Peel Sunset Bowling Club hosted the popular Peel Town Cup on Saturday afternoon, attracting an entry of 60 players. Despite blustery conditions throughout the day, competitors were greeted by a much-improved playing surface, which helped ensure an enjoyable and competitive afternoon of bowls.

The quarter-final line-up featured a strong mix of home greeners and visiting players. In an all-Peel clash, Stevie Kelly booked his place in the semi-finals with a convincing 21-13 victory over Tommy McMeiken. Another closely contested encounter saw Marown’s Neil Withers overcome teammate Jamie Box, with Withers pulling away late on to secure a 21-16 win.

The closest match of the round saw Nathan Jones (Peel) edge past Austin Hart (South Ramsey) in a thrilling contest, eventually prevailing 21-20. The final quarter-final saw Paul Dunn defeat fellow Marown clubmate Juan Killip by 21-13 to complete the semi-final line-up.

The first semi-final saw Kelly continue his impressive form with a solid 21-16 win over Withers. Kelly controlled much of the contest and gradually built an advantage before seeing the game out to reach the final.

In the second semi-final, Dunn produced a solid performance to defeat Jones, whose run was ended, with Dunn in good form taking a 21-10 win to secure his place in the final.

The final produced an excellent contest between two Island players, with Stevie Kelly overcoming Paul Dunn 21-20 to claim his maiden Peel Town Cup title. Dunn made the brighter start and looked in control during the early stages, opening up a commanding 18-13 lead, a couple of end later the Marown man was lying two for game with the score at 19-15 a superb reaching bowl from Kelly took both of Dunn’s bowls away from the jack and with it stunned the jack through for the Peel man to score two to leave the game finely poised at 17-19. A single for Dunn put him within touching distance of the trophy with the score now 20-17.

Kelly, however, refused to be beaten. Showing great composure under pressure, he dug deep to win the next two ends scoring two doubles, the four points he needed to finish the match. The comeback saw Kelly overturn a three-point deficit to complete a 21-20 victory.

It was a fitting conclusion to an entertaining day’s bowls, with Kelly producing a superb comeback to cap off an impressive run through the competition. His victories over David Bradford, Tommy McMeiken, Neil Withers and finally Paul Dunn proved to be a tough route to victory, earning him a deserved maiden Peel Town Cup success.

At the conclusion of play, the presentation was made by competition organiser Philip “Pip” Pemberton, who thanked all 60 competitors for their support, along with the club members who assisted throughout the day. He also acknowledged the efforts of the greenkeeping team for providing a much-improved playing surface that received positive feedback from those taking part. Thanks were also given to Lynda Wilson, and Vall Allwood for their work off the green.

Pemberton also thanked the competition sponsors, Island Civils & Plant, for their generous support of the event. Robert Cottier, representing the sponsors, who confirmed they will continue to sponsor the competition for another two years, then presented the prizes to the successful competitors, bringing another enjoyable Peel Town Cup to a close.

In his speech Kelly reiterated Pemberton’s comments, particularly those about the condition of the green, thanking everyone including his opponent for a good final. A special mention must also go to Pip for the smooth running of the competition.

The 2026 Manx Championship was brought to a conclusion on Wednesday evening at Douglas Bowling Club, in poor conditions for the bowlers which worsened throughout the evening.

The qualifying for the quarter finals had taken place on Sunday afternoon with Finch Hill and South Ramsey the two greens used to get through the earlier rounds. This method of qualifying has caused a lot of talk from local bowlers, it is certain there will be a change in 2027 to how the competition is played.

To ensure fairness in the latter rounds a re-draw took place for the quarter finals, due to the possibility of players qualifying from a venue that they are required to play on due to being one of the host clubs, however there were no qualifiers from either host club on this occasion.

The first quarter final saw Reg Temporaza (Onchan) take on Alex Yates (Nobles), with the former having three tough qualifying games on the Sunday, the Nobles man was level after 15 ends, went on a five end scoring run, taking eight chalks to build a commanding 17-9 lead. Temporaza fought back to get to within two chalks at 18-20, only for Yates to take a single to seal a 21-18 win to advance to the semi-finals for the first time.

The second semi-final was billed as a blockbuster, but in reality was anything but that with Peter Jones taking on his Marown teammate and captain Paul Dunn, with the latter building a 10-2 lead after nine ends. Jones reduced the deficit to three chalks winning five of the next seven ends, to put the score at 10-13, however Dunn finished the game strongly to score eight chalks over five ends to seal a convincing 21-10 win in just 21 ends.

In the bottom half of the draw the surprise package, Rob Middleton (Peel) who I previously reported as a man not to be written off, got off to a flier to lead 7-0 against Jamie Box (Marown) after just four ends. The Marown man responded by winning the next five ends to lead 8-7. From there Middleton was in control of the game, never losing two consecutive ends, whilst going on a five end scoring run on his way to a convincing 21-14 victory.

