The ever-popular pre-festival Ballacashtal Cup was held on Sunday, attracting an entry of 80 bowlers made up of locals and visiting bowlers. The Castletown green was running true and well throughout the day, with the pace picking up as the competition progressed. JRH Plumbing and Heating continued their support of the event as sponsors.

At the quarter-final stage, John Kennish (South Ramsey) booked his place in the last four with a 21-18 victory over Ash Wellings (Castlefields). Paul Dunn (Marown) overcame fellow clubmate Peter Jones (Marown) 21-17 in a closely contested encounter.

In the other half of the draw, Paul Bailey (Belvedere BC) progressed with victory over Glenn Boland (Marown), whilst Stevie Kelly (Peel Sunset BC) secured his semi-final spot with a 21-15 win against Neil Withers (Marown).

The first semi-final saw John Kennish take on Paul Dunn in a high-quality contest. With both players performing well and giving little away, Kennish edged the game 21-19 to secure his place in the final.

The second semi-final saw Paul Bailey face Stevie Kelly. Bailey’s preference for a longer length proved decisive as he controlled much of the game to record a 21-16 victory and book his place in the day’s showpiece final.

The final paired Bailey against Kennish in what proved to be an excellent contest that could have gone either way. Both players produced some outstanding bowls throughout, with neither able to establish a commanding advantage. At key moments in the game Bailey’s striking prowess came to the fore, successfully converting four of five striking opportunities to gain the vital advantage. Despite a determined challenge from Kennish, Bailey held his nerve to come through 21-19 and claim the famous Ballacashtal Cup for the first time, along with the winner’s prize of £400.

The presentation was made by Castletown Bowling Club Competition Secretary Nathan Hamilton, who thanked everyone at the club for their assistance in staging the competition. Special thanks were given to Kath Kinley, Juan Kermode and all those in the kitchen for keeping players and spectators fed and watered throughout the day. Hamilton also thanked those who measured and marked during the competition, along with the greenkeeper for preparing a superb playing surface. He then invited sponsor Jamie Hinchliffe of JRH Plumbing and Heating to present the prizes.

In his winner’s speech, Bailey echoed Hamilton’s thanks to all those involved in making the competition such a success. In an emotional conclusion to the day’s proceedings, he dedicated his victory to his good friend James Kelly-Walley, who recently passed away.

South Ramsey hosted the Jim Kernan Cup on Saturday afternoon, in what is traditionally the first of the pre-festival opens with a superb entry of 72 beating the 2025 entry of 62. The visiting bowlers were treated to improved weather on a good playing surface. The competition was sponsored by CEF Electrical for a second successive year.

Due to the number entered some bowlers would need to win four games just to reach the quarter final stage. At this stage Adam Hawker (Fairfield) got the better of regular visitor Kevan Shaw (Carleton) 21-13, whilst Tom Boyd (Cylinders) held off Peel man Gary Smith 21-20, with the latter trailing 17-20, three singles saw the game go to a deciding end at 20-20 with Boyd scoring the all-important chalk to get over the line.

In the other half of the draw the locals found their way through to the latter stages of the competition with home greener John Kennish holding off Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-17. Keeping the theme of keenly contested quarter finals matches going Neil Withers (Marown) held off the 2025 winner Alan Moore (21-19).

Kennish was the first man to book his place in the final with a dominant display in the semi-finals as he beat Withers 21-8. The second semi-final between Hawker and Boyd almost went to the wire, with the latter doing enough to secure a 21-18 win to progress to the final.

In what could be an early warning for the upcoming Festival week, the final was another dominant display by Kennish, who raced into a 16-6 lead over Boyd, winning the first three ends with doubles, followed by five singles. Boyd managed to get in with a single, however Kennish ensured there was to be no comeback scoring a further two doubles, and a single to secure a superb 21-7 victory to pick up his 12th win in this competition and his first since 2017, along with securing the first prize of £250.

The presentation was made by South Ramsey competition secretary James Teare, who thanked the ladies for providing a superb range of refreshments throughout the day, Steve Moore for assisting with running the sheet, the club members who had helped with the running of the competition. Thanks were also given to the sponsors CEF Electrical for their continued support. In his speech Kennish noted how well the running of the competition had been handled despite the boat being delayed, also praised the condition of the green.