Author Archives: Glynn Hargraves

Sun Shines on Kennish in Kernan

Jim Kernan Winner 2017

John Kennish present by Bailey Hotchkiss grandson of sponsor George Brew

The first of the pre-festival opens The Jim Kernan Cup was held in glorious weather on a fantastic South Ramsey green that got quicker throughout the day. The competition attracted an entry of 48 bowlers, which was half price entry for Over 60’s and free for Juniors.

The winner was John Kennish, who mastered the green and made it a staggering 11th time that he has picked up the trophy on his home green.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were home greeners Steven Waters, David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves, along with visiting bowler Keith Turton.

In the semi-final Kennish ended the challenge of visitor Roger Lunn.
In the other semi-final home greener Dido Kelly booked his place in the final by defeating Edward Carlyle (Onchan).

In a good quality final Kelly got off to a good start against Kennish, before Kennish turned the game round to go 16-12 up. Kelly then dug in to pull the score back to 15-16, before Kennish rallied to see the game out 21-16.

The presentation was made by Steve Moore, who thanked the sponsor George Brew and his family, those who helped run the competition and the Ladies for the excellent refreshments throughout the day. This was the first open that South Ramsey have held using their new clubhouse.

Action from the final of the Jim Kernan between John Kennish and Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly

Thanks to Gary Weightman for the photos

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Peel face the ‘Music’ at Marown

Peel Sunset Mens A Team 2017

Back: David Proctor, Darren Young, Harry Kelly, Jerome Surridge, Frank Watson
Front: Dave 'Barney' Kelly, Tom Kelly, Gary Smith, Stevie Kelly

With it being T.T. week only the first division fixtures were played on Tuesday evening, in windy conditions following the heavy rain earlier in the day, the bowling green’s held up well.

Peel A made the short journey to Crosby to face Marown A, with Peel looking to consolidate second place in the league, as they are due to sit out a fixture shortly they would have been looking to take advantage of Marown having two of their regulars away on holiday. Despite this Marown were able to use their home advantage with a convincing 9-1 win over the Peel men, with captain Darren Young being the only winner, and Tom Kelly coming the closest to picking up another point for his team before losing out 21-18 to Mark Moorley.

Onchan A had a 9-1 win over Ballaugh A, with Rob Monk winning 21-1 & in doing so took home an £80 kitty that has been building up all season due to the way the team kitty works. The lone winner for the visitors was Barry McDonald with a 21-19 win.

South Ramsey A had the unenviable task of playing their B Team, with the B Team hoping to get the bragging rights over the A Team, however despite a 9-1 victory for the A Team it was not as comfortable a score line as it would appear with Chas Grills managing to get home 21-20 over James Teare, whilst Alan Moore also edged his game 21-19 over Sid Bolton. George Brew was able to spare the B Teams blushes with his own 21-20 win over Stefan Kelly.

Port Erin A will have their spirits lifted considerably, following the visit of Douglas B, with the fourth 9-1 victory of the evening, which helped lift them above Castletown B by a point and out of the bottom two. Shaun Seal was the only winner for Douglas B winning 21-19 over Bernie Durcan to prevent a whitewash for the visitors.

In a high scoring game Castletown A will have been disappointed to lose out 6-4 at home to North Ramsey A, by just five chalks, this was not helped by missing two of their first team players on the night.

Finally in the closest game of the night Douglas A hosted Port St Mary A, with the match finishing in a true draw, being level 4-4 on games and each team scoring 134 chalks, to each take an aggregate point. Trevor Quayle managed to hold onto his place at the top of the individual merit following a 21-19 victory, whilst Gary Conwell returned to winning ways and Ewan Cooil had a good 21-13 win over Stuart Garrett. Paul Skelly won 21-4 over Andy Kennish.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Threesomes Cup

Threesomes Cup Winners 2017

Jordan Cain, Bob Clark, Matthew Quirk

Port St Mary hosted the popular Men’s Triples on Sunday, with 17 teams taking part it was Jordan Cain, Bob Clark and Matthew Quirk who retained the Cafe Bar Two-Six & Isle of Man Flight Training sponsored Threesomes Cup with a victory over the South Ramsey trio of John Kennish, Alan Moore and Glynn Hargraves.

Losing semi-finalists were the Marown Team consisting of Walter McCarthy, Colin Kelly and Tom Kelly who came back from 20-11 down to just lose out 21-18 to the South Ramsey men.

