Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

On Saturday, the Ladies Manx Championships was held at Ballaugh Bowling Club with an entry of 23 ladies.

Going through to the semi-finals were Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) with a 21-15 win against Stella Watterson (Castletown; Debbie Leece (Marown) who won 21-14 against Caroline Whitehead (Breagle Glen); Jenny Moore who won 21-8 against Maria Dimsdale (Ballaugh), and Kim Hargraves (South Ramsey) who won 21-12 against Hilary Kermode (Castletown).

The first semi-final saw Janet play Debbie.  This was an evenly contested game between the two with the score going to and fro. On the 29^th end, the game was level at 19 across, but with two good lead bowls on the next two ends Janet ran out  21-19. The other semi-final pitted stablemates Jenny and Kim and despite some good bowls from Kim, Jenny was always in control winning 21-5.

The final saw Jenny play Janet with both ladies having recently played against each other in the main event of the June Festival. The final was a similar affair with both Jenny and Janet playing some exceptional bowls. On the 23^rd end, Jenny led 17-12, but never one to give up Janet clawed her way back and on 28^th end was just one point behind Jenny at 18-17. A single followed by a two saw Jenny take the title 21-17 for the third consecutive year, and eighth time overall, adding to her June Festival, June Tourism, and Top Lady wins this year – an amazing achievement.

Hilary Kermode, President of the IOM Crown Green Bowling Association, thanked all the competitors for an entertaining afternoon of bowls, Ballaugh Bowling Club for hosting the competition and providing refreshments, and to Chris Holland (Ladies Competition Secretary) and her team for the smooth running of the competition before introducing Ann Gale, Sponsor of the Ladies Manx Championship, who presented the semi-finalists, runner-up and winner with their prizes.