News: Reports
Kelly & Bolton Win Inaugural Challenge Cup
Douglas Borough Corporation Challenge Cup Winners 2018
Pictured: Stefan Kelly & Sid BoltonSunday saw a quality field of 54 entered for the inaugural running of drawn doubles competition Douglas Borough Corporation Challenge Cup at Finch Hill. With showers in the morning and further showers and a cold breeze in the early stages of the competition playing conditions were challenging to say the least, although the green was in excellent condition albeit a little slow.
With this drawn format there is less chance of two top players being paired together but even so there were indications from an early stage which would be the most competitive pairings. In the first round Alison Keggen & Lyn Bolton dispensed with Libby Andrade & Caroline Corlett 21-7 while Eddie Carlyle & Rebecca Teare came through 21-15 against Shirley Corrin and Reg Temporaza. Bryan Masterton & Sue Gawne overcame Paul Quirk & Frank Christian 21-11 while Nathan Hamilton & Bernie McPhee came through 21-16 against Kevin Firth & Derek Allen. Stefan Kelly & Sid Bolton had a reasonably comfortable win against Sylvia Kennaugh & Brian Lindsay.
In the second round Rebecca Teare and & Eddie Carlyle continued their winning ways with a 21-16 win over Sam Clague & Steve Waters. Harry Minor & Glynn Hargraves started their campaign with a 21-15 win over Brian Masterton and Sue Gawne. Steve Parker & Austin Hart came from behind to beat Helen Murphy & Gordon Corrin 21-19 and so did Nathan Hamilton & Bernie McPhee with two four pointers in the final two ends against Mike Ashmole & Lynda Clarke. Sam Stannard Duke & Gary Lenton cruised past Hazel Hughes & Terry Bates 21-13 while John Harris & Jenny Moore picked up three points in the last two ends to beat Walter McCarthy & Alan Moore 21-18. Closest match of the day was between Alison Keggen with Lyn Bolton and Frank Watson with our youngest player Ryan Hargraves but with a three pointer on the final end it was the ladies who came through 21-20. Stefan Kelly & Sid Bolton were finding their length and went into a 19-8 lead against Peter Venables and home favourite Paddy Murphy before running out winners 21-13.
In the quarter finals Rebecca Teare & Eddie Carlyle cruised to a 21-12 victory over Steve Parker & Austin Hart whilst in the same part of the draw Stefan Kelly & Sid Bolton scored consistently to beat Sam Stannard Duke and Gary Lenton 21-13. In the bottom half of the draw it was John Harris & Jenny Moore who took the honours against Nathan Hamilton and Bernie McPhee 21-12 while Harry Minor & Glynn Hargraves did just enough to hold off Alison Keggen & Lyn Bolton 21-18.
In the first semi-final Stefan Kelly and Sid Bolton scored strongly and only losing three ends ran out 21-11 winners against Rebecca Teare & Eddie Carlyle. Despite getting off to a good start with a four pointer on the first end John Harris & Jenny Moore could not hold off Harry Minor & Glynn Hargraves who took the game 21-16.
In the final, Stefan Kelly & Sid Bolton continued their strong scoring and in just eleven ends they beat Harry Minor & Glynn Hargraves 21-9.
The prize presentation was made by Deputy Mayor of Douglas, Mr. Ian Clague with the losing semi-finalists each receiving £15, the runners up receiving £40 and the winners £60 and the Douglas Borough Corporation Challenge Cup. Special thanks go to Douglas Corporation for supplying the new Challenge Cup, to Greeba for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon, to Peter Hughes and Sefton Dent for stewarding and to all those who helped make this the most successful open competition of the year at Finch Hill.
Moore & Hargraves Win Kennish Cup
Kennish Cup Winners 2018
The last Mixed Doubles competition of the season The Kennish Cup was held on Saturday with the competition postponed at the end of July due to poor weather. The competition still managed to attract 24 pairs.
