Monthly Archives: May 2018
Garrett’s Shine in Port St Mary Cup
Port St Mary Cup Winners 2018
Stuart & Paula Garrett with sponsor Mike Caley30 pairs contested this year’s Isle of Man Farmers sponsored ‘Port St Mary Cup’ mixed doubles open at Port St Mary Bowling Club on what was a glorious bank holiday Monday afternoon.
Bowing out at the quarter final stage were Bethany and John Kennish, losing 19-21 against Rob and Janet Monk. Derek and Lynda Cadamy lost out 10-21 against Glynn Hargraves and Shelley Kennish. Mike Hargraves and Joyce Ogden lost 19-21 against Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle. Wayne Roberts and Jayne Kneen lost 16-21 against Paula and Stuart Garrett.
In the first semi-final it was Janet and Robert against Glynn and Shelley, with the latter pair scoring two three’s and three two’s on the way to winning 21-12. In the other semi-final it was Trevor and Lyn against Paula and Stuart. Trevor and Lyn were ahead in the early part of the game, from leading 16-13, they went 16-20 down after Paula and Stuart scored a single and then two three’s. Trevor and Lyn then scored a one and a two to get to 19-20 before Paula and Stuart got the one they needed to get to the final.
As expected the final was nip and tuck. With the score at 13 across Paula and Stuart scored a one, a three and a two in three consecutive ends to go 19-13 up. Glynn and Shelley then responded with a one, a three and a one also in consecutive ends to get back to 18-19 before Paula and Stuart got the two they needed to win the Port St Mary Cup for the second time.
At the Presentation Life member Ann Maddrell thanked the members at the Club that have helped in anyway in the running of the event. Ann then thanked and introduced Mike Caley of Isle of Man Farmers for their continued sponsorship of the Event. Mike presented the prizes to the losing semi-finalists, the runners up and finally to the winners Paula and Stuart.
Moore & Teare Retain Haldane Fisher Mixed Doubles
Haldane Fisher Mixed Doubles Winners 2018
Jenny Moore & James TeareSunday 27th May saw the Haldane Fisher sponsored Mixed Doubles held at the Villa with a good entry.
After some hotly contested games in the early rounds the Quarter Finals saw Alison Keggen and Glenn Boland go down 21-8 to the ever consistent pairing of Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle.
The next game up was an all South Ramsey affair and saw a closer battle with Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves finally pipping Fiona Kennish and Alan Moore 21-17.
In another all South Ramsey game we saw Jenny Moore and James Teare beating Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly 21-15 while the last of the Quarter Finals saw Janet Monk and Rob Monk beating Paula Firth and Jordan Cain 21-13.
The first of the Semi Finals saw Lyn and Trevor being too strong for Elaine and Glynn on the day as they ran out 21-12 winners and in the other we saw a titanic battle with Jenny and James eventually beating Janet and Rob Monk 21-20 and although I know that Janet loves to win she also just loves to play on the Villa Green so I am sure she got some consolation from that.
So as we came to the Final we knew this was going to be a battle and after some very good bowls it was Jenny and James who took the honours by winning 21-19 from Lyn and Trevor.
So that concluded a great day’s bowls on a very good green and many thanks are due to Sponsors Haldane Fisher and to Douglas Bowling Club Members with special thanks to Paula and Stuey Garrett and Andy Cannell.
Thriller At The Villa As Castletown A Drop A Point
As we came to the start of another week of Over 60’s Men’s Bowls with Game 15 it was beginning to look as if Castletown A may well go unbeaten for the entire season and they reinforced this theory with an impressive 8-0 win over North Ramsey A. The Castletown B team however were on the receiving end of a 7-1 defeat by Port St Mary A in the deep South of the Island.
Second placed Peel Sunset A had a good 7-1 win over Nobles B while the Peel Sunset B team hosted Douglas A with the men from the Villa taking a 6-2 away win and Peel Sunset C picked up their first win of the season with a 6-2 win over Finch Hill A.
Port Erin travelled to Onchan Park where they were beaten 7-1 by Onchan A while Onchan B travelled to the Mooragh Park where they took a 5-3 v[ctory over North Ramsey B.
Ballaugh B hosted Nobles A and it was the Douglas side that took a 5-3 win while Ballaugh A had an impressive trip to Crosby to take a 5-3 win over a strong Marown side.
South Ramsey A had a trip to the ‘big smoke’ to play Douglas B and the Northerners went back over the mountain with a 7-1 win under their belts.
