Monthly Archives: July 2018

Kelly Records Fifth Dreswick Cup Win

Port St Mary hosted the Dreswick Cup sponsored by the Albert Hotel on Thursday afternoon, with the competition attracting 43 entries to play on a tricky green in glorious sunshine.

The competition is unique in that it is the only Men’s Open Age competition that is held during the week on a working day. I have been reliably informed that the shops around the Island used to close on a Thursday afternoon, which would allow those that worked in the shops to enter the competition. School kids have been known to skip school to play in the popular competition, with the most notable being a 14 year old John Kennish winning his first open.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Neil Withers (Marown), Brian Kelly (Marown), Keith Rise (Douglas) and home greener Paul Skelly.

In the first semi-final Jordan Cain (Onchan) had the tough task of facing South Ramsey man John Kennish, with Cain taking an early lead before Kennish fought back to go 19-18 up. Cain then secured three singles to see the game out 21-19 to book his place in the final. In the other semi-final Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly won his game comfortably 21-11 against Port St Mary player Wayne Roberts.

The final started as expected with Cain going for the shorter lengths and Kelly playing the longer marks as he had done all day. Kelly made the better start taking a 13-9 lead. Cain got back in but struggled to lead as well as he done throughout the day and during the semi-final, perhaps not helped by the green losing some of the pace with the shadow being cast over the green. Kelly managed to keep Cain at arms lengths throughout with the lead going to 17-12 and then 19-14. Cain then picked up a further two points to put the score at 16-19. On the last end Cain was unable to put up a good lead which Kelly managed to beat, with Cain then failing to better his first bowl it allowed Kelly to play a second counting bowl for game.

The presentation was made by Port St Mary Vice President, Peter Collins, who thanked the Ladies for the refreshments, everyone who had helped run the competition and prepare the green. Pat O’Meara from the Albert Hotel was then introduced to present the prizes.

Marown Keep Up The Chase

In division one second placed Marown A kept the pressure on the league leaders with an 8-2 home win over Port St Mary A, who just missed out on snatching an extra point with Paul Skelly losing out 20-21 to Paul Kelly. The winners for the visitors were Rob Cooil who beat John Gelling 21-18 and Trevor Quayle maintaining his 100% record beating Matthew Keggen 21-14. Winning to single figures for Marown were Paul Dunn and Neil Withers, also winning comfortably were Dean Kipling, Phil Kelly and Colin Kelly.

Peel A recorded a maximum at home against Marown B, with a 10-0 victory, although it could just as easily have been 8-2 with Tom Kelly beating Brian Kelly 21-20, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly also winning to the same score against Peter Kelly. Winning to single figures for Peel were captain Stevie Kelly and Tommy McMeiken.

North Ramsey A hosted near neighbours South Ramsey A and will have been pleased to take three games off the champions with the 7-3 win for the visitors being a fair reflection of the games. Winning to single figures for the home team were John Cannan who beat Chas Grills and Tony Smart who beat Alan Moore. Ray Skelly performed well to beat Stefan Kelly 21-17 to pick up his third win of the season. Hitting back for South Ramsey Dido Kelly beat Geoff Porter 21-3, David Bradford beat Gary Merrill 21-7, with Peter Collister winning 21-8 against Steve Walmsley, with John Kennish beating Steve Parker 21-11 and Glynn Hargraves beating Allan Callow 21-14.

Douglas A travelled south to take on Castletown and whilst being pleased to win five games away from home after their recent struggles of three successive defeats, they will have been disappointed to lose the aggregate with the match ending a draw 5-5. Winning for the home team were Ian Watson, Mike Hargraves and Peter Oates. The visitors had one comfortable winner, with Stuart Garrett winning 21-11, whilst the other four winners were close with Andy Kennish and Jimmy Sansom beating Juan Kermode & Dean Kinley 21-17, Ian Moore beat George Peach 21-19 and Shaun Seal edged his game 21-20 against Jordan Drewett.

Douglas B look certain to go down following a 4-6 home loss against their nearest rivals. Whilst the home team drew 4-4 on games, they suffered a 0-21 loss, along with two more heavy defeats 4-21 and 9-21. Winning for the home team were Pat O’ Donohue who beat Derek Allen 21-20, Andy Cannell who beat Bernie Durcan 21-18, Gordon Wynne-Smythe who won another close game 21-17 against Dave McCabe and Mark Corrin who won comfortably 21-11 against Mark Corrin. Winners for Port Erin were Stuart Gale, Steve Durcan, Derek Cadamy and David Cain.