The winners were the home pairing of Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves who beat Chris Price (Port St Mary) & Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 21-19 in the final. The game was close throughout with both pairs taking some good counting bowls off their opponents throughout with neither pair able to break away from the other until the last few ends. With the score standing at 15-14 to Moore & Hargraves they conceded a four and a single to fall 15-19 behind. From there Moore & Hargraves dug deep to take three consecutive singles and counting with three good bowls on the final end to secure the title with a 21-19 win.
Losing semi-finalists were the two home pairings of Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters to the eventual winners (8-21), whilst Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly lost out 10-21 to the runners up.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were new bowlers Sue and Geoff Collier (South Ramsey) who only took the game up in June, Lil Smith (Marown) and Edward Carlyle (Onchan), Caroline and Steve Parker along with Janet Monk and Rob Monk (all North Ramsey).
The presentation was made by competition secretary John Kennish on behalf of the Kennish family who sponsored the competition, with thanks given to everyone who had helped with the running of the competition, the ladies for once again putting on a fantastic selection of refreshments throughout the afternoon, and the green keepers for preparing the green.
Title Still Up For Grabs In Division Two and Three
The tie of the week at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels division one was between third placed Peel A & champions South Ramsey A in the Sunset City with the Northerners having already secured the title the previous week. The champions came away with a respectable 6-4 win on a tough night in extremely windy conditions. Winning for Peel were captain Ste Kelly 21-20 against Peter Collister, Tommy McMeiken won to single figures against Alan Moore, David Proctor beat Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 21-17 and Frank Watson who inflicted a second league defeat of the season on South Ramsey skipper Glynn Hargraves 21-19. Winning for the visitors were John Kennish to single figures against Gary Smith, David Bradford 21-11 against Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, Stefan Kelly 21-18 against Tom Kelly and Chas Grills who defeated Jerome Surridge 21-17. With six close games the result could have been a lot different for both teams on another night.
South Ramsey B having had a tough start to the season confirmed their place in division one for another year with a fine 7-3 win over Port Erin A who would have had a long journey home having been relegated as a result of losing the game. Winning for South Ramsey were Ben Dugdale, Tony Dugdale, James Teare, Sid Bolton and George Brew. The three winners for Port Erin were David Cain, Bernie Durcan and David McCabe with McCabe set to leave Port Erin to continue playing first division bowls next season.
Douglas A took on their B Team with the lower ranked team having been relegated some time ago there was little to play for, however this did not prevent the B team from taking two games off the A team with Andy Cannell and Gordon Wynne-Smythe the two winners. Winning for the A team were Andy Kennish, Keith Rise, Jimmy Sansom, Shaun Seal, and Gary Conwell whilst Roy Williams stepped in and was fortunate enough to receive a walk over.
Castletown A had a good 7-3 home win over Port St Mary A with visiting captain Trevor Quayle back to winning ways, with Quayle set to secure the individual merit title providing that he can win his last two league games with both of them being at home. Nearest rival is John Kennish who has recorded 20 wins from 20 games with Kennish due to miss the last league match of the season, having missed a game earlier in the season, it is in Quayle’s hands.
Marown A had a good 8-2 home win against North Ramsey A with the usual suspects winning for the Crosby men, whilst Steve Wilson stepped up to the A team just losing out 20-21 to Allan Callow. The other winner for North Ramsey was Steve Walmsley who had a comfortable 21-14 win over Matthew Keggen.
Marown B took on Onchan A at Crosby on Tuesday evening with the visitors taking an 8-2 win. Winning to single figures for Onchan were Matthew Quirk, Peter Slinger and Rob Monk. Winning for the home team were Rob Corkill, who beat Mark Kelly 21-16 and Brian Kelly who beat Steve Crampton 21-10. There was a first league appearance of the season from Mark Moorley who lost out 13-21 to Jordan Cain.
