Marown Bowling Club hosted the Juan Kelly Cup with the competition now in its fourth year it proved more popular than ever wit 62 pairs taking part. There were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system played over the three qualifying nights, with 2 pairs qualifying on Sunday evening, and three pairs qualifying on Monday & Tuesday night to reach the quarter finals.

The format was any combination doubles, played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the Men’s and Ladies game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner.

On Sunday evening 16 pairs played their qualifying night, whilst Monday and Tuesday had 23 pairs taking part on both evenings. The finals night was held on Wednesday evening, with a re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night. The floodlights came into good use for the entire duration of the competition.

Losing quarter finalists were home greeners Colin Kelly & Juan Killip, who were comfortably beaten 15-24 by clubmates Walter McCarthy & Darren Kerruish, Kim Hargraves & Austin Hart (South Ramsey) were heavily defeated 11-29 by Sue Gawne (Onchan) & Brian Kelly (Marown). In the other half of the draw Ryan Hargraves & Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) cruelly lost out on the last end 17-18 to Phil Kerruish (Onchan) and Andy Foster (Douglas), whilst Philippa Taylor (Marown) & Alec Taylor (Peel) lost 16-18 to Derek Allen (Port Erin) & Bernie McPhee (Onchan).

The semi-finals were comfortable for both pairings that reached the final with Sue Gawne & Brian Kelly winning 25-7 over Walter McCarthy & Darren Kerruish, whilst Phil Kerruish & Andy Foster claimed a 20-13 victory over Derek Allen & Bernie McPhee.

The final was well contested with both pairings off the same handicap of four, there was little to choose between the teams. Kerruish and Foster worked hard to build up a four point lead (18-14) with 14 ends played, with Gawne & Kelly lying one on the last end only another counting bowl would do to tie the match. Kelly played a wonder bowl to count for two which doubled up to four points with the last end being a ‘power’ end. This tied the match at 18-18 with the final going to its first ever one bowl shootout. With Kelly & Gawne winning the toss Kelly sent his jack into the corner his bowl just over a yard away, which Kerruish fell short of beating in a thrilling finish to the final resulting in Sue & Brian claiming their first open competition success as a pairing.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments over all four nights, the players for entering, and all those who came to support.

The final of the Ellan Vannin Fuels mixed team championship took place at Onchan on Wednesday evening with a close final expected between Port St Mary A and South Ramsey A. The Onchan green was in superb condition with their new floodlights being needed for the evening and there was a good crowd that came along to support on the night.

From the first five games on the green Sunday’s Ladies Manx Master Winner Jenny Moore was first off after recovering from a 4-8 deficit against Paul Skelly, Skelly only managed to score another three points with Jenny running out with a 21-11 victory. Second game off on the night was Glynn Hargraves who took a convincing 21-9 win over Mavis Franks. Port St Mary got their first win on the night with Wayne Roberts performing well to beat Elaine Moore 21-17. The next two games off could not have been any closer with both going in favour of South Ramsey. Lyn Bolton recovered from a 12-18 deficit against Margaret Tasker to get home 21-20, whilst Alan Moore had a good game with Jayne Kneen with Alan just edging it 21-20. After five games off South Ramsey led by 20 chalks (101-81).

During the second half Gill Dixon pretty much put the final nail in the coffin for Port St Mary with the biggest win of the night taking a 21-7 victory over Tim Williams, with South Ramsey having scored enough in the remaining games on the green. Game number seven of the night to come off the green was Dan McCabe who performed well to beat James Teare 21-12. South Ramsey captain Stefan Kelly managed to see off Chris Price 21-15, whilst the last game on the green between Dido Kelly and Trevor Quayle was well contested throughout with Quayle managing to take a 21-19 win. South Ramsey won by 29 chalks overall, also winning 6-3 on games to claim their ninth title in this competition.

Association Chairman Neil Withers thanked Onchan for the use of the green, complimented the club on the floodlights which were installed last year, also gave thanks to their club members for providing refreshments and measurers on the night. Ladies President Sue Gawne was then introduced to present the Shield to South Ramsey. Speaking on behalf of South Ramsey Glynn Hargraves congratulated the team for their performance on the night and everyone who had came along to support.

