News: Reports
Queen Mary reigns supreme as Gaz goes DooLally
September Festival Winners 2015
Gaz Lally (Crossgates) & Mary Alderson (Marown)Local Mary Alderson (Marown) and Yorkshire man Gaz Lally (Crossgates) were on top of the world last week after winning their respective bowls festival finals.
Mary Alderson deserves every accolade afforded her after a finals day performance that would rival any previous local success in the ladies main competition. She was simply tremendous. Mary was without quesiton the best player on finals day and sealed victory with a final win over Veronica Lyon (Beechams Unison).
In the final Alderson started quickly moving into a 14-7 lead before Lyon found her form to narrow the gap to just one point at 13-14 It was the closest anyone had got to Mary all day; however she handled the pressure magnificently and maintained her composure to rediscover her length and move 18-13 ahead. Lyon dug deep but didn’t have enough to catch the magnificent Manxie as she took the title 21-16.
In the semi finals Mary fought off defending champion Lynsey Gorman (New Brighton) 21-15 whilst Lyon ended the challenge of Port St Mary’s Margaret Tasker 21-9. Tasker should be very pleased of her efforts falling just one game short of a final appearance. Win Collister (Port St Mary) should also be very happy with her weeks work as she made it to the quarter finals before falling to Lyon 21-13.
It’s hard to put into words how special this moment is for Mary who has now found success in our premier competition after twenty five years of trying, and she fully deserves every second of her time in the sun as a very worthy Champion.
There was a contrasting story in the Men’s competition with Gaz Lally winning his first ever senior Men’s Final to win one of the most coveted prizes in the sport.
Lally was on it form from the off on Friday’s finals day and despite being the outsider with the bookies in every game he played, he overcame the odds to seal a fantastic victory beating former champion Martin Gilpin (Kendal) 21-17 in a brilliant final.
It was nip and tuck for most of the match with neither player able to gain the upper hand and Gilpin actually led the match at 17-16. Lally who had shown the composure of a true champion throughout the day dug deep and found his best when he needed it running out 21-17 and taking with it the title and the £3,000 prize money. All I can say Gaz is it’s not a bad first open to win!
If the final was brilliant Lally’s semi final with Wayne ‘The Beast’ Ditchfield (Kirkham Cons) was simply spectacular. Lying game down at 20-20 Lally produced questionably the bowl of the tournament to take the win under immeasurable pressure and book his final birth.
Colin Kelly (Marown) was the furthest Manx Man in the competition making it to the quarter finals where he was beaten by Lally’s stable mate Kez Smith (Crossgates). Smith missed out on making it a derby in the final going down 21-14 to Gilpin in the semis.
The tourism competitions saw two locals just missing out with David Bradford (Onchan) falling 21-15 to Johnathan Guess (Burbage) at the final hurdle and Janet Monk (MooraghPark) doing the same 21-13 to Tracy Ryan.
It is an exceptional achievement to make it to the final of a competition with the same stellar line up’s of the main event, and despite both being disappointed not to win they should be exceptionally proud of their efforts.
There was another hard luck story for a local in the Men’s consolation competition with Matthew Keggen (Onchan) narrowly losing out to Dave Jackson (Railway) 21-19 despite lying game at the final end.
It was an all visitors affair in the ladies consolation with Joyce Jones (SkyeBC) defeating Violet Dennison (Levens) 21-11 in the final.
There was a familiar feel to the final of the last chance mixed competition with Michael Coupe (Houghton) just getting the better of another local, Sid Bolton (South Ramsey), 21-19.
In the final singles competition of the week, the Visit IOM.com flyer, Roger Morgan (Knutsford) tasted success with a 9-6 win over Darrell Wilbur (Nursery).
The doubles proved almost as popular as the singles competitions and since its inclusion the open doubles has become one of the most sought after titles of the week. The standard of play in the final was exceptional with visitors Wayne Ditchfield & Barry Booth just having enough to see of the challenge from South Ramsey’s John Kennish and Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 11-9.
The men’s doubles yielded some local success with Onchan’s Matthew Quirk teaming up with Merseyside’s Michael Davies to defeat Callum Wraight (Castlefields) and Stuart Garret (Douglas) 11-9.
In the ladies doubles finals Lynsey Gorman & Kathleen Watkinson (Tarleton) were victorious beating Paula Garrett (Douglas) & Maureen Lyons (Mossley Hill BC) 11-4.
There was local success in the mixed doubles with Rita Callister (Port St Mary) teaming up with Andy Mailer (Meersbrook) to take the title with a 9-0 win over Matt Simpson (Kendal) & Nicola Gilmore (Wirral).
In the end of a brilliant week of bowling MLC David Cretney presented the prizes on behalf of the Department of Economic Development to the worthy winners.
Praise must once again go to Steve Moore and his hardworking team of co-ordinators who once again ensured the smooth running of yet another Isle of Man Bowls Festival. This year they even managed to book the weather! Thanks also need to go to the Department of Economic Development and Manx Telecom for their continued support and sponsorship of the flagship of the British bowling season. Final thanks must go to the green keepers who once against produced unparalleled playing surfaces which were the envy of the visiting bowlers.
