News: Reports
Greeba Cup
There was an entry of 22 pairs for the Greeba Cup ladies’ doubles played at Marown on Saturday 9 May.
The weather was fine for the afternoon’s play but turned bitterly cold for the latter stages which may partly explain the dearth of spectators staying to watch the final.
Both Semi-finals were close, Paula Firth and Lin Ruscoe coming back from 14-20 down against Mary Kinrade and Ellie Cowell to book their place in the final, while in the other Helen Martin and Kim Hargraves had the better of the early exchanges to hold a 12-7 lead over Tricia Bull and Margaret Tasker. Margaret and Tricia fought back to level 15 across, at which point Helen and Kim scored a 4 before the Port St Mary pair took the next four ends to win.
Semi-finals: Paula Firth and Lin Ruscoe 21, Mary Kinrade and Ellie Cowell 20; Margaret Tasker and Tricia Bull 21, Helen Martin and Kim Hargraves 19
The final could not have been more exciting with Paula and Lin racing to a 16-8 lead before Margsret and Tricia won the next four ends to pull back to 13-16. The PSM pair had the better of the next few ends to level at 19-19. Paula and Lin won the next end to get to “all but” first before Margaret and Tricia dug deep to take the next two ends and the title.
Final: Margaret Tasker and Tricia Bull 21, Paula Firth and Lin Ruscoe 20
The presentation was made by club president Rosie Winckle who thanked the Marown ladies for their help during the afternoon.
Onchan Express Back on Track – Games 7 & 8
Isle of Man Bank Division One leaders Onchan bounced back from last week’s defeat with two ruthless results to steam ahead of the chasing pack. They started the week with an extremely impressive 8-2 win away over a strong Port St Mary team before further stoking the fire behind their title defence with a 10-0 home win against struggling Ballaugh A.
Ballaugh will be disappointed with their showing though after a very impressive 7-3 win over Castletown A just two days earlier. Port were back to winning ways on Wednesday with an 8-2 victory at Nobles.
Whilst Monday’s performance against Port was extremely impressive it is the Champions ability to deliver devastating maximum results against the lower ranked teams which I think will see them on track for another title. Any other teams with title ambitions will need to take note and up their game if they want to halt the momentum of the Onchan express.
Douglas A have started the season on all steam ahead and followed up last week’s victory over the champions with two more solid performances to move into second place. They took North Ramsey’s 100% record with frightening ease as they won 9-1 on Monday before beating Peel 7-3 on their travels. This is a team with fire in their belly and they will be hoping to challenge for a top four place come the end of August.
Marown A are the most likely challengers to Onchan’s crown and are now in third place having played a game less than the top two. If they are to mount a serious quest for top honours they need to start now and will be pleased with two strong showings with a 9-1 win over Nobles before adding to North Ramsey’s woes by beating them 8-2 on their own patch.
South Ramsey A are a side who started the season with true title ambitions and after sitting out on Monday will be genuinely disappointed to have only left Castletown A with a 6-4 win. They need to get going, and get going fast if they want to get their hands on the silverware.
At the top of the Division Two tree South Ramsey B will be very happy with their progress this week beating Ballaugh B 8-2 before a recording great midweek win by the same score over high flying Onchan B.
Douglas B are in second place and despite a great start winning 8-2 away at Peel B they will be disappointed to have suffered their first setback of the season going down 6-4 at home to Port St Mary C.
Oncahn B and Port St Mary B are third and fourth respectively and just two points off Douglas B and six off the top. Port and Douglas have both played one game less than our current leaders and I think the winners of this hotly contested league will come from these four.
Onchan C are now the team to beat at the top of Division Three after two strong performances last week they began with a brilliant 10-0 whitewash of Ballauch C and followed it up with a battling 7-3 at Nobles C to move four points clear.
David Becomes Goliath with Manx Championship Victory
David ‘Drof’ Bradford (Onchan) etched his name into the record books as he beat Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) 21-15 to win the Canada Life International Manx Championship. The final was a breath taking conclusion to an enthralling two days action with both players playing their part.
Bradford, who is fast becoming a colossus of the local game, added the coveted trophy to his ever increasing collection and despite being only Thirty years old will be relieved to have got this monkey off his back, as many past greats have failed to get their hands on the illusive holy grail of Manx bowls.
In the final, despite an even start, Bradford eventually moved through the gears quicker surging into a 16-8 lead over Quayle, who had played like a champion all day. Just when it looked like he might be running away with it his opponent dug deep, and using all his resolve mounted a spirited fight back. It was not to be for Trevor, and after seeing one of his best leads beaten at 20-15 adrift; he saw his second bowl go through a seemingly impossible gap to fall just short of his own quest for glory.
