Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The Islands premier doubles competition was hosted by Castletown Bowling Club on Sunday which was played 21 up off scratch. The event was well supported with 26 pairs taking part in a bid to win the title, which was once again sponsored by Brown Craine & Co.  

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the Marown/South Ramsey pairing of Matthew Keggen and Glynn Hargraves, Paul Kelly & Juan Killip (Marown), Paul Dunn & Neil Withers (Marown) and the Port St Mary duo of Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle.

In the semi-finals the first game off was the Douglas pairing of Stuart Garrett and Ian Moore who beat the Peel father and son duo of Dave Kelly and Stevie Kelly 21-13 to take their spot in the final. The South Ramsey combination of John Kennish & David Bradford took their spot in the semi-final after earlier coming through two tough battles against Bob Clark (Castletown) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan) 21-18, followed by Dunn & Withers in the quarter final to the same score with both games being of the highest quality. Their semi-final game against Walter McCarthy and Colin Kelly looked more comfortable with their 21-12 win not really reflecting the game.

In the final Kennish and Bradford started as big favourites having taken the title for the previous three years, taking an 8-0 lead before Garrett & Moore got on the scoreboard with Moore bowling within a foot to beat their opponents counting bowl. Kennish and Bradford kept the pressure firmly on with both of the South Ramsey men playing the corners well to build a commanding 18-3 lead before Moore & Garrett got back in with a double. Moore & Garrett managed to get into double figures with Moore playing another great last bowl when lying game down to take a double before losing out 11-21 for Kennish & Bradford to seal their fourth consecutive victory in the Island premier doubles competition.

The presentation was made by Association Chairman Neil Withers, who thanked the sponsors Browne Craine & Co for their continued support, Castletown Bowling Club for the use of the green and its members for providing helpers throughout the day. Spot prizes were also awarded, with the prize for furthest junior going to Sam Clague (Castletown) The prize for the furthest pairing with a second division player went to Walter McCarthy (Marown) who was paired with Colin Kelly, whilst Cliff Clague (Castletown) received the prize for furthest third division player. Further Over 60’s player was losing finalist Stuart Garrett. The top prize paid out to the winners was £200, with further prizes paid out to the runners up and losing semi-finalists on what was a great day of bowling.