Neil Withers lifted his second cup in two day last Sunday, as he won the RNLI cup at Nobles Mixed Bowling club, after finding himself on the right side of an epic 21-20 final encounter with Matthew Keggen.

It was a truly brilliant final with Keggen doing all the work in the early stages before Withers stepped in and found his customary length over the middle, moving through the gears to go from 13-10 in arrears to lead 20-13.

Keggen didn’t give in however and after trailing the jack set off to the corners where he picked up three quick two’s to draw level. With a great lead bowl he must have thought it was his day however Withers made sure he reached and ran the block for the final point required to secure victory.

Both players were at the top of their game in the semi-finals with Withers beating Trevor Qualye 21-8 and Keggen overcoming June Festival finalist Matthew Quirk 21-7. Fallers in the quarter finals were Arnie Withers, Paul Kelly, Phil Kerruish and Peter Lees. At the conclusion of the competition Douglas Lifeboat President Peter Cain presented the prizes and £150 was raised for the RNLI.

Neil Withers (Marown) was the talk of the town as he picked up the magnificent Town Cup to add to the June Festival trophy he recently acquired. He was in magnificent form all day but made to fight to the end by in form home greener Jerome Surridge, in a simply superb to and fro final.

Surridge set the pace in the early phases of the game moving into an 11-6 lead before Withers arrested the block. The Marown man then moved through the gears racing into a 20-14 lead with a spectacular display of leading, however the Peel man was not done yet. Surridge rallied and looked like he might pull of an Houdini like display but fell just short as his opponent picked up the point he needed to seal a 21-19 victory.

The over 60’s  brigade were out in force and fine form as two of their stalwarts made it to the semi-finals with Mike Hargraves losing out to Withers and John Alderson going out at the hands of Surridge.

Fallers at the quarter final stage were Bernie Durcan, David Bradford, Stuey Clague and Alan Moore. At the conclusion of the competition Mr Davison from Peel Commissioners presented the prizes.

Report by Mark Kneen

Twenty six pairs made the annual pilgrimage to Marown bowling club on Tynwald Day to search for the holy grail of men’s doubles titles, the Grimshaw Trophy.

All eyes were on Colin & Tom Kelly to see if Colin could keep his run of winning all of the doubles competitions with a different partner going, but an early first round exit at the hands of Paul Kelly & Ken Williams put pay to this.

It was defending champions Kevin Quirk & Peter Slinger who found their form and their way to the title with a strong 21-16 final win over Onchan team mates Phil Kerruish & David Braford. Quirk & Slinger built a healthy lead in the early part of the game before Kerruish & Bradford rallied to try and make a comeback, but it was too little too late.

In the semi-finals Kerruish & Bradford saw off the challenge of Douglas pair Keith Rise & Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly whilst Quirk & Slinger put out last year’s doubles merit winners Jordan Cain & Bob Clark at the same stage.

Report by Mark Kneen

The Threesomes Cup, sponsored by COLAS ( Isle of Man) Ltd. was played for on Port St Marys Green on Sunday 30th June and attracted a very good entry of 20 teams.

The weather was good apart from the odd shower later in the afternoon, which had the effect of slowing the green down. This did not affect the high standard of bowling however. The winners were the team of Juan Hargraves, Mike Hargraves and Ewan Cooil, who beat the team of Bob Clark, Mathew Quirk and Jordain Cain 21-16 in closely contested game.

In the semi finals, Hargraves, Hargraves and Cooil, beat the team of Trevor Quayle, Mike Collister and Nathan Cooil 21-7, and in the other semi Clark, Quirk and Cain beat the team of Mark Kneen, John Kennish and Glynn Hargraves 21-15. Losing out in the quarter finals were Peter Oates, Andy Clark and Derek Lewney. Ben Dugdale, Tony Dugdale and Steve Cook. Alan Moore, James Teare and George Brew. Paul Leece, Dave Pease and John Ruscoe.

The presentation was made at the end of the final by Mr Ian Dunbar, representing the sponsors, Colas.

Report by Sean Lillie

Report by Mark Kneen

A strong field of 47 irrepressible men made the annual pilgrimage to Peel bowling club to take part in the Summer Shield on Sunday for the last chance to win silverware during the June festival period. The gale-force winds and ever changing weather made the conditions almost unplayable and at times a lottery, but it was Glynn Hargraves (Onchan) who cashed in the winning ticket with a formidable 21-12 final win over David Corkill (South Ramsey).

Once Hargraves settled into his rhythm in the final he went about systematically grinding out the victory required to win the coveted shield, and never really let his opponent get into the game. Praise must go to Corkill who handled the treacherous conditions exceptionally well throughout the afternoon, and non-more so than in his semi-final where he defeated newly crowned festival champion Neil Withers 21-14.

Hargraves had a battle on his hands at the same stage where he had just enough to overcome the fierce challenge of wily competitor David Faragher 21-18 to book his final berth. Fallers at the quarter final stage were Kevin Dutchburn, Sid Bolton, Alec Taylor & regular visitor Gerry Buckley.

At the conclusion of the competition Mr Davidson of Peel Commissioners presented the prizes.

John Kennish got his festival off to winning ways beating Phil Kerruish 21-11 in the final of the Jim Kernan trophy held at South Ramsey bowling club on Saturday. John played exceptionally well all day, and after moving back to his spiritual home this season it is hard to see anyone beating him on his home green, which was in immaculate condition.

Kennish was in control of the final from the off and dominated with some exceptional leading which saw his bowls shadow the jack for much of the encounter. Despite not being allowed to get into his stride in the final Kerruish also put in some great performances throughout the day, backing up the fine form he has shown in the league of late.

