the winners.
R & A Grimshaw Men’s Doubles
Thirty pairs made the annual pilgrimage to Marown on Tynwald day to take part in the Grimshaw fours and it was Colin Kelly & Michael Collister who came out on top in a magnificent final.
They took the win by the narrowest of margins beating farther and son pairing Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly & Stevie Kelly 21-20 after a terrific encounter. The balance of play couldn’t have been more even until Collister found an out of this world front toucher with his lead on the final end to seal the fate of the battling challengers who couldn’t find a way to better it.
Kelly & Collister also have to show their metal in the semi-finals as they eliminated newly crowned Manx Doubles Champions John Kennish & David Bradford 21-19 after another ding dong battle. The Kelly’s also had a tricky encounter against Port St Mary’s Ewan Cooil & Wayne Roberts but had enough in the tank for a 21-17 win.
Losing out in the quarterfinals were Steve Parker & Steve Walmsley, Grahem Moore & Les Warburton, Ian Kissack & Mike Hargraves and Peter Slinger & Kevin Quirk.
Thanks go to Marown for putting on and running another superb competition.
Browne Craine & Co Mens Doubles Championship
Thirty pairs made the pilgrimage to Nobles Park on Saturday in search of the first ever Brown Craine Manx Mens Doubles Championship victory, and it was John Kennish and David Bradford who managed to secure the first title.
This is a fantastic new competition putting the spotlight on the doubles format of the game and it obviously captured the imagination of the local players with some of the finest pairings I have ever seen put together.
Kennish & Bradford, who looked the most formidable pairing on paper, proved that sometimes things do go to form as they were ruthless all day. In the final they just had too much for the colourful Bob Clark & Jordan Cain with the former winning 21-13.
The eventual victors stamped their authority on proceedings in the Semi Finals as they took on Colin Kelly & Neil Withers it what potentially looked like a classic encounter. Kennish & Bradford were just too good and ran out comfortable 21-5 winners. Clark & Cain dispatched South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves & James Teare 21-12 at the same stage.
Fallers at the quarterfinal stage were Barney Kelly & Stevie Kelly, Mike Hargraves & Ian Kissack, Tim Williams & Ray Maddrell and Stuart Garrett & Ian Moore.
Thanks go to Neil Withers and the Isle of Man association for organising and running the competition but more importantly to Brown Craine who shared in our vision for a premier doubles competition and gave us the support to allow it to happen.