Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Onchan Bowling Club hosted the Association Cup on Sunday afternoon with the competition sponsored by Plumbmaster attracting 41 entries this year. The weather was glorious throughout the day.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Marown’s Matthew Keggen 17-21 to South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves, Colin Kelly (Marown) was comfortably beaten 12-21 by fellow left hander Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary). In the other half of the draw South Ramsey’s David Bradford won 21-8 against Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary), whilst Paul Dunn beat Marown club mate Juan Killip 21-10.

The semi-finals were two very different stories with Quayle taking an early lead8-4 only for Hargraves to run out with a 21-9 win to take his place in the final. In the other semi-final Bradford and Dunn who contested last year’s final drew level five times, with Bradford making the first move to take an 18-14 lead. Dunn had to dig deep to finish strongly with two doubles and three singles in between a great bowl from Bradford to level up at 19-19 as the Marown captain edged home 21-19.

The final got underway with both players intent on picking up the title for the first time, it was Dunn who started strongly to take an early 11-6 lead. Hargraves drew back to within two chalks at 9-11, however Dunn picked up five consecutive singles to build up a 16-9 lead. Three singles over four ends from the South Ramsey man put the score at 12-17, however Dunn got back in to finish with a single, his second double of the final and a single to see out a well-deserved 21-12 victory to go one better than 2023.

The presentation was made by Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Plumbmaster for sponsoring the competition, Onchan Bowling Club for hosting, the club members for providing helpers and refreshments throughout the day.