In the semi-finals Kennish put out ex Onchan teammate David Bradford 21-13 whilst Kerruish has to see of the challenge of visitor John Colebourne 21-17. Fallers at the quarterfinal stage were Colin Kelly, Neil Withers, Ian Kissack and Jordan Cain.

As development officer for the sport the only thing better for me than the high standard of play was the strong entry of 49 players made up prominently with new faces on the Island scene, and it is great to see new player putting themselves out there and getting into the open scene.

Thanks to George Brew for his continued sponsorship of the competition

A bumper entry of 80 players converged on Castletown’s superb bowling surface to battle it out for Sunday’s annual Ballacashtal Cup competition which, together with South Ramsey’s Kernan Trophy, always heralds the start of the June Bowling Festival week for the male competitors.

Some magnificent bowling was shown throughout the day and the following quarter final scores typified many of the day’s tight games.

Ian Johnson (Chesterfield) 21, James Wilcox (Crossgates) 18; Mike Hargraves (Castletown) 13, Charlie Roberts (George and Dragon) 21; Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 20, Aaron (Bob) Clark (Castletown) 21; John Kennish (South Ramsey) 19, Mark Bramhall (Kirkham Cons) 21.

The semis were just as exciting with Johnson falling agonisingly close at 20 against Roberts and in doing so he failed to emulate the successes of his father, Arthur, who won the Ballacashtal back in 1977 and again in 1989.

Bramhall got off to a good start in his game against the exciting talents of the young home player but Clark was equal to the task and he came back well to beat the fancied Kirkham player to 18.

In front of a big – and noisy (for local bowling!) – crowd Bob Clark raced into a brilliant 14-7 lead but then in trying to make a double which could well have sealed the victory he knocked Roberts’ wood in and with edge bowling the George and Dragon man soon pulled himself back to 14-across. The home club captain retaliated and he rallied his supporters by then scoring a double but it was not to be for the 21 year old even though he got back onto his favourite mark as Roberts went on to accept the Cup from the home club’s President, Hilary Kermode, thanks to a 21-18 victory.

Report by Mark Kneen

Colin Kelly won his third men’s doubles competition in as many outings as he this time paired up with Island Champion Glynn Hargraves to win the R H Green Fours at Finch Hill bowling club on Saturday. Kelly has won every competition with a different partner, so sorry Glynn it looks like he will be throwing you on the scrap heap!

They didn’t have it all their own way in the final and had a real battle on their hands just having enough to see of the challenge of Bob Clark & Nathan Cooil 21-19 in a great game. The calibre of bowling throughout the day, and in particular in the final, was of an exceptional standard with the green was running so well and so difficult to master.

In the semi-finals Kelly & Hargraves fought off the challenge of father and son Kevin & Matthew Quirk 21-15 whilst the team of Clark & Cool had a real battle on their hands winning 21-19 against home greeners Arthur Halsall & Jerry Wordsworth.

Report by Mark Kneen

Glynn Hargraves picked up his second Canada Life International Manx Championship in as many years as he defeated Onchan team mate Kevin Quirk 21-16 at Castletown Bowling Green in a repeat of last year’s final to retain his title. Hargraves was in spectacular form all day playing with the experience and composure of a seasoned champion, and even on the rare occasions that he found himself in trouble he never seemed to lose focus or belief and just played his own game.

Quirk himself a double champion, also played his part in making this a magnificent championship and put in some excellent performances on his way to the final. If anything though his success over the day is a testament to his resilience as despite not always being at his brilliant best he managed to grind out wins and almost pull off his third championship victory, falling at the last. In the final though, after initially falling a few points behind, Hargraves found his form and never allowed his opponent to fully settle, keeping him out of his devastating rhythm and in turn finding his own.  Both finalists have been at the top of their games in recent seasons and you wouldn’t bet against either of them completing their hat-trick of titles next year.

To reach the final both players had to dig deep in the semis as they both trailed moving into the closing stages of their encounters. Hargraves found himself 17-14 behind against former champion Phil Kerruish (Onhan) but had the wherewithal to see the game out finishing it off 21-18. Quirk as mentioned above showed the resilience of a great champion to overturn a similar deficit to beat Paul Skelly (Douglas) 21-19.

Kerruish and Skelly both played magnificently all day and Kerruish’s crushing 21-11 quarterfinal victory over competition favourite and seven times Champion John Kennish was just one of the days many highlights. In the other quarter finals Skelly eliminated Chas Grills (South Ramsey) 21-6, Hargraves progressed with a good 21-13 win over perennial quarterfinalist Mike Cain (Marown) and Kevin Quirk just managed to see off the challenge of Neil Withers (Marown) 21-19.

The whole weekend was one of personal achievement for Glynn who had the previous day coordinated and administered the sports inaugural inclusion in the Manx Youth Games, which was a massive success. Few people know this but just four years ago he seriously contemplated packing in the sport as he was becoming frustrated and disillusioned with it, and it was actually his success in this very same competition, just losing out in the final, which gave him the impetus to carry on and go from strength to strength. It would have been a total travesty for bowls if he had decided to quit and his decision to carry on has been invaluable for the development of the game due to his work off the green, which incidentally seems to have improved his form on it!

At the conclusion of the competition Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowls President Steve Moore presented the prizes and thanked both Castletown Bowling club for their assistance in running the championship and Canada Life International for their continued support of the Islands premier completion. I would also like to thank new Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who did a magnificent job of organising the competition at the first time of asking. And his continual work behind the scenes is dragging our sport kicking and screaming into the 21^st century. At the end of the day however this weekend belongs to Hargraves and the only thing left to say is “well done mate, you deserve it”.