The final word however belongs to Mary Alderson who flew the Manx flag with honours it probably hasn’t all sunk in yet for her, but hopefully reading about her success in black and white will make it seem more real! You did it Mary.
Steam Packet Thurwell Bowl
Visitor Darrell Wilbur will have been delighted with his victory in the Steam Packet sponsored Thurwell Competition at Nobles, as his 21-19 final victory over Janet Monk saw him sail away with a voucher for a car and 2 passengers.
In a close match Wilbur just had enough to get over the line against a spirited Monk. In the semi finals Wilbur eliminated Joyce Ogden 21-17 whilst Monk put out Stefan Kelly 21-11 at the same stage.
Fallers at the quarter final stage were Glynn Hargraves, Derek Allen, Margaret Tasker and Bod Boland.
Thanks go to NoblesPark for running the competition and the Steam Packet for their much appreciated sponsorship.
Wilfred Quayle Mixed Doubles
Neil Withers & Hannah Drewitt won the final event of the Festival Weekend with victory in the Wilfred Quayle Mixed Doubles at Castletown Bowling Club on Sunday.
They didn’t have things their own way though and tasted victory by the narrowest of margins as they beat Trevor Quayle & Lyn Bolton 21-20 in a fantastic final.
In the semi finals our victors beat Alan Moore & Hilary Kermode 21-10 whilst our runners up knocked out Derek Lewney & Heike Perry 21-12.
Fallers at the quarter finals stage were Jenny Moore & James Tears, Joy Stephens & Dave Quayle, Joyce Ogden & Mike Hargraves and Chris Price & Dido Kelly.
Thanks must go to Castletown for a tremendously well presented playing surface and the smooth running of the competition.
JMS Veterans Shield Final
The JMS Veterans Shield Final is due to be held this Thursday 17th September at Port Erin Bowling Club
It would be great to see some support both for the teams who reach the final and all spectators are welcome. There will be tea, coffee and biscuits provided.
Essie Quayle ladies’ singles
Strong winds and a fast green made for difficult conditions for the 32 ladies who contested the Essie Quayle singles at Peel on Saturday 5 September. Although the sun shone it became very cold for the latter stages of the competition, reducing the number of spectators staying to the end.
Quarter-finals: Kim Hargraves 21, Mary Kinrade 18; Margaret Tasker 21, Shirley Corrin 16; Joyce Kelly 21, Janet Monk 19; Ann Maddrell 21, Maureen Payne 16
Semi-finals: Kim Hargraves 21, Margaret Tasker 17; Joyce Kelly 21, Ann Maddrell 16
In the final the early ends were shared to make the players level at 9-9. Joyce won the next 5 ends to lead 16-9. Although play was level after that point Kim was unable to make inroads into Joyce’s lead, the peel player coming through to win 21-14.
The presentation was made by club captain Heather Horsburgh who thanked the green keeper and everyone who had helped with the smooth running of the afternoon.
Maddrell’s Double Cream
Maddrell's Double Cream Winners 2015
Matthew & Alison Keggen with Ballaugh Chairman Jenny MaddrellOn Sunday Ballaugh Bowling Club held the Maddrell’s Double Cream Mixed pairs. With 45 pairs, 10 up on 2014, is was always going to be a long day and so it proved with the last bowl stopping just after 9.20pm.
The eventual winners were Matthew and Alison Keggen, who obviously like the Ballaugh green as just over a month ago won the Spar Mixed pairs on the green. In the final they defeated Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly and Christine Price 21-11.
In the semi finals Alison & Matthew overcome Harry & Joyce Kelly while Paula Firth and Jordan Cain lost out to Dido & Chris. Losing quarter finalists were Katy & Tim Williams, Amanda Lawler & Neil Withers, Sid & Casey Bolton, Roger & Maureen Payne.
At the conclusion Chairman, Jenny Maddrell thanked Richard Faragher & Paul Bradford for running the competition, and the lady members of the club for running the kitchen and keeping everyone fed.
There was also an item of lost property found with a ring being found in the ladies toilets. To claim it please contact Paul Bradford on 482349.
The next competition is the Keenan 4s Mens Doubles on Saturday 5th September 2015 commencing 1pm. Entries to Richard Faragher on 497867 by Thursday 3rd September
Report by Richard Faragher
Derek Killey Memorial
Derek Killey Memorial Winners 2015
John & Fiona KennishThe Derek Killey memorial mixed pairs played at Onchan raised £445.52 for the Isle of Man Stroke Foundation.
Onchan Club would like to thank all players and supporters who contributed so generously. And to Mrs Eileen Killey for providing the prizes to the winners John and Fiona Kennish and to the runners up Matthew and Alison Keggen.
Report by Marilyn Ellison
Kevin Quirk – Courageous, Deserved and Magnificent
Onchan had already won the Isle of Man Bank Men’s division one title going into the final fixtures and the only thing left to work out was the margin of their impressive victory.
