Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The Isle of Man Junior Team took part in the British Crown Green Bowling Association six-a-side Championship at The Grange in Warrington Club on Sunday, on a glorious day.

With 10 Juniors selected the Isle of Man would have been in the enviable position of being able to rotate players, however with other counties short of players on the day four of the Isle of Man juniors stepped in to play for other counties to ensure the teams were full, this also had the added bonus of ensuring all 10 players played in all three games, no walkovers were awarded.

Every single one of them did themselves and the Island proud in the way that they performed and more importantly the way they behaved on and off the green, not to mention how well turned out they all were.

The team won the first game 5-1 on games against Cheshire B by a convincing 39 chalks (85-46), with four games being won to single figures.

In the second round this proved to be a considerably tougher fixture against the heavily fancied South Yorkshire A, a solid performance saw the team draw 3-3, however they lost out by just four chalks (70-74) for their opponents to get the two points.

In the final round North Lancs & Fylde were the opponents, this went in favour of the Manx Juniors 4-2 and by 26 chalks (79-53).

Bailey McMullan was the standout performer for Team Isle of Man having won all three games scoring 45 chalks, conceding just 14 chalks all day. That said a further four of the juniors won two games each, with even those suffering defeat performing well.

With 2 points for each win the team finished on 4 points to finish in second place overall in the group. The Junior team will again be away in July for the next stage of the competition.

With Erin Quayle and Katie Jacobs filling in for South Yorkshire B, both Juniors performed well with Katie’s scores not reflecting how well she played in all of her games against older and more experienced bowlers, however Katie lost out by just three chalks (12-15) in her first outing against Greater Manchester.

Erin won her first two games against Greater Manchester and Cheshire A, just lost out by two chalks (13-15) in her final game against Cumbria. 

Martha Butler turned out for North Lancs & Fylde and had a sizeable lead in her second game against Cheshire B, however once her opponent got in and opted for a longer length Martha lost out by just two chalks (13-15).

Dylan Marsh turned out for Cheshire B and after a tough first game against the Isle of Man Dylan bounced back to win 15-9 against North Lancs & Fylde.

Thank you to everyone who came to support, to the coaches and everyone who helped organise the trip.