Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Douglas Bowling Club hosted the Association Cup on Sunday afternoon with the competition once again sponsored by Plumbmaster attracting 60 entries. The weather was glorious throughout the day on a tricky green.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Peel’s Andy Mackie 11-21 to South Ramsey’s David Bradford, with the latter scoring six doubles and keeping his opponent down to seven singles. Stevie Kelly (Peel) lost out 18-21 to Paul Dunn (Marown) with the former having led 17-8 a strong finish saw the Marown man prevail.

In the other half of the draw Dido Kelly (South Ramsey) faced an in form Neil Withers (Marown) with the Crosby man flying home with a 21-7 win. Sibling rivalry saw brothers Tom and Kevin Kelly (both Marown) face off with the younger brother once again taking bragging rights with a 21-19 win.

The semi-finals were two very different stories with Bradford and Dunn finely poised at 12-12 after 11 ends. The Marown man shifted up a gear to see the game out with a 21-13 win over Bradford. In the other semi-final Withers was trailing 12-17 to Kelly, however a turnaround in fortunes saw the former see the game out with a 21-17 win.

The final got underway between the Marown teammates, with Dunn intent on retaining the trophy he won for the first time last year, and Withers hoping to lift the famous trophy for the first time. After 10 ends there was little to choose between the two men, with Dunn trailing Withers by one chalk at 10-11. Two successive singles saw Dunn lead 14-11, however Withers turned a three point deficit into a two point lead at 17-15. Dunn rallied once more to win four chalks over the next five ends to lead 19-18. On the next end Dunn was unable to put up a good enough bowl to pile the pressure on which allowed Withers to score a single to level the game up at 19-19. A good lead on the next end from Withers went unbeaten despite Dunn’s first bowl just turning away. With the score now 20-19 a single would secure the trophy, as Withers put up a good lead, then went on to beat his first with an even better bowl. This left Dunn no option other than to strike in an attempt to kill the end, however this missed as Withers lifted the trophy for the first time.

The presentation was made by Competition Committee Officer Wayne Roberts, who thanked Plumbmaster for sponsoring the competition, Douglas Bowling Club for hosting, the club members for providing helpers and refreshments throughout the day.