Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Peel Bowling Club held the pre-festival Davisons Autumn Shield at Marown Bowling Club on Sunday, with the Peel green closed to allow work to be carried out to get the green back to its best condition ahead of next season.

A strong entry of 96 took part with many of the visiting bowlers having never played on the Marown green before, they quickly adapted to the pace of the green.

With some of the players having to win four games just to reach the quarter final stage, losing out were home greener Phil Kelly 20-21 to Matt Gilmore (Wirral), while his father Dave Gilmore (Wirral) lost 14-21 to Marown captain Paul Dunn.

In the other half of the draw, David Bradford got the better of South Ramsey teammate Bob Clark 21-18 while Neil Withers (Marown) had a comfortable 21-7 victory over Peel man Brian Lindsay.

The semi-finals were well contested, both games could have gone either way. However, Gilmore won 21-18 against Dunn, with his strikes proving the difference, while Bradford recovered from an 11-16 deficit as he went on to win 21-17 against Withers.

The final got underway with Gilmore a previous winner taking the first end with a single only for Bradford to level the score the following end. The Wirral man then went on to score five points over three ends, with Bradford hitting back with two quick-fire doubles to sit one point behind at 11-12.

An exchange of singles took place, with Gilmore then going on to win three of the next five ends as he went in to the lead 17-14. On the 15th end Bradford was counting two with his second bowl widening the target. His opponent didn’t turn down the opportunity to strike as he took the jack off the green to kill the end.

On the next end the South Ramsey man conceded the advantage of the jack as he sent it in to the ditch to allow Gilmore to set the mark along the edge of the green, with the latter taking full advantage scoring a double followed by a single on the next end to lead 20-14.

With Bradford in the last chance saloon, he picked up a double as he trailed 16-20. A poor lead was welcomed by Gilmore who seized the opportunity as he put his bowl eight inches to the side of the jack. A reaching bowl from Bradford saw him agonizingly hit the gap between the counting bowl and jack as Gilmore won 21-16 to pick up his second win in this competition.

The presentation was made by Peel competition secretary Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly who thanked the sponsor Davison’s for their continued support, Marown for the use of the green and for the excellent selection of refreshments provided throughout the day, of which the money raised was donated to various charites. Club secretary Lynda Wilson was then introduced to present the prizes with over £1200 paid out with Gilmore taking home the first prize of £500.