The Equiom any combination triples took place at Port St Mary bowling club on Saturday. With 81 bowlers from around the Island taking part and the sun shining, there was a great atmosphere around the green.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the Marown trio of Paul Dunn, Phil Dunn and Neil Withers to club mates Colin Kelly, Karl Parker and Walter McCarthy 9-21. The youthful trio of Kevin Kelly, Tom Kelly and Tariq Taher were defeated by the home team of Chris Price, Kellie Maddrell and Jayne Kneen 17-21. Also losing out were Debbie Leece, Rebecca Teare and Alison Keggen (Noble’s) to Jordan Cain (Onchan), Bob Clark (Castletown) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan) 17-21. Home greeners Margie Tasker, Tricia Bull and Mavis Franks were defeated 11-21 by club mates Paul Skelly, Dan McCabe and Paul Russell.

In the first semi-final Chris Price, Kellie Maddrell, Jayne Kneen lost out to Colin Kelly, Karl Parker and Walter McCarthy. It was a close game all the way, but the guys scored seven points the last three ends to win 21-15. In the second semi-final, home greeners Paul Skelly, Dan McCabe and Paul Russell were up against Jordan Cain, Bob Clark and Matthew Quirk. With the scores tied at 18-18, Jordan, Bob and Matthew scored a three to reach the final.

With both finalists including previous winners of this trophy, a good final was expected and it didn’t disappoint. It was another close match at 15-14 before Jordan, Bob and Matthew won the last four ends to win 21-14.

The presentation was made by club captain Margie Tasker who thanked everyone at the club for putting on the event and to Equiom for their sponsorship. Margie then introduced Nina Moore of Equiom to make the presentations.

Noble’s Bowling club hosted the first open competition of the 2020 season, attracting a good entry of 62 men for the inaugural Aston International Cup following the enforced break. The weather was mixed with sun, rain and wind all playing a part throughout the day, with the green not running as well as you would expect this time of year.

A number of pre-tournament favourites lost out in the rounds before the quarter-finals, with the most notable being 2019 Champion of Champions Winner Colin Kelly who lost out to team mate Neil Withers 20-21.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were David Bradford (South Ramsey), who lost 20-21 to team mate Stefan Kelly, Alec Taylor (Peel) lost out 15-21 to Brian Kelly (Marown), Reg Temporaza (Noble’s) had his run ended by Dave McCabe (Port St Mary) to the same score, whilst Kevin Kelly (Marown) performed well to reach his first quarter final before losing out to his godfather Neil Withers 12-21.

In the semi-finals McCabe battled well before losing out 16-21 to Withers, whilst Brian Kelly pushed Stefan Kelly a bit harder before losing out 18-21.

At the final both players were on their sixth game of the day, which was a lot to ask with this being the first competitive bowls since September last year, especially for Withers who was making his return after breaking his ankle in two places, dislocated and also suffered torn ligaments during a football match for his local club. 

Kelly started strongly with a double, however Withers then took the next five ends along the edge of the green to take a 11-7 lead. Kelly got back in with a double by planting Wither’s bowl out to take a double, which he repeated on the next end to level the score at 11-11. Withers responded by taking the next two ends to go ahead 14-11, only for Kelly to take the next three ends and go ahead 15-14. Withers dug deep returning to a mark favoured throughout the afternoon, alternating between singles and doubles over the next five ends to run out with a convincing 21-15 win to take the title.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition secretary Alison Keggen, who thanked the sponsors Aston International for their support, everyone who had entered and the club members for assisting throughout the afternoon.

The ladies competition was well supported with an entry of 38, this will be reported separately by the ladies press officer.

Marown A sealed their first Ellan Vannin Fuels division one title since 2013 taking their tally to 13 overall. The Crosby men stormed to a 9-1 victory over Onchan A on Monday night and followed this up with a 3-7 away win against Douglas A at the Villa. Marown have been the team to beat this season going undefeated with 20 wins and one draw coming at home early in the second half of the season against South Ramsey A with the visitors winning five games, however Marown took the aggregate on the night to snatch a draw and preserve their unbeaten record. Marown have been relentless this season especially in the second half of the season with some big wins to ensure they never gave the chasing pack any hope.

Three time champions South Ramsey A had a good week and confirmed their runners up spot with two good wins over Peel A (9-1) and Onchan A (8-2) with both teams they faced missing key players. Whilst it was slightly disappointing to not take the title to the last match of the season, the South Ramsey men can be pleased to have taken the Rayner Shield this season defeating Marown A in a superb final.

Onchan A will have to go back to the drawing board if they are to build on their 22 league titles, will finish the season in third place having suffered two heavy defeats with a 1-9 away loss to Marown A, followed up by their 2-8 defeat to South Ramsey A. Matthew Quirk was the only Onchan player to win both matches last week, whilst a left handed Jordan Cain did brilliantly losing out 15-21 to Colin Kelly, then beat Chas Grills 21-17 with his weaker hand.

At the other end of the table Castletown B are destined for a return to division two, whilst South Ramsey B need a minor miracle after a mixed week following a 7-3 home win over North Ramsey A and a 4-6 away defeat to Port St Mary A. Next week South Ramsey B host Castletown A needing a big win, whilst hoping Marown can record a whitewash against Noble’s A.

In division two Ballaugh A are making hard work of their quest for a return to division playing their second game in hand away to Onchan B with the Ballaugh men suffering a 4-6 defeat. There was a first league defeat of the season for Mike Thomas by the finest of margins 20-21 to Edgar Cowin, however this defeat did not prevent Thomas from taking the second division merit.

