An entry of 17 pairs took part in this year’s Port St Mary Cup mixed doubles open competition held at Breagle Glen on Bank Holiday Monday on another fine day, with the reduced number of entries likely to be due to the road closures.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greeners Nicci Cain and Derek Cain 18-21 to fellow home greeners Jackie Elliott and Ben Mowle (Port Erin), Marown’s Clare Cooper and Sid Bolton lost 14-21 to South Ramsey’s Jenny Moore and James Teare. In the other half of the draw an all-South Ramsey contest resulted in Kim Hargraves and Peter Collister comfortably defeating current holders Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves 21-11, whilst Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones (Marown) beat Jayne Smith (Marown) and Alan Crebbin (Port Erin) 21-16 to move into the next round.

The first semi-final saw Hargraves and Collister beaten by Bolton and Jones 13-21, whilst the shock of the day played out in the other semi-final as Elliott and Mowle beat Moore and Teare 21-15, as the home pairing scored a four on their way to the final.

The final started with Bolton and Jones huge favourites, it looked like it could be over in a matter of ends as after two ends played the Marown pair led 11-6. Elliott and Mowle then settled into the game, with Mowle leading well at the front and Elliott not afraid to reach at the back, as they turned the match on its head to lead 15-13. A switch in the playing order for Bolton and Jones worked a treat as a single, a four and a three saw them finish the game strongly to run out with a 21-15 victory to win their second successive mixed doubles competition in just over a week.

The presentation was made by Port St Mary Club Competition Secretary Chris Holland, who thanked everyone at the club that helped on the day. In his speech Peter offered his commiserations to their opponents in the final, commenting on how brilliantly they had played.

The competition, an any combination doubles format is sponsored by Lilian’s family and took place at Mooragh Park on Sunday 26^th May.

An excellent entry of 31 pairs played some tremendous games in a very friendly atmosphere. The games started at 12 noon. The weather was overcast to start with but stayed dry until light rain started to fall before finally clearing up before the quarter finals. These changing conditions challenged the players on length as the running pace of the green changed throughout the afternoon.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker (Onchan) 15-21 to Rob Monk (North Ramsey) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan). Home greeners Steve Waters and Paul Allison 20-21 to clubmates Allan Callow and Ray Skelly. Patrick Grant and Maria Dinsdale (Ballaugh) 16-21 to Bryan Corner and Caroline Parker (North Ramsey/Mooragh Park) and Janet Monk and Madison McMullan (Mooragh Park) 13-21 to Paul Dunn and Neil Withers (Marown).

In the semi-finals Dunn and Withers controlled their game from the start, displaying the high standard of bowls they had shown all afternoon to beat Callow and Skelly 21-8 and in the other game Monk and Quirk also played exceptionally well to beat Corner and Parker 21-6.

And so, into the final and what a match it was. After eight ends they were 10-11 and end 16 saw them 16 across. Monk and Quirk picked up three points in the next two ends, but Dunn and Withers got the jack back gaining two then three singles over the last three ends. The match finished 21-19 to Dunn and Withers.

Paul Slinger presented the prizes following a lovely tribute to Lilian from Helen Martin. Neil Withers said the green was in excellent condition and a pleasure to play on and thanked everyone at North Ramsey for a well organised competition.

North Ramsey Bowling club are most grateful to Lilian’s family for their sponsorship and to everyone who entered the competition.

16 junior bowlers from all over the Island entered the Junior Manx Championship at Finch Hill Bowling Club on Saturday. There was a good crowd in attendance on a fine day, as the juniors impressed the spectators with a good standard of bowling throughout the entire day.

This year, it was back to the girls dominating the latter stages of the competition, with six of the last eight being made up of the girls. Losing out at the quarter final stage were Aalish Moore (Castletown) 14-21 to Mooragh Park player Lacey McMullan, Melody Marsh (Castletown) was defeated 7-21 by Alex Hampson (Noble’s).

In the other half of the draw Katie Jacobs won the closest game of the quarter finals, holding off Sam Colquitt (Noble’s) 21-18, whilst Grace Gawne (Noble’s) who picked up the title in 2023 advanced to the semi-finals with a 21-14 win over Bailey McMullan (Mooragh Park) 21-14.

Three of the four semi-finalists were hoping to pick up their first Junior Manx Championship win, it was Lacey who reached her first final with a solid 21-15 win over Alex, winning 13 ends to Alex’s 11 ends, with the main difference that Lacey scored eight doubles to Alex’s four two’s.

In the other game Katie dashed the hopes of Grace who was looking to retain the title with this being her last year eligible to enter the competition, as the Villa player won 21-17, with the game finely poised at 12-11 to Katie, two quickfire doubles put Katie into a 16-12 lead. Grace fought back to close the deficit to two, with two consecutive doubles of her own, however Katie managed to see the game out 21-17.