In division two the title is still up for grabs for which team will be crowned champions with Noble’s A dropping two points in their 8-2 win against their B Team. Recording big wins to single figures for the A Team were Glenn Boland, Tommy Collister and John Ruscoe. The two winners for the B team were Stewart Cubbon who beat David Quayle 21-10 and Les Brookes who beat Mark Quinn 21-15.
Castletown B capitalised on the Noble’s result with a 9-1 win away to Port St Mary C to close the gap to just three points. The last league fixture of the season sees Castletown B with what looks like a fairly straightforward home game against Peel C, whilst Noble’s A have what could be a tricky away game against Finch Hill A. The two teams have matched each other blow for blow throughout the season and should Castletown manage to pull three points or more back on Noble’s Castletown would be crowned champions with a better games for record.
In the individual merit battle four players are tied on 18 wins each which David Pease (Noble’s A) can secure providing he wins his last game of the season. Hot on the heels of the Noble’s man are John Keenan (Ballaugh A), Dave Faragher and Ron Williams (both Castletown B) who only trail on points dropped having suffered heavier defeats than Pease.
In division three Ballaugh B took advantage of league leaders Marown C taking their turn to sit out with a 9-1 win at home to South Ramsey D with Ian Moore suffering a second league defeat of the season losing out 18-21 to Tony Quine. John Kneen crept over the line 21-20 against Matthew Corkill with a fine bowl on the last end to help secure a further point for the home team. Preventing the whitewash and sparing the blushes of the visitors was Geoff Collier who made his debut in the night league and performed brilliantly to win 21-13 against Mike Buckeridge.
The final match of the season to settle the title in division three is between Marown C and Ballaugh B at Crosby with the visitors sitting just one point behind the Marown men only a win will do for Ballaugh against the league leaders it promises to be a huge match for both teams which I am sure the clubs members will support. Marown will go into the match as favourites having won all their home fixtures throughout the season.
In the rest of the matches South Ramsey C won 7-3 at home to Ballaugh C, Castletown C lost 3-7 away to Finch Hill B, Onchan C won 6-4 at home to Peel D in a close match winning the aggregate by nine chalks (143-132) whilst Douglas C and Douglas D were missing five players from both teams with the C Team winning 7-1, and with their B team missing a player in division one it may well be a case of Douglas dropping a team next year to fill all of their teams each week.
Peel Sunset Capitalise To Close In On Over 60s Ladies Title
Peel Over 60s Ladies Team 2018
Back: Pat Robertson, Mary Moffatt, Lynda Wilson, Shirley Corrin, Cath Parker Front: Joyce Kelly, Heather Horsburgh, Mona KerruishThe last two matches in the Ladies Over 60s League have been played with Peel Sunset capitalising on two low scores by title rivals, and current champions, Port St Mary A.
On Thursday 13th September Port St Mary A lost ground at the top of the league against their B team. Restricted to under 100 chalks with the B team picking up two big wins to single figures, the A team won the match 96-78 (4-2).
Peel Sunset travelled away to South Ramsey and edged a close encounter winning 96-109 (3-3). The 13 chalk margin over Port St Mary A increased their advantage on Thursday to 93 chalks.
Marown sat out from Thursday allowing Onchan and Nobles to catch up and hunt down third position. Onchan defeated Ballaugh 111-77 (4-2) whilst Nobles beat Mooragh Park A 102-97 (3-3). The result left Marown over 100 chalks clear and ties up third position for the Crosby outfit. Nobles and Onchan remain separated by 7 chalks with Tuesdays matches crucial to finalising their positions.
In the other results on Thursday Mooragh Park B lost to Castletown 101-109 (3-3); Breagle lost to Villa 88-92 (3-3) and Douglas A won 115-90 (4-2) against Port Erin.
Onto Tuesday 18th September and the final matches for nearly all of the league teams with the exception of Port St Mary A and Douglas who play their re-arranged match later in the week.
