Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

South Ramsey man – the current Manx Champion David Bradford performed brilliantly in one of the top events on the bowls calendar on Saturday in the British Crown Green Bowling Association’s Senior Merit, winning four games to reach the semi-finals against a top quality field.

In his first outing Bradford was up against Jonathan Lacey (North Lancs & Fylde) as he battled to a 21-17 win.

In the second round Bradford took a comfortable 21-12 win over Lee Kington (Warwick & Worcester), having led 10-1 he matched his opponent point for point from there.

Playing his third game of the day, the South Ramsey performed brilliantly to out-perform top bowler Paul Dudley (Greater Manchester) 21-14.

Reaching the quarter final stage was an achievement in itself, Bradford found himself trailing by five chalks at 7-12, however he wasn’t done there with a strong performance in the second half of the game to reach the semi-finals courtesy of a 21-16 win over Mark Orme (North Midlands).

In the semi-finals Bradford came up against an in form Derbyshire man Dan Petcher, with the latter taking a 21-10 win to book his place in the final. In the other semi-final Gareth Coates (Yorkshire) advanced to the final with a 21-16 over Chamberlain.

Bradford should be proud of his efforts as he joined an elite group with John Kennish reaching the final in 2003, only to lose to Gary Ellis at Rylands in Warrington, while Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, also reached the semi-final back in 2005 in Barrow only to lose out to Shropshire man Peter Farmer.

In the final Coates was too good for Petcher as a 21-13 win secured his first BCGBA Senior Merit title.

Isle of Man representative Colin Kelly (Marown) fell at the first hurdle losing out 16-21 to regular Isle of Man Festival visitor Conor Chamberlain (Derbyshire), as did South Ramsey’s John Kennish 17-21 to Stuart Tipping (North Lancs & Fylde).