Monthly Archives: July 2019

Top Two Max Out

League action resumed on Monday evening in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one after a weekend of heavy rain there were likely to be no greens running well.

League leaders Marown A show no signs of taking their foot off the gas following their home game with Castletown A taking a 10-0 win. Coming closest to grabbing wins for the visitors were Sam Clague who lost out 19-21 to Marown captain Paul Dunn, whilst Dean Kinley just lost out 20-21 to Dean Kipling.

Second placed South Ramsey A hosted Noble’s A hoping to help their B Team out with a big win over one of the teams their B team are hoping to catch at the bottom of the table. The home team did just that matching the Marown result with their own 10-0 win. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves inflicted just a third league defeat of the season on Tommy Collister to win 21-6, whilst Dido Kelly went one better with a 21-5 victory over Steve Cook, not to be outdone Stefan Kelly played superbly to beat Glenn Boland 21-4. Coming closest to sparing the whitewash was Reginald Temporaza who lost out 18-21 to Chas Grills.

Onchan A lie in third place, continue to press their claims for second spot taking on South Ramsey B at home with the match ending in a 8-2 win for the home team over the team currently second from bottom. Tony Dugdale got back to winning ways with a 21-16 win for the visitors, Christian Caley recorded a superb 21-17 win over Steve Parker, whilst Edward Carlyle lost out 19-21 to Mark Kelly. For the home team Matthew Quirk and Jordan Cain won to single figures, it was good to see Rob Monk back in action after missing several games due to a back injury, with Monk winning 21-9 against George Brew.

Castletown B took on Peel A at the Crofts with the home team desperately needing to start picking up points to close the gap on the teams above them, however Peel took a 3-7 away win. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly held off Ron Williams to win 21-19, as did Jerome Surridge who dug deep to inflict a second league defeat of the season on Bob Clark. Home team winners were George Foy who won 21-15 against Gary Smith, Nathan Cooil took a 21-17 victory over Alan Cromwell, whilst Alan Phair just snatched a 21-20 win over Mike Ashmole.

Port St Mary A made the long journey north to take on North Ramsey A at Mooragh Park with the home team hoping to bounce back from last week’s heavy defeat to South Ramsey A, however the Port men were in good form taking a deserved 2-8 win. Winning for the home team were Tony Smart who won 21-10 against Bernard Thackrah, Ray Skelly had a good 21-16 victory over Dave McCabe, whilst Bryan Corner just lost 20-21 to Tim Williams.

Douglas A took a hard earned 8-2 win over Marown B with the Crosby men just losing the aggregate by three chalks (148-145). The Villa men had Stuart Garrett, Jimmy Sansom and Gary Conwell all winning to the same score (21-18) over Bobby Thorne, Harry Barton and Peter Kelly respectively, whilst Andy Cannell won 21-20 against John Kelly. For the visitors Luke Hyland won 21-17 against Shaun Seal, whilst Brian Kelly had a fantastic 21-5 win over Ian Moore.

Full report to follow…

Another Thriller At The Villa?

On Thursday evening the second semi-final in the Rayner Shield took place between South Ramsey B and Marown A, with the Crosby men huge favourites to reach the final, however the South Ramsey men were hoping to cause an upset with being drawn at home.

There were two winners on the night for the home team with George Brew recording a great 21-20 win over Phil Kelly, whilst Christian Caley also got home with a 21-17 victory over Steve Wilson who had stepped up from the C team, but battled well before losing out. Home captain Ben Dugdale just missed out 19-21 against Matthew Keggen, whilst Austin Hart performed well to score 17 against visiting captain Paul Dunn. For the visitors winning fairly comfortably for the home team were Bobby Thorne winning 21-14 over Tony Dugdale, Neil Withers won 21-10 against Steven Waters, Paul Kelly won 21-9 against Edward Carlyle, whilst Colin Kelly won 21-16 against Sid Bolton.

The final takes place on Friday evening at the Villa with Marown A taking on South Ramsey A in a repeat of the 2017 final at the same green, which South Ramsey looked odds on to win taking a 3-1 lead at the half way stage only for Marown to hit back to win 5-3 on games despite losing on chalks. Marown rightly start as favourites, however South Ramsey know they can beat the Crosby men having recently won five games away from home in the league a couple of weeks ago.

