Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The Final Mixed Doubles of the season was held on Saturday with 25 pairs taking part to play in good conditions on a late September day, with the competition originally scheduled for July falling victim to the weather, with entries considerably lower than the original date, however they were the same as 2022.

Losing out in the quarter finals were home greeners Jill Quayle and Billy Blair 14-21 to Marown pair Joyce Ogden and Walter McCarthy. Another home green pairing lost out as Sue and Geoff Collier were beaten 16-21 by club mates Jenny Moore and James Teare.

In the other half of the draw Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) and Steven Waters (North Ramsey) ended the hopes of Sue Gawne (Noble’s) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) with a hard fought 21-18 victory. The last of the quarter finals saw Marown pair Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones win 21-10 against Kim Hargraves and Peter Collister (both South Ramsey).

The semi-finals appeared to be straightforward, however Moore and Teare were leading 19-16 against Ogden and McCarthy with the latter pair counting for two the last bowl up from the Marown pair knocked the jack to the South Ramsey pair to gift wrap a 21-16 win and with it a place in the final. The other semi-final was a 21-11 win for Kennish and Waters over Bolton and Jones, with the latter pair scoring on just two ends, however both ends resulted in a three.

The final got underway with the temperature dropping, it was the South/North Ramsey combination who looked like they were going to pull off a huge upset as they went into a 17-11 lead.

Moore and Teare picked up a single, were lying one down on the following end with Kennish putting up a front toucher Moore made good contact to spring the jack to their own bowl as they counted for one, which proved to be vital in the game as the South Ramsey pair went on to run out winning six consecutive ends picking up a three on the fourth end of the run to level the game up at 17-17.

Moore and Teare got themselves one chalk ahead at 18-17. On the last end nobody covered themselves in glory, with room to save points Kennish and Waters were unable to stop their opponents scoring a three as they lost out 17-21 after giving Moore and Teare a run for their money.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Elaine Moore, who thanked the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and the Ladies for the refreshments provided.