Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The 2026 Manx Championship was brought to a conclusion on Wednesday evening at Douglas Bowling Club, in poor conditions for the bowlers which worsened throughout the evening.

The qualifying for the quarter finals had taken place on Sunday afternoon with Finch Hill and South Ramsey the two greens used to get through the earlier rounds. This method of qualifying has caused a lot of talk from local bowlers, it is certain there will be a change in 2027 to how the competition is played.

To ensure fairness in the latter rounds a re-draw took place for the quarter finals, due to the possibility of players qualifying from a venue that they are required to play on due to being one of the host clubs, however there were no qualifiers from either host club on this occasion.

The first quarter final saw Reg Temporaza (Onchan) take on Alex Yates (Nobles), with the former having three tough qualifying games on the Sunday, the Nobles man was level after 15 ends, went on a five end scoring run, taking eight chalks to build a commanding 17-9 lead. Temporaza fought back to get to within two chalks at 18-20, only for Yates to take a single to seal a 21-18 win to advance to the semi-finals for the first time.

The second semi-final was billed as a blockbuster, but in reality was anything but that with Peter Jones taking on his Marown teammate and captain Paul Dunn, with the latter building a 10-2 lead after nine ends. Jones reduced the deficit to three chalks winning five of the next seven ends, to put the score at 10-13, however Dunn finished the game strongly to score eight chalks over five ends to seal a convincing 21-10 win in just 21 ends.

In the bottom half of the draw the surprise package, Rob Middleton (Peel) who I previously reported as a man not to be written off, got off to a flier to lead 7-0 against Jamie Box (Marown) after just four ends. The Marown man responded by winning the next five ends to lead 8-7. From there Middleton was in control of the game, never losing two consecutive ends, whilst going on a five end scoring run on his way to a convincing 21-14 victory.

The last semi-final was between two big hitters, with the worsening conditions most would have expected this to play into Colin Kelly’s (Marown) hands, however Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly had other ideas as he led by four chalks after 19 ends with the score at 14-10. Colin managed to take the lead at 16-15, scoring three doubles to turn the game round, only for Barney to see the game out, with the Peel veteran sealing a 21-17 win.

The semi-finals were nicely set up with Dunn and Kelly the clear favourites to advance to the final, with Yates and Middleton undoubtedly the underdogs.

Dunn had to battle throughout his game with Yates, with the latter leading early on in the game at 8-6, then again at 14-13 after 18 ends. The Marown captain won five of the last ends, scoring three doubles, keeping Yates to singles to secure his place in the final with a 21-17 win.

With Dunn doing his part, it was now up to Kelly to set up the final that everyone wanted to see, however Middleton had other ideas. Despite trailing 1-7 early on Middleton responded positively to turn a deficit of six chalks into a five chalk lead by the 20th end, with the score at 14-9. Over the next four ends the Peel men exchanged three chalks for the gap to remain at five chalks, but putting Middleton four chalks from the final with the score at 17-12. A composed finish saw Middleton seal a 21-15 victory to advance to the final.

At the final stage the neutrals would undoubtedly and perhaps rightly have been hoping for a huge upset, however this didn’t look to be on the cards with Dunn starting the game strongly to build a solid lead of 9-1 after six ends. From there Middleton settled into the game to reduce the deficit to just three chalks after 14 ends, with the score now 8-11.

The Marown man found another gear to retake an eight chalk advantage after 19 ends with the score 17-9. Dunn got to within one end of victory, with the score now 19-12. Once again Middleton fought back to close the gap to three chalks (17-20) as he won four of the next five ends. Dunn secured the one chalk needed to pick up his second Manx Championship title in front of his Fiancée, and his two boys who got to see him lift the famous trophy.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked all the host clubs for the preparations on the greens, providing refreshments.

There will be three representatives representing the Isle of Man in the British Senior Merit in Crosby, Liverpool on Saturday 25th July. Best of luck to all our representatives.