Second placed Ballaugh need a big win over third placed Port Erin A who themselves need a big win over their opponents to stand any chance of promotion.

League leaders Peel B have a tricky looking away fixture against fourth placed Finch Hill A, so there could be a shock or two in the last round of fixtures.

At the bottom of division two it is all decided with North Ramsey B and Ballaugh B too far adrift to catch the teams above them.

In division three South Ramsey C won the league weeks ago in reality, could afford to give players up to their B team, paying the price for this with bottom of the league Douglas C taking full advantage to record a 6-4 home win over the league winners.

Individually Harry Minor capped a fine season by claiming the third division merit with 17 wins from 19 games, winning his last game of the season to ensure he couldn’t be caught. 11 year old South Ramsey D player Ryan Hargraves finished the season strongly with three wins from his last four games, whilst Peel D Junior Ryan Tate who isn’t much older improved on his previous seasons tally to win nine games from 16 played. Another Junior who plays for South Ramsey C is Toby Hart who is now ready for the step up to division two having won 12 games from 17 played. Other juniors who have started to feature in league games are Young Manx Masters Winner Alex Hampson, Harley Cowley and Clark Kelly. Leading the way for juniors in the top division are Glenn Boland whose first season in division one has gone well with a respectable 12 wins from 21 played , whilst Austin Hart improved considerably with eight wins from 19 played, following on from three wins from 21 in his first season at the top level. Sam Clague is another whose game has come along well winning nine games out of 17 for Castletown A.

On Sunday Peel Bowling Club hosted the popular pre-festival Autumn Shield sponsored by Davison’s Ice Cream with a strong entry of 88 taking part £740 with prize money available.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Mike Hargraves (Castletown), Paul Dunn (Marown) along Matt Bradwell (Fairfield BC and Wayne Usher (Gaghills).

Losing semi-finalists were Jon Guess (Fairfield BC) to Paul Kissock (Kendal Victoria) and Tom Kelly (Peel) who lost to team mate Stevie Kelly.

The final between home greener Kelly and visitor Kissock was well contested with Kissock building a 19-13 lead playing a straight mark along the edge, however Kelly fought back on a longer length to edge ahead at 20-19 before playing a poor end which Kissock wasn’t able to fully punish. At 20-20 Kissock led a good bowl only for Kelly to play a superb bowl to sit his opponent out to take a deserved first open win.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Dave Kelly, who thanked Davison’s for their generous sponsorship and then introduced Ian Davison to present the prizes.

On Saturday Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Keenan Pairs Men’s Doubles. There were 26 pairs entered for the competition, which was played in generally fine weather with just a few sharp showers.

Bowing out in the quarter finals were Edward Trustham & Barry MacDonald (Ballaugh), Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) & Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary), John Keenan & John Maddrell (Ballaugh) and Stefan Kelly & Sid Bolton (South Ramsey).

Losing semi-finalists were Peter Collister & Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) and Steve Waters & Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly (South Ramsey).

The final was between Marown’s Neil Withers & Paul Dunn and South Ramsey’s John Kennish & David Bradford, John & David took five of the first six ends to lead 16-7. Paul & Neil took the next four ends bringing it back to 16-12, however John and David got the jack back and took the last three ends to win 21-12.

The presentation was made by John Keenan, who noted that this was the 30th year of the Keenan Pairs then thanked the Ballaugh members for organising the competition, especially Richard Faragher for running the competition together with the ladies in the kitchen for such a good spread and Trevor Jones on the BBQ. David Bradford thanked John Keenan for his continued sponsorship of the competition, the club for running such a good event and complimented the club for how well the green had improved during the season.

The final of the Rayner Plate took place at Onchan on Friday evening with the expected rain holding off for the majority of the match. The two teams contesting the final were Port St Mary A (+10) who currently occupy seventh place in division one and Marown C (+50) who after being promoted from division three last season sit in a respectable ninth place in division two.

The Port men started as favourites on the night, they got off to a good start with Rob Cooil taking a 21-12 win against Matt Derrick. The first shock of the night came from Crosby man Jamie Joughin who performed brilliantly putting in a man of the match performance to record a stunning 21-8 win over Wayne Roberts. In another shock result James Kelly recovered from a 11-17 deficit to stun Paul Skelly with a superb 21-20 win. The last game off in the first half was a second win for Port St Mary with Bernard Thackrah winning 21-15 against Darren Kerruish. At the half way stage with the 40 chalk handicap included the Crosby men still held a big lead of 39 chalks.

In the second half of the match as the skies darkened the floodlights were put on in front of a good crowd there was plenty of support for both teams around the green. First off in the second half was Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle who won 21-12 against Kevin Kelly, who did well to reach double figures against the 2018 league merit winner. Next off for Marown was Walter McCarthy who recorded a great 21-16 win over Tim Williams, whilst Marown captain Stephen Rundle battled well before losing out 15-21 to Dave McCabe. With the match and Rayner Plate now secured for the Crosby men Dan Smith put the icing on the cake to win 21-15 with a superb performance against Dan McCabe.

All the plaudits must go to the Marown men who started as the underdogs, however each and every player raised their game, with a C team winning four games against a first division team almost unheard of. The four players that lost for Marown all contributed heavily by reaching double figures with two losses of 12 and two losses of 15 playing a big part in securing their second Rayner Plate win to add to their 2017 success.

The presentation was made by Association Press Officer Glynn Hargraves, who thanked Onchan Bowling Club for the use of the green and for their hospitality. Congratulations were given to the winning team with commiserations offered to Port St Mary. Stephen Rundle was then presented with the trophy with the Marown captain congratulating his team for their superb performance and thanking the club members for their support on the night which made for a great atmosphere around the green.