Game 16 started with Castletown A travelling to the Villa to play Douglas A and a tough but friendly battle ended all square at 4-4 with the Castletown side dropping what was only their second point of the season. The Southerners may well have dropped both points but for Peter Oates playing a ‘Captains game’ and squeezing a 21-20 victory from Jimmy Sansom.
Peel Sunset A fought out a 4-4 draw with Port St Mary A in the ‘Sunset City’
with Peel Sunset B travelling to Finch Hill A and also playing out a 4-4 draw and finally for the Westerners their C Team travelled to Castletown and were beaten 7-1 by Castletown B with ‘Bert the Bowler’ Quayle being the worthy winner for the Peel team.
Ballaugh A had a 7-1 home win over Douglas B with Arthur Ashcroft being the only winner for the men from the Villa while Ballaugh B travelled Onchan Park where they were beaten 5-3 by Onchan B with Onchan A taking a 6-2 away win at Port St Mary B with the winners for the Southerners being Andy Sykes and Derek Kneen.
North Ramsey hosted Marown at the Mooragh Park and this resulted in a 5-3 win for the local side, North Ramsey B travelled across the Town to play South Ramsey and also ran out 5-3 winners.
Port Erin hosted Nobles B and this ended with a 5-3 win for Port Erin although it could easily have been a draw with the match between Stuart Gale and Tony Birch ending 21-20 to the Southerner.
So after an interesting week in Over 60’s Bowls we have the top five as follows,
Castletown A played 15 for 28 points.
Peel Sunset A played 15 for 27 points.
Onchan A played 16 for 26 points.
Douglas A played 15 for 24 points.
Ballaugh A played 16 for 24 points.
Boland Crowned Junior Champion
Junior Championship Winner 2018
The Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored Junior Championship took place on Saturday with 16 juniors entering the competition.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Madison McMullan (Mooragh Park), Kiera Corlett (Castletown), Aalish Haworth (Mooragh Park) and 2017 winner Harry Barton (Marown) who lost 17-21 to Sam Stannard.
Falling at the semi-final stage were Sam Stannard (Finch Hill) 20-21 to Bethany Kennish (South Ramsey), who kept her composure to book her place in the final. In the second semi-final Sam Clague (Castletown) lost out 4-21 to Glenn Boland (Noble’s).
In the final Glenn made a strong start building a big lead on his favoured long marks. Bethany managed to pull a few points back to get the score back to 8-19, before Glenn secured a two to win his first Junior Championship, with a deserved victory thanks to winning all his games to single figures.
Both Glenn and Bethany have qualified to play off Island later in the year.
The presentation was made by Glynn Hargraves, with thanks given to Castletown Bowling Club for hosting and helping to run the competition. It was great to see so many supporters around the green, with the games played in the right spirit, also to see such a good standard of bowls throughout the day.
As You Were At The Top
In the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored division one this week reigning champions South Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Port St Mary A who were missing two of their experienced players. The conditions on the night around the Islands greens were tough with swirling winds. Despite this the home team managed to take three games off the visitors and on another night could have taken two more. The winners for Port St Mary were Trevor Quayle, Dan McCabe and Wayne Roberts, with Steve Franks and Rob Cooil going close before losing out to Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves. Manx Champion John Kennish carried on where he left off from Sunday winning 21-1, with Dido Kelly winning 21-7.
Second placed Peel A made the trip to the capital to take on bottom of the table Douglas B. The home side fared better than they could have hoped taking three points from the visitors losing 3-7. Captain Andy Cannell had an outstanding 21-9 win over opposition captain Ste Kelly, whilst Pat O’Donohue rolled back the years to inflict a 21-4 defeat on Jerome Surridge. Mark Corrin was the third winner defeating David Proctor 21-15. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was pushed all the way by Roy Williams before winning 21-19, with Tom Kelly back to winning ways holding off Bob Banning 21-18. Tommy McMeiken kept up his 100% league record with a 21-4 win with Gary Smith also winning to single figures.
Marown B took on their A team with the B team players looking to prove they can mix it with the A team and continue their climb up the table. The B team will have pleased to secure three points following their 3-7 loss. For the B team Peter Kelly rolled back the years to defeat his Nephew Neil Withers 21-14, whilst his son John got over the line 21-19 against Ian Kissack. Bobby Thorne proved his worth beating John Gelling 21-18. For the A team Dean Kipling beat Juan Killip 21-4, whilst Colin Kelly, Paul Kelly and Matthew Keggen had comfortable wins. Captain Paul Dunn was pushed a lot harder winning 21-18 over Brian Kelly.