Marown who had already secured third beat Breagle 112-80 (4-2). In the race for fourth Onchan put in a fine away performance to defeat Villa 74-122 (1-5). Nobles weren’t to be outdone and in their match away to Ballaugh won 62-121 (2-4). The result places Nobles in fourth 6 chalks ahead of Onchan. Castletown finish sixth after beating South Ramsey 103-85 (4-2) and Port St Mary B finish seventh after their win against Mooragh Park B 105-73 (5-1).
Back to the race for the title. Mooragh Park A took on Port St Mary A with the away side needing to keep up the pace set by Peel. In a low scoring match, which saw two games won to nil, Port St Mary were restricted to scoring 89 chalks with the match ending 84-89 (3-3).
Peel Sunset did all that they could to take the title down to the wire and put in another strong home performance defeating Douglas 116-89 (5-1).
An incredible season, which has seen Peel and Port St Mary swap and change at the top, will go down to the very last match of the year. Peel have built a 120 chalk lead and have one hand firmly on the title.
Port St Mary are still Champions however and will not give up without a fight. Thursdays match at home to Douglas will see 126 points up for grabs and a chance to win the league for a fifth consecutive year.
Janet Monk has won the individual merit in her first over 60s season. Elaine Moore and Mary Moffatt currently sit second and third with Margaret Tasker able to claim either of those positions depending on her final game.
Top Four, All To Play For
Friday 14th September saw the penultimate games take place in the Ladies Bowling Night League.
Port St Mary remain on course for their fifth title in succession, and eight overall, following their full house win over Douglas. Douglas unfortunately were a player short and were unable to push close in any of the games with Chris Price and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures. The match ended 189-84 (9-0).
Castletown A nearly matched their rivals but dropped one game in their 184-86 (8-1) win over Ballaugh. Hilary Kermode, Kim Foy, Heike Perry, Anne Oates and Sue Peach turned in fine home performances to win to single figures. Ballaugh avoided a whitewash with Gill Dixon defeating Hannah Drewett 21-16.
The battle for third position continues into the final week of the season with South Ramsey heading Nobles for the position. South Ramsey defeated Port Erin with Elaine Moore and Jenny Moore both playing well winning 21-0 and 21-4 respectively. Port Erin did pick up two wins from Caroline Whitehead and Lynda Cadamy but South won the match 182-122 (8-2).
Nobles kept up with South by winning their match against Mooragh Park 179-98 (7-2). Debbie Leece, Alison Keggen, Paula Firth and Clare Cooper all won to single figures. Mooragh’s wins came from Helen Martin and Caroline Parker.
Peel Sunset suffered a home defeat to Purt Le Moirrey despite winning more games on the night. Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Louise Horsfall, Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt won for the home side. Purt Le Moirrey pulled off a six chalk win with wins from Sandra Lowe, Dot Mylchreest, Wyn Collister and Linda Dawson. Final score 154-162 (5-4).
In the final match from Friday, Onchan defeated Castletown B 176-74 (8-1) with the visiting team managing to avoid a full house defeat with Barbara Young winning 21-8.
Heading into the final game of the season Port St Mary hold a strong 81 chalk advantage over Castletown A. On paper Castletown A’s final game against their B team could result in another maximum 189 score. That would mean Port St Mary would have to score a minimum of 108 chalks to retain the league, but face a strong Nobles side who are themselves chasing South Ramsey for third position.
South Ramsey will only play their final match against Douglas on Thursday 27th and will look to turn over whatever advantage Nobles have built.
In the race for the individual merit Chris Price leads on 482 chalks followed by Amanda Lawler 478, Jayne Kneen 476 and Jenny Moore 469. All four ladies are in contention for the top spots with the last game of the season the crucial deciding game.
Millennium Fours
Millennium Fours Winners 2018
Rebecca Teare, Paula Firth, Maureen Payne, Lin RuscoeA good turnout of 32 ladies split into eight teams took part in the Millennium Fours competition held at Marown.
The competition see’s teams of four play two singles and a doubles match with total chalks determining the winner.
