Monthly Archives: April 2014
Spring Doubles
The mixed doubles season kicked off in earnest on Saturday at Noble Mixed bowling green as an intrepid line up made the trek to take part in the Spring Doubles. Although the weather started off a bit damp this did nothing to dampen the spirit and quality of bowls on display and as the sun began to shine so did Alison Keggen & Michael Collister who put in some breath taking displays to seal the win thanks to a magnificent final tussle with Paula Firth & Jordan Cain which they managed to edge 21-19.
It was nip and tuck all the way in the final and the standard of bowls was out of the top draw. There were some epic encounters in the semi-finals too with Keggen & Collister edging out the fancied husband and wife pairing of Fiona & John Kennish whilst Firth & Cain had another battle on their hands but this time they emerged victors as they saw off the challenge of Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran.
Nobles Mixed deserve praise for an extremely well run competition and highlight of the day was definitely Steve Cook’s ‘minion’ birthday cake, happy belated birthday Cooky!
Ladies matches Friday 11 April
Friday 11 April
Port St Mary posted the first maximum of the season in their match against Onchan on Friday 11 April. Four of their players won to single figures while Marilyn Ellison’s 20 against Wendy Kennaugh was the highest score for the visitors, who fell just short of the 100 point mark.
Mooragh Park visited Noble’s Mixed where the home side took three games courtesy of Paula Firth, Sylvia Kennaugh and Clare Cooper who edged out Helen Martin 21-20. Wins by Edwina Reid, Tracey Moore and Roma Ware helped Purt-le-Moirrey over the 100 point barrier against Castletown who had five of their players winning to single figures. The longest game of the night was possibly between Pat Robertson and Peggy Griffin at Peel, Pat eventually taking it 21-20 to help Peel to a 6-3 win over local rivals Ballaugh, while Sue Jones and Jayne Smith both won to single figures.
It was close at Douglas where, although Marown won 5-4 on games, the home side took the match by four points with Jan Osborne losing out 20-21 to Pat Withers. It was another close affair at South Ramsey where all nine games went to double figures with seven losing scores of 17or more. The closest game was between Jenny Moore and Lynda Cadamy with Jenny Coming through 21-20.
By Heather Horsburgh
Ladies’ league starts
C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored Ladies League
Wednesday 9 April
The ladies’ league,which is again sponsored by C. Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd, were treated to fine weather for its first round of matches on Wednesday 9 April. Top scorers were Mooragh Park who won 7-2 on games against Douglas with Lilian Slinger and Viv Grills winning to single figures, as did Jan Osborne for the home side. Patsy Rush was the other home winner. The match between Onchan and South Ramsey had to be played at Ramsey, as the Onchan green was unplayable. With Onchan being a player short South Ramsey took the match 5-4 on games by a margin of just one point.
By Heather Horsburgh
Second week sees Onchan B top of the pile in Over 60’s
ONCHAN B LEAD THE WAY
The second week of fixtures in the Tower Insurance over 60’s league saw the number of teams with 100% records drop from five to one. The Leaders Onchan A visited champions Castletown A and it was the southerners who took the points with a 5-3 victory, another team to fail on Tuesday was Castletown B who lost out, on their visit to Douglas A by 5 games to 3, two of the 100% teams met with Onchan B playing their home fixtures on Nobles 3 due to problems with their home green, hosting Peel A and in another close encounter Onchan B took the two points on offer with another 5-3 victory, Ballaugh the remaining unbeaten team again had the familiar score line of 5-3 by winning at home against Finch Hill B.
Other close games which all also ended 5-3 were Port Erin who visited and defeated Noble’s Mixed, North Ramsey B who won at home against Douglas B who were a couple of players short, and Marown who used home advantage to beat South Ramsey, North Ramsey A had a 8-0 victory on their travels at Peel B, while Port St Mary A used home advantage to beat Noble’s Park and Finch Hill A beat the Port St Mary B team both by 7-1 margins.
On Thursday joint leaders Ballaugh visited Peel A and suffered a 6-2 defeat, leaving Onchan B who travelled to hard to beat, Port Erin and came away with a superb 5-3 win to be the only team to have eight points from their first four games. Other 5-3 wins went to Castletown B who entertained Noble’s Mixed at the Crofts, and Douglas A and North Ramsey B who won on their travels at Port St Mary B and Finch Hill B respectively. The Finch Hill B North Ramsey B was very close with the finches losing two games to 20.
