Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final of the 2026 PlumbMaster sponsored Rayner Shield took place on Friday evening at Nobles Park with the Number One green being used, on a good surface that was running better than it had been recently. A healthy crowd was in attendance to watch events unfold.

The top two were contesting the final, with Marown A the clear favourites on the night, holding a massive 16-point lead in the league after 16 games played, (with two games to play) whilst also beating South Ramsey A home and away in the league this season.

Marown, the current holders have won the Rayner Shield 18 times, whilst South Ramsey have won it eight times, with six of those wins in the past 11 years. The teams have faced each other five times in Rayner Shield finals over the years, with Marown winning the first three finals (1997, 2014 & 2017), whilst South have won the last two contested (2019 & 2022).

The draw took place on the night, with South Ramsey winning the toss, they elected to take the jack on the even number games, with Marown taking the jack on the odd games.

Jamie Box got things underway in the final, on a green he will be familiar with having played in the festival numerous times over the years as he faced John Kennish, with the latter making a strong start taking an early 6-1 lead. The South Ramsey man never fell behind in the game, with Box fighting to hang in having trailed 7-13 and 11-18 before ultimately losing out to 15-21 to the 12-time Manx Champion.

The next game on saw South Ramsey take a 2-0 lead on games, with Division One individual merit leader Jordan Cain performing well against Marown’s youngest player Glenn Boland to build up a 15-7 lead. Boland fought back to reduce the deficit to just three chalks at 15-18, only for Cain to score a single and a double to secure a 21-15 win.

The third game off was between Tom Kelly and David Bradford, with the Marown man having better joy in the early stages, taking a 6-1 lead, extending the lead to 12-6, then maintaining the six chalk advantage at 14-8. Bradford battled back to close the deficit, eventually going on to take the lead for the first time in the game on the 28th end 18-17. With an exchange of ends over the next five ends, it was Kelly who won three of those five ends, crucially scoring a two on the way to securing a 21-20 win to get Marown’s first win of the night.

The next game off was between the youngest player turning out for both sides, with Toby Hart showing nerves of steel against seven time Manx Champion and 2019 Champion of Champions winner Colin Kelly. The Marown man would have been a heavy favourite to win this one, however Hart dug deep to put in a huge performance to stun Kelly and the watching crowd. The South Ramsey man had scored three doubles by the eighth end on his way to lead 8-5, these proved to be the last of the doubles, with Hart scoring 13 singles after that winning 18 of the 31 ends played. Hart played superbly to lead 17-11, with five consecutive singles, with Kelly doing all he could to stay in the game playing saving bowls, to prevent the damage of giving away costly doubles. Being the player and opponent that he is, Kelly fought back to get himself level for the first time in the game at 19-19 after 29 ends. The following end saw Kelly counting, with Hart as calm as he been all game, playing a superb bowl, just nipping inside of the counting bowl to count for one to lead 20-19. Hart played two good bowls on the following end, with the Marown man certain to be up at the end, he didn’t disappoint playing a reaching bowl, making good contact, it looked to the watching crowd that the game was going to a deciding end, however Kelly’s bowl hadn’t quite won the end, as Hart secured South’s third win of the night.

This put the match score at 3-1 to South Ramsey at the halfway point, with a 13-chalk lead (83-70).

The first game off in the second half of the match was between South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves and Paul Kelly, with the South captain putting in a solid performance with the only single figure winner for South on the night, picking up seven doubles on his way to a 21-9 victory. This put the match score at 4-1 to South, and a healthy 25 chalk advantage, South knew either one more win or securing the chalks would secure a win on the night.

The next game off followed swiftly with Marown pulling a game back, with Neil Withers

own men to win by eight chalks, to bring a conclusion to an entertaining final.

The presentation was made by IOMCCGBA President Mark Kneen, who thanked competition secretary Matthew Keggen for running the evening and Nobles Bowling Club for hosting the final. Upon accepting the trophy South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves expressed how proud he was of his team for their performance on the night, offered his commiserations to Marown, who contributed to a good final, also congratulated Marown A on winning back the league, which is due to be sealed officially this week.