South Ramsey B did well at home against Onchan A taking three games off the visitors with a 3-7 home defeat. Winners for South Ramsey were the trio of Tony Dugdale, Steven Waters and Christian Kelly beating Steve Crampton, Kevin Quirk and Mark Kelly respectively. Winning for Onchan were Jordan Cain, Robert Monk and Phil Kerruish who all won to single figures, along with Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger with Slinger pushed hard by Martin Caley before winning 21-17.

Looking at the relegation battle Douglas B are a long way off safety on 12 points away from Port Erin A, whilst South Ramsey B sit one point ahead of Port Erin A the fixtures would appear to favour the northern team. Marown B have a bit of breathing space however they will need to continue to pick up points to ensure their place in the top flight next year.

In division two Noble’s A had a tough trip south to take on Port St Mary B and came away with a hard earned 6-4 win. Recording big wins to help secure the aggregate were David Pease and Reginald Temporaza, whilst Tommy Collister beat Brian Corrin 21-12. Mark Quinn had to battle hard to beat Paul Russell 21-18. For the home team Ray Watterson, Brian Lowe, Derek Kneen and Dave Saxon were the winners.

Castletown B also had a tough away fixture against Castletown B, still managed to record a 7-3 away win. Winners for Castletown were Derek Lewney, Aaron Richardson, Peter Curtis, Dave Faragher and Ron Williams. Picking up three points for the home team were Arthur Halsall, John Harris and Peter Hughes.

Peel B enjoyed their visit to Douglas to take on Noble’s B coming away with a 10-0 away win. Paul Quirk and Michael Kavanagh both won to single figures, with Harry Kelly winning 21-18 against Stewart Cubbon and Mike Ashmole winning his game 21-19 against Les Brookes.

Port St Mary C hosted Onchan B with Louis Callister showing he has still got it, with a fine 21-5 win over Bernie McPhee. Rob Cowley stepped in to win 21-5 against Andy Sykes, whilst Mike Thomas beat Ashley Qualtrough 21-7. For Port St Mary Colin Leece and Ken Karran came closest to picking up extra points before losing out 18-21 and 17-21 to Roger Payne and Edward Carlyle respectively.

Peel C topped off a good week for the Peel A, B and C Teams with an 8-2 away win against North Ramsey B. Jimmy Corlett and Robert Middleton won to single figures, whilst Peter Kelly beat Lee Christian 21-19. Winning for the home team were Stephen Gill who beat Bob Berry 21-6 and Barry Teare won 21-14 against Ian Pendlebury.

Port Erin B are ten points from safety at the bottom of division two following a 4-6 home loss. Winning for the home team were Christopher Dent, Ed Benson, Harry Minor and Ken Horsley. For Ballaugh John Keenan, Peter Graham, Edgar Cowin and Barry McDonald were the winners.

Ballaugh B continue to set the pace at the top of division three with a 7-3 away win against Onchan C, whilst Castletown B slipped nine points behind the league leaders following a 7-3 away loss to Marown C who now sit just three points behind Castletown in third. Sitting in fourth place are South Ramsey C who won 7-3 away to Peel D, whilst Ballaugh C sit in fifth place won 9-1 at home to strugglers Douglas D. With only eight points between second place and fifth place there is plenty to fight for in the seven games remaining of the season. South Ramsey D hosted Finch Hill B in the closest match of the night with the home team winning 6-4 taking the aggregate by just two chalks (136-134).

Marown Dent South Ramsey Title Chase

South Ramsey suffered their first defeat of the season away at Marown in last weeks matches.  Marown picked up five wins in the match including Celia Joughin 21-7 over Gil Morgan and Lil Smith winning 21-8 against Elaine Moore who was herself undefeated going into the match.  The final score was a 25 point victory 169-144 (5-4).

Castletown A put in another strong home performance beating rivals Nobles 182-120 (8-1).  Amanda Lawler was the top scorer for the home side winning 21-7 with Clare Cooper saving Nobles blushes with a 21-14 win over Hilary Kermode.  With South Ramsey dropping points Castletown now sit top of the league.

Port St Mary following their sit out last week had an excellent away performance at Ballaugh keeping the pressure on at the top.  Port St Mary won 88-185 (1-8) with Jayne Kneen, Ann Maddrell, Wendy Kennuagh, Chris Price and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures.  Ballaugh avoided a whitewash with Diane White beating Elaine Hawkings 21-17.

