Douglas Bowling Club hosted the Association Singles on Saturday with the competition attracting 45 entries on a wet afternoon.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Neil Dunwell (Onchan) 14-21 to home greener Andy Cannell, Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) lost out 10-21 to Peter Jones (Marown). In the other half of the draw Marown’s Neil Withers beat David Bradford (South Ramsey) 21-16, whilst Paul Dunn won 21-10 against Marown clubmate James Kelly.

Both semi-finals were well contested, with Withers having a tough battle with Marown teammate Paul Dunn, with the former winning 21-18. The second semi-final was won to the same score, with Cannell leading 13-5 and 17-11 against Jones, with the Villa man going on to book his place in the final.

Withers made the better start to lead 12-6 playing his customary length. A fightback from Cannell saw the deficit close to just one chalk at 13-14, with Withers finishing the game strongly to run out with a 21-14 win to take the title.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Officer Wayne Roberts, who thanked the host club for the use of the green, providing measurers and the refreshments throughout the day.

The second half of the men’s night league season commenced this week in Canada Life International Division One with games on Monday evening being blessed with some much-needed sun.

Marown A returned to top spot following their 8-2 away win over North Ramsey A at Mooragh Park, with five single figure winners ensuring the chalks were never in doubt. The two winners for the home team were Paul Allison 21-11 over Peter Jones, whilst Steven Waters beat Sam Clague 21-14. Just missing out on a third win for the team was John Cannan who lost 20-21 to Glenn Boland, in what could prove to be a vital point for the Crosby men.

Game of the week was undoubtedly Peel A who hosted South Ramsey A. The home team led 3-1 after the first four games as Stevie Kelly beat James Teare 21-8, Pip Pemberton led 15-5 against Peter Collister, going on to win 21-17, whilst George Gadsby trailed 15-19 to Glynn Hargraves, with the former running out with a 21-19 win. Winning in the first half for the visitors David Bradford won 21-9 against the previously unbeaten Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly.

The second half of the match flipped the other way, as Jordan Cain beat David Proctor 21-13, Dido Kelly won 21-4 against Peter Greenlees, whilst Bob Clark won 21-8 against Tommy McMeiken. Winning for the home team in the second half Gary Smith beat Stefan Kelly 21-14. South Ramsey did manage to secure the chalks comfortably (118-142) to secure a 4-6 away win.

Douglas A took on Port St Mary A at the Villa, with the home team winning 8-2. Andy Cannell won 21-3 against Chris Lever, with Dave McCabe winning 21-8 against Tim Williams, whilst Mark Kneen got over the line 21-20 against Dan McCabe. For the Port men Trevor Quayle beat Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-19, whilst Wayne Roberts won 21-15 against Andy Foster.

Marown C took on their higher ranked B Team on Tuesday evening in poor conditions, in complete contrast to the night before. The C team did manage to take three games off their club mates, with wins from Jamie Joughin, James Kelly, and Steve Rough, with the latter winning 21-6 against Karl Parker. For the B Team Walter McCarthy and Matthew Keggen won to single figures, which helped secured the aggregate on chalks (128-145).

In Division Two Peel B surrendered top spot for the first time this season, as they lost 8-2 away to South Ramsey B, with both teams tied on 67 points. Captain Ben Dugdale led the way for his team with a 21-7 win over Gordon Corrin, with Dougie Allan matching this for the visitors as he beat Christian Caley.

Third placed Ballaugh A (61 points) kept in touch with the top two following their 3-7 away win over North Ramsey B, as both teams won games 21-6 and 21-9 to cancel each other out.

Finch Hill A continue to be something of a Jekyll and Hyde side, as they lost 9-1 away to Onchan B, with Les Brookes the lone winner for the Finch men as he beat Mike Kelly 21-16.

Noble’s A won 5-3 on games at home to Castletown B, however they lost out on the aggregate by three chalks (151-154) to draw 5-5 in a high scoring contest, as four of their five wins were keenly contested with wins to 20, 19, 19, and 18. Two of the three wins for the visitors ultimately made the difference on chalks.

Douglas B managed to win 7-3 at home to Port Erin A, despite having to give a game away to the visitors, with three of their players winning big to ensure they took the aggregate comfortably by 16 chalks (128-112).