North Ramsey A hosted South Ramsey B with the home team securing a 6-4 victory thanks to two single figure wins by Allan Callow and John Cannan. The other two winners were Steve Parker 21-17 over Ben Dugdale and Gary Merrill edging it 21-19 against Austin Hart. For the visitors Tony Dugdale and Sid Bolton had comfortable wins, with James Teare (21-18) and Steven Waters (21-19) having enough in the tank to hold off Ray Skelly and Steve Walmsley.
Port Erin A hosted Douglas A at Breagle Glen with the home team suffering an 8-2 defeat, the southerners will have felt hard done by as Derek Allen & Bernie Durcan both lost 18-21 to Ian Moore and Mervin Sayle respectively. Steve Durcan lost 17-21 against Gary Conwell, whilst Peter Addision also fell at the last hurdle losing 20-21 to Stuart Garrett. Despite the home defeat there were only 12 chalks separating the teams to show how close the game really was.
Onchan A bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Castletown A 9-1. For the home team Matthew Quirk, Kevin Quirk, Steve Crampton and Jordan Cain all won to single figures, whilst for the visitors the only winner was Juan Kermode over the experienced Phil Kerruish who is notoriously difficult to beat on Onchan.
In division two, top of the table Noble’s A had a tough away game with a visit to Peel B, managed to maintain their unbeaten record despite being beaten 5-3 on games, they took the aggregate two points for the chalks edging it by a solitary chalk (146-145). Noble’s missed out taking extra points off Peel with Steve Cook and Tommy Collister losing 20-21 to Alec Taylor and Gordon Corrin, whilst Bod Boland lost 18-21 to Dougie Allan. For Peel, Harry Kelly and Mike Ashmole won comfortably.
Castletown B missed an opportunity to close the gap further on Noble’s A with a 6-4 home victory over strugglers Port St Mary C who performed well to take four points away from home. Dave Faragher kept up his place at the top of the individual merit table with a 21-7 win over Nathan Hamilton. John Alderson lost out 20-21 to Tom Wilson, whilst Alan Phair & Aaron Richardson lost out 17-21 to Louis Callister and Chris Oates.
Ballaugh A came away from Finch Hill A with a 6-4 win with Edgar Cowin winning 21-8 for the visitors. John Keenan, Richard Fisher and Steve Grant were the other winners for the visiting team. Winners for Finch Hill were Tony Epifani, Sefton Denton, Paul Dougherty and Billy Long.
North Ramsey B had a good 8-2 home win over Port St Mary B, with Barry Teare getting over the line 21-19 against Peter Collins, whilst Rheuben Thomas held his nerve to beat Paul Russell 21-20. Winners for Port St Mary were Brian Corrin and Dave Saxon.
Peel C hosted Onchan B with Onchan taking a 6-4 win. For the home team Paul Quirk and Kevin Mort helped secured two extra points for their team winning 21-19 and 21-20 over Mike Thomas and Paul Bailey respectively. Edward Carlyle, Les McLellan, Mike Alexander and Bernie McPhee were the winners for the visitors.
In division three, Peel D took the pressure off with a 9-1 away win to Douglas D. For Peel Ryan Tate got a walkover, Steve Tate won 21-4 and Leslie Halsall also won to single figures. For Douglas Tony King prevented the whitewash with a 21-8 win.
South Ramsey D welcomed Douglas C in a tight contest, recording a 6-4 win. Home Captain James Moore and his eldest son Ian won to single figures, whilst youngest son Jay had to battle to win 21-18. Richard Davies was the other winner. For Douglas Juan Readshaw marked his first appearance of the season with a win, backed up by William Cowley, Andy Foster and Mike Cain.
Marown C just missed out on a 10-0 win over Onchan C with Darren Kerruish losing 20-21 to Gary Lee to record a 9-1 win to extend their lead at the top of the table. Paul Clinton came close to securing another point for the visitors before losing 19-21 to Karl Parker. For the home team Stephen Rundle and Jamie Joughin won to single figures, with Walter McCarthy, Steve Wilson, Kevin Kelly and Carey Dewhirst also having comfortable wins.
Ballaugh C took on their B Team with the match ending 6-4 to the B Team to show how little difference there is between the two teams. For the C Team Bert Quayle got home with a 21-20 win over John Kneen, with Paul Bradford the biggest winner 21-11 over Percy Faragher. Maurice O’Reilly just lost out 19-21 to Fred Waggett. For the B Team Tony Quine won to single figures, whilst John Bolton and Philip Quayle had comfortable wins.