Purt Le Morriey produced a brilliant home performance against Onchan to win 185-123 (8-1).  Chris Holland, Edwina Reid and Pauline Worrall all won to single figures.  Dee Lewis was Onchan’s sole winner 21-17 against Mavis Franks.

Port Erin and Douglas finished 5-4 on games but the home side managed to win two matches to single figures thanks to Jean Thackrah and Phil Dobson allowing them to win the match by 21 chalks 159-138 (5-4)

Mooragh Park slipped to a 20 point defeat at home to Peel Sunset.  Mary Moffatt, Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Cath Parker and Val Alwood were all on target for Peel with Janet Monk, Caroline Parker, Ellie Cowell and Anne Kean winning for Mooragh.  The final score 134-154 (4-5)

After game round 16 Castletown sit top of the pile holding a slender four chalk lead over South Ramsey.  Nobles lie in third 115 chalks from the top.  Port St Mary have played a game less than the three ahead of them and as a result sit fourth.  With a deficit of only 142 chalks they will look to chip into that lead and leapfrog when they catch up on games.

There is a new leader at the top of the individual merit with Castletown’s Amanda Lawler leading the way ahead of Jenny Moore and Elaine Moore (both South Ramsey).

Port St Mary A Extend Lead

Port St Mary A hold their advantage at the top of the Trend Over 60s Ladies League after another double week of games.

On Tuesday Port St Mary A defeated rival and third placed Marown 108-97 (4-2).  Extending their already incredible run of having not lost at home in the league since July 2013.

Peel Sunset defeated Castletown 113-72 (4-2) with Mary Moffatt, Heather Horsburgh and Joyce Kelly all winning to single figures.

Port Erin humbled local rivals Port St Mary B 117-99 (5-1) with Mavis Franks winning for the away team to prevent a whitewash.

Douglas and Mooragh Park produced a low scoring game with the away side winning 86-93 (3-3) despite giving a game away.

South Ramsey defeated Ballaugh by 10 chalks winning 111-101 (4-2) with Elaine Moore top scoring to win 21-7.

Mooragh Park B lost by only five chalks in their home tie against Villa with the scores finishing 89-94 (3-3).

In the final match from Tuesday Nobles picked up a full house victory 126-23 (6-0) with Breagle only able to field three players.

Onto Thursday and Marown whitewashed Mooragh Park B 126-48 (6-0) with Philippa Taylor and Shirley Whelan both winning 21-4.  The result keeps Marown second but Peel hold a game in hand.

Port St Mary B faced Peel Sunset with the home side slipping to a nine point defeat 100-109 (2-4).  Peel remain third chasing the leaders whilst Port St Mary B hang onto fourth position.

Onchan made it five wins on the bounce with a 111-93 (4-2) win over Nobles.  Lin Ruscoe (Nobles) 21-8 and Marilyn Ellison (Onchan) 21-5 top scored in the match.

Villa welcomed South Ramsey with the away side winning 72-104 (2-4) thanks to three big single figure wins.

Ballaugh claimed a narrow eight point victory over Douglas 104-96 (4-2).  Brenda Bowyer (Ballaugh) and Brenda Williams (Douglas) both won 21-4 in the match.

Mooragh Park A drew on games with Port Erin but with having to concede a game to a walkover lost the match on chalks 77-90.

Breagle for the second time in the week were only able to field three players but avoided a whitewash defeat against Port St Mary A.  Kay Primrose-Smith beat Win Collister 21-8 with the away side winning 30-113 (1-5).

After another hectic week of bowls Port St Mary A remain the team to beat opening up a 123 point lead over rivals Peel Sunset who are a game behind.

Can anyone catch Castletown A.

