Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The Isle of Man Team took part in the 2025 BCGBA Senior Supplementary County Championship which was held on Sunday at Fleetwood Bowling Club. The day started in wet conditions, with the wind playing a factor for the first two rounds of matches.

Drawn in Group 1, the opposition was tough with Staffordshire, North Midlands and Cheshire awaiting. The matches were played for on chalks with two points for a win, and one for a draw.

In the first round of matches the eight man team were up against Staffordshire, with the Manx men winning by 13 chalks (149-136). Peter Jones won 21-20 against Paul Evans, Neil Withers also crept home 21-19 against Reece Farr, with the latter hitting a high percentage of his strikes as the Marown man kept his composure to see the game out having trailed 13-19. Tom Kelly performed brilliantly leading 16-5 against Daryl Handley, as he went on to win 21-12 to give the Manx men an eight chalk lead at the halfway point.

The second half of the match saw Colin Kelly win 21-8 against Owen Evans, while Paul Dunn beat Kevin Hocknall 21-14. The five wins helped the team to secure the two points to get their day off to a good start.

In their second round match North Midlands were the opposition, they managed to share four individual games with the winners being Neil Withers who stormed to a 21-12 win against Ronan Allen, Glynn Hargraves wasn’t far behind as he beat Tyler Dewes 21-13, David Bradford won 21-16 against Jordan Badderley, while Paul Dunn beat Matt Horton 21-14. Tom Kelly lost out 18-21 after a good battle with Will Beal, while Colin Kelly lost out 20-21 to Max Jefferson. The chalks went in favour of the Island men by 10 (149-139) to put the team on four points and sitting in top spot after two games played.

In their final match they faced Cheshire. The team knew a win or a draw would guarantee safe passage to a first ever final, with a defeat leaving them in the unenviable position of relying on results in the other game. This fixture turned out to be their closest as they managed to secure a win by just three chalks (145-142) despite losing 3-5 on games, which says a lot about the games they did win and the chalks scored by the players who lost. Losing out 18-21 were John Kennish and Tom Kelly, with the former having a tough day at number one, but scoring well in each game as he lost to Richard Peach, while Tom lost out to Simon White. The three winners for the Island Team were Matthew Quirk who beat Nathan Brown 21-13, Neil Withers kept his 100% record going with a 21-15 win over Andy Gregory, as did Paul Dunn who was the last man on the green needing to win to 21-12 or better, he took any tension out of the situation with a 21-9 win over Darren O’Hanlon.

Taking six points from the group stages was enough to top the group with a chalks difference of +26. Staffordshire were runners up in the group with four points and a slightly better chalks difference of +28.

Group 2 consisted of Shropshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, and Merseyside with the latter topping the group to take their place in the final.

The final got underway with the first four games played on the green that the Manx men had been on all day. Tom Kelly didn’t get the chalks to reflect his performance as he lost 12-21 to Matt Gilmore, Paul Dunn had a battle with Stephen Glover only to lose out 17-21, Neil Withers picked up Manx win number one in the final as he trailed Phil Lee 15-17, finishing the game strongly with three doubles to win 21-17. Glynn Hargraves trailed 8-17 against Danny Barwise, with the former picking up another eight chalks to lose out 16-21.

The second half of the match moved to Green 2, with the Merseyside men building on the 14 chalk lead that they had built up from the first four games. Wayne Ditchfield won 21-5 against John Kennish to put the Merseyside men into a 30 chalk lead, to all but put the match beyond any doubt. Next off was Peter Jones who lost 15-21 to John Finch, swiftly followed by Matthew Quirk 12-21 to Andy Hayes. The last match off saw David Bradford recover from a 14-18 deficit to win 21-19 against Nick Burridge as the team lost by 43 chalks 119-162, picking up their second win of the match, as the Merseyside men took a deserved win.

The Isle of Man Team who were managed by Bob Clark and assisted by Nicola Kneale outdid any performance of any Manx team over the years as they reached the final, they can be proud of their performance to win all three group games and reach the final of this competition. Thanks must also go to Bob and Nicola for their efforts on the lead up to the day, especially on the day, with the incoming storm leading to a change in travel arrangements at short notice.

A great team effort overall, with Paul Dunn winning three out of four games, while teammate Neil Withers won all four games. The performance by the team and support from the supporters throughout the day was superb.