In the first semi final Margaret Tasker, Trish Bull, Mavis Franks and Chris Price booked their spot in the final with a 34-29 victory over Jenny Moore, Kim Hargraves, Bethany Kennish and Fiona Kennish.
In the other semi, Maureen Payne, Rebecca Teare, Lin Ruscoe and Paula Firth advanced following their 45-31 win over Alison Keggen, Debbie Leece, Lil Smith and Lyn Bolton.
In the final, Maureen Payne defeated Mavis Franks 15-5 whilst Trish Bull responded for her team winning 15-4 against Lin Ruscoe.
With the match evenly balanced at 20-19 the doubles would settle the contest.
After some brilliant ends Rebecca Teare and Paula Firth edged past Margaret Tasker and Chris Price 15-13 giving their team an overall 34-33 victory.
Thanks to Marown for hosting the competition, Heather Horsburgh and Elaine Moore for running the competition and all those who helped on the day.
Maddrell & Kennish Triumph
The Friends Provident Mens doubles drawn partners was played on Sunday 16th September at Port St Mary. An entry of 38 players were split into group A and group B, with group A being mainly division one players. One player from each group were drawn out to make up what should be 19 fairly evenly matched pairs.
Three preliminary matches were needed to get down to the last 16. Tim Williams & Bernard Thackrah beat Bernie Durcan & Derek Cain 21-17. Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil defeated Derek Allen & Ray Watterson 21-15, whilst Lee Dawson & Karl Parker won 21-16 against Glynn Hargraves & Tony Hart.
Round one had several close games, with the closest being John Kennish & Ray Maddrell squeezing past Dave McCabe & Walter McCarthy 21-20.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Lee Dawson & Karl Parker, Mike Hargraves & Austin Hart, Matthew Keggen & Paul Quirk along with Edward Carlyle & Ryan Hargraves.
The first semi-final saw Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil (South Ramsey/Castletown) take on John Kennish & Ray Maddrell (South Ramsey/Port St Mary), with the latter pair going through quite comfortably 21-10. In the second semi-final, Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett (Port St Mary/Castletown) went through almost as comfortably 21-13 against Wayne Roberts & Dave Saxon (both Port St Mary).
A very good final followed between the top two teams of the day, there were many tight ends, but in the end John Kennish & Ray Maddrell were just too strong for Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett winning 21-14.
The presentation was made by Ann Maddrell, who thanked the sponsors Friends Provident, everyone at Port St Mary bowling club that helped with the running of the competition and to everyone that took part. Ann then introduced Katy Williams of Friends Provident to present the prizes.
Marown & South Ramsey Set to Clash In Final
The mixed team semi-finals were played on Thursday evening with the matches played at neutral venues.
Marown A took on Port St Mary at Finch Hill in a match that went to the wire (145-139), however it was Marown who booked their place in the final despite suffering two heavy defeats. Lil Smith lost 2-21 to Trevor Quayle, whilst Shirley Whelan lost 5-21 to Wayne Roberts. The other winner for Port St Mary was Margaret Tasker who beat Mary Alderson 21-12. Marown’s five wins were enough to see them over the line with Dean Kipling the only single figure winner for Marown beating Ray Watterson 21-8. Paul Dunn beat Tim Williams 21-10, Neil Withers won 21-11 against Dan McCabe, with Colin Kelly beating Mavis Franks 21-13 whilst Paul Kelly won 21-14 against Jayne Kneen. The closest match of the night was between Philippa Taylor and Chris Price with Taylor edging it 21-20.
South Ramsey A took on Noble’s A at Onchan on Thursday evening with the match expected to be close. South Ramsey wasted no time in the first five games to all but secure their place in the final winning all the games to comfortable score lines to build up a 59 point lead. James Teare performed well to record a 21-5 win over Alison Keggen, Stefan Kelly beat Clare Cooper 21-13, whilst Glynn Hargraves defeated Paula Firth 21-8. The next two games off were 21-10 wins for Ben Dugdale & Elaine Moore against John Ruscoe and Reginald Temporaza respectively. In the second half of the match Lyn Bolton beat Sylvia Kennaugh 21-8, with Jenny Moore seeing off Glenn Boland 21-13. Noble’s two wins were well deserved with David Pease beating Alan Moore 21-10, whilst Rebecca Teare played well to beat Gill Dixon 21-15. South Ramsey won the match 7-2 on games and taking the victory by 63 chalks (172-109).