Whilst Bradford deserves all the plaudits and accolades afforded to him, spare a thought for Quayle who was at times equally brilliant over the course of the weekend. He started finals day in ruthless form with a 21-8 win over Mike Hargraves (Castletown) before turning on the style to eliminate eight times champion John Kennish (South Ramsey) in the quarter finals and followed this up with a hard fought 21-18 win over double champion Glynn Hargraves (Onchan) to book his final berth.
In my mind Trevor has been one of the most underrated players in the local game over the past few years, and this final appearance comes as no shock to me, and I by no means think it will be the last time we see him vying for silverware on the big stage. As they say in bowls ‘next end lad’ and I expect to see Trevor straight back in and gunning for glory the next time he steps onto the green.
Our champion had a trickier start to the day, however, and trailed 16-19 to former champion Neil Withers (Marown). With the scores finely poised at 19-19, and Neil lying in two for game his luck changed as a strike he sent flicked off the short wood to cut his opponent down to one and save game. It didn’t stop there and with him lying one next end to go to all but across his opponent went all out for the win with a questionable full blooded strike at his bowl, and in the process took his own wood off the green to see Bradford through by the narrowest of margins.
It takes a champion to come through at seemingly impossible odds and Bradford is a true champion. In the quarter finals he was too hot to handle for Alan Moore (South Ramsey) running away to a 21-9 win before meeting a battling Ewan Cooil (Port St Mary) in the semi-finals who made him work all the way to get over the line at 21-16. Cooil can also be pleased with his weekends work and he played some great bowls, none more so than beating home greener Paul Kelly (Douglas) 21-10 in the quarters.
With an entry of over 60 players for the first time in a good few years there were many highlights of the weekend but two players who shone for me were Michael Collister (Port St Mary) and Mervin Sayle (Finch Hill).
Despite his tender age Collister has struggled in the past few seasons, since winning the Clague Kermeen Trophy, and his performance was a real return to form and he should be very proud of his efforts. He not only qualified for finals days but made it to the quarter finals where he pushed Glynn Hargraves all the way 21-20.
Sayle, who is now playing in division one, showed his true pedigree with the upset of day one eliminating two time champion Kevin Quirk (Onchan) 21-9 with a devastating display.
At the conclusion of the competition IOMCCGBA President Phil Kerruish thanked Douglas for hosting the competition and Canada Life International for their continued support and sponsorship of the event, but the day belonged to Bradford.
It is the end to what has been a long wait for him after he sprung to the fore in 2002 by becoming the youngest ever winner of an Isle of Man Bowls Festival, at the tender age of seventeen. Since then he has emerged as true talent with the potential to reach the highest level, not only on our shores but also in the UK. Now he has a title under his belt the only question I have left to ask is how many more will he add?
His win qualifies him for the British Senior Merit and the famous Champion of Champions competition and with the Island team now represented at Senior County Level I know he will turn a few heads on every green he steps on. Well done Drof, this is your moment lad and you deserve to enjoy every second of it.
Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 7 May
The weather relented on Thursday and all seven Trend sponsored over 60’s matches went ahead. Peel Sunset led the way with a full house against Breagle, three of the home players winning to single figures. The match at the Villa was a high-scoring affair with all players reaching double figures. The home side had a 4-2 advantage on games though five of the games could have gone either way , Villa winning two of their games to 19 and the two winners for Noble’s, Sonja Lees and Lin Ruscoe, winning to 18. The game of the match saw Pat Robertson just lose out 20-21 to Pat Kelly. Onchan A travelled to Port St Mary B where they won five of the six games although all games went to double figures. Sandi Lowe was the lone winner for the home side, denying Onchan A a maximum. Marown had a 4-2 advantage against Mooragh Park with Mary Black winning to single figures as did Moira Anderson for the visitors. 3-3 was the score in games at Onchan B, But with Jane Teare reaching 18 against Joyce Gardiner and Peggy Griffin getting 19 against Lynda Clarke, together with Ann Gale winning to single figures Bal laugh had a clear win on points. Port Erin had a close match with Douglas, all games going to double figures, the game of the match seeing Patsy Rush just come through 21-20 against Jackie Elliott. Port St Mary A did not have it all their own way at Castletown, winning 4-2 on games with Anne Oates and Marie Ashurst, to single figures, being the two winners for the home side. Wins to single figures by Win Collister and Margaret Tasker gave them a comfortable win on points in the end.
Canada Life International Manx Championships
There is a real buzz of anticipation around crown green bowls on the Isle of Man right now in the wake of our first ever Senior County Championship match, and I am delighted to say that this has rolled over into the Canada Life International Manx Championship at Douglas this weekend with a bumper entry of 62 players.