Keggen & Boland Win Nobles Cup

The Noble’s Cup was held on Saturday with 19 pairs taking part, a reasonable number considering it was the All England on Saturday with a number of locals travelling to support the two Isle of Man representatives competing.

The competition was won by home greener Glenn Boland and Matthew Keggen (Marown), seeing off the challenge of the South Ramsey pairing of James Teare & Glynn Hargraves 21-15. The final started with Teare/Hargraves getting off to a flier taking the first six ends, scoring 10 chalks in the process. At 15-5 it looked a long way back for Boland & Keggen, however they got in with a double then won seven consecutive ends in the corners scoring two fours, three doubles and two singles to run out in style.

Losing out in the semi-finals to the winners were the Marown pair of Harry Barton & Bobby Thorne who cruelly lost out 21-20, after leading 20-16 they were lying game on four of the last five ends only for secondary hits to snatch victory away from them. On the last end with Barton & Thorne lying game once again Keggen struck with his last bowl to take out the counting bowl to secure the win, with Thorne unable to find a way in. Teare & Hargraves booked their place in the final with a comfortable 21-7 win over home greeners Les Brookes & Dave Naughton.

Losing quarter finalists were Lee Dawson & Tony Hart (South Ramsey), Paddy Murphy & Dave McCabe (Finch Hill/Port St Mary), Ian Kissack & Rob Corkill (Marown) and Mike Skelly & Bernard Thackrah (North Ramsey/Port St Mary).

The presentation was made by Noble’s secretary Wendy Leece, who thanked all those who had entered the competition, the club members for their support with running the competition.

Honours Even in Sunset City

It was another good clash between the top teams in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one with Peel A hosting Onchan A with the home team winning 5-3 on games, however Onchan won the aggregate comfortably by 12 chalks to secure a 5-5 draw. For the home team Harry Kelly stepped up from the B team to beat Steve Parker 21-12, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly won 21-16 against Mark Kelly, Tommy McMeiken took a 21-15 win against Kevin Quirk, Andy Kennish won a tight game 21-19 against Peter Slinger, whilst Gary Smith won 21-20 against Tom Slinger who performed well on his first division debut. Responding for Onchan were Jordan Cain who beat Peel captain Stevie Kelly 21-9, Matthew Quirk seen off Tom Kelly 21-12, whilst Frank Watson no doubt feeling he had a point to prove on his old stomping ground won 21-7 against David Proctor.

Marown A kept a firm grip at the top with their 1-9 away win over Port St Mary. Captain Trevor Quayle was the only winner for the home team with his 21-11 victory over Juan Killip, with the home team reaching just 90 points to record one of their lowest scores at home in recent history.

Reigning champions South Ramsey A made the short trip to Mooragh Park, also coming away with a 1-9 win over North Ramsey A. Geoff Porter saved the whitewash with his 21-14 win over Glynn Hargraves.

Noble’s A gave themselves some breathing space in their quest to stay up with their 8-2 home win over second from bottom South Ramsey B, with Marown B doing likewise with their 8-2 win at Crosby over bottom of the table Castletown B.

Castletown A seen off Douglas A with their 7-3 home win with Sam Clague continuing to impress despite losing out 20-21 to Stuart Garrett. The town men had their second home fixture of the week with their rearranged match with Onchan A taking place on Thursday evening with the Onchan men taking a hard earned 3-7 win.

In division two Ballaugh A recorded a good 3-7 away win at the ‘Villa’ over Douglas B, whilst second placed Peel B kept up the pressure with their 1-9 away win over Ballaugh B to close the gap by two points. Port Erin A sit in fourth place after their 7-3 win at home to Finch Hill A and sit 14 points behind Peel B with a game in hand. Port St Mary B are currently in third place, however they slipped up again with their 6-4 away loss to lowly North Ramsey B. Fifth placed Onchan B won 7-3 at home to Peel C and promotion may well beyond them this season.

Marown C continue to establish themselves in division two with their hard fought 4-6 away win over Port St Mary C, who have a new player in their ranks Will Cain, who despite losing on the night has only taken up the game properly this season, with Cain showing some good potential and has got the ‘bug’ putting the time in to improve his game.

