Yearly Archives: 2016
Canada Life International Manx Championship
Manx Champion 2016
John Kennish with President Gary MerrillJohn Kennish won his ninth Canada Life International Manx Championship in style with a devastating final display to defeat five times Champion Colin Kelly 21-2 at Nobles number 2 green on Sunday.
I am running out of superlatives to describe Kennish who has been the Islands number one player for what seems like an age, and has a trophy cabinet that contains more silverware than you would find in Wilkins Jewellers, and the best I can come up with is imperious.
He is quite simply imperious. His authoritative, commanding displays particularly in the semi-final and final are unprecedented on our shores and quite simply when he is at his best it seems almost impossible for anyone to match him.
Kennish doesn’t win all the time, others have their day and take nothing away from Kelly who himself is a great multiple champion and is in my opinion without question the second best player we have ever produced however like any supreme champion Kennish just seems to have more days than anyone else and Sunday 22nd May 2016 was another one of those days.
In the final he was in control from the off and with the rubs of the green also going in favour of Kennish there was little Kelly could do as his opponent seemed to eclipse the jack with every lead he sent, forcing him to play running bowls which either found the gap or when he did hit didn’t fall his way.
In the Semi Finals Kennish put in a superb display to see off defending champion David Bradford 21-8 whilst Kelly was also dominant seeing off the challenge of the inform Matthew Keggen by the same score.
In the quarter finals Kelly was made to battle all the way just getting the better of ex home greener Jordan Cain 21-18 after an epic tussle. Kennish was again on his game seeing off North Ramsey’s Steve Parker 21-7, however despite the score line it was a magnificent performance and achievement for Parker to make it this far after only taking up the game a few years ago. Bradford ended the challenge of Port St Mary’s Paul Skelly 21-13 to book his semi-final berth whilst Matthew Keggen beat Onchan teammate Phil Kerruish 21-12 at the same stage.
Thanks go to North Ramsey Bowling Club and Noble Park Bowling Club for hosting the competition, Matthew Keggen and the competition committee for running the competition and Canada life for their continued support and sponsorship.
Looking back at it the weekend was a fantastic showcase of the Islands top bowling talent with 58 players turning up to make their bid for glory hoping that it will be their name etched into the history books, however there was an all too familiar end to the story with Kennish being crowned King once again!
Click here to view the draw and full results from the competition
Tight At The Top
Things are hotting up at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels Mens League Division One with the top three teams all tied on 73 points.
Onchan A are top after two solid 9-1 wins away at Nobles A and South Ramsey B respectively, however they have played a game more than both of their rivals and with them sitting out this week it will be a case of how many do they trail by when they take to the green for their next match.
Marown A are next on points difference and they will be delighted with their 10-0 maximum over a battling Douglas B side at the Villa Marina. South Ramsey A are third after two 8-2 home wins over Finch Hill A and Port St Mary A.
With Onchan sitting out this week both Marown and South will be battling it out for top spot, however with a trip to Onchan next on their agenda Marown will be hoping to give themselves a little breathing space.
Peel A are won the big game in Division Two beating Onchan B 6-4 away from home to move eight points clear in first position. Castletown B are in second place after their own battling 6-4 win away at Marown B. Onchan B are third on the same points as Town B.
Douglas C are top of the Division Three Tree however were made to fight all the way by Castletown C just having enough to win 6-4. Ballaugh C are second four points off the pace after a superb 10-0 maximum away at Peel D. Port Erin B are just two points further back.
IOM Ladies’ Pairs
There were 18 pairs entered for the Association IOM Pairs Championship held at Ballaugh on Sunday 22 May. It was a perfect day, the green was running well, there was good bowling with some surprises along the way.
Both semi-finals were close affairs. In the first Gill and Elaine stormed through to lead 20-14, at which point Ann and Jenny dug their heels in coming back to level the scores at “all-but” across before Gill and Elaine secured the point necessary to take them through to the final. The surprise pairing of the afternoon were Mooragh Park’s Julie Reilly and Vicky Lloyd-West who had played well to reach this stage. Up against the more experienced home greeners their good form continued, as they reached 19-15 before their opponents staged a fight-back to level at 19-19. The Mooragh pair held their nerve to produce a 2 on the next end and book a place in the final.