South Ramsey C managed to record a 6-4 victory over Finch Hill B despite suffering two heavy defeats, they responded with three big wins over the visitors. For the home team Anthony Kelly, Tony Marler and Tony Hart all won to single figures, whilst Kevin Anderson and Sam Stannard also won to single figures for Finch Hill. Toby Hart kept his cool to beat Pat Maher 21-20, whilst Kevin Stannard did the same for Finch Hill with his own 21-20 win. Just three chalks separated the teams to show how close a contest it was.
Top Of The Table Clash
There was a top of the table clash in the Trend Ladies Over 60s league this week as league leaders Port St Mary, who hold a four point lead, visited Peel Sunset. Last season Port St Mary suffered a heavy 54 point defeat away to Peel and would be looking to avoid the same upset.
Peel bowlers Cath Parker won 21-14 against Trish Bull, Pat Robertson 21-17 against Margaret Tasker and Joyce Kelly 21-12 against Wendy Kennuagh gave Peel a healthy 20 point lead. For the away side Val Macfarlane won 21-13 against Lynda Wilson and Ann Maddrell won 21-9 against Heather Horsburgh which brought the game level. The last result of the match saw Mary Moffatt just hold on to defeat Rita Callister 21-20 and give Peel an overall victory by one chalk 106-105 (4-2). Port St Mary will have left the happier side knowing they have not lost ground on their nearest rivals and will look to use their own home advantage to good effect later in the season.
Castletown welcomed Nobles who produced a great performance to win the match 92-110 (2-4). Paula Firth won 21-4 for the away side which setup the win for Nobles with Joyce Ogden, Viv Cook, Pat Dacre also winning for Nobles. Castletown did manage two wins with Marie Ashurst and Sue Peach both winning 21-13.
Port St Mary B faced Onchan and the away side managed to collect four wins but it was the home side who managed to win the match. For Onchan Maureen Payne and Libby Andrade both won 21-19, Lesley Nicholl 21-18 and Wendy McDowell 21-14. With Port St Mary pushing close in three of the four losses their winners could make the impact as Pauline Whorrall 21-10 and Edwina Reid 21-12 won for the home side to give them an overall 112-106 (2-4) victory.
Marown travelled to Ballaugh and kept up the pace at the top by winning 93-115 (1-5). Marown’s winners were Philippa Taylor 21-10, Margaret Scarffe 21-12, Ceila Joughin 21-16 and Mary Alderson 21-20. Ballaugh player Mary Simmonds made sure there was no whitewash by winning her game 21-10.
Mooragh Park A defeated Breagle 109-63 (4-2) with Breagle fielding only five players. Janet Monk and Vicky Lloyd-West were on top form for Mooragh winning 21-5 and 21-4 respectively. Joyce Henry and Gwen Tuck won for the away side.
Douglas played South Ramsey at the Villa. Douglas were one short and giving away 21 points was the difference in the match as Douglas lost by only eight chalks. Patsy Rush top scored for the home side 21-4 along with wins from Kath King and Elaine Vincent. The final score was 86-94 (3-3)
In the final game held on Tuesday Port Erin scored a full house against Mooragh Park B 126-37.
League Chasers Drop Points
Castletown A hosted Port St Mary in last weeks match of the week. Both teams sit in the top four places and continue to chase Nobles and South Ramsey
The match was a very tight encounter with Castletown just getting the better results to win 147-141 (5-4). Home players Hannah Drewitt 21-8 and Tracy Moore 21-6 top scoring with wins also coming from Kim Foy, Heike Perry and Amanda Lawler. For the away team Jayne Kneen won 21-9 and Chris Price won 21-2 with Ann Maddrell and Val Macfarlane also winning.
With Port St Mary and Castletown dropping points South Ramsey used their considerable home advantage to great effect collecting a maximum and increasing the distance between the teams. South Ramsey defeated Castletown B 189-72 (9-0) with six of the South Ramsey ladies winning to single figures.
Nobles faced a tough away match travelling to the tricky Peel Sunset green. Nobles left the happier of the two sides after collecting a well earned victory 146-164 (4-5). Joyce Ogden had the best performance of the night winning 21-8 for the away side with wins also coming from Clare Cooper, Lin Ruscoe, Debbie Leece and Rebecca Teare. For Peel Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Mary Moffatt and Lynda Wilson.