In division three league leaders South Ramsey C showed no sign of relenting in their chase for promotion with a good 8-2 home win over Nobles C, whilst second placed Finch Hill B went one better with their 9-1 win over Noble’s B. Castletown C recorded a 2-8 away win over Douglas C, matched by Onchan C at home to Ballaugh C, whilst Peel D who picked up a 7-3 home win over Port Erin B.

Top Two March On

Nobles extended their advantage at the top of the Ladies bowling night league following a crushing away win against Douglas. Nobles won all nine matches which saw comfortable wins for Paula Firth, Jayne Smith and Lin Ruscoe who all won to single figures. Paula Garrett nearly prevented the whitewash but Jan West got over the line 21-20. Result 106-189 (0-9).

Castletown A continues to chase Nobles and will be happy with another dominant home performance beating Ballaugh by 59 chalks. Kim Foy and Anne Oates collected fine wins to single figures with wins also coming from Ann Hollingworth, Heike Perry, Hilary Kermode, Amanda Lawler and Kath Kinley. Cath Harvey and Pat Mason won for Ballaugh with the match ending 179-120 (7-2).

South Ramsey picked up their second full house of the season with a strong home performance against Castletown B. Elaine Moore, Ann Gale, Lyn Bolton, Jenny Moore and Kim Hargraves all played well and won to single figures. Charlotte Peach came closest for Castletown and was just pipped 21-19 by Fiona Kennish. Final score 189-82 (9-0).

Port St Mary A made the trip north to face Mooragh Park. Mooragh picked up four wins from Janey Monk, Vicky Lloyd-West, Shannon McMullan and Madison McMullan with Madison winning 21-6. Port St Mary responded with five wins including Kellie Maddrell and Chris Price who won to single figures. Trish Bull, Jayne Kneen and Val Macfarlane also won to give PSM an overall 24 chalk win 134-158 (4-5).

Peel Sunset who on the back of a four-game losing streak had a tricky home tie against Marown, who had only lost twice in the last eight games. Peel controlled the match from start to finish picking up wins from Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Joyce Kelly, Mary Moffatt, Gill Clarke, Pat Robertson and Lynda Wilson. Marown’s Helen Withers and Margaret Scarffe claimed wins for the away side with a final score for Peel 183-121 (7-2). A special mention goes to eleven-year-old Grace Cooper who made her first league appearance for Marown, it is always good to see another youngster coming through the ranks.

The final game of the week saw a southern derby between Port St Mary B and Port Erin. The match was only separated by ten chalks with PSM just falling short on the night. Rita Callister top-scored 21-8 for the home team and Edwina Reid, Pauline Worrall and Linda Dawson also won. Port Erin fought back and with Di Benson winning 21-6 and Lynda Cadamy 21-8 and with three more wins from Jacqui Elliott, Carol Kaye and Caroline Whitehead, gave them victory 141-151 (4-5).

With Round 17 done and dusted Nobles stay top holding a 23 chalk lead over Castletown A. South Ramsey sit third 110 chalks behind Castletown. Port St Mary A, who still have a game in hand, remain fourth but are 204 chalks from the top spot.

Next week Nobles travel to Castletown B and Castletown A travel to Port St Mary B with both sides looking to avoid any slip-ups. Port St Mary A face a rejuvenated Peel Sunset team and South Ramsey is home to Marown.

Elaine Moore continues to lead the way at the top of the merit having won all 16 games with Rebecca Teare two chalks behind and Jenny Moore ten chalks behind.

Colin Lifts Town Cup

Peel Bowling Club hosted the popular Peel Town Cup on Saturday with a healthy entry of 53 being one of the biggest so far this season on an improving Peel green. The competition was sponsored by Isle of Man Seafoods leading to an attractive prize pot up for grabs.

The eventual winner was Crosby favourite Colin Kelly who held off home greener Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly with a 21-15 victory. The final started with both players trying to play their favoured corners, however it was Colin who pulled away to build up a good lead which Barney was not able to recover from to allow Colin to take another title to add another trophy to his already impressive season.