In the other semi-final the eventual winners did well to come back from 19-14 down to win 21-19 over home greeners Tim Williams, Chris Oates and Trevor Quayle.

The final started with the younger players, Cain, Clark and Quirk who took the first two ends to go 9-6 up, before their opponents replied with a single and then a five to go 13-9 ahead. The lads hit back with a three to claw themselves back into the game at 13-12. From there the South Ramsey men went 15-13 ahead, lying four before Clark played a superb bowl to sit Moore out and Hargraves failing with two attempts to trail the block. Last years winners then used all their know how to see the game out to win 21-16 for a deserved victory.

The presentation was made by club president Ken Karran, who thanked the sponsors, the people who ran the competition, along with the ladies for the refreshments and the team who prepared the green.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

R.H. Green Fours

R.H. Green Fours Winners - 2017

John Kennish, Ken Kinrade (Finch Hill Secretary), David Bradford

Saturday saw a quality field of 28 pairs of all ages take to the green at Finch Hill in what were far from pleasant weather conditions.

A number of Island players were entered and made quick work of their first round matches, particularly the pairing of David Bradford and John Kennish who won 21-10 against Adrian Skinner and Rob Cowley. In the other first round matches, Matthew Keggen and Robert Monk had a good win (21-11) against Les Brookes and Reg Tampaza, as did Peter Hughes and Arthur Halsall who came back from 13-14 down with 8 points in 4 ends to take the match 21-14 and there was a similar story with Steve Kelly and David Proctor as they came back from 16-19 down with 5 points from the last 4 ends to win 21-19. There were also some very close matches as Alec Taylor and Derek Allen beat Eddie Carlyle and Nathan Hamilton by a single point and Roy Murphy and Peter Karran also beat Bod and Glenn Boland by the same margin. Father and son team of Glynn and Ryan Hargraves had a close match with Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge but narrowly lost out 21-18.

In the second round John Kennish and David Bradford had an even more impressive win against Derek Allen and Alec Taylor winning 21-8. Home pairing of John Harris and Sefton Dent had a good win over Peter Smith and Peter Woods by 21-15, helped by a 4 pointer in the final end, while Steve Kelly and David Proctor beat Jeff Wilson and Bob Berry by the same score. The other local pairing of Peter Hughes and Arthur Halsall were unlucky to lose by the single point to Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge as were Steve Waters and James Teare who also lost by the same margin to Thomas Keggen and Steve Hall and a similar scoreline saw Brian Kelly and Harry Barton overcome Matthew Keggen and Robert Monk. Arnie Withers and Mikey Collister came close but eventually lost out to another father and son team of Colin and Tom Kelly 21-18 while Neil Withers and Paul Dunn overcame Roy Murphy and Peter Karran 21-17.

John Kennish and David Bradford got the quarter finals off to a fast start as they beat John Harris and Sefton Dent by 21-8 but other matches were closer as Steve Kelly and David Proctor overcame Neil Withers and Paul Dunn 21-15 and Tom and Colin Kelly beat Thomas Keggen and Steve Hall 21-14. The last quarter final was a much closer affair and Brian Kelly and Harry Barton must have thought they were on for a win but got stuck on 20 points for four ends only to see Jerome Surridge and Frank Watson pip them at the post with a 3 pointer in the final end.

The semi-finals saw John Kennish and David Bradford take on Steve Kelly and David Proctor and once again the quality of play from Kennish and Bradford was just too much for Kelly and Proctor as they ran out comfortable winners 21-12.

The other semi-final was between the in form father and son team of Tom and Colin Kelly and the pairing of Frank Watson and Jerome Surridge who had won their last two matches by a single point, and once again the match went with the form book as the Kelly’s won the match 21-11.

With a cloudy sky and increasing wind, conditions were far from ideal but the quality of the bowls in the final was exceptional as some of the Islands best players took to the green. It was the Kelly’s who took an early hold on the match leading 12-7 and 15-11 helped by their corner to corner play. However, when Kennish and Bradford had the jack they were prepared to shorten the lengths to disrupt the Kelly’s rhythm and at one point went ahead 16-15. The Kelly’s then got hold of the jack and once they went corner to corner again they bagged another 5 points in three ends to lead 20-16 but couldn’t finish off the match as Kennish and Bradford regained the jack. Returning to the shorter length paid dividends once again for Kennish and Bradford and they made no mistake as they reeled off 5 points in the next three ends to take the match and overall competition 21-20.