Mooragh Park are starting to get used to playing at home again and notched up a 77 chalk victory over Onchan. Helen Martin, Janet Monk, Rosemary Quirk and Ann Chapman all won to single figures with Onchan player Sue Gawne winning her game 21-4 to make sure there was no full house for the home side. Final score 172-95 (8-1)
Marown put in another strong home performance beating Douglas 142-121 (8-1). Douglas will be disappointed not to have won more games with Ceila Joughin winning 21-20 against Wendy Cowin and Philippa Taylor winning 21-20 against Pat Kelly. Douglas only winner was Paula Garrett who won 21-6 to avoid a whitewash.
In the final match from Wednesday Ballaugh lost at home to Port Erin 123-163 (2-7). Elaine Fenton and Gill Dixon were Ballugh’s winners whilst Port Erin’s Phil Dobson and Carol Kaye won to single figures.
Onto Friday and South Ramsey travelled over the mountain to face Douglas at the Villa Bowling Green where in the last 3 years they have averaged over 177 chalks. Douglas however put in some great performances keeping South Ramsey for the first time this season to under 150 chalks. Douglas restricted South Ramsey with wins from Paula Garrett 21-4, Pat Kelly 21-7 and Wendy Cowin 21-10. South won the remaining six games but Douglas player Shantelle Thorpe just missed out on her first league victory going down 21-20 to Fiona Kennish and Muriel Cain was pipped 21-19 by Lyn Bolton. The final score 132-147 (3-6)
Castletown and Port St Mary bounced back from their earlier performance in the week and capitalised on South Ramsey dropping points. Castletown won away to Purt Le Moirrey 107-178 (1-8) with home greener Roma Ware preventing a whitewash. Port St Mary travelled to Onchan and picked up their first full house of the season winning 69-189 (0-9).
Nobles welcomed Marown and kept up their strong start to the season by winning the match 179-125 (6-3). Top scoring for the home side were Debbie Leece 21-5, Paula Firth 21-7 and Clare Cooper 21-4 with Jayne Smith, Rebecca Teare and Alison Keggen also winning. For the away side Philippa Taylor, Lil Smith and Rosie Winckle collected with the match finishing 179-125 (6-3)
Port Erin collected a fine home victory over Peel Sunset 173-115 (6-3). Caroline Whitehead and Lynda Cadamy both won 21-4 with Jenny Cain also winning 21-7 for the home side. Peels wins came from Mary Moffatt, Shirley Corrin and Joyce Kelly.
In the final result of the night Mooragh Park won 101-186 (1-8) away to Castletown B.
With the teams all playing a different number of matches we look at the average chalks to give us an idea of who is leading the way. The top four currently are Nobles (174), South Ramsey (168), Port St Mary (165) and Castletown (163).
Next week South Ramsey and Port St Mary catch up on previously postponed matches before Friday’s mouth watering clash of the current top two sides as Nobles make the journey north to play South Ramsey. Both teams will be looking to underpin their title credentials and South will be looking to dent the small advantage Nobles currently hold at the top of the table.
Kennish & Moore Do The Double
Fiona Kennish and Jenny Moore won both Ladies Doubles held last weekend. On Saturday Marown held the Greeba Cup which Fiona and Jenny won 21-16 against Lynda Cadamy & Mary Alderson. Losing semi finalists were Alison Keggen & Debbie Leece, Trish Bull & Margaret Tasker.
On Sunday Port Erin hosted the Ladies Association IOM Pairs Competition. In the final Fiona & Jenny defeated Elaine Moore & Gill Dixon 21-16. Losing semi finalists were Alison Keggen & Debbie Leece, Carol Kaye & Voirrey Curphy
Hat-trick for Kennish
Manx Championship Winner 2018
John KennishThere was a bumper entry of 65 in this years Canada Life International sponsored Manx Championship held at Port St Mary on Saturday with the green running well and proving difficult to master.
The game of the first round on paper had 2017 champion John Kennish taking on Jordan Cain (Onchan). After a shaky start by both players Kennish pulled away to take a big lead to go 20-7 up before Cain replied with an eight point run to get back to 15-20 and was lying one until Kennish took out Cain’s counting bowl to win 21-15.
Home greener Paul Skelly had his work cut out to beat Jimmy Sansom 21-18 to book his place in the second round.
Peel man Gary Smith performed well to dispose of two South Ramsey players defeating Stefan Kelly 21-10 and Glynn Hargraves 21-16 to earn his place in the finals day.
Saturday’s theme seemed to be a tale of comebacks with Sam Clague (Castletown) holding a huge lead on Frank Watson (Peel) before letting it slip losing 21-19 to show the importance of having the jack on a tricky green.