As we came to Tueday 3rd July the long term League Leaders Castletown A continued to shine as brightly as the sun as they defeated Port Erin 7-1 with Derek Allen being Port Erin’s only winner defeating Ron Williams to 12.
Second placed Peel Sunset A travelled to Crosby to play Marown who are proving difficult to beat on their home Green and this was again the story as Marown took a 5-3 home win denting the League Championship hopes of the Westerners.
Douglas A travelled to play Ballaugh B on a quick and tricky Green and after the first four games the Ballaugh men led 3-1 but the men from the Villa fought back to take the last four games and a 5-3 victory despite a very creditable performance from the Ballaugh Team.
Douglas B hosted Castletown B and this ended 7-1 to Castletown B with the only winner for Douglas B being Les Quayle who beat Kevan Osborne 21-8.
At Nobles Park the Nobles B side were beaten 6-2 by South Ramsey with Brian Cain and Terry Bates picking up the wins for the Nobles men.
In a sunny Mooragh Park and on a Green improving rapidly in condition every day the North Ramsey B side beat Finch Hill A 5-3 and back in the East at Onchan Park Onchan A had a great 6-2 win over Ballaugh A with only Barry McDonald and Peter Graham managing wins for the Ballaugh A Team.
Port St Mary A hosted Onchan B 7-1 with Moore Kelly taking the Onchan sides only win and finally Port St Mary B lost 5-3 to Peel Sunset B.
With Thursday being Tynwald Day the matches were carried forward to Friday and Castletown A hosted Nobles Park A who on their day are capable of beating anyone. It proved to be a close match but in the end Castletown A ran out 5-3 winners to maintain their lead over the chasing teams.
Castletown B travelled to play an ever improving Ballaugh B in a match that had some very close games before ending 4-4.
At the ‘Villa’ Douglas B proved themselves to be Team of the Day as despite being two players short they beat Port Erin 5-3 to lift themselves off the bottom of the League.
Port St Mary had a home game to Ballaugh A and in a match that saw three games end 21-20 it was the Southerners who eventually ran out 5-3 winners.
Port St Mary B travelled to Marown where they found the home team too strong on a tricky Green and it was the Marown men who took a 7-1 win.
At Onchan Park Onchan A were on good form as they beat Douglas A 6-2 while the Onchan B side were not so lucky in the Sunset City as they went down 5-3 to Peel Sunset B.
And finally Nobles B were unable to get enough players to field a team against North Ramsey A at the Mooragh Park and therefore this is awarded as an 8-0 win for North Ramsey who were willing to rearrange the fixture.
So after another week of the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League we have Castletown A still leading with 43 points from 23 games followed by Peel Sunset A with 38 points from 22 games and in third spot are Marown with 37 points from 23 games.

Kennish and Bradford Retain Title

The Lancaster Cup was held at Peel on Saturday, with 22 pairs entered, this competition replacing the Kermeen Quayle Fours.

It was the South Ramsey duo of John Kennish and David Bradford who mastered the green, seeing off the Port Erin pair of Dave McCabe and Derek Cadamy with a convincing 21-7 win in the final to win the Peel men’s pairs two years running.

Losing out 9-21 in the semi-finals to the winners were the Douglas combination of Stuart Garrett and Ian Moore, whilst another South Ramsey pair Dido Kelly and Steven Waters never had sight of the jack losing 6-21.

Falling at the quarter final stage were Karl Parker (Marown) and Paul Quirk (Peel), Marown pair Walter McCarthy, along with South Ramsey men Glynn Hargraves and Stefan Kelly and father and son combination of Peter and Tom Collins (Port St Mary).

The presentation was made by Peel President Dougie Allan, who thanked the sponsor, Phil Parker for running the competition, all the club members who had helped throughout the day. Dougie then introduced the sponsor David Lancaster to present the prizes.

Marown Retain Rayner Shield

Marown A retained the Rayner Shield on Friday evening at Noble’s Park, winning it for the 16th time and in doing so sit one win ahead of their opponents on the night Onchan A.

News had filtered through during the week that as well as Marown missing their captain Paul Dunn due to pre-booked holidays that Onchan were in a similar predicament with Peter Slinger also away.

It was always my opinion (and many others) that if Onchan were to win they would need to win on games, with the win on chalks possibly being beyond Onchan and so it proved with the games ending 4-4 and Marown easing to the win courtesy of winning by 30 chalks (150-120).

First off for Marown was Paul Kelly with a win over Rob Monk, with Monk leading 8-6 Kelly then scored six two’s and three singles to see the game out 21-11. Next off was the ever reliable Colin Kelly, who played the long lengths well against Kevin Quirk, going 20-5 up with Quirk picking up a further five points before Kelly managed to finish the game off to take a 21-10 win. Hitting back for Onchan Matthew Quirk just got over the line 21-20 against Neil Withers, with Quirk going 11-5 then 13-7 up before Withers fought back to take the lead 19-16, with Quirk getting back in at a vital time with Withers lying two for game. From there Withers scored one more to Quirk’s five. Phil Kerruish took on Bob Clark who had stepped in for their captain, which is a luxury for Marown to be able to bring in a player of Clark’s quality any time throughout the season. There were no signs of rustiness from Clark who performed well and despite being 11-16 down Clark dug in to get back to 19-20, before Kerruish got the one point he needed to take Onchan’s second win of the night 21-19. At the halfway stage it was 2-2 with Marown leading by 18 chalks (81-63).