South Ramsey hosted the Manx Masters on Sunday, one of the highlights of the Manx bowls calendar with four separate competitions once again taking place on a great playing surface which was running superbly.

Winner of the Young Manx Masters was Clark Kelly defeating Grayse Blencoe 6-3 in the final. This competition was played in a round robin format with six players in each group playing five ends with the last end played as a ‘power’ end with points scored counting double. Clark won group A with 24 points, with Katie Jacobs the runner up in Group A with 22 points. Grayse won Group B with 27 points, with Megan Hargraves the runner up on 26 points.

The Junior Manx Masters was again played as a straight knockout for the older and more experienced players and the title was won for the first time by Austin Hart (South Ramsey) who beat Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park) 21-17 in a well contested final, with Austin beating Patrick Grant (Ballaugh) 21-14 to reach the final, whilst Shannon beat Aalish Howarth 21-16 to book her spot in the final.

The standard of play in both events was excellent and there was a fantastic crowd around the green supporting the future of the game with the numbers steadily increasing throughout, it made for a great morning.

The junior competitions were sponsored by Stonemasons IOM Limited for a fourth successive year with the prizes presented by Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. All those who took part received a prize, with the younger players also receiving a certificate. A huge thanks must go to the coaches – Sonya Mercer, Clare Cooper, Janet Monk, Willie Cowley, Mervin Sayle, Phil Kelly & Colin Kelly who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning.

Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion the Felton’s sponsored men’s and ladies events got underway with the ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the men’s event had 32 taking part.

In the ladies event losing out at the quarter final stages were Sue Gawne (Onchan), Clare Cooper (Noble’s) Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park).

In the semi-finals Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) performed well winning 21-7 to end the run of Alison Keggen (Noble’s), whilst Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey) ended the challenge of team mate Fiona Kennish with a hard fought 21-18 victory to book her place in the final.

In the final Moore was quickest out of the blocks taking a 12-6 lead scoring three doubles on the way, before Bolton chipped away at the lead to cut the deficit to 11-13 only for Moore to take five successive singles to lead 18-11. Bolton won three of the next four ends to trail 14-19 only for Moore to finish the game off with two singles to run out with a 21-14 victory to deservedly win her third successive Manx Masters title, in addition to her Manx Championship win earlier in the season.

In the men’s event eight of the 16 first round games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 15 or more to show there were some good contests taking place. Losing out at the quarter final stage was Bob Clark (Castletown), who lost 17-21 to Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) with Clark battling back from a 5-16 deficit to level up at 16-16 before losing out 17-21, whilst Alan Moore (South Ramsey) lost out 20-21 to team mate Glynn Hargraves. Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) ended the challenge of home greener James Teare 21-15, with Dido Kelly (South Ramsey) seeing off Tom Kelly (Peel) with a 21-13 victory.

In the semi-final Hargraves took a convincing 21-10 win over Wayne Roberts to book his spot in the final, whilst in the other semi Trevor Quayle had to work hard to earn a 21-19 win over Dido Kelly after trailing 16-19.

The final started with the floodlights coming into play and a new name guaranteed to be on the trophy. Hargraves got off to the better start taking the first three ends to lead 7-3, Quayle then took nine of the next 12 ends playing well over the middle of the green to turn the game around to lead 14-11. Hargraves then changed tactics opting for a longer length to win four ends on the bounce to lead 17-14, with Quayle once again heading over the crown to level the game at 18-18. Hargraves then scored two successive singles to lead 20-18, to then play a poor end to gift an easy two for Quayle to level things up at 20-20. On the deciding end Quayle played his lead a yard past the jack and tight of the land, Hargraves capitalised on this to play a bowl right on top of the jack. Quayle had no option but to strike and somehow flicked out the counting bowl to count one and lie game. Hargraves took his time to compose himself to play another length bowl to win 21-20 and take his fourth 21-20 win of the day to claim his first Manx Masters title.

At the end of the competition the prizes were presented by Chris & Lynnette Perry on behalf of the sponsors Felton’s Ironmongers who continue to support this event. During the presentation club secretary Alan Moore thanked those who had helped prepare the green, along with everyone who had helped in any way towards the smooth running of the competitions throughout the day. A special mention was given to the ladies who once again put on a superb selection of refreshments. Thanks were also given to Neil Withers & Paul Dunn for the live streaming of the Junior and Senior events which proved to be popular. There was just over £1,000 paid out in prize money throughout the entire day.

Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Wilfrid Quayle mixed doubles on Saturday with the competition attracting 44 pairs on a fine day.

The eventual winners were Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey) and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) taking a deserved 21-11 win over the home green partnership of Hilary Kermode & Ian Watson. The home pairing started well to go 11-8 ahead before losing seven consecutive ends without response which resulted in Bolton & Quayle taking their first mixed doubles title of the season.

Losing out at the semi-final stage were the South Ramsey pairing of Fiona Kennish & Steven Waters 11-21 to the winning pair, whilst Sue Gawne & Brian Kelly lost out 14-21 to the runners up.

Falling at the quarter final stage were Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), Helen & Martin Caley (South Ramsey), Rebecca Teare (Noble’s) & Paul Dunn (Marown) along with Alison Keggen (Noble’s) & Bob Clark (Castletown).

The presentation was made by Castletown President Ron Williams who thanked everyone who had entered and all the club members who had helped with the smooth running of the competition throughout the day. A special mention was also given to the green keeper David Faragher for the fantastic condition of the green.

A great morning of youth bowls took place at Douglas Bowling Club recently with 21 children competing for the Philip Johnson Trophy sponsored by Canada Life International, played for in memory of Philip Johnson. There was a good turnout to support the future of bowls.

With Philip’s Dad Mike Johnson and Philip’s family in attendance to support the children, the event was played as East vs West vs South format, with players matched up in ages and playing against once another in singles games. There were seven children in the West Team, five competing for the South and nine for the East. After some excellent bowling it was the West Team who just pipped last year’s winners East by just one game. 

The presentation was made by Mark McLaughlin from sponsors Canada Life International. Thanks were given to Douglas Bowling Club for hosting, along with the Island’s coaches who helped with the running of the event. To show the parents how difficult bowls can be the mums, dads, guardians who had stayed and watch the games had a roll up at the end. 

Canada Life International have supported Manx Bowls on the Island for the past 10 years with their sponsorship of the Manx Championship, Island Team, Club Team Championships and of course the Philip Johnson Trophy, with the company keen to promote opportunities for young people on the island to get involved in active sports with this competition being a great success.

The Club Team Championship was brought to a conclusion at Castletown Bowling club on Sunday afternoon with the semi-finals being played and the final being held immediately after. The format remained the same as last year with four doubles and six singles with 14 bowlers eligible to play. The four qualifiers for finals day were Marown, Port St Mary, Peel & South Ramsey.

Early on there was a good atmosphere around the green. In the first semi-final Marown were up against Port St Mary, with the Crosby outfit proving too strong for the Port team with a 66 chalk win (196-130). Port St Mary did manage to win two individual games with Rob Cooil winning his singles match 21-18 against Phil Kelly, whilst Jayne Kneen won 21-10 against Philippa Taylor. In the other semi-final South Ramsey turned Peel over by an even bigger margin winning by 78 chalks (210-132) to take their place in the final. To compound the loss Peel failed to win a single game, with Dougie Allan losing 20-21 to Fiona Kennish, with David Smith & Joyce Kelly losing to the same score in the doubles to Chas Grills & Ed Carlyle.

The final started immediately after the conclusion of the semi-final matches with Marown heavy favourites to retain the title they have won for the past two years. Marown didn’t disappoint putting in a good performance with Juan Killip storming to a 21-4 win over Alan Moore, whilst Colin Kelly beat James Teare 21-3, with Matthew Keggen getting over the line 21-17 against Sid Bolton. South Ramsey responded with two wins in the doubles with Jenny Moore & Steven Waters winning 21-7 against Walter McCarthy & John Gelling, whilst Glynn Hargraves & Austin Hart won 21-19 against Brian Kelly & Karl Parker. In the second half South Ramsey could only pick up one more win, again in the doubles with Stefan Kelly & Chas Grills winning 21-10 against Rosie Winckle & Paul Dunn. In the last game of doubles Philippa Taylor & Phil Kelly won 21-15 against Gill Dixon & Lyn Bolton, whilst the singles games resulted in comfortable wins for Paul Kelly, Dean Kipling & Neil Withers over Fiona Kennish, Ed Carlyle and Elaine Moore respectively. Marown won by a margin of 46 chalks (183-137) whilst also winning on games 7-3.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Castletown Bowling Club for being superb hosts for finals day, with the club having helpers on hand to measure throughout the day. Marown captain Paul Kelly congratulated his team for their performance, offered his commiserations to South Ramsey.