The prize presentation was made by Ken Kinrade, Competition Secretary for Finch Hill with the losing semi finalists receiving £20 Newsbeat vouchers, the losing finalists £50 Newsbeat vouchers and the winners £100 Newsbeat vouchers and the R H Green Cup.

Special thanks go to our generous sponsors Newsbeat, to John Harris for preparation of the green and to Greeba Paramour and Peter Hughes for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon and to Kevin Skillicorn for stewarding and to all those who helped make this a very successful competition.

Post Written by Ken Kinrade

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Kennish Wins Another Association Singles Title

Despite the roads being closed on Saturday due to the TT races, there was a good entry of 36 taking part in the Association Singles held at Castletown.

Losing out in the quarter-finals were Kevin Quirk (Onchan), David Bradford (South Ramsey), Matthew Keggen (Marown), and former home-greener Bob Clark (Marown).

The first semi-final had John Kennish (South Ramsey) easing to a 21-6 win over Jordan Cain (Onchan) to book his place in the final. In the other semi-final, Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) was up against Tom Kelly (Peel), with Hargraves taking an early lead, Kelly never really closed the gap with Hargraves taking a 21-15 win.

In the final Kennish was quick out of the blocks, taking an early lead, before Hargraves got in to close the gap on Kennish. Just as Hargraves was working his way back into the game Kennish pulled out some good length bowls to get back in and put some distance between his team mate. From there Kennish changed the mark he was playing to secure a 21-13 win and a deserved second Association singles victory following his success at Douglas in April.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Castletown Bowling Club for hosting the competition, everyone who supported the competition.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

South Bounce back against title rivals

Four of the top five teams clashed this week, with Marown A making the trip down South from Crosby to take on Port St Mary A, which has been a happy hunting ground for Marown for a number of years. It wasn’t such a happy journey home this time, with Port St Mary A winning 7-3. For the home team Trevor Quayle, Paul Skelly, Ewan Cooil and Rob Cooil all had fairly comfortable wins, whilst Dan McCabe managed to get over the line 21-20, when it looked like defeat was certain. McCabe came back from a few points behind to defeat Paul Dunn. For the visitors Neil Withers and Colin Kelly won, with Matthew Keggen doing enough to win 21-19 over Juan Hargraves.

League leaders South Ramsey A hosted Onchan A, with the home team keen to get over the disappointment of their first defeat of the season, whilst Onchan were looking to close the gap. The home team had other ideas taking a 9-1 victory over the visitors with David Bradford, Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore all winning to single figures, whilst John Kennish and Chas Grills also won comfortably. Peter Collister had to work hard to hold off Rob Monk, winning 21-17, whilst Glynn Hargraves saved game at 19-19 with Jordan Cain, and then won the next end to secure the victory 21-19. The lone winner for Onchan was Kevin Quirk, who inflicted a first league defeat of the season on Dido Kelly 21-13.

Peel A held onto second place in the league, and extended the gap on the teams below them following a 9-1 home win against bottom of the table Douglas B, which could have been worse for the visitors with the home team missing out on a 10-0 maximum by a solitary point with Jimmy Samson defeating Gary Smith 21-20.

Douglas A bounced back following last week’s loss to Onchan A, defeating visitors Castletown A 8-2, with Douglas only six chalks away from a 10-0 maximum, with two of the visiting players coming close to winning.

Castletown B made the most of their home advantage over South Ramsey B, winning 8-2 and in doing so moved eight points clear of the relegation zone and closed the gap on the teams above them.

Ballaugh A have now won four of their last five games over the teams closest to them in the table to pull even further clear of danger, following their 7-3 home win over Port Erin A.

In the second division league leaders Onchan B took apart visitors Port St Mary B with a 9-1 victory, the only winner for the visitors was Ray Watterson winning 21-5 over Peter Wallis.

Second placed Marown B came away from Mooragh Park, with a 6-4 victory over North Ramsey B to keep their promotion hopes alive. There is now a considerable gap developing between the top two and the rest.

Jekyll and Hyde team Finch Hill A visited Noble’s A and had a good 8-2 win, whilst Port Erin B continue to impress, following their 7-3 home victory over Peel B.