Semi-finals: Gill Dixon and Elaine Moore 21, Ann Gale and Jenny Maddrell 20; Julie Reilly and Vicky Lloyd-West 21, Barbara Graham and Christine McDonald !9
The wheels fell off for Julie and Vicky as they faced last year’s winners in the final. An imperious display saw Gill and Elaine retain their title 21-7.
The presentation was made by Association president, Rosie Winckle, who thanked Ballaugh for the use of their premises and their help during the afternoon. Thanks also went to all those involved in the smooth running of the afternoon.
Henry Kissack Trophy
A superb entry of 54 men made the trip to Marown on Saturday to compete for the Henry Kissack Trophy.
It was a sublime mix of the cream of the Islands crop and some of the games newer players as the club implemented a challenging handicap system ranging from 3-10 points.
South Ramsey’s John Kennish ran out winner on the day after an extremely entertaining final which saw him get the better of home green Dean Kipling 21-19.
Kennish booked his place in the final with a 21-11 win over Port Errin’s Bernard Thakrah whilst Kipling had his work cut out beating inform Matthew Keggen 21-20.
Fallers at the quarter final stage were Juan Killip, Neil Withers, Glynn Hargraves and Colin Kelly.
Praise goes to Marown for an excellently run competition with an innovative handicapping system.
Marown Lead The Way
Division One of the Ellan Vannin Fuels league is starting to take shape and Marown A and South Ramsey A are making the early running to give themselves some breathing space at the top.
Marown lead the way, six points ahead of South having played a game more, but will be disappointed to have only won 8-2 at home against Noble A last week. They sit out on Monday and will be expecting South to pass them the only question to be answered is by how much, before they travel to Douglas B on Friday evening?
South won 9-1 away at Ballaugh A last week and with a home fixture against Finch Hill A would expect to hit the top on Monday night. They have a tough midweek home fixture against Port St Mary A so it will be interesting to see how the land lies going into next week.
Onchan A are eight points off the top on the same number of games as Marown after negotiating too extremely tricky fixtures last week. They defeated Douglas A 6-4 at the park on Monday after drawing on games before travelling to Port St Mary A where they lost 5-3 on games but took the aggregate points to secure a 5-5 overall draw.
The champions, Onchan, are not down and out but they need to start winning big if they want to start closing on their rivals and they need to start doing it now as they cant afford the gap to widen if they are to fulfil their title ambitions.
Port St Mary A are now in fourth after their strong showing against the champions backed up a battling 7-3 away win against Douglas B at the Villa Marina on Monday.
Douglas B have started well and are still one point ahead of their A team, having played a game more, and they will be hoping this is still the case after they face off in the Douglas derby this week.
High flying South Ramsey B suffered a rare home defeat in the local derby against North Ramsey A after the match tied on games with North doing enough to snatch the aggregate points and overall win.
Port Erin A beat Finch Hill A 6-4 away from home in the final fixture of the division after tying on games but winning on points.
This defeat leaves Finch third from bottom after a promising start and in an early battle with Ballaugh A and basement team Nobles A to remain in the top flight next season.
Peel A are back at the summit of Division 2 after a solid 8-2 win over Marown B followed up by a 9-1 win in the rearranged fixture against the Sunset City C team.
Onchan B remain in second place after winning 7-3 away at Nobles B, however they now find themselves six points adrift of the Govags and will need to start closing the gap soon if they want their hands on the silverware come the end of the season.
Castletown B kept their own bid for the title on track with their own 7-3 victory over Onchan C.
Port St Mary B are now in fourth place and closing in on the teams above them after a brilliant 10-0 maximum over Ballaugh B.
Douglas C find themselves back on top of Division Three after a strong 8-2 win away at Ballaugh C. They are on the same points as Port Erin B, who won 6-4 at home against Nobles C, with a game in hand.
Ladies’ over 60’s Tuesday 17 May
Port St Mary A were too strong for Villa in the Trend sponsored over 60’s league on Tuesday 17 May, winning all six games, four of them to single figures. The main resistance came from Brenda Williams who reached 20 against Kath Looney. Maureen Quilliam spared Marown’s blushes, her 21-19 win over Jean Quine denying Peel Sunset a full house. It was Flo Price who spoiled the party for Port Erin, although Sonja Lees almost gave Nobles a second game, reaching 19 against Jean Thackrah. Douglas were a player short giving the advantage to Port St Mary B despite ending level on games. At Ballaugh the home side won 4-2 on games, but the visitors, Castletown, showed the value of fighting for every point ending with a 9 point advantage. In a low scoring match Mooragh Park managed a draw on games against Breagle, who were a player short, and ended just 6 points short of their first win of the season.
