Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Saturday saw a quality field of 30 pairs of all ages entered for the R H Green Trophy at Finch Hill and were blessed with a fine sunny day and a very fast green.

A number of Island players were entered and last year’s winning pairing of David Bradford and John Kennish got off to a strong start winning 21-9 against Kevin Firth and Terry Bates. Steve
Waters and Dido Kelly also won by a similar score against newcomers Bryan Masterton and Brian Murphy. Closest match of the day was between the home pairings of Dave McCabe and Frank Christian who just took the win 21-20 against Peter Hughes and Arthur Halsall. Other front runners included Dave and Steve Kelly who were pushed hard to a 21-18 win by Peter Collins and Wayne Roberts, whilst Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves had a comfortable win 21-13 against home
players John Harris and newcomer Paddy Murphy who has only been playing for a few weeks. Alan Moore and James Teare showed that they would be strong contenders as they eased past Lee Dawson and David Pease 21-14. Paul Dunn and Neil Withers had a good match against Bernie McPhee and Steve Crampton and eventually won 21-18.

In the second round we thought we were in for a shock result as John Kennish and David Bradford went 10-16 down to Stuey Garrett and Ian Moore but eventually hauled them back and ran out 21-19 winners. Dave and Steve Kelly picked up a bit of form and convincingly beat Les Brookes and Mark Kramer 21-9 while Steve Waters and Dido Kelly beat Adam Kelly and David Proctor by the same score. The eldest competitor and the newest newcomer Bill Cairns and John Smith respectively found the competition tough as they lost 21-6 to Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves. The home pairing of Dave McCabe and Frank Christian took advantage of local knowledge as they beat Walter McCarthy and Stephen Rundle 21-13. Also showing good form were Alan Moore and James Teare as they beat Eddie Carlyle and Nathan Hamilton 21-14, and Paul Dunn and Neil Withers as they beat Brian Kelly and Juan Killip 21-15. The closest and longest match in terms of ends saw Ian Kissack and Mike Hargraves ease past Derek Allen and Alec Taylor with a two on the final end to win 21-19.

As you would expect by the time we reached the quarter finals there were no easy matches and the top players were getting the feel of the green and we were treated to some wonderful bowls.
In the top half of the draw Alan Moore and James Teare had a good 21-13 win against Paul Dunn and Neil Withers whilst John Kennish and David Bradford did just enough to beat Steve Waters and Dido Kelly 21-17. The bottom half of the draw saw the son beat the father as Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves beat Ian Kissack and Mike Hargraves 21-15, and a strong performance from Dave and Steve Kelly saw them beat home favourites Dave McCabe and Frank Christian 21-12.

The semi-finals saw John Kennish and David Bradford take on Alan Moore and James Teare and once again the quality of play from Kennish and Bradford was just too much for Moore and Teare as they ran out comfortable winners 21-14. The other semi-final between Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves and Dave and Steve Kelly was a much closer affair with neither team able to take a firm grip of the match, but with a three on the final end it was the Kelly’s who took the win 21-19.

In the final, last year’s winners Kennish and Bradford won the first two ends but the Kelly’s recovered to lead 13-11 after eight ends. This only seemed to spur on Kennish and Bradford as they made two on the next end and went on to add another six points in the next four ends using a
variety of lengths and then with a point on each of the last two very short ends they stormed home 21-14 to retain their title.

The prize presentation was made by Ken Kinrade, Competition Secretary for Finch Hill with the losing finalists receiving £50 Newsbeat vouchers and the winner’s £100 Newsbeat vouchers and the R H Green Cup.

Special thanks go to our generous sponsors Newsbeat, to all who helped in the kitchen throughout the afternoon, to Kevin Skillicorn for stewarding and Malcolm Black for measuring and to all those who helped make this a very successful competition.