Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Saturday saw a quality field of 28 pairs of all ages take to the green at Finch Hill in what were far from pleasant weather conditions.

A number of Island players were entered and made quick work of their first round matches, particularly the pairing of David Bradford and John Kennish who won 21-10 against Adrian Skinner and Rob Cowley. In the other first round matches, Matthew Keggen and Robert Monk had a good win (21-11) against Les Brookes and Reg Tampaza, as did Peter Hughes and Arthur Halsall who came back from 13-14 down with 8 points in 4 ends to take the match 21-14 and there was a similar story with Steve Kelly and David Proctor as they came back from 16-19 down with 5 points from the last 4 ends to win 21-19. There were also some very close matches as Alec Taylor and Derek Allen beat Eddie Carlyle and Nathan Hamilton by a single point and Roy Murphy and Peter Karran also beat Bod and Glenn Boland by the same margin. Father and son team of Glynn and Ryan Hargraves had a close match with Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge but narrowly lost out 21-18.

In the second round John Kennish and David Bradford had an even more impressive win against Derek Allen and Alec Taylor winning 21-8. Home pairing of John Harris and Sefton Dent had a good win over Peter Smith and Peter Woods by 21-15, helped by a 4 pointer in the final end, while Steve Kelly and David Proctor beat Jeff Wilson and Bob Berry by the same score. The other local pairing of Peter Hughes and Arthur Halsall were unlucky to lose by the single point to Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge as were Steve Waters and James Teare who also lost by the same margin to Thomas Keggen and Steve Hall and a similar scoreline saw Brian Kelly and Harry Barton overcome Matthew Keggen and Robert Monk. Arnie Withers and Mikey Collister came close but eventually lost out to another father and son team of Colin and Tom Kelly 21-18 while Neil Withers and Paul Dunn overcame Roy Murphy and Peter Karran 21-17.

John Kennish and David Bradford got the quarter finals off to a fast start as they beat John Harris and Sefton Dent by 21-8 but other matches were closer as Steve Kelly and David Proctor overcame Neil Withers and Paul Dunn 21-15 and Tom and Colin Kelly beat Thomas Keggen and Steve Hall 21-14. The last quarter final was a much closer affair and Brian Kelly and Harry Barton must have thought they were on for a win but got stuck on 20 points for four ends only to see Jerome Surridge and Frank Watson pip them at the post with a 3 pointer in the final end.

The semi-finals saw John Kennish and David Bradford take on Steve Kelly and David Proctor and once again the quality of play from Kennish and Bradford was just too much for Kelly and Proctor as they ran out comfortable winners 21-12.

The other semi-final was between the in form father and son team of Tom and Colin Kelly and the pairing of Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge who had won their last two matches by a single point, and once again the match went with the form book as the Kelly’s won the match 21-11.

With a cloudy sky and increasing wind, conditions were far from ideal but the quality of the bowls in the final was exceptional as some of the Islands best players took to the green. It was the Kelly’s who took an early hold on the match leading 12-7 and 15-11 helped by their corner to corner play. However, when Kennish and Bradford had the jack they were prepared to shorten the lengths to disrupt the Kelly’s rhythm and at one point went ahead 16-15. The Kelly’s then got hold of the jack and once they went corner to corner again they bagged another 5 points in three ends to lead 20-16 but couldn’t finish off the match as Kennish and Bradford regained the jack. Returning to the shorter length paid dividends once again for Kennish and Bradford and they made no mistake as they reeled off 5 points in the next three ends to take the match and overall competition 21-20.

The prize presentation was made by Ken Kinrade, Competition Secretary for Finch Hill with the losing semi finalists receiving £20 Newsbeat vouchers, the losing finalists £50 Newsbeat vouchers and the winners £100 Newsbeat vouchers and the R H Green Cup.

Special thanks go to our generous sponsors Newsbeat, to John Harris for preparation of the green and to Greeba Paramour and Peter Hughes for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon and to Kevin Skillicorn for stewarding and to all those who helped make this a very successful competition.

Post Written by Ken Kinrade