Hargraves wins maiden Autumn Shield
Peel Sunset Bowling Club hosted the Autumn Shield sponsored by Boal & Co on Sunday, attracting a decent entry of 72.
Although there was rain forecast for the morning it stayed dry throughout with the sun emerging for the latter stages of the competition.
The pick of the first round matches saw Marown’s Paul Dunn beat Onchan’s Matthew Quirk 21-16. In the second round last year’s winner, Paul Kissock, was knocked out following a tight contest with fellow visitor Steve McCall, 21-20.
The last 16 had five Marown players involved. Neil Withers lost to Barney Kelly 21-18; Glenn Boland narrowly defeated former home greener Frank Watson 21-20; Colin Kelly beat Rich Lockett 21-15; Paul Dunn beat Joshua Emmerson 21-10 and Jamie Box losing out to Glynn Hargraves 21-16. There were two home-greeners advancing to the quarter finals as Stevie Kelly joined his Dad by beating Peter Yates 21-16. In the remaining games Danny Barwise beat John Gatley 21-19 and Andy Mailer advanced comfortably against Steve McCall 21-10.
The quarter-finals had two visitors remaining but they both bowed out at this stage with Danny Barwise losing to Colin Kelly, 21-19 and the ever jovial Scotsman, Andy Mailer beaten by Paul Dunn, 21-15. In the other two matches the remaining home-greeners were eliminated with Barney Kelly beaten 21-14 by Glenn Boland and former winner Stevie Kelly being edged out by Glynn Hargraves 21-18.
In the first semi‑final, Glenn Boland took on Colin Kelly. With CJ winning the first 6 ends to lead 13-6. Glenn managed a handful of doubles against his Marown team-mate but Colin held his nerve to book his place in the final 21-16.
The second semi-final saw Glynn beat Paul Dunn and similar to the other semi-final the early ends made the difference. An early run saw Glynn lead 16-7 at one point and this left Dunn with an uphill task. He did his best bringing the score back to 19-16. Two singles were enough for Glynn to get over the line and into the final.
The final was unexpectedly one-sided with Glynn only losing four ends and deservedly winning the match in 15 ends 21-11. CJ (Colin) was unable to make the most of his favoured full corners with Glynn bowling well on a 40-yard round peg mark from the clubhouse to ‘The Whitehouse’ corner. The win was redemption for Hargraves having lost out in the final two years ago 21-19 against James Grimston.
The presentation was made by Peel competition secretary Pip Pemberton, who welcomed Andy Cover of sponsors Boal & Co. Prizes were given to those who had reached the last 16 and beyond before the Shield was presented to Glynn. Accepting the impressive Autumn Shield, Glynn thanked the organisers for the smooth-running of the competition, the green-keepers, sponsors, and everyone who stayed to watch the final.
Peel Sunset Bowling Club would like to thank Boal & Co for their generous sponsorship and support.