Author Archives: 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.

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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.

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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

Roberts & Ryan Win September Festival

Welsh wizard Leighton Roberts (Cunliffe) picked up his first ever Isle of Man Main Men’s Bowls Festival title last week at the second time of asking.

​After falling at the final hurdle in June last year, Roberts was in no mood to let this final slip through his fingers against former Champion, and festival stalwart, Martin Gilpin (Kendal Vic).

​That said he didn’t have things his own way and despite leading 14-10 found himself level at 15-15 and then again at 17-17 as Gilpin, the master tactician from Cumbria, tried to use all his experience to outfox the youngster and add another festival title to his long list of honours.

​Conditions on finals day deteriorated with every bowl sent, but not even the foul weather could stop Roberts who dug deep, and when some thought he might falter due to nerves he found the composure of a true champion. as he managed to seal the win 21-18.

​Champion Roberts booked his final birth thanks to a 21-12 win over James Wilcox (Crossgates) and a nail biting 21-20 win over Neil Slattery (Nimble Nook), in which he came from behind with some brilliant bowls to edge to victory.

​Gilpin was on song in the semi-finals where he eliminated bookies favourite, close friend and Kendal Vic stable mate Ian Nicholson 21-15 after starting the day with a 21-9 win over Graham Higgins (Lower Hopton).
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Marown’s Colin Kelly was the furthest local in the men’s main competition losing out in the last eight to James Wilcox.​It was a much better showing for Manxmen in general as in June they failed to get a single player to the last 32 of the competition and this time around eight of our own made it to the same stage.

​Tracy Ryan (Meole Brace) bagged the ladies title with a dominant finals day display which never really saw her threatened. She lifted the trophy after a 21-16 final victory over Olwen Edwards (Llanfair Pwll).
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Ryan was control from the off and after going 11-6 up managed to ensure Edwards never closed the gap moving to 19-14 up before the latter rallied but could never get back on terms.

​Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) was the furthest local lady in the competition as she did exceptionally well to make the semi-finals before going down to Ryan 21-10.
​Monk wasn’t the only Manx player in finals day and was in good company as Lyn Bolton and Elaine Moore (both South Ramsey) made the last eight. In fact Monk played Bolton winning 21-14 to make the semis whilst Moore fell 21-18 after a highly entertaining affair against Carleen Doody-Millington (Meole Brace).

​Thursday morning saw the final stages of the Mens and Ladies Tourism Competitions and there was some good local presence and some brilliant performances as both Glynn Hargraves and Christine Price made it to the finals of their respective competitions.

​Hargraves eventually lost out 21-11 to Ian Nicholson after battling hard in his two previous matches, beating Paul Beer (Meole Brace) 21-20 in his first match of the morning and David Halstead (Kirkham) 21-16 next time out. It was a good week for Glynn who showed some of his best form throughout the week, as he also made the last 32 of the main competition and he should be very proud of his efforts.

South Ramsey team mate John Kennish was also in fine fettle to make the last eight before being eliminated by eventual winner Ian Nicholson 21-16 in the quarter-finals.
​It was a similar story for Price who won well in her first two games before going down after a fight 21-17 to Sarah Fox (Woodlands Park). In her semi-final she beat Julie Pearce (Meole Brace) 21-12 after taking down Doody-Millington 21-15 in the quarters. Again Christine should be really proud of her efforts as she really did give a great showing in the competition.

​In the Men’s consolation competition Peter Yates (Kirkham) took the win with a 21-15 result over Merseyside’s Danny Barwise. Hazel Borrowdale (Nether Field) won the ladies competition with a win by the same score-line over Joyce Jones (Syke BC)

​The last chance Mixed Final saw one of the main competitions pre-tournament favourites Chris Slater (Colwyn Bay Legion) produce a good display to beat Martin Middleton (Meole Brace) 21-14.

​The final singles competition of the week, the visit.com flyer, saw two locals battling out with Alec Taylor (Peel Sunset) handling the conditions better to defeat Edward Carlyle 7-0. Congratulations to Alex on his win.

​As always the doubles competitions provided a lot of entertainment and another chance of success for visiting and local bowlers alike. The main open doubles was won by Dave & Ben Phillips (Lloyd Hotel) who were on song winning 11-2 against Leighton Roberts & Nick Hughes (Cunliffe).
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In the men’s event Bob Whyatt & Steve Baskerville took the title with an 11-1 victory over Mel Hobson & Andrew Moore. Jimmy Samson (Douglas) was the furthest of the locals losing out with visitor Stuart Marshall 11-8 to the eventual winners at the semi final stage.

​In the ladies competition there was a Manx victor as June festival champion Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) took the crown with Patricia Lonsdale (Morecambe Bay Mixed) as they beat Dawn Bray and Janet Cropper 11-5.

​Elaine Moore just missed out on a mixed doubles win as her and partner Tony Parsons went down 9-5 to Paul Drabble & Nicola Gilmore.
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Thanks as always goes to the Department of Economic Development for their continued support of what is without doubt one of the premier events on the bowling calendar.

It was also great to see quite a lot of new faces, as well as regular ones, which is a good indicator that Steve Moore and his team are continuing to do a fantastic job in both promoting and running both the June and September Bowls Festivals.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Capital International Cup

There were 29 pairs who took part in The Capital International Cup mixed doubles at Port Erin Bowling Club.  The weather stayed dry for the afternoon. There were some very close games which could have been worthy of a final.

Semi Finals:

Amanda Lawler & Bob Clark 21-20 Paula Firth & Jordan Cain
Chris Price & Peter Slinger 21-9 Joyce Ogden & Mike Hargraves

The Final went to the brother and sister team of Chris Price & Peter
Slinger after some very close ends.

Final:

Amanda Lawler & Bob Clark – 13
Chris Price & Peter Slinger – 21

The presentation was made by club chairman Di Benson & Daren Ward from
Capital International.  Thanks went to the sponsor, all the  competitors,  measurer’s, markers and Janet Shilling for her excellent running of the competition during the afternoon.

Report by Di Benson

Capital International Cup Winners & Sponsor Daren Ward
Capital International Cup Winners & Sponsor Daren Ward

Post published by Glynn Hargraves