The mixed team final between Marown and South Ramsey takes place on Thursday 20th September with the venue still to be confirmed. Marown will start the match as favourites on the night.
Marown Book Final Spot
Marown Club Team who took on Peel at Crosby
Photo: Arnie WithersIn Group A Marown secured their spot in the final with a game to spare despite suffering losses in all of their doubles games at home to Peel. Jerome Surridge & Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly beat Neil Withers & Paul Kelly 21-18, Gary Smith & Gordon Corrin defeated Phil Kelly and Juan Killip 21-14, with Stevie Kelly and David Proctor seeing off Paul Dunn & Peter Kelly 21-16. In the singles Frank Watson was the only Peel winner defeating Matthew Keggen 21-17. Marown’s victory ended up being comfortable (149-112) thanks to wins in the singles from Dean Kipling, Brian Kelly and John Gelling all winning to single figures against Dave Smith, Mike Ashmole and Tommy McMeiken respectively, whilst Colin Kelly showed no mercy against his eldest son Tom Kelly with a 21-13 win.
In Group B it is set up nicely for the last group match at Onchan against South Ramsey who sit top by two points holding an 18 chalk advantage. For Onchan to progress to the final they need to win the match by 19 chalks to reach the final.
South Ramsey picked up two points this week with a victory over Douglas (150-124) with the floodlights now coming into play early on in matches due to the nights closing in. In the singles matches Steven Waters and Chas Grills both recorded 21-18 wins over Gary Conwell and Shaun Seal respectively, whilst Stefan Kelly beat Willie Cowley to single figures. Austin Hart lost out 15-21 to Ian Moore, whilst Sid Bolton lost 19-21 to Andy Cannell. In the doubles matches Ben Dugdale & James Teare were well beaten 11-21 against Mervin Sayle and Keith Rise, with Alan Moore & Peter Collister cancelling this defeat out with a 21-10 win. Glynn Hargraves & Dido Kelly won 21-7 against Jimmy Sansom & Gordon Wynne-Smythe.
Cooper and Dawson Take First Mixed Doubles Title
Wilfred Quayle Winners 2018
Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Wilfred Quayle mixed doubles on Sunday with the competition attracting 37 pairs on a fine day.
The eventual winners were Clare Cooper (Noble’s) and Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) who overcame the strong challenge of Chrissy McManus (Ainsdale) and Steve McManus (Mere Brow) in a high quality final to secure their first mixed doubles win. After six ends the score was 13-12 to Cooper and Dawson with the McManus Husband and Wife partnership having only won two ends but scoring two three’s. From there the latter were kept down to four singles with Cooper and Dawson complimenting each other well with Cooper leading brilliantly at the front and Dawson doing the business at the back when needed to take three singles, a three and a double to take the title with a 21-16 win.
Losing out to the winners at the semi-final stage were Alison Keggen (Noble’s) and Neil Withers (Marown) 13-21, whilst the South Ramsey pairing of Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves lost out 12-21.
Falling at the quarter final stage were the Port St Mary pairings of Pauline Worrall and Paul Russell, Katy Williams and Tim Williams, home greeners Marie Ashurst and Dave Faragher, along with Paula Firth (Noble’s) and Sid Bolton (South Ramsey).
The presentation was made by Phil Taubman who thanked everyone who had entered and all the club members who had helped with the smooth running of the competition throughout the day. It was great to see some visitors extend their stay on the Island to enter the competition with the losing finalists playing on the green for the first time, showing how quickly they had adapted to a new green, with the visitors thanking everyone for such a warm welcome.