There are some mouth watering clashes in the top half of the first round draw which starts at 12pm on Saturday starting with double champion Kevin Quirk taking on Paul Skelly. Defending and 8 times champion John Kennish will have his hands full with the talented veteran Stuart Garrett who is more than capable of causing an upset, especially on his own patch. Two of our Manx young guns slug it out too in the early stages with Matthew Quirk set to take on in form Rob Monk, who has had the recent taste of success and will be hungry for more.
In the bottom half David Bradford, who has had numerous victories on the Villa and must surely be a favourite for his first title, has a very tricky opener in the shape of Jerome Surridge who is capable of beating anyone if he brings his A game. Bradford’s stablemate Jordan Cain will also be hoping to etch his name onto the coveted trophy for the first time but will have to be at his supreme best to do so as former champion Neil Withers, who will be hoping to add to his own trophy cabinet, stands in his way. There is a re-run of the Rayner final clash between Adrian Skinner and Dean Kipling with the latter looking for revenge after he was turned over at Peel in their previous encounter.
There are other interesting ties scattered through the draw with two big in house South Ramsey clashes which see Alan Moore take on Chas Grills and 3 times Champion Andy Kennish takes on in form Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. I will also be interested in seeing how young Stefan Kelly fairs against double champion Glynn Hargraves and lets not forget that we have a multitude of other former champions in the field including 5 times winner Colin Kelly who starts his campaign against Bod Boland.
With such a high quality field it will be anyone’s game on Sunday when the last 16 slug it out to see who will be crowned 2015 champion, and I don’t know why but I get a sneaky feeling that we will see a new name join the illustrious roll of honour.
Kneenys Tips
Quarter Finals
Trevor Quayle v John Kennish, Rob Monk v Glynn Hargraves, David Bradford v Dean Kipling, Matthew Keggen v Phil Kerruish
Semi Finals
John Kennish v Rob Monk, David Bradford v Matthew Keggen
Final
John Kennish v David Bradford
Winner
David Bradford
Heroic Local Showing In First Ever County Match
The Paddy Power sponsored Isle of Man senior men’s team broke new ground on Sunday as they took part in their first ever Senior County Championship Match. Their historic inclusion into the Endleigh Insurance sponsored Crosfield cup was the culmination of so much work by so many people, which started way back in 2012, drew a capacity crowd for the home leg at Peel bowing club.
Logistically and financially this is the biggest and most complex project in the history of Crown Green bowls, not just on the Isle of Man but in Britain as there are four flights and UK travel to contend with and whilst there are always learning points from a venture like this, the day could not have run any smoother. It ended up a day in the sun, not only for the Manx men, but also for their opponents Shropshire who did their part in making this the most momentous day in the history of the game.
If organisational lessons were learned there were also some handed out on the bowling green with Shropshire in devastating form in both home and away legs. They are one of the favourites to win the entire competition and certainly held no punches against the Manxies. Our lads though can be extremely proud of how they played and whilst they didn’t win the match they certainly raised a few eyebrows with some scintillating performances of their own, in fact after four games in the away leg they actually led by three points.
The home side played well and despite some extremely close matches only picked up two wins, with Trevor Quayle recording a great 21-15 win over the talented Andrew Moss and young Adrian Skinner winning Endsliegh Insurance Man of the Match with his terrific 21-16 win against Andrew Judson. This is crown green bowls at the highest level and like all sports at elite level games are won and lost by fine margins and but for the rub of the green it could have been a very different story win the locals recording two 20’s a 19 and two 18 defeats. Ten more points from 5 games would have seen the draw 6-6 on games.
In Shropshire, as mentioned earlier, the team started superbly winning two of the first four matched and narrowly losing out 19 in the others to take a slender lead. John Kennish and Phil Kerruish led the way with good wins and Glynn Hargraves can be pleased to have played really well at this level. For me though David Bradford was the star of the show in the early stages and despite training 19-10, to arguably the best player in the Shropshire home side, he showed us what county bowling is all about having the resolve to fight his way back to narrowly lose out 21-19. The adventure into the unknown was always going to be difficult and their strength in depth really showed in the mid order; however we saved the best to last with Phil Kelly stealing the show with a mouth watering 21-11 victory over Peter Farmer.
Overall Shropshire won the 24 game match 477 to 358 but the local lads should be very proud of what they achieved in their first outing on the big stage. I cannot emphasise enough how much work has gone in the background to make this long standing dream a reality, and not just the player but the organisers and anyone who had ever had an association with Crown Green Bowls should be very proud of what was achieved yesterday. Shropshire may have won the match yesterday but without question the real winner was Crown Green Bowls on the Isle of Man.