The last semi-final was between two big hitters, with the worsening conditions most would have expected this to play into Colin Kelly’s (Marown) hands, however Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly had other ideas as he led by four chalks after 19 ends with the score at 14-10. Colin managed to take the lead at 16-15, scoring three doubles to turn the game round, only for Barney to see the game out, with the Peel veteran sealing a 21-17 win.

The semi-finals were nicely set up with Dunn and Kelly the clear favourites to advance to the final, with Yates and Middleton undoubtedly the underdogs.

Dunn had to battle throughout his game with Yates, with the latter leading early on in the game at 8-6, then again at 14-13 after 18 ends. The Marown captain won five of the last ends, scoring three doubles, keeping Yates to singles to secure his place in the final with a 21-17 win.

With Dunn doing his part, it was now up to Kelly to set up the final that everyone wanted to see, however Middleton had other ideas. Despite trailing 1-7 early on Middleton responded positively to turn a deficit of six chalks into a five chalk lead by the 20th end, with the score at 14-9. Over the next four ends the Peel men exchanged three chalks for the gap to remain at five chalks, but putting Middleton four chalks from the final with the score at 17-12. A composed finish saw Middleton seal a 21-15 victory to advance to the final.

At the final stage the neutrals would undoubtedly and perhaps rightly have been hoping for a huge upset, however this didn’t look to be on the cards with Dunn starting the game strongly to build a solid lead of 9-1 after six ends. From there Middleton settled into the game to reduce the deficit to just three chalks after 14 ends, with the score now 8-11.

The Marown man found another gear to retake an eight chalk advantage after 19 ends with the score 17-9. Dunn got to within one end of victory, with the score now 19-12. Once again Middleton fought back to close the gap to three chalks (17-20) as he won four of the next five ends. Dunn secured the one chalk needed to pick up his second Manx Championship title in front of his Fiancée, and his two boys who got to see him lift the famous trophy.

The presentation was made by Association President Mark Kneen, who thanked all the host clubs for the preparations on the greens, providing refreshments, along with the Competition Committee for running the sheets.

There will be three representatives representing the Isle of Man in the British Senior Merit in Crosby, Liverpool on Saturday 25th July. Best of luck to all our representatives.

The Manx Championship got underway on Sunday afternoon with a healthy entry of 62, despite the competition being played in a split format over two greens for the first time ever.

With South Ramsey as one of the two qualifying greens, there weren’t too many shocks that took place, with perhaps the closest thing to a shock was Noble’s captain Alex Yates reaching the quarter finals with a solid 21-14 win over Marown B captain Juan Killip.

The second qualifier was Marown’s Peter Jones, who had a good tussle with Breagle man Wayne Roberts, with the latter fighting back from a 7-14 deficit to level the game up at 17-17, only for Jones to steady the ship and see the game out with four singles to progress with a 21-17 win.

The third spot in the quarters went to seven-time champion Colin Kelly (Marown), who had a battle on his hands with Onchan captain Matthew Quirk, with the latter leading 15-11, the game went to 20-20, with the Marown man winning the deciding end.

The final spot at South Ramsey went to Marown captain Paul Dunn, with a 21-8 win over Finch Hill’s Stephen Oates. Dunn rather unusually only had to play one game, as he had received a bye in the first game, then his opponent who also had a bye withdrew from the competition. This contrasted with the other qualifiers who had to win three games to qualify.

In the capital of the Island, Finch Hill hosted the remaining bowlers, with several big hitters clashing in the early rounds, with this there were high-profile casualties.

Peel’s Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly breezed through his qualifying game with a 21-9 win over Phil Kelly (Marown) to become the first Peel man to qualify for finals night.

Marown’s Jamie Box had to face teammate Tom Kelly in his qualifying game, with the game being well contested throughout, however Box had enough in the locker to see the game out with a battling 21-19 win.

12-time Manx Champion John Kennish (South Ramsey) lost out to Reg Temporaza (Onchan), in the second round, with the Onchan man recovering from a heavy deficit to progress. In his qualifying game Temporaza faced 2001 Manx Champion Ewan Cooil, with the Breagle man leading 17-11, Reg once again fought back to see the game out with a strong finish to qualify for finals night. Temporaza had a tough run, having faced Jordan Cain (South Ramsey) in the first round.

The last game on the green was between Rob Monk (North Ramsey) and Rob Middleton (Peel), with the latter taking a 10-4 lead, Monk went on to lead 17-16 after 26 ends. Middleton secured two successive singles to lead 18-17, with the North Ramsey man doing likewise. With the game finely poised at 19-18, Middleton scored the three chalks required taking three singles to win 21-19.

