Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final of the Jean Kelly Memorial Shield – the Ladies Premier Team knockout competition was held at Onchan Bowling Club on Thursday evening. With heavy rain throughout the day, this took away any prospect of a tricky green, however the rain had cleared by the time the final got underway with a dry green with ideal bowling conditions. There was a good crowd in attendance with fantastic support for both teams, which resulted in a good atmosphere around the green. With a neutral venue the handicaps were South Ramsey (+14) and Marown A (+18) with the Crosby team having a four chalk start on their opponents. A tough one to call who would emerge as the winner with Marown second in the league and South Ramsey in third place, there is little to choose between the teams.

From the first five games on the green, Marown struck the first blow and built a sizeable lead with Rebecca Teare beating Sue Collier 21-3 in the corners. Lauren Groen pulled some chalks back for South Ramsey with a 21-9 win over Junior bowler Martha Butler, with the latter making her first appearance in a team final. Debbie Leece performed well to beat Elaine Moore 21-16, whilst South Ramsey captain Fiona Kennish put in a top performance to hold off former teammate Lyn Bolton with a 21-16 win. Rounding off the game in the first half of the match Marown captain Helen Withers put in a solid display to comfortably beat Kim Hargraves 21-12. At the halfway stage of the match Marown were 3-2 up on games, crucially led on the all-important chalks (102-87).

The atmosphere and tension started to build around the green in the second half of the match, whilst it looked a long way back for South Ramsey, they had a couple of big hitters to come, along with two very determined individuals who never give up, which proved to be the difference on the night as Judy Kelly put in a superb performance against Jayne Smith to win 21-14, clawing back seven chalks from the lead held by Marown. Another six chalks were picked up by South as two of the top lady bowlers Jenny Moore and Clare Cooper were up against each other, with the latter taking the early initiative Moore battled back to win 21-15.

With Marown now just two chalks ahead, the final two games on the green saw huge leads for South Ramsey. The next game off proved to be the final nail in the coffin as former Marown player Joyce Ogden, who looked as determined as anyone on the green beat Rebekah Kelly 21-6 to put South Ramsey into the lead for the first time in the match by 13 chalks. The final game on the green between Gill Dixon and Lynda Cadamy then turned into a formality, with Dixon having built up a huge lead in the first half of her game, was then on the receiving end of a fightback from Cadamy, however the South player got over the line with a 21-15 victory.

South Ramsey regained the Jean Kelly Memorial Shield by 19 chalks with the scores 171-152 in their favour, whilst also winning 6-3 on games. This was the fifth time that South Ramsey have won the competition.

The presentation was made by Moore Kelly’s daughter in law Carolyn Kelly, who called up the captains to present the prizes to their teams. South Ramsey captain Fiona Kennish was then presented with the Shield. Kennish thanked the Kelly family for their continued support of the competition, which included the prizes and the refreshments, Onchan Bowling Club for hosting and congratulated her team on their performance whilst offering her commiserations to Marown A.

South Ramsey	H/C +14	H/C +18	Marown A
Sue Collier	3	21	Rebecca Teare
Lauren Groen	21	9	Martha Butler
Kim Hargraves	12	21	Helen Withers
Elaine Moore	16	21	Debbie Leece
Fiona Kennish	21	12	Lyn Bolton
Judy Kelly	21	14	Jayne Smith
Jenny Moore	21	15	Clare Cooper
Gill Dixon	21	15	Lynda Cadamy
Joyce Ogden	21	6	Rebekah Kelly
6 Games Won	171	152	3 Games Won