In the second half Phil Kelly started well first end lying two good bowls either side of the jack with his opponent Jordan Cain trailing the jack to make two. From there Cain performed brilliantly scoring nine two’s and three singles to put Onchan right back in it winning 21-7 to lead 3-2 on games and reduce the deficit on chalks to just four. Dean Kipling squandered the chance to win to single figures over Mark Kelly with his second bowl, only needing to stay on the green within 6 yards for game. Kipling sent his second bowl off, which gave Kelly the chance to take two more points before losing out 10-21. Stepping in for the Onchan captain was Phil Watterson who performed well despite losing 5-21, keeping John Gelling down to scoring singles with his first ten points and having several good bowls that didn’t count. This sealed the win for Marown as they were now 4-3 ahead on games and 31 chalks ahead with only one game left on the green. The final game on the green was between Onchan’s Mike Thomas and Matthew Keggen with the game being close throughout. In the latter stages of the game Keggen took a 20-18 lead and was lying one for game with Thomas responding by playing out the counting bowl. Thomas then played into the heavy corner playing two bowls just over two foot away which caught Keggen out as he played two short bowls, which sealed a second 21-20 win of the night for Onchan and salvaged some pride.

The presentation was made by Steve Moore, who thanked everyone who helped, John Ruscoe for refereeing, Noble’s for the use of the green, also for providing the measurers and refreshments to the players and spectators. The Rayner Shield was then presented to Marown captain for the night Neil Withers.

1. Matthew Quirk 21-20 Neil Withers
2. Phil Kerruish 21-19 Bob Clark
3. Kevin Quirk 10-21 Colin Kelly
4. Rob Monk 11-21 Paul Kelly
5. Mark Kelly 10-21 Dean Kipling
6. Jordan Cain 21-7 Phil Kelly
7. Mike Thomas 21-20 Matthew Keggen
8. Phil Watterson 5-21 John Gelling

Jean Kelly Victory For Underdogs Nobles

The Jean Kelly Memorial Competition Final was contested on Thursday 12th July at Onchan Bowling Club.

In a repeat of last year’s final current holders Port St Mary took on Nobles, with Nobles starting with a 10 point chalk handicap.  In their only league meeting this season Port St Mary won by 85 chalks and went into the final favourites to win their fifth title.

The first game off was a win for Nobles with Debbie Leece defeating Katy Williams 21-11.  Port St Mary responded quickly with Trish Bull beating Sylvia Kennuagh.  Sylvia battled back from 14-6 down to 15-15 before losing 21-17.  Third game off was another Nobles win with Rebecca Teare beating Ann Maddrell, their game was level 10-10 after 11 ends before Rebecca managed to pull away and won the game 21-15.  Port St Mary then won the final two games of the first half.  Jayne Kneen (PSM) held a 12-3 lead over Lin Ruscoe before Lin won six ends without reply to move 13-12 up.  Jayne regained the block and closed out the game 21-16.  Val Macfarlane (PSM) defeated Paula Firth in another game which was finely poised before a breakaway.  After 19 ends Val led 13-12 before making the decisive breakaway winning six ends to lead 20-12, Paula managed to win one more end before Val closed out the game 21-13.  After five games Nobles led by nine chalks.

The first game in the second half proved to be the crucial turning point in the match with Clare Cooper playing Margaret Tasker.  Clare got off to a flying start moving 7-1 up after six ends before an 11 point break took her from 8-4 to 19-4.  Margaret picked up a couple more points before Clare closed the game out 21-7 increasing Nobles lead to 23 points.

Next off was Jayne Smith who defeated Wendy Kennuagh from 11-14 down to run out winning 21-14, further increasing Nobles lead to 30 points.

Port St Mary claimed their fourth and final win with Chris Price defeating Alison Keggen.  After early lead by Alison, Chris found her length and built a 14-7 lead after 17 ends.  Alison battled hard but Chris proved too strong. The game finished 21-16.

The final game of the night was between Kellie Maddrell-Reeve (PSM) and Jan West.  Kellie started off well building a 7-4 lead before Jan managed to get on a run to move 13-8 ahead.  Kellie battled and moved within a point trailing 16-15 after 28 ends.  Jan wrestled back control of the jack and ran out 21-15 winner.

Nobles claimed an overall 31 chalk victory 177-146 winning 5-4 on games.  It is Nobles first victory in the Jean Kelly since Nobles Mixed and Nobles Park merged in 2015.  Nobles Park and Mixed previously won in 2001 and 2012 respectively.