Noble’s B had a tough looking trip to Port St Mary C, however they came away with a 7-3 victory, to keep in touch with the top two and stay ahead of their A Team.

The bottom two teams Douglas C and Onchan C took each other on at the Villa, with the home team winning their first game of the season 8-2, to give them a massive boost, and in doing so the result lifted them off the foot of the table and above their opposition on the night.

On Tuesday evening in the third division South Ramsey C had a good 7-3 home win over close rivals Peel C, to maintain their position at the top of the table, whilst Peel D took on South Ramsey D in the sunset city with Peel doing enough to take a 6-4 home win.

Finch Hill B are still struggling to pick up the points, after the visit of Castletown C who came away with a 7-3 win, whilst Nobles C were at home to Ballaugh B, with the home team winning 7-3. Ballaugh C had a strong 9-1 home win over Douglas D, with Greg Brew being the only winner for the visitors.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Rebecca keeps her ‘Cooil’

Port St Mary Cup Winners 2017

Ewan Cooil, Sponsor Mike Caley, Rebecca Teare

Port St Mary bowling club hosted the Port St Mary Cup mixed doubles, sponsored by Isle of Man Farmers on bank holiday Monday, with 31 pairs taking part in what started in very wet conditions and improved as the day went on.

The eventual winners were Rebecca Teare (Nobles) and home greener Ewan Cooil, who sealed their first mixed doubles title together, defeating the Peel duo of Mary Moffatt and Dougie Allan in the final. The early exchanges were close, before Teare and Cooil built up a commanding lead which the Peel pair were never really able to close, with the eventual winners having a comfortable 21-13 win.

Teare and Cooil came through their semi-final over the Husband and Wife pairing of Chris and Collin Holland, making short work with a 21-12 victory to book their place in the final. In the other semi-final Moffatt and Allan had to work a bit harder to get through, overcoming the challenge of Jenny Moore and James Teare 21-16, in a game that took 30 minutes longer than the other semi-final.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Paula Firth and Jordan Cain, Phillipa and Alec Taylor, Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran, along with Val MacFarlane and Wayne Roberts.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Mike Caley of Isle of Man Farmers and club President Ken Karran, who thanked the sponsors for their support, the Ladies for the refreshments, everyone who helped throughout the day, and the green keeper for preparing the green, which held up well despite the conditions earlier in the day.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

No ‘Moore Teare’s’

Haldane Fisher Mixed Doubles Winners 2017

Jenny Moore & James Teare

Douglas bowling club hosted the Haldane Fisher sponsored mixed doubles competition on Sunday with 32 pairs taking part.

In a competition heavily involving South Ramsey players in the latter stages, the eventual winners were Jenny Moore and James Teare, who clinched their first mixed doubles title together, defeating club mates Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves in an entertaining final, with Jenny leading well at the front and James playing some great bowls at the back throughout the game. The final was nip and tuck early on with Moore and Teare eventually building up a 16-12 lead, before the score was pulled back to 17-16, with Moore and Hargraves lying one to potentially level things up. Teare played a great bowl to rest his opponents out for two and make the score 19-16. Next end Moore and Teare got the two chalks needed to secure a 21-16 win and they were understandably delighted when they finished the game off, with Hargraves going through the same gap twice. I am sure this will be the first of many for the pair, who have been close a number of times to picking up their first win together.

Jenny and James got through their semi-final with a comfortable victory over home greeners Muriel Cain and Andy Cannell. In the other semi-final Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves ended the challenge of club mates Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Maureen and David Lacey, Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran, Alison Keggen and Wayne Roberts, along with Maureen Payne and Sid Bolton.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by President Kay McKiernan and Norman Kneen, who thanked the sponsors for their continued support, everyone who helped through the day, commenting on the standard of play in an entertaining final.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Top Teams Clash

In the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored first division South Ramsey A made the trip to Crosby on Monday night, with memories of last year’s 9-1 defeat fresh in their minds. They gave a much better account of themselves this time round, despite being beat 7-3 and losing the aggregate by only four chalks, they will feel it could have gone their way on another night. The first four games ended all square with Marown A captain Neil Withers taking the first win for his side with an assured 21-7 victory over Peter Collister, with Dido Kelly replying for the visitors with a 21-4 win over Phil Kelly. Matthew Keggen put the home team 2-1 ahead with a good 21-11 win over Alan Moore, shortly followed by Stefan Kelly levelling it up for the visitors with a 21-14 win over Bob Clark.

