Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final stages of the Canada Life International Manx Championship were played at Breagle Glen Bowling Club on Sunday afternoon, with the qualifying rounds having taken place the previous day, there was a healthy 64 entries. The last time the Championship was held in Port Erin in 2006 the final was contested between Paul Dunn and John Kennish, with the latter prevailing to win title number seven. Kennish is the current holder and has since gone on to win another five Championship titles.

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

Tom Kelly	21	14	Paul Kelly
Paul Dunn	21	12	Toby Hart
Paul Cowley	04	21	John Kennish
Mark Moorley	21	14	Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly
Andy Kennish	21	15	Karl Parker
Colin Kelly	21	14	Reg Temporaza
Peter Slinger	21	17	Stevie Kelly
David Bradford	21	05	Neil Withers

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Paul Dunn who lost out 19-21 to Marown teammate Tom Kelly, with the latter having led 12-3, Dunn turned the game around to lead 17-14. Kelly stepped up a gear to win four ends on the bounce scoring six chalks to lead 20-17, only to concede a double. With the game finely poised at 20-19 Tom capitalised on a bit of room to get the single chalk needed to secure a semi-final spot with a 21-19 win. The second quarter final saw John Kennish (South Ramsey) having to mix things up a little, with a determined Mark Moorley (Breagle Glen) going into the lead once again with the score at 12-11 after 19 ends. A solid finish to the game saw Kennish prevail 21-14.

In the bottom half of the draw, the two matches were more straightforward for both winners, as Colin Kelly (Marown) took a decisive 21-5 win over Andy Kennish (Peel), with the latter scoring five singles, whilst Kelly scored seven doubles. David Bradford (South Ramsey) also secured safe passage to the semi-final with a 21-6 win over Peter Slinger (Onchan), with the Ramsey man keeping his opponent down to six singles throughout the game.

The semi-finals saw three previous winners looking to add to their tally, with Tom Kelly hoping to secure his maiden Manx Championship title, as he faced 12-time winner and current holder Kennish, with the latter never going behind in the game, with the score at 13-9 to Kennish, he went on to win seven of the last eight ends to runout with a comfortable 21-10 win.

The other semi-final had the potential to go to the wire, it was seven-time champion Colin Kelly with a five-chalk lead (9-4) after 10 ends. From there two-time champion Bradford took the game by the scruff of the neck, whilst it took another 21 ends to finish the game Bradford got on a mark that had served him well in his previous two rounds, whilst only scoring one double, it was 15 singles that got the Ramsey man over the line with a comfortable 21-14 win to take his spot in the final.

The final got underway with approximately 100 spectators in attendance, for an all-South Ramsey final, it was Bradford who made a positive start scoring a two on the first end. John responded to win the next three ends as he moved around the green on a shorter mark. Scoring two singles and a double to lead 4-2. On the next end two good bowls and not much of a target left Bradford with no other option other than to try to break the end up, which he did to count for one. John scored a single on the next end, however Bradford got back in immediately, went on a six-end scoring run on a longer length to lead 11-5 after 12 ends.

The following end saw a good two from Kennish close the deficit to four chalks. On the next end Kennish opted for a longer mark in the same direction that he had favoured, putting up a good first bowl. Bradford was fast with his first bowl and with a bit of good fortune punched out John’s bowl, then played a good second bowl to count for two. Two singles from Kennish saw the deficit cut to four chalks once more at 9-13.

On the following end a good second bowl from Kennish, saw a reaching bowl from Bradford almost result in a double for the latter. Bradford went on to send the jack off the green, however this didn’t knock Bradford out of his stride, as his second bowl promoted his first bowl to count for one. Another two was secured on the 19^th end, with John just hitting the wrong side of the second counting bowl to give Bradford a commanding 17-9 lead.

A good lead from Bradford saw Kennish punch out Bradford’s bowl, going on to make two. Another single from Bradford was secured with a return of the favour as he punched out John’s lead with his first bowl, then John somewhat unluckily hit the gap between the jack and counting bowl. A loose end from Bradford saw the deficit close to five chalks at 13-18.

Two singles, both scored from a good first bowl saw Bradford go 20-13 ahead, the second end saw John hit another gap between the jack and counting bowl to runout.

Bradford headed for the mark that he had scored most of his points on throughout the day, with John picking up a good two, this put the score at 15-20. In the last chance saloon a bit of distance was required as John headed for the corners. A two picked up on the next end, was followed up with a single with a great second bowl from John saving the game.

The tension was starting to build with the score at 18-20, with Kennish heading back into the corner. A short first bowl from Kennish wasn’t beaten by Bradford, with Kennish just needing to correct his length, he looked to have a perfect second bowl coming in, however the pace just prevented the bias from coming into play as he went into Bradford’s short bowl to knock it in to count for game 21-18. This win was Bradford’s third Manx Championship title following successes in 2015 (Douglas), and 2022 (Ballaugh).

The presentation was made by Association competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who introduced IOMCCGBA President Hilary Kermode to present the prizes. In his speech Bradford thanked the Association for running the competition, went on to mention that he had only played in the competition as his son Kian had entered, and after a tough few weeks with his health, he had somehow got through two games on Saturday, and four games on Sunday afternoon. Without doubt this must go down as one of Bradford’s best achievements, following a tough run of games throughout the competition. The win also marked a first ever defeat in the final of the Manx Championship for Kennish having won all 12 finals that he had played in previously.

David and John will both compete in the Senior Individual merit at Dodworth BC, South Yorkshire on Saturday 26th July, with David also competing in the Champion of Champions at Owley Wood Recreation Club, Cheshire on Saturday 27th September.