Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final of the Canada Life International Sponsored Mixed Team Championship, Plate, and the inaugural Bowl competitions took place simultaneously on both Noble’s greens on Thursday evening, with the Championship final seeing Castletown A taking on Marown A. The floodlights were required, in perfect conditions for a bowls final.

With the league season finished in August, the previous three weeks had been reserved for a new format in the Mixed Team competitions. With 20 teams entered, this allowed for a third competition to be introduced. The Plate competition was for teams knocked out of the Championship in the early rounds, whilst teams losing out in the Plate competition went into the newly introduced Bowl competition.

The finals of the Championship and Plate took place on Noble’s One green, while the final of the bowl was contested on Noble’s Two green.

The Championship saw Castletown A progress to the final thanks to a 19-chalk victory (165-146) over Ballaugh A on Monday evening, while Marown A coasted through with a 56-chalk victory over Breagle Glen A (178-122).

The final saw the Crosby team cruise to an 8-1 victory on games, winning the all-important chalks by a margin of 59 (181-122), with Marown securing just their second Mixed Team Championship title.

In the first four games Marown made a strong start with a single figure win for Clare Cooper over Kim Foy (21-9), with the next three wins also comfortable for Marown with Jayne Smith beating Alison Kearsley 21-12, Glenn Boland won 21-13 against Hilary Kermode, while Neil Withers eased to a 21-11 win over Jordan Drewett. This put Marown into a sizeable 39-chalk lead (84-45).

Marown A team night league captain Paul Dunn had a battle on his hands throughout his match with Town Men’s captain Nathan Hamilton, with Dunn winning 21-19, while Lyn Bolton was the second 21-9 winner of the night as she beat Dean Kinley. This sealed the victory with a 53-chalk lead and just three games left to come off the green.

Stella Watterson prevented the whitewash on games with a 21-13 win over Debbie Leece, while Paul Kelly breezed home with a 21-10 win over Kieran Krypner. Rounding off the night was Jamie Box, who was pushed hard by Nathan Cooil, with the Marown man getting over the line 21-18.

Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen thanked Noble’s for the use of the green over the past three weeks, with a busy schedule for the club following the September bowls festival. Isle of Man County Crown Green President Hilary Kermode was then introduced to present the Championship Shield to Marown captain Jayne Smith, who congratulated her team for their performance on the night.