Marown Bowling Club hosted the Henry Kissack Memorial Trophy on Saturday, attracting an entry of 58.

With the handicaps ranging from +3 to +9 this resulted in some interesting early round shocks.

Losing out in the quarter-finals were Alec Taylor (Peel), who had his challenge ended by Kevin Quirk 17-21, while former home greener Gary Smith (Peel) was well beaten 7-21 by Marown’s Colin Kelly.

Marown C’s Karl Parker narrowly lost out 19-21 to 2019 winner Phil Kerruish (Onchan). Castletown player Sam Clague was defeated 16-21 by Andy Kennish (Peel).

The semi-finals could probably not have had a more experienced line-up with a huge number of the island’s top trophies having been won between the four players over the past five decades.

This particular trophy had been won on no fewer than 14 occasions between the four semi-finalists.

Both matches were straightforward with Andy Kennish seeing off Phil Kerruish with a 21-12 win, while Kevin Quirk inflicted a second defeat on Colin Kelly in the space of one week, this time by a 21-11 scoreline to take his place in the final.

The final started with two players well-known for their ability to play good length bowls. It was Quirk who took a 10-8 lead after eight ends, looking to go a bit further than he normally plays.

Kennish responded to win the next five ends, playing brilliantly over the middle of the green to turn the game on its head and lead 15-10. From there, Quirk chipped in with two more singles, while Kennish continued to play well, scoring three singles and a double in between to go 20-12 ahead.

Quirk got in with another single to bring the score to 13-20.

The last end summed up the ability of both bowlers perfectly. Quirk played a good lead when heading for the corners, with Kennish just tipping the jack, but his opponent’s wood was still counting.

Quirk’s second bowl was a perfect length, albeit a bit wide. Kennish played his last, with the bowl rolling in perfectly to beat a seven-inch bowl to win 21-13 and claim the victory in style.

Andy’s victory was thoroughly deserved, his return to form in part due to turning 60 a couple of years ago. With afternoon league games twice a week, he has been challenging in a number of opens of late, with his ability to play good length bowls still very apparent.

This was his fourth win in this competition, following on from three previous wins in 1982, 1986 and 1988.

It is believed to be Andy Kennish’s first open win since the last of this three Manx Championship wins in 1999, showing once again that he can still mix it with the best.

If crown green bowls proves anything then one of those is that green time is important and there are very few sports around where players can genuinely compete at the top level for five decades or more.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Phil Kelly, who thanked all the Marown members for assisting throughout the day, the team in the kitchen for the refreshments and the green keepers for the preparing the green.

Newly-crowned Manx Champion Paul Dunn was then introduced to present the prizes. GLYNN HARGRAVES