Heather Horsburgh introduced Moore Kelly who conducted the presentation on behalf of his family.

Thanks were paid to Onchan Bowling Club for hosting the final, to the commissioners for providing an excellent playing surface and to Moore Kelly and family for providing a lovely buffet and prizes for the winners and runners up.

The Jean Kelly Memorial Competition Final was contested on Thursday 12th July at Onchan Bowling Club.

In a repeat of last year’s final current holders Port St Mary took on Nobles, with Nobles starting with a 10 point chalk handicap.  In their only league meeting this season Port St Mary won by 85 chalks and went into the final favourites to win their fifth title.

The first game off was a win for Nobles with Debbie Leece defeating Katy Williams 21-11.  Port St Mary responded quickly with Trish Bull beating Sylvia Kennuagh.  Sylvia battled back from 14-6 down to 15-15 before losing 21-17.  Third game off was another Nobles win with Rebecca Teare beating Ann Maddrell, their game was level 10-10 after 11 ends before Rebecca managed to pull away and won the game 21-15.  Port St Mary then won the final two games of the first half.  Jayne Kneen (PSM) held a 12-3 lead over Lin Ruscoe before Lin won six ends without reply to move 13-12 up.  Jayne regained the block and closed out the game 21-16.  Val Macfarlane (PSM) defeated Paula Firth in another game which was finely poised before a breakaway.  After 19 ends Val led 13-12 before making the decisive breakaway winning six ends to lead 20-12, Paula managed to win one more end before Val closed out the game 21-13.  After five games Nobles led by nine chalks.

The first game in the second half proved to be the crucial turning point in the match with Clare Cooper playing Margaret Tasker.  Clare got off to a flying start moving 7-1 up after six ends before an 11 point break took her from 8-4 to 19-4.  Margaret picked up a couple more points before Clare closed the game out 21-7 increasing Nobles lead to 23 points.

Next off was Jayne Smith who defeated Wendy Kennuagh from 11-14 down to run out winning 21-14, further increasing Nobles lead to 30 points.

Port St Mary claimed their fourth and final win with Chris Price defeating Alison Keggen.  After early lead by Alison, Chris found her length and built a 14-7 lead after 17 ends.  Alison battled hard but Chris proved too strong. The game finished 21-16.

The final game of the night was between Kellie Maddrell-Reeve (PSM) and Jan West.  Kellie started off well building a 7-4 lead before Jan managed to get on a run to move 13-8 ahead.  Kellie battled and moved within a point trailing 16-15 after 28 ends.  Jan wrestled back control of the jack and ran out 21-15 winner.

Nobles claimed an overall 31 chalk victory 177-146 winning 5-4 on games.  It is Nobles first victory in the Jean Kelly since Nobles Mixed and Nobles Park merged in 2015.  Nobles Park and Mixed previously won in 2001 and 2012 respectively.

Heather Horsburgh introduced Moore Kelly who conducted the presentation on behalf of his family.

Thanks were paid to Onchan Bowling Club for hosting the final, to the commissioners for providing an excellent playing surface and to Moore Kelly and family for providing a lovely buffet and prizes for the winners and runners up.

Runners Up

Photos courtesy of Moore Kelly

Marown Suffer Setback

In division one second placed Marown A suffered a setback in their bid to close the gap on the leaders despite winning 7-3 with their visit to Breagle Glen to take on Port Erin A on a green that is still heavy despite the fine weather that we are experiencing. Winning for the home team were Dave McCabe who beat Matthew Keggen 21-11, Derek Allen who held on to win 21-19 against John Gelling, and Ken Horsley who stepped up from the B Team to record a memorable 21-18 win over five time Manx Champion Colin Kelly. Responding for the visitors Bob Clark, Neil Withers and Phil Kelly all won to single figures, whilst Dean Kipling and Paul Kelly had comfortable wins over Steve Durcan and Derek Cadamy.

Champions South Ramsey A made the trip to the capital to take on Douglas A turning in a good team performance to win 9-1, which exteneded their lead to 11 points over Marown. The green despite not having been cut for almost a month due to the hot and dry conditions was still tricky. The lone winner for the home team was Stuart Garrett who beat Stefan Kelly 21-17. Garrett held a 10-3 lead, before Kelly chipped away at the lead to pull the score back to 16-16. Garrett kicked backed into gear to see the game out. Next closest for Douglas was captain Andy Kennish who fought well against David Bradford. In the second half of the game neither player managed to lead well to their own jack to put together a run of ends, which led to a close game throughout. Bradford got over the line 21-18. Winning to single figures were captain Glynn Hargraves and Peter Collister. Also winning were John Kennish, Alan Moore, Dido Kelly and James Teare against Keith Rise, Jimmy Sansom, Ian Moore and Gary Conwell respectively.