Onchan A also won 5-3 at home to Marown. South Ramsey beat Peel Sunset B 6-2, while 7-1 wins came from Port St Mary A on their visit to Douglas B, and North Ramsey A who entertained Finch Hill A at the Mooragh, while Castletown A inflicted a 8-0 win on their visit to Noble’s Park
Over 60’s under way
The ladies’ over 60’s league, which has once again been sponsored by Trend, got under way on Tuesday 8 April in fine weather, although a cold wind was getting up by the end of the morning.
The top score of 122 was recorded by Port St Mary A against an Onchan A team who were unfortunately two players short, Tricia Bull and Margaret Tasker won to single figures while Hazel Hughes registered a good win for the visitors. Port St Mary B also had a high-scoring game which ended level on games, three of the games going all the way to 21-20, with the visitors winning on points. Marown drew their match on games, although Margaret Scarffe almost gave them a fourth game reaching 20 against Maureen Trustham and won on points, while it was a similar story at Noble’s Mixed where Pat Dacre won to single figures for the home side as did Kay McKiernan for the visitors. Although Mooragh Park won four games to single figures, they were denied a maximum by Sue Peach who recorded the best score of the morning. Peel Sunset won four games but wins by Jan Osborne, to single figures, and Lynne Mansley and their other players all reaching double figures, meant that the home side also came away with a good score.
What a difference a year makes!
The Isle of Man Bank Man’s league springs into life tonight (7th April) and the much anticipated first set of fixtures will pose as many questions as they give answers. With the Isle of Man’s probable inclusion in the full county championship from next season this will be one of exploration and innovation with the men’s game moving into uncharted waters for the first time. This is an exciting time for our sport, and the winds of change are definitely at full force with more changes in personnel than usual amongst the top team.
Last season ended with a major change as Marown A completed an historic double, winning both the league title and much coveted Rayner shield, to leave perennial champions Onchan A without a trophy for the first time in over a decade. Onchan will be a wounded animal intent on fighting their way out of the corner that they find themselves trapped in to prove that the are still the major force in the Manx game.
Marown, fresh from their trip to the world club championship, have the unenviable task of starting their campaign away to South Ramsey A. Whilst Marown have the ninth man of confidence on their side South have a realistic shot a the title and former Island Champion Gary Conwell is just one of a string of new players to strengthen their ranks. South will want to lay down a marker tonight and the champions will need to be right on their game to leave with points.
Onchan A face what, on paper, looks like a much easier trip to Castletown B but as the ‘Crofters’ showed them last year this game isn’t played on paper and they will be looking to stun the title favourites once again this term. Gary Conwell’s departure has made way for Matthew Keggen to join Onchan and he will be hoping to start with a bang.
Castletown A are always a force to be reckoned with in the local game and whilst they can challenge for top honours it will be interesting to see how this fantastic club copes with three teams in the top tier. Even with a rule change allowing players to move between teams in the same division, I still think this may hamper their title ambitions.
I don’t know what will happen this season, but with 4 new teams joining the leagues, and the new Island adventures looming on the horizon I know it will be a ground breaking one with more twists and turns than can ever be imagined and the only certainty is that the sport of crown green bowls will be the winner.
Predictions:
Pos Div 1 Div 2 Div 3
1 Onchan A Nobles Mixed A South Ramsey B
2 South Ramsey A Onchan B Marown B
3 Marown A Port St Mary B South Ramsey C
Rel Castletown C Finch Hill B
Rel Port Erin A Castletown D
Kenny Parker Trophy
It was an all Ramsey affair in the latter stages of the Any Combination doubles played at North Ramsey’s Mooragh Park green on Sunday 6th April. This was particularly appropriate as the trophy had kindly been sponsored by the Parker family in memory of the late Kenny Parker who was a longstanding and popular member of both North and South Ramsey Clubs.
A total of 28 pairs braved the early wind and drizzle to compete for the trophy and fortunately before long blue skies prevailed allowing the latter part of the competition to be completed in much better conditions. The first semi final was an all North Ramsey battle between the mother and son pairing of Janet and Robert Monk against Steve Gill and Brian Colquitt. In a very close fought tussle it was the latter pair that just emerged victorious by 21 – 17. The second semi final was an even closer affair between Andy Kennish and Alan Moore from South Ramsey and Tony Smart and John Cannan from North Ramsey. Thanks to a four on the last end it was the North Ramsey pairing that edged through by 21 – 19.