In the second half of the match the rain came, with South Ramsey looking like they could take an 8-2 win at one point, the Crosby men dug deep to respond. The Islands most decorated players Colin Kelly & John Kennish were drawn to play each other, in a game that neither player could shake the other off, however it was Kelly getting over the line to win 21-18 and in doing so ending an incredible run of 49 consecutive wins in the league for Kennish. John Gelling took on Chas Grills, with Gelling also winning 21-18. Mark Moorley came back from 17-7 down to win 21-20 over Glynn Hargraves, which ultimately earned his team the aggregate victory. Last game off on what ended up an awful night was David Bradford, who earned his team an extra point winning 21-18 over Paul Dunn.

Onchan A have been quietly plodding along this season, with a good 8-2 win over visitors Douglas A to close the gap to five points, this could have been even better with Rob Monk, just losing out 21-20 to Douglas captain Paul Kelly.

Peel A currently sit second in the table, also five points behind South Ramsey by virtue of having played a game more than their rivals, took the trip down to Castletown to take on the B Team, coming away with a good 9-1 win.

Port Erin A were unable to use their home advantage with North Ramsey A being pleased to take a 7-3 win.

South Ramsey B & Ballaugh A continue to pull clear of the relegation battle with South Ramsey beating Castletown A 7-3, whilst Ballaugh beat Douglas B at the Villa 6-4.

The battle to stay up is now looking like a three way fight between Castletown B, Port Erin A & Douglas B.

 

In the second division Onchan B stayed top thanks to an excellent 9-1 away victory against Port St Mary C, whilst Marown B had a tough trip to take on Port St Mary B, winning 8-2 to stay in touch with Onchan B.

Nobles B continue to make life hard for Finch Hill A courtesy of a 9-1 win, whilst Nobles A stayed in touch with their B Team winning 7-3 away to Peel B.

Port Erin B continue their rise up the table following a 9-1 away win against Onchan C, whilst Douglas C lost 7-3 at home to North Ramsey B.

 

In the third division South Ramsey D had a good 8-2 home win over Ballaugh C, with Peel C matching their result with a home win over Marown C. Peel C now have a chance to put a bit of daylight between themselves & other teams at the top, as they have a game in hand on their rivals.

Peel D carried on the run of 8-2 wins, following their visit to Douglas to take on Finch Hill B.

South Ramsey C kept their promotion hopes alive with a 7-3 away win against Ballaugh B. Douglas D won 5-3 on games against Nobles C, but missed out on the aggregate by just one chalk.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Kennish Retains Title

Mens Manx Championship Winner 2017

John Kennish being presented the Manx Championship Trophy by 2017 Association President Clare Cooper

South Ramsey’s John Kennish retained the Manx Championship at Noble’s on Sunday, and in doing so won his 10th title. Kennish has now won five more Manx Championships than his nearest rival, and continued to re-write the history books.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were David Kelly (Peel), Jordan Cain (Onchan), Colin Kelly (Marown), and Neil Withers (Marown).

Kennish played teammate and double champion Glynn Hargraves in the semi-final, it was a close game throughout, with Hargraves lying two at 15-14 down, Kennish pulled out a great bowl to win the end and pull away from his opponent to book his place in the final with a 21-15 win.
In the other semi-final Pete Slinger (Onchan) faced teammate and two time champion Kevin Quirk. Slinger built up a 17-10 lead, Quirk then managed to close the gap on his opponent, before Slinger got back in, to get over the line 21-17.

The final started with Kennish leading well to take a commanding lead to go 15-4 up, before Slinger got back in. Slinger headed for the corners, in doing so pulled the score back to 15-10 down. At this point Kennish won the jack back, playing a very short mark, which Slinger called as being suspect for the minimum 19 metres required, this gave him the jack on three separate occasions throughout the final. This didn’t stop Kennish from kicking back into gear, to see the game out, winning 21-10. Slinger can be proud of reaching his first final, and his efforts over the course of the weekend.

Another piece of history was made with the presentation being made by the First Lady President of the Men’s Association Clare Cooper, who thanked Noble’s for the catering and club members for their assistance over the weekend, whilst a special mention was given to the standard of play, also to the juniors who had taken part in the Championship, and are the future of the game.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves