Author Archives: Glynn Hargraves

Lancaster Cup

Following the postponement of the Team Fours at South Ramsey, Peel took the opportunity to use the free date to host a mixed pairs on their green on Sunday with 33 pairs taking part at short notice.

Losing quarter-finalists were Alison Keggen and Neil Withers, Paula and Stuart Garrett, Joyce Ogden and Mike Hargraves, Gill Dixon and Glynn Hargraves.

The first semi-final had home greeners Shirley and Gordon Corrin up against Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey) and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) with the latter wasting no time easing to a 21-8 victory.
In the other semi-final the Husband and Wife pairing of Joyce and Harry Kelly were 20-13 up against fellow home-greeners Mary Moffatt and Dougie Allan, but were unable to get the all important last chalk to lose out 20-21.

The final started with Quayle and Bolton taking their time to get into the game, having been sat off for over 30 minutes going 6-12 down, before kicking into gear to go 16-12 up. Moffatt and Allan levelled at 16-16 to then give away three points on the next end. Bolton and Quayle then managed to get the two points needed to become the first winners of the Lancaster Cup winning 21-18.

The presentation was made by David Lancaster’s family with thanks given to all those who helped make a success of the competition.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Business as Usual for Kennish

April Association Singles Finalists 2017

l-r: Kevin Quirk (runner up), Matthew Keggen (Comp. Sec), John Kennish (winner)

The first men’s singles competition of the season was played at the Villa on Saturday with an entry of 51 taking part.

Losing out in the quarter-finalists were Neil Withers (Marown), Robert Monk (Onchan), Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), and home-greener Jimmy Samson.

The first semi-final had Kevin Quirk (Onchan) easing to a 21-7 win over Stuart Garrett (Douglas) to book his place in the final. In the other semi, John Kennish was up against Colin Kelly (Marown), with Kennish taking an early lead before Kelly managed to get the score back to 14-15, Kennish then ran out to secure the victory.

In an excellent final Quirk made a strong start with some good leads and length bowls as we have come to expect of him by taking a 11-4 lead over Kennish. From there Kennish started to work his way back into the game to draw level at 15 all. Quirk went on to go 18-16 up, before Kennish took the last five ends with singles to secure the win.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked his team of helpers, Douglas Bowling Club for hosting the competition, with refreshments provided throughout the day and the green keeper for the excellent condition of the green.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Top Teams Dominate

Port Erin A Mens Team - 2017

Back (l-r): Stuart Gale, Harry Minor, Bernard Thackarah Front (l-r): Seamus Whealan, David Cain, Dave McCabe, Steve Durcan, Bernie Durcan

The league table is getting a familiar look about it following the second set of fixtures played on Monday evening, with what most bowlers consider to be the top two teams Marown and South Ramsey both winning 10-0 with the opposing teams failing to reach the 100 point mark.
Marown stormed to a convincing home win against Port Erin (pictured), who having sat out the first round of fixtures last week were unable to capitalise against a Marown team who were missing a couple of regulars.
South Ramsey A got over the disappointment of two dropped points last week with a convincing win at Ballaugh.
Onchan were a solitary point away from a maximum, with Jimmy Samson being the only winner for Douglas B over Jordan Cain.
Port St Mary got their first full house of the season with a 10-0 victory over North Ramsey who almost picked up a point, with Gary Merrill just losing out 20-21.
Castletown continued their confident start to the season with an assured 9-1 result over their B Team with Dave Faragher the lone winner for the B Team.
All eyes were on newly promoted Peel with three players coming up against the Douglas team they played for last season. This did not stop their season from getting up and running with a 7-3 victory over the visiting Villa side with Keith Rise holding off the challenge of former team mate Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly with an assured 21-16 win on a green that Barney is notoriously tough to beat on.

In the second division Marown B are proving their title credentials having now played both teams relegated from the first division last season, this week winning 8-2 over the visitors Noble’s A.
It is not looking so good for Finch Hill A, who suffered their second straight 9-1 loss of the season, this time to Onchan B.
Port St Mary C lost 5-3 on games to Peel B, but just edged the aggregate by a solitary chalk to obtain a draw overall.
Onchan C were unable to hold off the strong challenge of Port St Mary B who came away from the Park with an 8-2 victory.
Newly promoted Port Erin B will have been pleased to have taken the spoils from a Douglas C Team that got promoted with them last season, with an 8-2 win having edged the aggregate by two chalks. The home team were unfortunate to not get over the line in two or three of the games.

In the third division Marown C visited a much improved Ballaugh green, but were unable to get to grips with it on the night, with the home team winning 8-2.
South Ramsey D played their first home fixture of the season, with the result being 4-4 on games and the visitors Ballaugh B taking the overall victory 6-4.
South Ramsey C visited Noble’s C, with the visitors taking a comfortable 7-3 win.
Castletown C were convincing 9-1 winners over the newly formed Douglas D Team, who for many of their players would have had their first experience of playing on an away green. I am sure this season will give the team a number of ups and downs.

Upcoming Opens

Sat April 23 – Douglas – Association Singles

Announcement

Sun April 23 – Peel Sunset will now hold a Mixed Doubles Competition The Lancaster Cup.  This competition replaces the South Ramsey Team 4s competition which has been moved to September due to the extensive work being carried out on the new club house & surrounds.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Monk’s Have a Happy Easter

Douglas Mixed Doubles Winners 2017

L-R: Janet Monk, Norman Kneen, Robert Monk

North Ramsey held their first open of the season on Good Friday, the Ken Parker Trophy having recently returned to Mooragh Park following a seasons break from the green due to extensive work carried out over the past year.

The competition was played as an any combination doubles and attracted an entry of 34 pairs, with the field having a strong northern based look about it.

Losing quarter finalists were Chris Price and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary), Jenny Moore and James Teare (South Ramsey), along with homegreeners Caroline Parker and Adam Yates, Geoff Porter and Brian Colquitt.

The first semi final had homegreeners Helen Martin and Allan Callow up against Alan Moore and Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey), with the latter storming to a 21-8 victory.
In the other semi final mother and son pairing Janet and Robert Monk had their work cut out to beat southerners Dave McCabe and Derek Allen (Port Erin) with the Monk’s booking their place in the final with a 21-18 win.

The final started with the Monk’s taking the first few ends, before Moore and Kelly then won a few ends to close the gap. From there the Monk’s took control of the game, using all their knowledge and experience of the green to take a comfortable win 21-13.

The presentation was made by Caroline Parker on behalf of the Parker family with thanks expressed to all those who helped make a success of the competition.

The following day Douglas held their first mixed doubles competition of the season with an entry of 31 pairs taking part.

The Monk’s once again paired up to storm to their second victory in two days. Douglas seems to have become a favourite for the Monk’s, having had a number of victories on the Villa green over the past few years.

Losing out in the final were the Port St Mary pair of Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran, who did well to shake off the strong challenge of Amanda Lawler and Jordan Cain in the semi final. Chris Price and Dido Kelly also dipped out at the semi final stage.

Losing quarter finalists were homegreeners Jimmy Samson and Pauline Cowley, Jenny Moore and James Teare (South Ramsey, the Husband and Wife pairings of Caroline and Steve Parker, along with Philippa and Alec Taylor.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by club chairman Norman Kneen, who thanked the club for running the competition.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

South Ramsey Trio Triumph

 

With no open competitions on Saturday, there was a good entry of 66 at Port St. Mary for the C. Tarleton Hodgson & Son Ltd sponsored Mixed Triples Jubilee Cup on Sunday.

Eventual winners after five tough games were the South Ramsey trio of Kim Hargraves, Glynn Hargraves and Dido Kelly, with a 21-14 victory under the floodlights over last year’s winners Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey), Sid Bolton (South Ramsey) and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary).

Losing out in the semi finals to the eventual winners were homegreeners Chris Price, Wayne Roberts and Ewan Cooil 21-16.

In the other semi final Janet Monk (Mooragh Park), Robert Monk (Onchan) and Jordan Cain (Onchan) were unlucky to lose out 21-18.

The presentation was made by club President Ken Karran, who thanked the sponsors, everyone involved, from the team who prepared the excellent green and surrounds to the club members who ran the competition, not forgetting the ladies who provided the refreshments throughout the day.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown Teams Make Strong Start

Despite the poor weather conditions Marown A got their season off to a solid start with a 9-1 win at home to Douglas B.  The visiting team would have been disappointed not to have taken one or two more points off the home team having lost out 21-19 & 21-20 with both the Douglas players letting commanding leads slip away. 

 

Defending champions South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against local rivals North Ramsey A with the ‘North’ men taking two points off the home team & running close in a couple of other games. 

 

Douglas A shrugged off the disappointment off losing over half of last year’s team with a comfortable 9-1 victory over a visiting Ballaugh team who tend to struggle on their travels. Onchan A matched the Villa side with a 9-1 scoreline.

 

South Ramsey B made the trek to Port St Mary & will have been pleased to have taken three points off the home team, who don’t drop many points on their home turf.

 

Castletown A used their home advantage to take a 6-4 victory over Peel A, with the result being 4-4 on games, but just edging out Peel by one chalk to take the crucial aggregate to gain the two ‘bonus’ points.

 

In the second division Marown B had an excellent start to their season having beat Finch Hill A 9-1 away from home. 

 

Nobles A came closest to matching Marown B with a 7-3 victory, dropping only six chalks. 

 

Peel B started their season with a 7-3 win over Onchan B, however this doesn’t tell the whole story with only three chalks separating the teams.

 

In the third division Douglas introduced a D team for the first time despite losing a number of players over the winter. It is really positive to see six new players taking up the game. The newly formed D Team did themselves proud to take 4 games off the visitors.

 

Marown C look to have stuck together, having introduced a new team last season & will look to improve on last season’s fifth place finish. I am sure they will improve on last season’s league position with an extra year’s experience under their belt.

 

Ballaugh B made an assured start to their season with a 10-0 win over Finch Hill B with the visitors failing to reach the 100 point mark.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

World Club Championship

Following their Historic title win last season South Ramsey recently travelled to Fox Lane in Leyland to compete in the World Club Championship.

With the competition being played in a straight knockout format South Ramsey were looking to progress in the competition. Unfortunately this wasn’t their day with the team only managing two individual victories and going close in a couple of other games. I am sure the experience will have served them well and no doubt the team will be looking to challenge for the league again this year in an attempt to return next season.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

League Preview

Monday evening sees the return of the Men’s night league fixtures.

For the first division there has been a considerable movement of players none more so than Douglas losing five players, whilst making two or three new signings. Both South Ramsey & Marown look to have improved their squads with South having strengthened from within this year, while Marown have a couple of new signings.

Onchan have one in & one out, while Peel have an influx of players now their return to the first division has been sealed, with the return of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly being the most notable. It will be hard to see past Marown & South Ramsey competing for the title, however there are three teams, Onchan, Port St Mary & Peel who are more than capable of taking points from any team throughout the season.

At the other end Douglas B & Castletown B will be fighting hard to retain their first division status.

In the Second division Nobles & Finch Hill will be hoping to bounce straight back, with Marown B looking to go one step further following last years heartbreak.

That said if they can keep their team together, they have another years experience under their belt, so should be able to take that next step with promotion to the first division.

In the third division Peel C are my tip to gain promotion to the 2nd division, whilst it is good to see a number of new players gaining the experience in this division with a fair standard having followed a number of these fixtures last year.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Jenny ‘Lights Up’ Marown

Jenny Moore is believed to be the first woman to win a mixed singles bowling tournament in the Isle of Man for a number of years.

Jenny Moore receives the mixed singles shield from Neil Withers (left) after beating Didi Kelly in last weeks’s final under the new floodlights at Marown. Also pictures is Marown Bowling Club President Steve Bridson

The South Ramsey player lit up the first open of the season at Marown Bowling Club last week following extensive work on & around the green by club members over the winter.

Some of this work involved ‘filling in the corner’ and more importantly the introduction of new floodlights, which will no doubt help our competition secretary with arranging fixtures!

An excellent entry of 98  meant that the event was held over 5 evenings with 4 qualifying nights, playing down to 4 each night. Finals night had some familiar faces, with Jenny Moore being the only Lady to qualify for the last 16.

The losing quarter finalists were Matthew Quirk, Adrian Skinner, (Onchan) Steven Waters (South Ramsey) & Mervin Sayle (Douglas)

The first semi final had John Kennish lined up against his niece Jenny Moore, with the latter getting over the line to win 21-20.  In the other semi final Dido Kelly played home greener Colin Kelly in another tight game with Kelly taking the victory 21-19.

In the final Jenny was always in control of the game with a comfortable 21-13 win over her club mate,

The final was streamed live on Facebook.

With this victory Jenny has shown that she is more than capable of competing with the men.

Various prizes were handed out at the presentation ranging from biggest break, best 2nd & 3rd division players, to best junior and best lady.

Thanks go to all who helped make a success of the competition.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Kennish Double & ‘Moore’

Bethany Kennish won the first Junior Manx Masters beating Sarah Quirk in the final. The event was well supported with a good entry of 13 juniors. The early stages were played in a round robin format.

There was some excellent bowling from these games that would not have been amiss in the seniors competitions that were taking place later on.

Qualifiers from the round robin stages were Bethany, Sarah, Austin Hart & Glenn Boland.

Bethany & Sarah came through tough semi finals against Glenn & Austin respectively.

In the Ladies event Elaine Moore beat daughter Jenny Moore 21-8. Losing semi finalists were Shelley Kennish & Mary Moffatt. Losing out in the quarter finals were Kath Kinley, Janet Monk, Philippa Taylor & Fiona Kennish.

The Men’s competition had a field of 32. The eventual winner was John Kennish beating South Ramsey team mate David Bradford 21-3. Losing semi finalists were Glynn Hargraves & Kevin Quirk. Losing out in the quarter finals were Chas Grills, Rob Monk, Ewan Cooil & Trevor Quayle.

Full report to follow.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves