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 Friday evening. The rain just about held off for the duration off the match, with the green having lost a bit of pace with rain falling earlier in the day, it was a slower green than expected by the teams. 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 (+30) and Marown A (+31) with the Crosby team having just a one chalk start on their opponents. The Northern team were perhaps the favourites given the pedigree of some of their top bowlers.

From the first five games on the green, it was Manx Champion Jenny Moore who put down a marker for South Ramsey as she beat Lynda Cadamy 21-6, swiftly followed by Gill Dixon who put in a solid performance with a 21-12 win over Lil Smith. Marown hit back turning a 23 chalk deficit into a four chalk lead as Philippa Taylor won 21-9 against Gill Morgan, whilst Joyce Ogden cancelled out South’s biggest win with her own 21-6 victory over Ann Gale. The last match of the first half went to the wire as Rosie Winckle fought back from a 11-18 deficit against Elaine Moore to level the game up at 20-20. On the deciding end a good first bowl from Elaine looked to have been beaten by Rosie, however it just went through the gap as Moore won 21-20. With the first set of games complete Marown led by just three chalks to leave the match finely poised.

The atmosphere and tension started to build around the green in the second half of the match as Shirley Whelan performed well as she romped home 21-8 against Sue Collier to send Marown into a 16 chalk lead and tie the games won at 3-3, however this result was quickly cancelled out by Kim Hargraves who put in a captains’ innings with a 21-9 win over Celia Joughin to reduce the deficit to just four chalks.

With the last two games on the green Jayne Smith was in control of her game with Fiona Kennish as she led 15-11, whilst Jo Corkill was in the middle of her fightback from a 7-15 deficit to Lauren Groen, pulling the score back to 13-15.

In the Smith and Kennish game the latter found her length in devastating fashion, with a determination to exorcise the demons of last year’s heavy defeat in the final, the latter went on a five end winning streak scoring three consecutive doubles to lead 19-15. Two good bowls left Kennish counting for game, however a great last bowl from Smith put the cat amongst the pigeons to turn the match on its head at 16-19. Kennish dug deep once more to see the game out with two singles to win 21-16, and with it put South Ramsey just one chalk ahead on the night and with the score 5-3 on games in their favour.

At this stage South Ramsey needed Lauren to reach 20 to seal the victory. With the score at 17-16 to Groen, she went on to score two quick fire doubles to seal a 21-16 win over Corkill who had put in a good performance.

The delight from the South Ramsey ladies was undoubtedly mixed in with just as much relief, as they retained the Jean Kelly Memorial Shield by six chalks with the scores 179-173 in their favour, with every point counting towards their success on the night even in the three games they lost. This was the fourth time that South Ramsey have won this 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 Kim Hargraves was then presented with the Shield. Hargraves 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, who had played their part in making it a fantastic final.

South Ramsey	+30	+31	Marown A
Jenny Moore	21	6	Lynda Cadamy
Gill Dixon	21	12	Lil Smith
Gill Morgan	9	21	Philippa Taylor
Ann Gale	6	21	Joyce Ogden
Elaine Moore	21	20	Rosie Winckle
Sue Collier	8	21	Shirley Whelan
Kim Hargraves	21	9	Celia Joughin
Fiona Kennish	21	16	Jayne Smith
Lauren Groen	21	16	Jo Corkill
6 Games Won	179	173	3 Games Won