With the A Teams taking on each other at the Villa the B Teams faced off at South Ramsey, with the home team beating Douglas 8-2. Winning for the visitors were Grahem Moore who beat Austin Hart 21-20, whilst Mark Corrin beat Christian Caley 21-8. Tony Dugdale had a fine 21-6 win over Douglas captain Andy Cannell, with Steven Waters also winning to single figures against Gordon Wynne-Smythe. Home captain Ben Dugdale beat Pat O’Donohue 21-12. In what could be decisive at the end of the season the home team won three close games with Steve Moore beating Ray Osborne 21-19, along with Roger Thomas and Chris Penketh both stepping in to beat Geoff Mayles and Bob Callow 21-20.

Peel A came away from their visit south to take on Port St Mary A with a 6-4 win, with three single figure wins from Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, Ste Kelly and Tommy McMeiken enough to secure the two points for the aggregate. David Proctor was the other Peel winner beating Thomas Keggen 21-19. For the home team Ewan Cooil won a close match 21-20 against Frank Watson, Derek Kneen stepped in to beat Tom Kelly 21-17, with Tim Williams also filling in to beat Jerome Surridge 21-16. Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle led the way with a 21-10 win over Gary Smith.

North Ramsey A hosted Onchan A, with the visitors taking the spoils 7-3. Visiting captain Peter Slinger and nephew Rob Monk led the way, with both players winning to single figures. Kevin Quirk beat Steve Parker 21-14, whilst Matthew Quirk had a tougher time beating Jimmy Moffatt 21-18. Edward Carlyle stepped up from the B Team to beat Ray Skelly 21-15. For the home team Allan Callow was the standout performer winning 21-4, with Gary Merrill beating Adrian Skinner 21-13. North Ramsey captain Tony Smart performed well winning 21-13 to inflict only a second league defeat of the season on Jordan Cain.

Marown B bounced back from last week’s whitewash to defeat visitors Castletown A 6-4 in a high scoring contest and in doing so leap frogged them in the process to sit one point ahead of Castletown. Winners for the home team were the less experienced pair of Bobby Thorne and James Kelly, who continue to perform well, whilst seasoned campaigners Arnie Withers and Peter Kelly also won. The team has a good mix of youth and experience which bodes well for bringing on their younger players. Sixteen year old Sam Clague made the most of his opportunity to play for the A Team, which proved to be a good choice with Clague showing recently that he plays a fast green well defeating Marown Over 60’s captain Steve Bridson 21-19. Ian Watson beat Juan Killip 21-19, Derek Lewney won 21-13 against Brian Kelly and David Quayle beat John Kelly 21-14.

In division two Noble’s A maintained their six point lead at the top with a 10-0 home win over Port St Mary C, with Steve Cook, Tommy Collister and merit leader David Pease all winning to single figures. For Port St Mary Colin Leece came closest to grabbing a point losing 19-21 against Glenn Boland.

Matching Noble’s blow for blow, are Castletown B who also recorded a 10-0 home win over Port Erin B to keep the pressure on. Winning to single figures for the home team were George Foy, Peter Curtis, Ron Williams and Aaron Richardson. The top two are pulling away from the teams below them with Castletown B now 12 points ahead of third placed Onchan B.

Onchan B travelled to Mooragh Park to take on North Ramsey B coming away with a 7-3 win. Mike Alexander won 21-6, with Peter Wallis and Bernie McPhee both winning 21-17 and Mike Thomas beating Bryan Corner 21-19. Onchan just missed out on an extra point with Colin Spencer losing 20-21 against John Breen. For the home team Barry Teare beat Roger Payne 21-13 and Alex Yates won 21-12 against Paul Bailey.

Fourth placed Peel B hosted Finch Hill A with the home team winning 8-2. Winning comfortably for Peel were David Smith, Gordon Corrin, Harry Kelly and Paul Quirk. Winners for the visitors were Paul Dougherty who beat Dougie Allan 21-16, whilst Arthur Halsall beat Mike Ashmole 21-17.