Other casualties in the earlier rounds were the current holder and three-time Manx Champion David Bradford who went out to Ballaugh man Mike Spooner, two-time winner Neil Withers, who lost out to Alan Moore (South Ramsey), another two-time winner Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) went out to Tom Kelly, whilst recent Association Cup winner Stevie Kelly lost out to Ewan Cooil in the first round.

Due to players being unable to play on their home green, a redraw took place to decide who would play who in the last 8 of the competition.

The draw was done live on Facebook as follows:-

Reg Temporaza vs Alex Yates

Paul Dunn vs Peter Jones

Jamie Box vs Rob Middleton

Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly vs Colin Kelly

The competition will be played to a conclusion on Wednesday evening at Douglas Bowling club with play getting underway at 6:30, with BCGBA dress code required.

Preview

The Onchan man Temporaza starts as favourite in this tie, however Yates has been known to cause an upset having reached the quarter final stages of the September Festival a couple of years ago, so should be written off at your peril.

Marown teammates Paul Dunn and Peter Jones promises to be a blockbuster of a game, with Dunn having one Manx Championship title to his name, he will be looking to add number two. Jones on the other hand, has settled into Island life since his move four years ago, has won four singles open competitions, with the biggest win being the Manx Masters at the end of the first season he moved over in 2022. Jones also turns out regularly for the island team, is more than capable of upsetting his captain. A tough one to call.

Jamie Box is another Merseyside man, who is settling into Island life, having moved over in the latter part of the 2025 season, he is finding his feet in Marown A team. His opponent Rob Middleton plies his trade for Peel B, doesn’t enter a huge number of opens, but generally gets through a few rounds when he does, he has proven he can mix it with the better players in the past. Middleton is another man who will just keep plugging away, should not be written off.

The final matchup is between two stalwarts of the game, Peel man Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly whose name is forever written into the History of the Bowling Festival having picked up a June festival title in June 2000, whilst Colin Kelly (Marown) did the same in June 2008. The Marown man does have seven Manx Championship wins under his belt, and with it the ultimate prize in the game when he won the Champions of Champions title at the Waterloo Bowling Green in Blackpool in 2019. Whilst Colin starts as the favourite, Barney will be looking to pick up his first Manx Championship having suffered heartache in the final on four occasions to date, with the two most recent efforts being in 2020 and 2022.

The ever-popular pre-festival Ballacashtal Cup was held on Sunday, attracting an entry of 80 bowlers made up of locals and visiting bowlers. The Castletown green was running true and well throughout the day, with the pace picking up as the competition progressed. JRH Plumbing and Heating continued their support of the event as sponsors.

At the quarter-final stage, John Kennish (South Ramsey) booked his place in the last four with a 21-18 victory over Ash Wellings (Castlefields). Paul Dunn (Marown) overcame fellow clubmate Peter Jones (Marown) 21-17 in a closely contested encounter.

In the other half of the draw, Paul Bailey (Belvedere BC) progressed with victory over Glenn Boland (Marown), whilst Stevie Kelly (Peel Sunset BC) secured his semi-final spot with a 21-15 win against Neil Withers (Marown).

The first semi-final saw John Kennish take on Paul Dunn in a high-quality contest. With both players performing well and giving little away, Kennish edged the game 21-19 to secure his place in the final.

The second semi-final saw Paul Bailey face Stevie Kelly. Bailey’s preference for a longer length proved decisive as he controlled much of the game to record a 21-16 victory and book his place in the day’s showpiece final.

The final paired Bailey against Kennish in what proved to be an excellent contest that could have gone either way. Both players produced some outstanding bowls throughout, with neither able to establish a commanding advantage. At key moments in the game Bailey’s striking prowess came to the fore, successfully converting four of five striking opportunities to gain the vital advantage. Despite a determined challenge from Kennish, Bailey held his nerve to come through 21-19 and claim the famous Ballacashtal Cup for the first time, along with the winner’s prize of £400.

The presentation was made by Castletown Bowling Club Competition Secretary Nathan Hamilton, who thanked everyone at the club for their assistance in staging the competition. Special thanks were given to Kath Kinley, Juan Kermode and all those in the kitchen for keeping players and spectators fed and watered throughout the day. Hamilton also thanked those who measured and marked during the competition, along with the greenkeeper for preparing a superb playing surface. He then invited sponsor Jamie Hinchliffe of JRH Plumbing and Heating to present the prizes.

In his winner’s speech, Bailey echoed Hamilton’s thanks to all those involved in making the competition such a success. In an emotional conclusion to the day’s proceedings, he dedicated his victory to his good friend James Kelly-Walley, who recently passed away.