Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Dave McTaggart Memorial Trophy on Sunday, with a bumper entry of 39 pairs despite the poor forecast, after a weeks break due to the Manx Grand Prix this might have encouraged the healthy entry. Despite the rain in the morning, and at the start of the competition the green was running surprisingly well, with conditions made difficult by the blustery conditions.

Losing out in the quarter finals were home greeners Maria and Mark Dimsdale 16-21 to South Ramsey’s Kian Bradford who was paired with his Dad David Bradford, whilst Onchan pair Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker lost 17-21 to Louise Tebay and Rebecca Teare (Ballaugh/Marown).

In the other half of the draw Glenn Boland and Peter Jones (Marown) won 21-8 against Mooragh Park pair Madison and Bailey McMullan, whilst South Ramsey’s Kim and Glynn Hargraves beat Lil Smith and Les Brookes 21-10 (Marown/Finch Hill).

At the semi-final stage the father and son pairing made a solid start to lead 11-7, only for Tebay and Teare to runout with a 21-11 win on a longer length.

The other semi-final went to the wire, as Kim and Glynn went into a 14-10 lead, only to concede a four to Boland and Jones. The South Ramsey pair picked up their third three of the game to lead 17-14, then conceded a single and a double for the game to level up at 17-17. The Husband and Wife pairing were lying game counting for two at 19-18 only for Jones to save one to put the score at 20-18. On the next end the Marown pair scored a good three to book their place in the final.

The final looked like it could be a runaway victory for the Marown men early on as they went into the lead 11-6. Tebay and Teare worked their way back into the game to level up at 11-11 after six ends, only to concede a three to trail 11-14.

This got the ladies back into gear, as Boland and Jones could only score two more singles, whilst Tebay and Teare finished the game strongly with five singles, a double and a three to secure a deserved 21-16 victory.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Maurice O’Reilly, with prizes paid down to the quarter finals. Maurice thanked everyone who had entered, the good crowd that had stayed for the duration of the competition, along with the club makers and the catering team for the refreshments provided throughout the day.