Glenn Boland (Noble’s) was 11-2 down against Dave McCabe (Port Erin) then took 18 consecutive points to go 20-11 up. McCabe got two more points then Boland finished the game off taking a 21-13 victory.
In the second round Peel captain Stevie Kelly was 13-3, 14-7 and then 18-11 up on Onchan captain Peter Slinger who doesn’t know when he is beaten with Slinger just managing to earn his place in the last 16 with a 21-20 win.
Neil Withers (Marown) was 13-18 down to Stuart Garrett (Douglas) to then take four consecutive doubles to win 21-18. John Kennish was pushed even harder in his second game against Frank Watson with a similar story to the first game in that Kennish had a big lead of 17-8 before Watson started to claw his way back into the game. Kennish got over the line 21-17 in the end.
Dan McCabe (Port St Mary) had a fantastic 21-6 win over Tommy McMeiken (Peel). Home greener Wayne Roberts was another victim of letting a lead slip after going 20-16 up before losing out 20-21 to Rob Monk.
David Proctor performed well despite getting a walkover in the first round to beat Peel team mate Tom Kelly to win 21-9 to book his place in finals day.
Last 16 Line Up
Paul Skelly v Gary Smith
Peter Slinger v Neil Withers
Dan McCabe v John Kennish
Reginald Temporaza v David Bradford
David Proctor v Matthew Keggen
Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly v Rob Monk
Trevor Quayle v Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly
Colin Kelly v Paul Dunn
Paul Skelly got the action underway on Sunday in front of a good turnout for finals day and kept the home crowds dream of a home greener victory alive by ending the challenge of Gary Smith with a 21-13 win. Peter Slinger had to dig in once again to see off Neil Withers with a hard fought 21-18 victory. Port St Mary man Dan McCabe started well with John Kennish, then Kennish found his groove to book his quarter final spot with a 21-10 win. Noble’s Reg Temporaza’s challenge was ended by David Bradford (South Ramsey) who won comfortably 21-9.
In the second half of games Matthew Keggen (Marown) also had a comfortable win over David Proctor, whilst Onchan’s Rob Monk performed brilliantly to end the challenge of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly for another year also winning 21-9. Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly played as well as anyone to see off Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle with a 21-13 win. In the final game it was two Marown team mates pitted against each other with Colin Kelly holding off Paul Dunn with a 21-12 win.
In the first quarter final Paul Skelly got the applause of the home crowd with a 21-20 win over Peter Slinger after letting an 18-13 lead slip to book his place in the semi-final thanks to a good two to finish on the last end.
In the second quarter final it was another battle between team mates with John Kennish taking on his men’s doubles partner David Bradford with Bradford 13-3, 15-8 and 19-15 up with Kennish clawing his way back constantly throughout the game with Kennish getting over the line thanks to a double and four singles to win 21-19.
In the third quarter final Rob Monk took on Matthew Keggen with Monk taking a commanding 19-13 lead with Keggen chipping away at the lead to get back to 18-20 before Monk played a good first bowl to end Keggen’s hopes of a win on his former home green.
In the last quarter final Dido Kelly made a good start to go 11-4 up on Colin Kelly with Dido not sending his jack far enough which allowed Colin the opportunity to set the mark in the corners, which he took full advantage of, to then take a 14-13 lead. Dido responded with a double to re-take the lead 15-14. Colin then managed to see the game out taking a 21-15 win to book his place in the semi-final.
In the first semi-final John Kennish faced local favourite Paul Skelly with Kennish making a strong start going 15-3 up, before seeing the game out to win 21-13.
In the other semi-final Rob Monk started well taking a 7-2 lead with Colin Kelly responding with 12 consecutive points to take a 14-7 lead before Monk took a single and a double. Kelly responded with another run to book his place in the final with a 21-10 win.
The final started with a rematch from 2016 between the top two ranked players on the Island with Kennish making an assured start going 7-0 and then 16-3 up. Kelly started to work his way back into the game pulling the score back to 8-16 and then 11-17. Kennish then took three singles to stand just one point away from victory. Kelly scored two singles to hold Kennish off and then led a good lead before Kennish tapped the jack to lie one for game. Kelly played his last bowl and just missed taking out the counting bowl to hand Kennish his third successive Manx Championship and 11th in total to further etch his name into the history books.
Thanks must go to Port St Mary for the condition of the green, the excellent catering and club members who were on hand to help throughout the weekend.
