The BCGBA Champion of Champions Event returned to the bowls calendar for the first time in three years, with the last time it was held in 2019 the Men’s title was won by Manx Man Colin Kelly at the famous Waterloo Bowling Green in Blackpool at ‘The Wembley of Bowls’ which is sadly no longer. The Men’s competition was held on Saturday at Monk Sports & Social Club in Warrington.

Representing the Isle of Man was South Ramsey’s David Bradford, who qualified in July having won the Manx Championship for a second time. He had the unenviable task of facing Callum Wraight in the first round, with his opponent having qualified through winning the BCGBA Senior Individual Merit for the second time. In truth Wraight could have qualified for this event many times over having won over 20 competitions this season, this in itself showing the task ahead of Bradford.

The Manx Man was a last minute arrival to the venue, having difficulty getting a taxi to the bowling green that morning, however Bradford arrived with a minute to spare before going on in the first round of games. Settling into the game early Bradford opted for a longer length, with Wraight preferring a shorter mark. The game was keenly contested throughout with the score tied at 14-14, then 16-16 only for Bradford to take the initiative and go into a 19-17 lead and then 20-18 to maintain his two point lead, as Bradford made no mistake as he went on to seal a famous 21-18 victory.

In the Last 16 Bradford went on to play Alex Hassall – Midland Masters Merit winner. In this game Hassall become something of a one bowl wonder with 15 singles scored and just one double, while Bradford scored four doubles which was ultimately the difference in a keenly contested game as he went on to win 21-17 to progress to the next round.

At the quarter final stage Bradford was up against Andy Proctor winner of the BCGBA Jack & Jean Isherwood Championship, with Proctor a IOM June Festival winner in 1993 enjoying something of a renaissance of late, as he built up a 10-5 lead over the South Ramsey man, with Bradford doing nothing wrong. With Proctor renowned for his striking ability enjoying considerable success with four hits from four strikes in the early stages of the game. Bradford had to big deep to get back into the game and managed to turn the game around to go into the lead by four points at 16-12. Proctor responded with two singles and two doubles to lead 18-16, only for the pair to exchange singles over three ends to put the score at 18-19. On the next end Bradford was counting for one, however a great last bowl from Proctor somewhat unbelievably made two to win the game 21-18 to end the hopes of Bradford.

In the semi-finals Proctor faced Chris Kelly winner of The Sandal Classic, with the former having built up a huge lead over his opponent, Kelly fought back to see the game out with a 21-19 win to reach the final. The other semi-final had Lee Kington winner of the Warwick & Worcester Merit have his run ended by IOM June Festival winner James Wilcox.

The final went to the wire with Kelly edging home 21-20 against Wilcox to pick up his first Champion of Champions title.

Ladies Event

On Sunday it was the Ladies turn to impress at the same venue with two local representatives competing, with more South Ramsey players featuring as Elaine Moore – September Isle of Man Tourism Winner took to the green with daughter Jenny Moore – Ladies Manx Champion also qualifying.

Elaine battled well in her game with Emma Tobin (British Parks Merit Winner) before succumbing 18-21 in her first round tie.

Jenny had the tough task of facing one of the top UK bowlers in Alexis Lunn-Gadd (Yorkshire Merit Winner) with Jenny putting in a good performance to win her first round game 21-14, with the final score only telling half the story as Jenny trailed 1-9 before hitting top gear as Lunn-Gadd scored just five more points to Moore’s 20 points from end seven onwards.

In the second round Jenny made a much better start against North Derbyshire Merit winner Janice Wilson with a 21-4 victory, keeping her opponent to four singles throughout the game as she progressed to the next round.

In the quarter final the game was much more evenly contested with a tough battle with Christine Davies winner of the Blackpool Spring Festival. Jenny managed to build up a seven chalk lead over her opponent to sit just one point away from victory at 20-13, however Davies had other ideas fighting back well scoring five singles and a double to tie the score at 20-20. On the deciding end Davies was counting one for game, however Jenny knocked her opponents bowl off to seal a 21-20 win.