Onchan Ladies’ Singles Open
It was a case of quality rather than quantity at Onchan on Wednesday 11 May when a select field of 16 gathered to compete for the Onchan Ladies’ Singles title.
There were some very close matches throughout the afternoon with several games, including two in the first round, ending 21-20.
Quarter-finals: Tricia Bull 21, Roma Ware 17; Chris Price 21, Maureen Payne 20; Helen Martin 21, Philippa Taylor 14; Lyn Bolton 21, Mary Alderson 15
Semi-finals: Chris Price 21, Tricia Bull 15; Lyn Bolton 21, Helen Martin 16
This left Chris and Lyn to contest the final, and they did not disappoint, producing quality bowls in a nail-biting match.
Chris got of to the better start, reaching an early lead of 13-8, before Lyn won 6 ends in a row to gain the advantage 15-13.It was Chris’s turn again and she raced to 20-17, but anyone who thought she had it in the bag were mistaken as Lyn dug in and took the game with four singles to make the final score 21-20.
The presentation was made by President, Lynda Clarke, who thanked all those involved in running the competition and raffle and providing the refreshments. She also praised the standard of bowls during the afternoon, particularly in the semi-finals and the final.
Greeba Cup
There was an entry of 20 pairs at Marown on Saturday 21 May competing for the Greeba Cup. The weather stayed fine, if a little windy and the green quickened as the afternoon progressed.
Semi-finals: Paula Firth and Lin Ruscoe 21, Marie Ashurst and Kath Kinley 14; Paula Garrett and Lyn Bolton 21, Lynda Wilson and Heather Horsburgh 6
This set up a Lin and Paula v Lyn and Paula final which, the way both pairs have been playing this season, had to happen at some point !
As could be expected the final was a close and nail-biting affair. Bolton and Garrett took the early initiative taking a 14-10 lead, and although the next few ends were shared, two threes from Firth and Ruscoe brought the scores level at 17-17.At 18 across the Nobles’ pair scored a 2 to reach “all-but” then a single for each pair meant that Lin and Paula ran out 21-19 winners.
Rosie Winckle then introduced President Shirley Whelan to make the presentations. Shirley thanked those who had entered and those who stayed to the end commenting on the exciting final which meant that no-one left during it. She also thanked the Marown members who had helped during the afternoon, particularly Irene with the refreshments.
C Tarleton Hodgson Ladies’ league Friday 20 May
In a very close match at Purt le Moirrey, on Friday 20 May, where four of the nine games ended 21-20 (two going the way of each side), Marown had their second win of the season, with six wins and two 20’s amassing a total of 172 points against Purt Le Moirrey. At the top of the table, Castletown dropped just one point against Ballaugh where Jenny Maddrell had the better of Kim Foy 21-20, while Port St Mary did not have it all their own way at Peel, reaching a total of 156 points, although they did win the match. It was a similar story for South Ramsey who were kept to the same score, 156, by Nobles’. Mooragh Park had two winners against Port Erin and also Vicky Lloyd-West reaching 20 against Lynda Cadamy. Onchan won 4 games and had a 20 courtesy of Flo Kelly against Pat Kelly, but with Douglas winning three games to single figures were well behind on points..
C Tarleton Hodgson Ladies’ League Wednesday 18 May
League leaders Port St Mary were two strong for Port Erin,in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league onWednesday 18, coming away with a maximum, Lynda Cadamy being top-scorer for the visitors. Chasing teams Castletown and South Ramsey also had good results on the night, Janet Monk denying Castletown a full-house while Dee Lewis was the fly in the ointment for South Ramsey. It was also a good night for Peel Sunset at Marown, although only winning 6 games a 20 for Cath Parker against Rosie Winckle and Lynda Wilson’s 18 against Shirley Whelan meant they dropped only 14 points. Although losing 4-5 on games, Douglas finished 4 points ahead of Ballaugh in the closest match of the night, the closest game of the match seeing Muriel Cain just lose out 20-21 to Pat Mason. Nobles had a 5-4 advantage, but a 20 from Kim Hargraves against Pauline Worrall, and 19 for Lin Ruscoe against Roma Ware gave them a good points advantage.