They signed off a very impressive campaign with an 8-2 win over Nobles A to finish twenty one points ahead of runners up Marown A. I have already used almost every superlative in the dictionary to describe this great team, however I have saved a couple for club stalwart Kevin Quirk.
Less than eighteen months after we were left wondering if he would ever play the game to the best of his ability again, due to a series of major health scares, he not only goes and wins the division one merit but he wins all of his 24 games in his first full season back. There as so many descriptive words I could use to sum up Quirk and this achievement but I will simply go with courageous, deserved and magnificent. It’s great to see you back at your best.
Nobles will have been delighted with their two points as they finished above Peel A by the same number of points three places off the bottom, safe o rom the drop.
Marown A signed off in style with a 10-0 maximum victory over Castletown B, and the first outing for their innovative electronic scoreboard. They will be left pondering what they need to do to stop Onchan next term as they found themselves in no man’s land with fifteen points between them and the third placed outfit but a way off the top.
Castletown B were not as lucky as Nobles as a hard run in left them firmly rooted to the bottom of the tree with division two bowls looming next year.
Port St Mary A won the season long battle for third place by a solitary point over South Ramsey A. Both teams have been battling it out all season and Port will take a little satisfaction from getting one over on the team that beat them in the Rayner Shield.
It had been neck and neck all season in the battle for Division Two champions however in the final few games South Ramsey B turned on the style and challengers Douglas B just couldn’t live with their end of season form.
In the end South finished eight points clear of the men from the Villa with Port St Mary B completing the top three just four points further back.
Castletown C finished bottom after really struggling this season, there were encouraging signs from a couple of new players and I am sure after a period of rebuilding in division three they will be back in the higher echelons of the local game. Despite a good 7-3 win in their final fixture Nobles B finished second bottom just two points adrift of Port St Mary C.
The closest battle actually came in division three with Onchan C taking the silverware by just one point between them and runners up Peel C.
Both teams were on opposite ends of 7-3 results and despite a spirited win by the Govags away from home at Finch Hill B it just wasn’t to be, with Onchan emulating the success of their A team.
All in all it has been a magnificent season for bowls all round both in terms of the league, development and other initiatives that are really thrusting the sport to the fore. The IOMCCGBA would like to thank the Isle of Man Bank for their continues support of the Men’s leagues and it is hoped that this partnership can continue for many years to come.
Northern Lights Shine at Douglas
Ladies Douglas Town Cup Winner 2015
Janet MonkIt was a Ramsey double at the Villa Marina on Saturday as South Ramsey’s John Kennish and Mooragh Park’s Janet Monk won the respective men’s and ladies Paddy Power sponsored Douglas Town cups.
Both players were at the top of their game all day on a tricky playing surface. Kennish found top gear and was on fire in the latter rounds. He put in an extremely impressive final performance defeating long-time rival Colin Kelly 21-13 in a top quality final.
His best performance was in the round before as he was simply unplayable against defending champion David Bradford, winning 21-7 to book his final berth. Kelly was also in good form in the semi-finals fighting off the spirited challenge of Steve Parker.
Parker can be extremely pleased with his days’ work eliminating a couple of Island players en route to the semis. If he can translate his end of season open form into his league performances next term it won’t be long before he is turning a few heads.
Monk was equally as impressive in the ladies competition as she saw off the challenge of plucky home greener Paula Garrett 21-15 in a top quality final. Garrett and Monk are the only two names on this trophy, and it was first blood to Monk to get etched into the annals of history as a double winner.
Garrett would have hoped to have gone all the way but she can take heart from a series of great wins over top quality opposition including an impressive semi-final victory over Margaret Tasker. Monk had to overcome an unknown force in the shape of Fon Edwards in the same round to make it to the final.
Edwards impressed all day. She is relatively new to the game and if she continues to improve at her current rate it will not be long at all before she has her own name engraved on one of the more coveted trophies.
Douglas would like to thank Paddy Power for their continued support and sponsorship. They have formed a formidable partnership not only with Douglas Bowling Club but with Isle of Man Bowls in general and their continued efforts are definitely propelling our sport in the right direction.
JMS Quarter-finals Thursday 20 August
The remaining two quarter-finals in the JMS handicap Knock-out competition took place on Thursday 20 August.
The quarter-final between Peel Sunset and Castletown was a strange affair with five of the seven games being won to single figures, four to Peel and one to Castletown, courtesy of Anne Oates. There was also an incident with a mobile phone on the green, which fortunately had little bearing on the result, but should act as a salutary warning for future games in this competition and in the league next year.
The other quarter-final was closer, with Port St Mary B winning 4-3 on games. With all the Onchan A players reaching double figures, Dee Lewis winning to single figures and Maureen Payne reaching 20 against Pauline Worrall, the visitors led 124-120 before the handicap kicked in. However their 15 point advantage on handicap saw Port St Mary B through to the next round 155-144.