In Division Three Noble’s B are five points clear at the top following their 3-7 away win against Port St Mary B at Breagle Glen, as they missed out on a bigger win as they lost two games to 18-21 and 19-21.

South Ramsey C sit in third place following an impressive 2-8 win away to Peel C, with Colin Moore and Andrew Cover the two winners for the home team.

Noble’s D lost ground on their B Team following a 6-4 defeat away to Ballaugh B, with two single figure defeats for the visitors sealing their fate on the aggregate.

South Ramsey D picked up their second successive win, as they beat Onchan C 6-4 at home, taking the aggregate by just two chalks (126-124). Single figure wins from Austin Hart and Alan Moore, along with good wins from Geoff Collier and Steve Kelly helped secure the win.

In Division Four Castletown C hosted Ballaugh C at the Crofts, with young Freddie Palmer continuing to progress as he sealed his third league win of the season, with a 21-18 victory over Paul Cubbon, whilst Kieran Krypner who only took up the game last season beat Dan Kelly 21-17.

Finch Hill B hosted Douglas D on Tuesday evening, with the Finch men conceding a game 0-21 due to being a player short, this didn’t stop them from securing a 7-3 home win, as single figure wins from Tony Epifani and Peter Smith helped them win by six chalks on the aggregate (129-123)

Plumbmaster Rayner Shield

The first semi-final of the Rayner Shield took place on Wednesday evening with players from both sides agreeing an earlier start time to ensure they could watch England take on the Netherlands. The home team were huge favourites going into the match, so it proved with five single wins, conceding just 22 chalks, whilst James Teare, Dido Kelly, Stefan Kelly had to work a bit harder for their wins over Sam Clague, John Gelling and Karl Parker respectively.

The remaining fixture is on Tuesday (16th July) with Castletown A hosting Marown C, as South Ramsey A await their opponents, with the final to be played on Friday 9th August. Town are also huge favourites, having won their home league fixture 10-0 earlier in the season.

Plumbmaster Rayner Plate

First division side Peel A hosted second division side Finch Hill A on Wednesday evening, despite having to give the visitors a 45 chalk start on the night, they managed to win by 11 chalks (154-143). Sam Stannard-Duke was the lone winner for Finch, as he beat Mike Ashmole 21-7.

Ballaugh B (+50) hosted South Ramsey C (+60), with both sides in the third division a close match was expected, so it proved as the home team won 5-3, however the Ballaugh men were unable to recover the 10 chalk start they had to give their opponents, as they lost by just two chalks (182-184).

South Ramsey C will face Peel A on Friday 2nd August, with the venue to be confirmed at a later date.

Marown hosted the ever-popular Tynwald Day R & A Grimshaw Pairs Trophy on the Bank Holiday Friday with the green in superb condition. 22 pairs took part, and the competition was once again sponsored by Investasure Financial Services Ltd.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greeners Paul Dunn and Neil Withers 14-21 to Jordan Cain and Matthew Quirk (South Ramsey/Onchan), with the Marown men having a sizeable lead, never scoring again. Noble’s Steve Colquitt and Mark Bradshaw lost 10-21 to Tom Kelly and Colin Kelly (Marown). In the other half of the draw Port St Mary’s Tim Williams and Ray Maddrell were defeated 6-21 to another Marown pair Glenn Boland and Peter Jones, whilst James Teare and Paul Allison (South Ramsey/North Ramsey) progressed with a 21-15 win over Derek Allen and Bernard Thackrah (Port Erin/Port St Mary).

At the semi-final stage both winning pairs came through their games comfortably, as Cain and Quirk won 21-12 against the Kelly’s, whilst Boland and Jones ended the hopes of Teare and Allison with a 21-14 win.

So to the final, defending champions Cain and Quirk kept up the good form they had shown throughout the day playing short and tricky marks, as they made a good start to lead 16-4 after just five ends, scoring a four on the first end and the fifth end. Boland and Jones finally got in to win three of the next four ends scoring a four themselves to reach double figures, with the score now 10-17. Cain and Quirk put a stop to the comeback with two doubles to take a well-deserved 21-10 victory to retain the title, lifting the title for a fourth time overall.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked the sponsors for their support, Brian Kelly for running the sheet, everyone who had helped with the running of the competition, the Marown Ladies for the refreshments provided. Thanks were also given to Arnie Withers and Colin Kelly for preparing the green for the competition.

