Stuey and Keith ‘rise to the occasion’

On Friday the ever popular Howland Pairs Over 60’s Men’s competition was held at Ballaugh Bowling Club with an entry of twenty two pairs.

At the Quarter Final stage we saw Colin Holland (Castletown) and Shaun Seal (Douglas) lose 21-16 to Stuart Garrett and Keith Rise (Douglas) while Bobby Clayton and Dickie Watson (Ballaugh) beat Steve Kelly and Brian Stewart (South Ramsey) to 12. Brian Colquitt and Geoff Porter (North Ramsey) proved to be too strong on the day for Neil Dunwell and Mike Thomas (Onchan) with the latter pairing losing 21-12. In the remaining Quarter Final Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker (Onchan) beat Fred Waggett and John Kneen (Ballaugh) 21-13.

In the Semi Finals Stuart Garrett and Keith Rise were pushed all the way by the home pairing of Bobby Clayton and Dickie Watson but eventually the Douglas men ran out 21-18 winners. The other Semi Final saw some good bowls as the Colquitt/Porter pair beat Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker 21-15.

So to the Final which was the fifth game of the day for the Douglas pair as they had played in the Preliminary Round and the fourth game for the North Ramsey pairing possibly giving the advantage to the Northerners. This was not to be the case however as Garrett and Rise were quick out off the blocks to build up a 17-6 lead and then their opponents got a two in the eighth end to bring it back to 18-8  then lost two singles before getting a three to make it 19-11. Stuey and Keith then picked up two more singles to run out 21-11 winners.

The Chairman of the Men’s Over 60’s Bowling Association Norman Kneen thanked Ballaugh for sponsoring and hosting the competition and their wonderful hospitality and Mark Kelly and Andy Kennish for running competition. He then introduced Gordy Moore of Ballaugh Bowling Club to present the awards.

Speaking on behalf of the winning pair Keith Rise, thanked Ballaugh Club for sponsoring and hosting the competition and their catering, he also thanked their opponents for the friendly way the matches were played and thanked the Greenkeeper for a great playing surface.