At the semi-final stage and in her fourth game of the day Jenny faced Lynsey Gorman winner of the Merseyside Merit and another well known bowler. The game was once again well contested with Gorman eventually going into a four point lead at 14-10 after 20 ends. Jenny hit back to lead 15-14, only for Gorman to recover her four point lead at 19-15. The game looked to be going to the wire and so it proved with Jenny picking up three singles, then conceded a single to trail by two points at 18-20. A good two from Jenny tied the game at 20-20. On the deciding end Gorman played a good first bowl to beat Jenny’s lead, with Moore taking the block off the green to save the game. On the next end Lynsey once again put up a good first bowl to beat Jenny’s lead, which went unbeaten as Jenny ended up on the wrong side of a 21-20 score in this round to narrowly miss out on the final.

In the other semi-final Shannon Kernick winner of the Norden Open Singles managed to see off Lorraine Hirst (Enid Blackburn Trophy winner) with a 21-11 win to reach the final.

In the final the less experienced Kernick, had a tough battle with Gorman, however Kernick prevailed 21-17 to seal the title with a solid performance.

A good entry of 32 pairs contested the final Open of the season, the any combination pairs competition at Finch Hill for the Douglas Borough Council Challenge Cup.

On a chilly day the trophy was destined to have a new name on it with previous winners Jenny Moore and James Teare competing off – Island.

At the quarter final stage Marown duo Walter McCarthy and Karl Parker staged an impressive comeback from 13-20 down against Port St Mary pair Jordan Drewett and Nathan Hamilton to win.

The match involving Sam Clague (Marown) and Dean Kinley (Peel) against Marown’s Glenn Boland and Peter Jones was an entertaining encounter which saw Glenn and Peter prevail 21-18.

Onchan men Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker always had the measure of Victoria Johnson (Mooragh Park) and Nigel Tebay (Ballaugh) and ran out comfortable winners 21-15. In the game with father and son pairing Colin Kelly and Kevin Kelly (both Marown) a decisive ninth end saw their opponents Steven Waters and Bob Clark (South Ramsey) score four chalks which put them into a comfortable lead which they never relinquished.

In the first semi-final Boland and Jones were always in control against McCarthy and Parker to win 21-10. The second semi-final saw another impressive fight back with Waters and Clark coming back from 10-15 down to run out winners 21-16. The Final proved to be a rather one sided affair with Boland and Jones proving too strong for Waters & Clark to run out winners by a 21-10 score line.

The competition is sponsored by Douglas Corporation and her Worshipful Mayor Ms Janet Thommeny kindly came along to make the presentation. Thanks to the Ladies at Finch Hill for the catering during the afternoon and to all the members who helped out on the day.

South Ramsey hosted the Manx Masters on Sunday, one of the highlights of the Manx bowls calendar with four separate competitions taking place throughout the day. The green proved a challenge, with it running as well as it has all season.

Young Manx Masters

The Young Manx Masters was contested by six players – all girls. This competition was played in a round robin format with the girls in the same group playing eight ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. After a good morning of bowls, it was Grayse Blencoe and Bailey McMullan (Both Mooragh Park) who topped the group tied on 44 points. This resulted in a three end shootout with the latter winning all three ends to go one better than last year to pick up her first win in the competition.

Junior Manx Masters

The Junior Manx Masters was played as a straight knockout 21up off a handicap of +6 for the older and more experienced players with 12 players braving the early morning start. The title was won for the first time by home greener Toby Hart in his last year of being eligible to play, as he defeated the 2021 winner Madison McMullan (North Ramsey). Toby made a good start going into a 13-8 lead, which he extended further to lead 17-10. Madison pulled the score back to 14-17, however four successive singles from Toby was enough to secure the victory.

Losing out at the semi-final stage were the Colquitt brothers from Marown, with the younger brother Alex putting up a good fight against Toby Hart before losing 15-21, while Sam lost out 8-21 to Madison McMullan.

The standard of play in both events was excellent and some of the bowls played would not have been out of place in the senior events taking place in the afternoon, made all the more remarkable with having to contend with a tricky green.

The junior competitions had a new sponsor on board this year with JP Corry Isle of Man pleased to be supporting the event for the first time with the prizes presented by Steven Waters. All competitors who took part received a prize. A huge thanks must go to the coaches – Clare Cooper, Phil Kelly & Colin Kelly who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning.

Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion the Felton’s sponsored Men’s and Ladies events got underway with the Ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the Men’s event had 32 invited to play. In a change this year home greeners forfeited the jack on the first end to visiting bowlers.

Ladies Manx Masters

In the Ladies event losing out at the quarter final stages were Louise Tebay (Ballaugh) 14-21 to Jenny Moore (South Ramsey), Jayne Smith was well beaten 7-21 by home greener Fiona Kennish. Clare Cooper edged home 21-20 in a battle with team-mate Debbie Leece, while Paula Firth ended the challenge of Kim Hargraves (South Ramsey) 21-15.

At the semi-final stage Moore ended the run of Kennish with a 21-10 win to book her place in the final, whilst Firth managed to see off Cooper with a hard fought 21-18 victory to reach her first final in this event.

In the final Firth kept in touch with Moore trailing by just two chalks after 10 ends at 9-11. From there the latter stepped up a couple of gears to score three doubles and four singles, conceding just one more chalk to run out with a deserved 21-10 victory to win the title for a fifth successive year, with Moore reaffirming her status as the number one player in the Ladies game.

Mens Manx Masters

In the Men’s event four of the eight last 16 games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 16 or more. Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greener Bob Clark who battled well before losing out 18-21 to team-mate Glynn Hargraves, Matthew Quirk (Onchan) was beaten 15-21 by Marown captain Paul Dunn. In the bottom half of the draw Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) was well beaten 13-21 by Peter Jones (Marown) while last year’s finalist Kevin Quirk (Onchan) had his hands full with Stevie Kelly (Peel) as the Onchan man lost out 18-21.

In the semi-final Kelly was just two points behind Jones at 14-16 after 18 ends, with the latter going on to score a single and two doubles to run out with a 21-14 win. In the other semi-final it went to the wire with the game well contested throughout, with Dunn prevailing 21-20, the difference being Dunn scoring five doubles to his opponents four to book his place in the final.

In front of a healthy crowd who had stayed for the duration, the final started under the floodlights, however this did not reduce the standard of bowls from either player. It was nip and tuck in the early stages of the game with the score tied at 9-9 after 10 ends. Jones went on take control of the game with some excellent first bowls to his own jack to build up a seven-point lead at 17-10.

Dunn got in with a double just before a break in play as a minute’s silence at 8pm was impeccably observed by the players and spectators. The Marown captain went on to concede a single, then scored four successive singles to close the gap to just two chalks at 16-18 to stand a fighting chance. Jones ensured the comeback ended there as he got in with his first bowl, then scored two more singles to see the game out with a 21-16 victory to seal his first win in this competition in his first time playing in the event.

At the end of the competition the presentation was made by South Ramsey club captain Glynn Hargraves, who thanked Alan Moore for his excellent work running the sheets for all four competitions, the Ladies who once again outdone themselves with the catering and the club members who assisted throughout the day. Long term supporters of the event Chris & Lynnette Perry were then introduced to present the prizes from the sponsors Felton’s Ironmongers who without their support this event would not be possible. Upon accepting the trophy Jones thanked the club for hosting the event, stating he was delighted to have won the competition and was made up with how welcoming the local bowls community had been since he & his wife Cathy had moved to the Island three months ago.

Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Wilfrid Quayle mixed doubles on Saturday with the competition attracting 28 pairs.

The eventual winners were Debbie Leece (Marown) and Bob Clark (South Ramsey) taking a hard earned win over home greener Kim Foy and Marown man Paul Dunn.

In the early stages of the final neither pairing was able to build a lead with the score tied at 14-14 after nine ends with Foy and Dunn scoring two threes’ with Leece and Clark kept down to singles and two’s. The latter pair then scored four points over two ends with a single and a three to lead 18-14. Foy and Dunn bounced back wo win four consecutive ends to lead 20-18, however three good singles from Debbie and Bob were enough to see the game out with a 21-20 win in an entertaining final.

Losing out 11-21 at the semi-final stage were Tracy Moore (Castletown) and Nathan Hamilton (Port St Mary) to the winning pair, Margie Tasker (Port St Mary) and Derek Allen (Port Erin) were defeated 14-21 by Foy and Dunn.

Falling at the quarter final stage were Paula Firth (Onchan) and Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) who lost out 10-21 to Leece and Clark. South Ramsey pair Jenny Moore and James Teare were defeated 13-21 by Moore and Hamilton. Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Andy Kennish (Onchan) were pipped at the post 19-21 by Foy and Dunn, Husband and Wife pairing Alec & Philippa Taylor (Peel/Marown) just lost out 18-21 to Tasker and Allen.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Kath Kinley who thanked everyone who had entered, along with the club members who had helped with the smooth running of the competition throughout the day.