The final stages of the Canada Life International Manx Championship were played at Peel Bowling Club on Sunday afternoon, with the qualifying rounds having taken place the previous day, with 78 entries this year, a good increase on the 2023 entry, boosted by over 20 entries from the host club alone.

As is always the case there were high profile casualties on the Saturday, with the draw being played down to 16, the target being to navigate safely through the early rounds to reach finals day.

Matthew Quirk	21	16	David Bradford
Paul Quirk	10	21	John Kennish
Tony Carroon	7	21	Colin Kelly
Tom Kelly	7	21	Paul Dunn
Peter Jones	12	21	Trevor Quayle
Will Penhallurick	18	21	Dean Kinley
Jordan Cain	21	20	Peter Slinger
Neil Withers	21	16	Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Matthew Quirk (Onchan) 12-21 to John Kennish (South Ramsey). Two Marown men faced off, as Colin Kelly looked to add to his seven championship wins with a 21-18 victory over Paul Dunn. In the other half of the draw it was a southern battle as Dean Kinley (Castletown) displayed good form to beat a previous finalist in Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) 21-17. South Ramsey’s Jordan Cain having coming through a tough Last 16 game against Peter Slinger, couldn’t get the better of the current holder Neil Withers (Marown) as the latter prevailed 21-14 to reach the semi-final.

The first semi-final looked to be a blockbuster between Kennish and Kelly, and had been the final of the Manx Championship on five previous occasions, with the former having won all five finals. With the score tied at 7-7 Kennish shifted up a couple of gears seeing the game out scoring eight doubles, whilst keeping Kelly down to two doubles early in the game as he booked his place in the final with a 21-11 win.

The other semi-final saw Withers get off to a good start to build up a 10-1 lead, this was quickly extended to 15-2. Kinley started to get a foothold in the game as he closed the deficit to six chalks at 10-16, only for Withers to finish the match off with five chalks scored to seal a 21-10 win, to take his place in the final for a second successive year.

The final got underway with over 70 spectators still in attendance, they were treated to a match that had it all. With the jack cleared off the green by Withers on the first end Kennish had a game plan of heading for the corners, however forfeited the jack on more than one occasion due to sending the block off the green, with Withers preferring a mark over the middle of the green. The South Ramsey man looked like he could run away with it early on, as he built up a five chalk lead at 8-3. Withers responded to win four of the next five ends scoring three doubles to take the lead at 10-9.

This started a pattern of both finalists going on mini-runs, as a change in tactics saw Kennish pick up two doubles to re-take the lead 13-10. The Marown man hit back with six chalks over four ends to lead 16-13. Kennish got his nose in front once more to lead by a solitary chalk at 17-16 by the 24th end, with both players taking out their own bowl when playing through to go two down.

As the final approached the business end two-time Manx Champion Withers dug deep to score a single followed by a two to be the first man to be one end away from victory at 19-17. Three successive singles on a longer mark from Kennish got him one good bowl away from victory at 20-19, however a single from Withers, clipping off John’s lead bowl then connecting with the jack tied the score at 20-20.

The tension had built up nicely for the final end, and what an end this proved to be, as Withers played a great lead bowl just over a foot from the jack. Kennish left his lead bowl a yard short, with Withers beating his first bowl to count for two and doing everything he could to win the game. Kennish showing no sign of any pressure, changed his peg to play a superb reaching bowl, sitting out Withers closest bowl to rest next to the jack and seal a 21-20 win and with it his 12th Manx Championship in a thrilling finish to the game.

This success was his first Manx Championship title win on Peel, leaving Castletown and Ballaugh as the only (current) greens he hasn’t picked up a Manx Championship on, with all the other greens on the island ticked off, with Noble’s Two green being the only green he has won two Manx Championships on, as he continues to break his own records. Remarkably Kennish has never been beaten in the final of the Manx Championship.

The presentation was made by Association competition committee member Steve Moore, who introduced IOMCCGBA President Michele Cubbon to present the prizes. In his speech John thanked the Association for running the competition, reserving special praise for the team who look after the Peel green, which was playing and running superbly, with an incredible turnaround in less than two years.

John and Neil will both compete in the Senior Individual merit at Pennfields BC, Staffordshire on Saturday 27th July, with John also competing in the Champion of Champions at Owley Wood Recreation Club, Cheshire on Saturday 28th September.