Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The final of the Canada Life International Sponsored Mixed Team Plate competition took place at Noble’s One green on Thursday evening, with South Ramsey A taking on Marown B.

Both teams lost out in the Championship, with South Ramsey falling to Marown A, while Marown B were preliminary round losers to Ballaugh A. To reach the final of the Plate South Ramsey beat their B Team on Monday evening on Noble’s Two green by 47-chalks (178-131), while Marown beat Onchan by 59 chalks (173-114).

This final turned out to be the most keenly contested of all three mixed team finals with just four chalks separating the teams at end of the match, with the Northern team winning by just four chalks (166-162), despite losing 4-5 on games.

Gill Dixon had a tussle with Juan Killip, only to lose out 19-21, Glynn Hargraves just edged home 21-20 against Peter Greenlees, while Peter Collister ran out from 13-13 with Zoe Pearson to seal a 21-13 win to leave South Ramsey seven chalks ahead after three games (61-54).

The next three games went in favour of the Crosby team, with Philippa Taylor holding a lead against Jenny Moore, only for the latter to edge ahead 18-17, with Taylor rallying once more to see the game out 21-18. Matthew Keggen led 15-14 against Kim Hargraves, with the latter sending the block off, then counting for two, however Keggen killed the end and went on to runout with a 21-14 victory. The third consecutive win arrived from Peter Jones, who beat Jordan Cain 21-12 to put Marown 12-chalks ahead with just three games left (117-105).

The deficit was reduced to a solitary chalk (126-127) as Fiona Kennish won 21-10 against Rebekah Kelly, with James Teare winning 21-14 against Celia Joughin to put South ahead by six chalks (147-141). The last game on the green saw Toby Hart up against Walter McCarthy, while the latter won 21-19 the South Ramsey man had scored enough chalks to help the team get over the line.

Isle of Man County Crown Green President Hilary Kermode presented the Shield to South Ramsey captain Kim Hargraves.