The final looked as though it was going to be extremely one sided as Steve Gill and Brian Colquitt raced into a 20 – 10 lead but they lost the jack with the winning post in sight and were never quite able to get the crucial final point as Tony Smart and John Cannan fought back to win 21 – 20.
Fallers at the quarter final stage were Margaret Tasker and Trish Bull, Steve Walmsley and Steve Parker, Matthew Quirk and Michael Collister and Ray Hardman and Gordon Corrin.
The prizes were presented by Steve and Anthony Parker who stated how proud their father would have been to have seen the competition played in his memory.
Over 60’s Mens Bowls League gets underway
The Tower Insurance Over 60’s Bowls League rolled into action on Aprils fools day, which was a nice sunny day, however it was back to the wet weather gear for the Thursday fixtures. On Tuesday the top clash was at the Crofts where defending champions Castletown hosted last year third placed team North Ramsey A, and although Town came away with both points in a 5-3 win, North Ramsey scored more chalks and came very close to at least a draw. The other match between teams in last years top five, Port St Mary A and South Ramsey saw the southerners win by a convincing 6-2, Douglas A who have lost a few top players this season, hosted Peel A but could not get their season off to a flier going down by 5 games to 3 at the Villa, Ballaugh used their home knowledge to defeat Noble’s Park by 6 games to 2, While Onchan A hit the road running on their visit to North Ramsey B by getting the first 8-0 of the season. Home side Onchan B had a 6-2 win over Douglas B, as did Noble’s Mixed with a similar home win against Finch Hill B. Marown had a 5-3 home win over Port St Mary B while Port Erin visited Finch Hill A and came home with a 5-3 win as did Castletown B on their visit to Peel B.
The Thursday games saw South Ramsey bounce back from their trip to PSM by using their Home advantage to inflict a close 5-3 win over Castletown A. After just 2 games only five teams have a 100% record, Onchan A team continue to impress with a fine 7-1 victory over Port St Mary A, while Onchan B travelled to Finch Hill B and came away with 2 points in a 6-2 win, the other three teams to have full records are Ballaugh who defeated Douglas B 6-2 at the villa, Peel A who could also be a surprise team this year had a 6-2 home victory over Noble’s Mixed, while Castletown B won by a similar margin against Finch Hill A. North Ramsey A got back on track with a 5-3 win at the Mooragh against Marown, Port St Mary B also had a close home win over Peel B by 5-3 while Port Erin shared the points with Douglas A, and Noble’s Park did likewise with North Ramsey B.
Can I thank all the captains for getting their cards back to me and also thank them for letting Matthew Keggen know the results for inclusion on the website
Hands Trophy
The ladies’ Association Non-winners Competition for the Hands Trophy , which had to postponed from the end of last season, took place at Peel on Saturday 5 April, with an entry of thirty players.
The morning weather threatened that the competition may again have to be postponed, but after the rain stopped a delayed start allowed the green to dry out enough for play to commence.
Despite the dampness the green was running well allowing some good play.
Quarter-finals: Jean Thackrah 21,Voirrey Curphey 17; Trish Bull 21,Lil Smith 15; Rosie Winckle 21, Margaret Tasker 16; Viv Grills 21, Shirley Corrin 13
Semi-finals: Trish Bull 21, Jean Thackrah 9; Viv Grills 21, Rosie Winckle 16
In the final Trish had little answer to Viv’s bowling which improved as the afternoon progressed, Viv taking the game, and the trophy, 21-10
The presentation was made by Association president, Pat Robertson, who thanked all those who had turned out to play on what had started out as such a miserable day.
Ladies Season Preview
Suddenly the new bowls season is here without, hopefully, the snow that blighted last year’s early fixtures. The first thing to find out is who has moved clubs and how this will affect the end of season results.
Although Mooragh Park dominated both leagues last season, Port St Mary were snapping at their heels, ending less than 100 points behind in the night league and just over 100 behind in the over 60’s league, and could be a stiffer challenge this year. In the Friday night league, Castletown and South Ramsey will be doing their best to ensure it is not a two horse race, while Peel are lurking just behind and could cause a surprise .
The over 60’s league has been reduced by the withdrawal of Breagle and it will be interesting to see how their having separate Tuesday and Thursday teams pans out.
It is to be hoped that the weather stays fair and the players have a successful and enjoyable season.
Report by Heather Horsburgh