Neil Withers got one over on his fellow victor from the day before as he and partner Lyn Bolton won the Marown mixed doubles with a 21-7 final victory over Jordan Cain and Paula Firth.
Withers & Bolton were on fire from the off and were going to be difficult for anyone to beat, although they were pushed close by John & Fiona Kennish in the semi-finals with the former winning 21-17. Cain and Firth were also embroiled in a battle for their final birth however after progressed with relative comfort in the end with a 21-13 win over James Teare & Jenny Moore.
Fallers at the Quarter final stage were Rona Argallon & Grahem Moore, Margaret Tasker & Ken Karran, Joyce Ogden & Mike Hargraves and Mavis Franks & Derek Allan.
A brave 31 pairs endured the weather which for most of the competition was wet and windy although everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and a tremendously well run competition.

On Thursday 16th of July a good entry of 50 made their way to Port St Mary BC for the annual Dreswick Cup competition once again generously sponsored by Pat O’Meara and family of the Albert Hotel P.S.M. The day ran well in blustery but mostly dry conditions with the heavens only deciding to open as the final got underway, the player who handled the tricky conditions best at the end of the day was Port St Mary’s own Trevor Quayle who got the better of Marowns Neil Withers 21-15 in the final. At the semi final stage Trevor overcame a resurgent Dave Faragher (Castletown) who reached his second semi final of the week, while Neil got the better of the ever dangerous Dave “Dido” Kelly (South Ramsey). Fallers at quarter final stage were a couple of old campaigners in Ian kissack (Marown) and Dave “Barney” Kelly (Douglas) along with newer faces at this stage in the form of Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) and Chris Oates of Port St Mary.

At the conclusion of play Roy Dixon president of the club gave his thanks to the sponsors as well as everyone else who had made the day a success especially the ladies of the club who once again but on a fantastic spread and also to Sean Lillee for running the sheet and the greenkeepers for supplying a tricky playing surface before presenting the prizes on behalf of the injured sponsor.

There was a stellar line up of 50 of the islands top bowlers at Peel on Saturday to contest the Town Cup.

Glynn Hargraves made it through a loaded top half of the draw to win the magnificent trophy with a 21-11 final win over homester Alec Taylor.

Hargraves, who was recovering from a spell out with a back injury, will be very pleased with his day as he picked up some magnificent scalps along the way including Peel legend Barney Kelly in the first round and Island regular Neil Withers in the semi-final.

Taylor should be very pleased with his days work to make it to the final as he fell just one short against a double Island Champion who was at the top of his game.

John Kennish ended a great week with another win this time lifting the Ken Williamson Trophy at former club Onchan with a 21-14 over Manx Championship finalist Trevor Quayle.

In the Semi-finals Kennish ended the challenge of home greener Kevin Quirk 21-16, whilst Quayle ended the run of another Kennish knocking out Andy 21-18, to ruin the final showdown that many would have paid to see.

Fallers at the quarter finals stage were Mike Hargraves, Stefan Kelly, Jordan Cain and Bernie Durcan.

David Bradford showed why he is amongst the favourites to win the June Festival with a brilliant display in the Jim Kernan Competition at South Ramsey on Saturday.

Bradford is fast becoming the favourite in almost all games he plays and showed why with a commanding final victory over visitor Mark Bramall. He was in control from the off and never really looked threatened as he added another trophy to his ever growing collection.

In the semi-finals Bradford ended the challenge of Barney Kelly, who himself had a great day taking the scalps of three former festival winners, Matt Gilmore, Colin Kelly and John Kennish.

Bramall who himself played excellently all day had to be at the top of his game to make the final as he just got the better of seasoned campaigner John Colbourne to book his final place.

Credit to South Ramsey for running a great competition on an immaculate green and special thanks go to George Brew for his continued sponsorship of one of the Islands premier competitions.

Warwick & Worcester’s Ben Harris won the Balacashtal Cup at the first time of asking with a thrilling 21-20 win over compatriot Steve Freer in the final at Castletown on Sunday.

Harris, a newcomer to the Island, improved with every bowl he sent on the tricky Castletown green to secure his first win of the week showing he is a genuine contender for both the main festival and the Friday night’s star studded finale, the South Ramsey Super 16.

Harris played well throughout and booked his place in the final with a quarter final 21-12 win over Mick Burns, followed up by a strong showing in the semis to eliminate the talented Mark Bramall 21-9.

Freer ended the challenge of popular local Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, who has been showing fine form this weekend, in the quarter finals before getting the better of Alan Belsher 21-18 in the Semi’s.

Alan Moore from South Ramsey had a good run to the quarters before his quest for glory was cut short by Mark Bramall and Belsher knocked out teammate Jack Holland at the same stage.

Castletown should be commended for putting on another fabulous competition with 100 competitors on the day.

On Sunday the 14th of June an entry of 15 teams gathered at Port St Mary for the annual Mens Threesomes competition, once again kindly sponsored by Colas (I.O.M) Ltd. On a glorious sunny day and a running tricky green the Onchan team of Matthew Quirk, Kevin Quirk and Glynn Hargraves ran out the eventual winners with a comfortable 21-11 win in the final over Nigel Thomas, Ben Dugdale and Tony Dugdale. The latter team having come through a close semi final over the Marown Three of Colin Kelly, Mike Cain and Neil Withers. In the other semi the Onchan team had a slightly easier time of it against the old stalwarts of the competition in the form of another Marown team of Arnie Withers, Juan Kelly and Ian Kissack.

At the end of an entertaining days bowling, competition secretary Ewan Cooil thanked the greenkeeper and the ladies of the club for supplying a great playing surface and a wonderful supply of refreshments before introducing Ian Dunbar from Colas (I.O.M) Ltd to present the prizes to the successful teams. A good day was had by all.

Report by Ewan Cooil