The highlight of the men’s team calendar the Canada Life International sponsored Rayner Shield final was held at Port St Mary Bowling Club on Friday evening, between Peel A and Marown A. The Crosby men started as heavy favourites as the current league champions, with Peel being the ‘underdogs’ having finished in fourth place in the league in 2019, a massive 52 points behind Marown. With both captains agreeing to do the draw last Sunday, this once again generated a bit of interest with a good crowd in attendance to watch what turned out to be a great final and one of the biggest shocks in recent history.

First off the green for Marown was captain Paul Dunn who was relentless with his 21-5 victory over Dougie Allan. Next off was Tom Kelly who levelled the match on games with a 21-14 win over Phil Kelly with Tom scoring eight doubles to Phil’s three being the difference. The first shock of the night which put Peel 2-1 ahead was former Junior Manx Champion Gary Smith’s win over Neil Withers, with Smith giving up on the corners to play his own game over the middle of the green leading brilliantly to turn the game around from a 10-14 deficit to run out with a 21-15 win. Last game off in the first four was between Stevie Kelly & Paul Kelly with the latter building up a 19-11 lead before finishing the game off with a 21-16 win to level the match on games 2-2 with Marown leading by just eight chalks.

In the second half of the match the atmosphere was building in front of a good crowd with fantastic support from both teams around the green with Peel captain Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly putting in a great performance after being nilled by Colin Kelly on his own green last week to win when it mattered, after trailing 3-4 early on Barney went 20-7 ahead before claiming a convincing 21-11 win. This was quickly followed up by Andy Kennish who was always comfortable in his game to see off Matthew Keggen with a 21-13 victory for Peel to go 4-2 ahead on games and take a 10 chalk lead. This left the last two games on the green, with Dean Kipling soaking up the atmosphere and putting in a good performance to lead 15-3 against Tommy McMeiken, which he quickly finished off to win 21-6. This left the last game on the green with the experienced John Gelling for Marown up against Peter Greenlees who is in his third season of bowls, with Gelling needing only to win his game to secure the win with the chalks now in favour of Marown. Greenlees was as cool as a cucumber throughout the match after taking a 10-5 lead early on he kept his focus even after trailing 11-14 and 13-17, changing his peg to play a great bowl to get in then kept his composure taking five successive singles to go 18-17 ahead playing tight to the edge of the green where he had plenty of practice on during the week having paid several visits to Port St Mary to improve his knowledge of the green. With Greenlees lying two Gelling played a great last bowl to level things up at 18-18. On the next end Gelling was lying two only for Greenlees to bowl in with a great second bowl to go 19-18 ahead. Gelling responded with a good two on the next end to jump ahead once again at 20-19 and played a good lead bowl just over a foot away on a long length into the corner, with Greenlees playing the bowl of his life to save game and count for one to level the game at 20-20. On the deciding end Greenlees played a great lead, which Gelling just failed to beat with his first. Greenlees second bowl was in a great spot covering the line of the counting bowl, with Gelling playing his second bowl tight which resulted in a 21-20 victory for Greenlees which ultimately secured a 5-3 win and the Rayner Shield for Peel. There was a huge cheer around the green with Greenlees deservedly becoming the hero and he was quickly congratulated by his team mates for his heroic performance.

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Mark Kneen, who thanked Canada Life International for their continued sponsorship of the competition, Port St Mary Bowling Club for the use of the green and their club members for assisting throughout the evening. Peel captain Barney Kelly then accepted the Rayner Shield saving the hero of the night Peter Greenlees until last when calling up his team.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Henry Kissack Memorial Trophy on Saturday attracting an entry of 58. With the handicaps ranging from +3 to +9 this resulted in some interesting early round shocks.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Alec Taylor (Peel) who had his challenge ended by Kevin Quirk 17-21, whilst former home greener Gary Smith (Peel) was well beaten 7-21 by home greener Colin Kelly, whilst Marown C Team player Karl Parker just lost out 19-21 to 2019 winner Phil Kerruish (Onchan). Castletown player Sam Clague was defeated 16-21 by Andy Kennish (Peel).