Home Leg – Peel Sunset Bowling Club
Isle of Man 182 v Shropshire 241 – Colin Kelly 18, Martin Lloyd 21; Kevin Quirk 20, Richie Goddard 21, Neil Withers 18, Glyn Herbert 21; Paul Skelly 8, Darren Welling 21; Dean Kipling 20, Wayne Phillips 21; Stuart Garrett 8, Clay Flattley 21; Adrian Skinner 21, Andrew Judson 16; Jerome Surridge 16, Michael Beer 21; Chas Grills 5, Callum Wraight 21; Trevor Quayle 21, Andrew Moss 15; Peter Collister 8, Kiah Roberts 21; Barney Kelly 19, Wayne Rogers 21.
Away Leg – Sinclair Bowling Club
Shropshire 236 v Isle of Man 176 – Scott Haries 21, Glynn Hargraves 19; Spencer Clarke 16, John Kennish 21; Colin Beaman 21, David Bradford 19; Stuart Rutter 20, Phil Kerruish 21; Phil Emery 21, Matthew Keggen 17, Alex Jones 21, Jordan Cain 8,; Rich Lawson 21, Dido Kelly 7; Glyn Picknell 21, John Gelling 15; Alin Palin 21, Peter Slinger 6; Jamie King 21, Ewan Cooil 9; Peter Grimston 21, Paul Kelly 13; Peter Farmer 11, Phil Kelly 21.
Douglas stun League Leaders – Games 5 & 6
In another breathtaking Isle of Man Bank Men’s division one match league leaders Onchan A were narrowly beaten on their travels to Douglas A last Monday. The villa men were in fine form and managed to win four games and edge the aggregate by a solitary point to seal an historic 6-4 win over Onchan.
It may have been the wake up call that the leaders needed as they were back to their scintillating best on Wednesday as they bounced back with an 8-2 win over old enemy Marown A. Marown will be disappointed with the result after some good work saw them record a 9-1 win over Castletown A earlier in the week.
Douglas A finished a successful week with a 8-2 away win over Nobles A. Port St Mary were another team in fine fettle last week and they will have raised a few eyebrows with their 8-2 win over high flying South Ramsey A on Monday. They backed this up with a good 8-2 win away at Castletown A to really get some momentum going in their campaign. South responded with a midweek 8-2 win over Ballaugh A.
North Ramsey A are the only side still to have a 100% record and had another very successful week with respective 7-3 wins away to Port Erin A and at home to Castletown B. They face a sterner test against Douglas and Marown this week and it will be interesting to see how this ever improving team get on.
Port St Mary B are flying high at the top of division 2 and two 8-2 wins, most notably their home victory over second placed South Ramsey B will have done their title credentials no harm at all.
Douglas B are third and only two points off the top despite playing a game less. They still have a 100% record and a solid 7-3 win over North Ramsey B keeps them in the hunt for silverware.
Only four points separates the top five teams in division 3 with Peel C leading the way on 34. They are closely followed by Onchan C and Ballaugh C on 33 and Douglas C and Finch Hill B are both on 30.
Point Deductions – Game 6
Peel Sunset D deducted 4 league points for failing to fulfil their fixture
Ladies’ over 60’s Tuesday 5 May
The weather was the winner in the Trend sponsored over 60’s ladies’ league on Tuesday 5 May when only two of the scheduled seven matches took place.
Unfortunately Douglas could only field five players at Noble’s where the home team reached 120 points with Jan Osborne spoiling their party by winning her game to deny them a maximum. In the other game played Castletown had the better of Breagle by 4 games to 2 with Ann Hollingworth and Marie Ashurst winning to single figures. The two winners for the home side were Sylvia Maddrell and and Suzanna Ali while Joyce Henry almost added another game reaching 19 against Sue Peach.
Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 30 April
There were some close matches in the Trend ladies’ over 60’s league on Thursday 30 April but that was not the case at Port St Mary where the A team extended their lead at the top of the table with a full house against their B team, despite valiant efforts from Roma Ware, reaching 19 against Win Collister, and Edwina Reid who lost out 20-21 to Wendy Kennaugh. Ballaugh also won by a fair margin in a low-scoring match with both teams having two wins to single figures, the highest losing score being 11.At Castletown the match ended level on games, with Villa ending with a four point advantage. It was a similar story at Douglas, level on games with Mooragh Park,but a 4 point win for the home side, while at Noble’s Peel Sunset won 4 games but lost by 6 points. Noble’s registered two 20’s with Lin Ruscoe just losing out to Cath Parker and Flo Price being edged out by Mona Kerruish. Onchan A won 4-2 on games and by 6 points while Onchan B lost 2-4 to Breagle but showed the importance of fighting for every point as they drew on points with Eileen Killey reaching 19 against Kay Primrose-Smith and Barbara Kennaugh losing out 20-21 to Audrey Gardner.