Cain wins club championship
An entry of 41 battled the weather and their opponents for the honour of club champion in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club on Saturday and it was Jordan Cain who emerged as the winner.
The action got underway at 12 noon to help get the event completed in one day and there were some close encounters during the opening rounds, all ending with only the ninth different winner from 17 championships held so far.
Unfortunately the competition was hampered by an extremely cold wind, which made for tough playing conditions and not much fun for spectators either.
Six different teams were represented in the quarter-finals, where the fallers were Terry Bates (Bowl Rollers), Bernie McPhee (Parkers), Derek Cadamy (Erin Porters) and Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers).
By the time the semi finals went on, the players had also had a few showers of snow to contend with and in front of just a handful of supporters the four contenders took to the green.
First up was Lil Smith (Bowl Rollers) who had played exceptionally well all afternoon, but could not overcome the eventual winner who went on to record a 21-15 success.
The other game saw two-time winner and current holder of the title, Alan Moore (Jacks Off), compete against Erin Porter’s Caroline Whitehead and ended with a score of 21-10, a result that perhaps did not show how close this encounter was.
A shower of hail just towards the end of the semis lingered on the surface as the players went back on for the final and the big questions were could it be three titles in a row for Moore or could Cain, who plays for Seven-Up, record his first club championship success.
Moore took a two in the first end, before the game swung one way then the other, and after 13 ends the players were tied on 15 chalks apiece.
It was at this point that Cain headed into the corner of the green once again and after four more ends the players shook hands, giving the winner another trophy to add to his two merit wins in 2013-14 and 2016-17.
This Sunday will be the club’s prize presentations, preceded as always by the traditional best versus rest event starting at 1pm. The best will be made up from league winners Jacks Off; the ladies merit winner, Janet Monk; the new club champion and one player from runners-up Mooragh Lakers.
Their opponents will feature Jenny Moore (Lakers representative); Frank Watson (Outsiders); Mark Kelly (Seven-Up representative) Tricia Bull (Louie’s Angels); Paul Bailey (Parkers); Gordon Corrin (Bowl Rollers); Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters); Doug Allan (Govags); George Peach (Castletown Cannons); Tracy Moore (Castletown Corkers) and Geoff Mayles (Bits n Bobs).
The day before will be the final round robin session of the campaign as it has been decided that the club will close down at the end of proceedings on Sunday 25 March.