The final got underway with both players having very different game plans – Lacey preferring a longer ¾ length mark, whilst Katie was playing well on shorter marks. Lacey was quickest out of the blocks winning the first two ends with two doubles. Katie then settled into the game winning the next four ends to take a 6-4 lead. Lacey responded to win six of the next seven ends to lead 11-7, then went on to lead 14-10.

Winning four of the next five ends got Katie to a deficit of just one at 14-15. Lacey then got in to rally once more, finishing strongly to win five of the last six ends to secure a 21-15, with it her maiden Junior Manx Championship title, following in the footsteps of her eldest sister Shannon McMullan who picked up the title in 2019 and 2022.

The presentation was made by Tina Hampson, who thanked Finch Hill Bowling Club for hosting, Tracy Moore for assisting with running the competition. Lacey was then presented with the Shield. Qualifiers will go on to represent the Isle of Man at the UK Junior Individual Merit on Saturday 17^th August at Mosborough Welfare Miners in South Yorkshire.

Saturday saw the staging of the 2024 Haldane Fisher Mixed Pairs Crown Green Bowling Competition. All 25 pairs taking part were treated to a Green in superb condition with glorious weather throughout the day.

At the quarter final stage home greeners Katie Jacobs and Keith Rose lost out 12-21 to Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), with Jenny Moore and James Teare (South Ramsey) losing out to the same score to Marown’s Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones. Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin) and Kevin Firth (Douglas) held off South Ramsey’s Kim Hargraves and Alan Moore 21-19, whilst Marown’s Debbie Leece and Neil Withers eased through to the semi-finals with a 21-9 win over Villa pair Rebecca Jacobs and Bob Callow.

In the semi-finals Bolton and Jones were pulled back to 14-15 by Moore and Hargraves, with the latter pair counting for three a great last bowl from Bolton ensured they kept their opponents at arms length as the Marown pair went on to win 21-16.

The other semi-final finished to the same score, with Whitehead and Firth getting the better of Leece and Withers with both pairs winning the same number of ends the Port Erin/Douglas duo scored better on the ends they won to progress to the final.

The final got underway with Whitehead and Firth scoring a single on the first end, then Jones led well at the front in the corners ably assisted by Bolton to win seven consecutive ends, only to concede a single, then picked up two singles to see the game out with a 21-8 victory to win the title.

The prizes were presented by competition secretary Andy Cannell who thanked Haldane Fisher for sponsoring the event. Douglas Bowling Club also allowed Junior bowlers to enter for a reduced entry fee and the option was given for Junior bowlers under 16 to enter with a member of the same sex, it is hoped more clubs participate in this approach with so many mixed doubles in the calendar it gives our Junior bowlers the opportunity to play more bowls, gaining valuable experience.

The Isle of Man Junior Team took part in the British Crown Green Bowling Association six-a-side Championship at The Grange in Warrington Club on Sunday, on a glorious day.

With 10 Juniors selected the Isle of Man would have been in the enviable position of being able to rotate players, however with other counties short of players on the day four of the Isle of Man juniors stepped in to play for other counties to ensure the teams were full, this also had the added bonus of ensuring all 10 players played in all three games, no walkovers were awarded.

Every single one of them did themselves and the Island proud in the way that they performed and more importantly the way they behaved on and off the green, not to mention how well turned out they all were.

The team won the first game 5-1 on games against Cheshire B by a convincing 39 chalks (85-46), with four games being won to single figures.

In the second round this proved to be a considerably tougher fixture against the heavily fancied South Yorkshire A, a solid performance saw the team draw 3-3, however they lost out by just four chalks (70-74) for their opponents to get the two points.

In the final round North Lancs & Fylde were the opponents, this went in favour of the Manx Juniors 4-2 and by 26 chalks (79-53).

Bailey McMullan was the standout performer for Team Isle of Man having won all three games scoring 45 chalks, conceding just 14 chalks all day. That said a further four of the juniors won two games each, with even those suffering defeat performing well.

With 2 points for each win the team finished on 4 points to finish in second place overall in the group. The Junior team will again be away in July for the next stage of the competition.

With Erin Quayle and Katie Jacobs filling in for South Yorkshire B, both Juniors performed well with Katie’s scores not reflecting how well she played in all of her games against older and more experienced bowlers, however Katie lost out by just three chalks (12-15) in her first outing against Greater Manchester.

Erin won her first two games against Greater Manchester and Cheshire A, just lost out by two chalks (13-15) in her final game against Cumbria. 

Martha Butler turned out for North Lancs & Fylde and had a sizeable lead in her second game against Cheshire B, however once her opponent got in and opted for a longer length Martha lost out by just two chalks (13-15).

Dylan Marsh turned out for Cheshire B and after a tough first game against the Isle of Man Dylan bounced back to win 15-9 against North Lancs & Fylde.

Thank you to everyone who came to support, to the coaches and everyone who helped organise the trip.