The semi-finals could probably not have had a more experienced line up with a huge number of the islands top trophies having been won between these four players over the past five decades, with this particular trophy having been won no fewer than 14 times between the four semi-finalists. Both matches were straightforward with Andy Kennish seeing off Phil Kerruish with a 21-12 win, whilst Kevin Quirk inflicted a second defeat on Colin Kelly in the space of a week this time with a 21-11 win to take his place in the final.

The final started with both players being well known for their ability to play good length bowls, it was Quirk who took a 10-8 lead after eight ends looking to go a bit further than he normally plays. Kennish responded to win the next five ends playing brilliantly over the middle of the green to turn the game on its head to lead 15-10. From there Kevin chipped in with two more singles, whilst Andy continued to play well scoring three singles and a double in between to go 20-12 ahead. Kevin got in with another single to bring the score to 13-20. The last end summed up the ability of both bowlers perfectly. Kevin played a good lead when heading for the corners, with Andy just tipping the jack, however Kevin was still counting. Kevin’s second bowl was a perfect length, just a bit wide. Andy played his last bowl, with the bowl rolling in perfectly to beat a seven inch bowl to win 21-13 and claim the victory in style.

Andy’s victory was thoroughly deserved, his return to form is in part due to turning 60 a couple of years ago, with afternoon league games twice a week Andy has been challenging in a number of opens of late, with his ability to play good length bowls still very apparent. This was Andy’s fourth win in this competition following on from his three previous wins all in the 1980’s (82,86 & 88) and this is believed to be Andy’s first open win since the last of this three Manx Championship wins in 1999 to show once again that he can still mix it with the best. If crown green bowls proves anything then one of those is that green time is important and there are very few sports around where players can genuinely compete at the top level for five decades or more.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Phil Kelly who thanked all the Marown members for assisting throughout the day, the team in the kitchen for the refreshments and the green keepers for the preparing the green. Newly crowned Manx Champion Paul Dunn was then introduced to present the prizes.

Marown was the venue agreed by the captains of Castletown B & Port St Mary A to host the final of the 2020 Rayner Plate.

Castletown B started the evening off a handicap of +32 as they were relegated from the top tier last season, were due to play second division bowls this season. The town men received a boost with Mark Moorley returning to the fold after a couple of years out of the game, having played for Marown A for a number of years, with Moorley having good knowledge of the Marown green, whilst the addition of Glenn Boland from Noble’s after a solid first season in division one was also a good addition. Port St Mary A were off a handicap of +10, having lost a couple of players from their first team last year, they were looking to go one better than 2019 when they lost in the final to Marown C.

In the first half of the match Castletown took control of the match with an almost unassailable lead, with Moorley storming  to a massive 21-2 win over Will Cain, who was experiencing his first team final to stretch the lead to 41 chalks. Eating away at the lead for Port St Mary were Trevor Quayle who recovered from a slow start to win 21-15 against James Drinkwater, whilst Tim Williams had a comfortable 21-12 win over the experienced George Foy. Glenn Boland had a tight game with Dan McCabe with Boland winning 21-17 to ensure the town men had a 30 chalk lead at the half way stage.

In the second half of the match Port St Mary captain Wayne Roberts reduced the deficit to 19 chalks after his 21-10 victory over Ross Moore. The next two games to come off put the final nail in the coffin for the Port men with the game of the day on paper going all the way between Bob Clark & Paul Skelly with Clark just getting home 21-20, whilst Alan Phair excelled to see off Paul Russell 21-19. With the last game on the green Castletown had enough chalks on the board by this point, with captain Nathan Cooil losing out 16-21 to Rob Cooil. This resulted in a win for the Town men by 17 chalks (169-152), with the match games ending 4-4. If there were no handicaps in play then Castletown would have lost by just five chalks to show how well matched up these teams were.

The presentation was made by Association Chairman Neil Withers who presented the Castletown captain Nathan Cooil with the trophy. Neil congratulated Castletown on their win, also offered his commiserations to Port St Mary. Neil also thanked Marown for hosting the final, their club members for assisting and the greenkeeper for preparing the green.