Port St Mary B travelled north to take on Ballaugh A and disappointingly gave a walkover due to being a player short despite their C team fielding a full team in their fixture. The visitors lost 7-3 with the winners being Paul Russell, Dave Saxon and Brian Corrin. Winners for Ballaugh were John Keenan, Peter Graham, Richard Fisher and Steve Grant.

Peel C hosted Noble’s B on Tuesday evening with the home team winning 8-2. Two games went to the wire with each team taking a 21-20 win. Peel’s 20-20 winner was Ian Pendlebury against Juan Qualtrough, for Noble’s John Singleton beat Paul Baker. Martyn Hobson was the other winner for Noble’s beating Jimmy Corlett 21-16. For the home team Jeff Wilson won 21-5 against Stewart Cubbon, with Peter Kelly beating Les Brookes 21-8.

In division three Onchan C were this week’s biggest winners with a 9-1 away win against Douglas D. Recording big wins for the visitors were Derek Anscomb, Erwin Gelling and Brian Woodall. Sparing the whitewash for the home team was the ever reliable Roy Williams who beat Dennis Maxwell 21-6.

Upset of the week was at South Ramsey with the C team and D team taking each other on, with the D team recording a memorable 7-3 win over the C team. For the C Team David Corkill won 21-16 against James Moore, whilst Tony Hart beat Ryan Surridge 21-7, with son Toby Hart winning 21-6 against Ryan Hargraves. Hitting back for the D team Richard Davies won 21-0, with undefeated merit leader Ian Moore winning 21-3, and Franz Ten Donkelaar won 21-9. Jay Moore and Matthew Corkill beat Tony Marler and Anthony Kelly respectively.

Ballaugh B continue to set the pace at the top of the table, with a 7-3 home win over Douglas C. Mike Buckeridge inflicted a second defeat of the season on Mike Cain winning 21-20, with John Kneen recording the second 21-0 win of the night, with Philip Quayle winning 21-4 against Les Quayle. For Douglas captain Andy Foster beat Percy Faragher 21-11, William Cowley beat John Bolton 21-10 and Keith Fearnley beat Paul Cubbon 21-15.

Castletown C hosted Ballaugh C, also recorded a 7-3 home win to remain in second place despite giving another walkover to the opposing team. For Castletown Juan Drinkwater won 21-6, Clifford Clague will no doubt be feeling confident with a second consecutive league win, with John Matheson, Philip Smith and John Kinley also winning. For Ballaugh Charlie Howland beat James Drinkwater 21-9 and Phil Faragher got over the line 21-19 against Byron Mercer.

Marown C continue their poor run of form, having lost four of their last five league games, with a 6-4 away loss to Finch Hill B, which could have been worse had Dan Smith lost his game with Frank Christian with Smith edging it 21-20. Stephen Rundle had a fine 21-6 win over Stephen Oates, with Steve Wilson beating Kevin ‘Chico’ Anderson 21-13. For Finch Hill Kevin Stannard won 21-7, with son Sam not far behind beating Walter McCarthy 21-10. Newcomer Guy Smith recorded his second league win of the season beating Karl Parker 21-12, with captain Pat Maher beating Steve Gregg 21-10.

Garrett’s Enjoy a ‘Spar’ Day

Ballaugh Bowling Club hosted the Spar Mixed Pairs on Sunday with 33 pairs taking part. Once again the weather was fine, with the green being extremely tricky.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the home pair of Jane Teare and Maurice O’Reilly, Alison Keggen (Nobles) and Neil Withers (Marown), father & daughter John and Bethany Kennish (South Ramsey) along with Jenny Moore & James Teare (South Ramsey).

In the semi-finals Douglas pair Paula Garrett and Stuart Garrett had a tough time facing the South Ramsey duo of Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves, with the game being close in the early stages, before the Garrett’s built up a four point lead to go 17-13 ahead. Moore and Hargraves worked their way back into the game to sit just one chalk behind at 19-20. Stuart played a great bowl on the last end, which forced Hargraves to strike and just missing secured a 21-20 win for the Douglas duo. In the second semi-final another South Ramsey pair Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters had a comfortable win over Philippa Taylor (Marown) and Alec Taylor (Peel) to book their place in the final.

In the final the Garrett’s got off to a good start against Kennish and Waters, never taking their foot off the throttle to secure a resounding 21-8 win.

At the conclusion of play Debbie Jones of Spar was introduced by Club Chairman Phil Faragher, who thanked the sponsors for their continued support, the ladies of the club for providing the catering, along with Richard Faragher and Trevor Jones for assisting with running the competition.