Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Dave McTaggart Memorial Trophy on Sunday.  

There event attracted a bumper entry of 39 pairs despite the poor forecast. Despite the rain in the morning and at the start of the competition, the green was running surprisingly well, with conditions made difficult by the blustery conditions. 

Losing out in the quarter-finals were home greeners Maria and Mark Dimsdale 16-21 to South Ramsey’s Kian Bradford with his dad David, while Onchan pair Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker lost 17-21 to Louise Tebay and Rebecca Teare (Ballaugh/Marown). 

In the other half of the draw Glenn Boland and Peter Jones (Marown) won 21-8 against Mooragh Park pair Madison and Bailey McMullan, while South Ramsey’s Kim and Glynn Hargraves beat Lil Smith and Les Brookes 21-10 (Marown/Finch Hill). 

At the semi-final stage the Bradfords made a solid start to lead 11-7, only for Tebay and Teare to run out with a 21-11 win on a longer length. 

The other semi-final went to the wire, as the Hargraves went into a 14-10 lead, only to concede a four to Boland and Jones. 

The South Ramsey pair picked up their third three of the game to lead 17-14, then conceded a single and a double for the game to level up at 17-17.  

The husband-and-wife pairing were lying game counting for two at 19-18, only for Jones to save one to put the score at 20-18. On the next end the Marown pair scored a good three to win. 

The final looked like it could be a runaway victory for the Marown men early on as they went into the lead 11-6. Tebay and Teare worked their way back into the game to level up at 11-11 after six ends, only to concede a three to trail 11-14. 

This got the women back into gear as Boland and Jones could only score two more singles, while Tebay and Teare finished the game strongly with five singles, a double and a three to secure a deserved 21-16 victory. 

The presentation was made by competition secretary Maurice O’Reilly, with prizes paid down to the quarter-finals. Maurice thanked everyone who had entered, the good crowd that stayed for the duration, along with the club makers and the catering team for the refreshments provided throughout the day. 

GLYNN HARGRAVES