Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

South Ramsey hosted the Manx Masters on Sunday, one of the highlights of the Manx bowls calendar with four separate competitions once again taking place on a great playing surface which was running superbly.

Winner of the Young Manx Masters was Clark Kelly defeating Grayse Blencoe 6-3 in the final. This competition was played in a round robin format with six players in each group playing five ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. Clark won group A with 24 points, with Katie Jacobs the runner up in Group A with 22 points. Grayse won Group B with 27 points, with Megan Hargraves the runner up on 26 points.

The Junior Manx Masters was again played as a straight knockout for the older and more experienced players and the title was won for the first time by Austin Hart (South Ramsey) who beat Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park) 21-17 in a well contested final, with Austin beating Patrick Grant (Ballaugh) 21-14 to reach the final, whilst Shannon beat Aalish Howarth 21-16 to book her spot in the final.

The standard of play in both events was excellent and there was a fantastic crowd around the green supporting the future of the game with the numbers steadily increasing throughout, it made for a great morning.

The junior competitions were sponsored by Stonemasons IOM Limited for a fourth successive year with the prizes presented by Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. All those who took part received a prize, with the younger players also receiving a certificate. A huge thanks must go to the coaches – Sonya Mercer, Clare Cooper, Janet Monk, Willie Cowley, Mervin Sayle, Phil Kelly & Colin Kelly who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning.

Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion the Felton’s sponsored men’s and ladies events got underway with the ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the men’s event had 32 taking part.

In the ladies event losing out at the quarter final stages were Sue Gawne (Onchan), Clare Cooper (Noble’s) Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park).

In the semi-finals Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) performed well winning 21-7 to end the run of Alison Keggen (Noble’s), whilst Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey) ended the challenge of team mate Fiona Kennish with a hard fought 21-18 victory to book her place in the final.

In the final Moore was quickest out of the blocks taking a 12-6 lead scoring three doubles on the way, before Bolton chipped away at the lead to cut the deficit to 11-13 only for Moore to take five successive singles to lead 18-11. Bolton won three of the next four ends to trail 14-19 only for Moore to finish the game off with two singles to run out with a 21-14 victory to deservedly win her third successive Manx Masters title, in addition to her Manx Championship win earlier in the season.

In the men’s event eight of the 16 first round games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 15 or more to show there were some good contests taking place. Losing out at the quarter final stage was Bob Clark (Castletown), who lost 17-21 to Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) with Clark battling back from a 5-16 deficit to level up at 16-16 before losing out 17-21, whilst Alan Moore (South Ramsey) lost out 20-21 to team mate Glynn Hargraves. Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) ended the challenge of home greener James Teare 21-15, with Dido Kelly (South Ramsey) seeing off Tom Kelly (Peel) with a 21-13 victory.

In the semi-final Hargraves took a convincing 21-10 win over Wayne Roberts to book his spot in the final, whilst in the other semi Trevor Quayle had to work hard to earn a 21-19 win over Dido Kelly after trailing 16-19.

The final started with the floodlights coming into play and a new name guaranteed to be on the trophy. Hargraves got off to the better start taking the first three ends to lead 7-3, Quayle then took nine of the next 12 ends playing well over the middle of the green to turn the game around to lead 14-11. Hargraves then changed tactics opting for a longer length to win four ends on the bounce to lead 17-14, with Quayle once again heading over the crown to level the game at 18-18. Hargraves then scored two successive singles to lead 20-18, to then play a poor end to gift an easy two for Quayle to level things up at 20-20. On the deciding end Quayle played his lead a yard past the jack and tight of the land, Hargraves capitalised on this to play a bowl right on top of the jack. Quayle had no option but to strike and somehow flicked out the counting bowl to count one and lie game. Hargraves took his time to compose himself to play another length bowl to win 21-20 and take his fourth 21-20 win of the day to claim his first Manx Masters title.

At the end of the competition the prizes were presented by Chris & Lynnette Perry on behalf of the sponsors Felton’s Ironmongers who continue to support this event. During the presentation club secretary Alan Moore thanked those who had helped prepare the green, along with everyone who had helped in any way towards the smooth running of the competitions throughout the day. A special mention was given to the ladies who once again put on a superb selection of refreshments. Thanks were also given to Neil Withers & Paul Dunn for the live streaming of the Junior and Senior events which proved to be popular. There was just over £1,000 paid out in prize money throughout the entire day.