Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The ever-popular pre-festival Ballacashtal Cup was held on Sunday attracting an entry of 84 bowlers, matching the 2023 entry, made up of locals and visiting bowlers. The Castletown green was in good condition, with the pace of the green picking up throughout the day following the recent downpours. The competition had a new sponsor on board with JRH Plumbing and Heating supporting the event.

At the quarter final stage Ricky Cochrane (Kirkham) held on to beat former winner Charlie Roberts (Dukinfield Central) 21-19, whilst Colin Price (Dukinfield Central) beat Josh Cotton (Wrockwardine Wood) 21-16. 

In the other half of the draw Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) led 19-11 against Neil Wright (Kirkham), with the latter fighting back to 17-19, however Kelly managed to see the game out with two singles to win 21-17. Chris Heyes (Dukinfield Central) took on home greener Nathan Hamilton, with the latter having played a great bowl on the deciding end against Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly to take his place in the quarter finals 21-20. Heyes took a 14-7 lead, eventually went on to win 21-15 against the last home greener.

At the semi-final stage, it was the end of the road for Cochrane, with Price never trailing in the game, as the latter won 21-17 to book his spot in the final. The other semi-final was even closer as Kelly had to dig deep to get over the line 21-19 against Heyes.

The final saw two players with different game plans, as Kelly preferred to play up to the crown, whilst Price opted for the longer length in the corners. With neither player able put up a good lead bowl in the early part of the game, it was Price who made the first move to lead 17-12 after 11 ends.

A change in game plan arrived when Kelly got in on the 12^th end, as he won four consecutive ends in the corners to close the deficit to one chalk at 16-17. A timely two, followed by a single for Price put the visiting bowler within touching distance of the trophy, however Kelly got back in to pick up a single. On the next end Price was confident he had bowled the winner, singled for one shortly after sending his bowl with this coming back to haunt him, as his bowl just hung out wide. When given some gentle banter from some of his mates Price replied that he was thinking about the next end, so it proved, as a great last bowl from Price, saw him get over the line 21-18, as Price took home the famous trophy for the first time and the first prize of £400, whilst the South Ramsey man could console himself with £200 for his efforts on the day.

The presentation was made by Competition Secretary Nathan Hamilton who thanked the sponsors JRH Plumbing and Heating for sponsoring the competition, the ladies for the refreshments and Kath Kinley for the great work in the competition hut. Castletown Bowling Club President Hilary Kermode then introduced the sponsor James Hinchliffe to present the prizes. Upon accepting the trophy Colin commented that he had been coming to the Island for 49 years, since 1976, and that it was the first competition that he had won on the Isle of Man, also stated that this competition was his favourite day of the week.