Losing semi-finalists were two of the games younger players. Sam Clague (Castletown) lost 11-21 to Colin, whilst Harry Barton (Marown) lost 9-21 to Barney.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Rob Corkill, Walter McCarthy & Neil Withers (all Marown), with Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) also losing out.

The presentation was made by Peel President Dougie Allan, who thanked all those who had supported the competition, Isle of Man Seafoods for their generous sponsorship and everyone who had helped with the running of the competition.

Moore & Teare Soak up More Success

South Ramsey hosted the Kennish Cup with 72 taking part. The green has improved immensely since the start of the season, however the weather player its part throughout the day with gusts of wind and then heavy rainfall in the latter stages of the competition.

At the end of the competition it was the home green partnership of Jenny Moore and James Teare who ruthlessly nilled their opponents Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) in the final under “cobbing” conditions due to the formation of pools of water with the rain becoming heavier throughout the final.

Losing out to Gawne/Roberts in the first semi were Lynda & Derek Cadamy (Port Erin), who lost 15-21, with their opponents winning 12 ends to the Cadamy’s seven ends. In the other semi-final Moore/Teare booked their place in the final with a 21-16 win over Gill Dixon (Ballaugh) & Alan Moore (South Ramsey).

Losing out in the quarter finals were South Ramsey pairs Fiona Kennish & Steven Waters, Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves, Shelley Kennish (South Ramsey) & Sam Clague (Castletown) and husband and wife Alec & Philippa Taylor (Peel/Marown).

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by competition secretary Glynn Hargraves, who thanked the Kennish/Moore family for their sponsorship, the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and the Ladies for the excellent refreshments provided. South Ramsey President Steve Moore was then introduced to present the prizes.

Keggen & Bolton Win Jordan Cup

The Jordan Cup was held on Saturday 20th July with a good entry of 32 Ladies entering the competition which was played in a drawn doubles format. The teams were split into four groups playing in a round-robin format with each game consisting of ten ends with the fifth and tenth end being a “power end” where points scored are doubled.

Qualifying from the first three groups were Lyn Bolton and Alison Keggen, Pat Robertson and Paula Firth, Chris Price and Libby Andrade. The final group saw Debbie Leece and Caroline Whitehead joint on points with Rebecca Leece and Joyce Kelly so a one end shootout would decide the final spot. One player from each team would contest the end and sisters Rebecca and Debbie battled it out with Debbie bowling closest to the jack taking herself and Caroline through.

In the first semi-final, Alison and Lyn took on Pat and Paula. A great start saw Alison and Lyn build a 6-0 lead before scoring a two on the power end which was doubled taking them to 10-0. Pat and Paula picked up their first point on end seven and took the final power end but Alison and Lyn went through 17-3 winners.

The second semi-final was nip-tuck with the game evenly poised after the first power end at 5-5. After eight ends Debbie and Caroline led 8-6 before a three pulled their opponents back in front 9-8 meaning whoever won the final power end would reach the final. Debbie and Caroline won the end taking the victory 10-9.

The final was a tight affair with Alison and Lyn leading 3-1 after four ends with the players restricting each other to singles. On the first power end, Alison and Lyn scored a three allowing them to take control of the match and lead 9-1. Debbie and Caroline fought back and won three out of the next four ends to trail 10-5 going into the final power end. The final end proved to be a cliff hanger, with Debbie and Caroline lying two Debbie sent her last bowl which went into the end close to making a third. With all the players checking the end Alison and Lyn conceded two down and hung on to take a 10-9 victory.

At the conclusion, Rebecca Teare presented the Trophy to the winners and praised all the players for a great day of bowls and thanked all the members of Nobles who helped run the competition.

Quayle Secures Dreswick Cup

There was a good entry of 46 who contested this year’s Dreswick Cup at Port St Mary. The competition was kindly sponsored by The Albert Hotel – Port St Mary. Good weather and a very good green led to an excellent afternoon of bowling.

In the quarter finals Derek Cadamy (Port Erin) lost 14-21 to Paul Skelly (Port St Mary), another home greener Chris Oates 8-21 to Stevie Kelly (Peel), last year’s winner Dave ‘Barney Kelly just lost 20-21 to Trevor Quayle, whilst Wayne Roberts lost 15-21 by Neil Withers (Marown).

In the first semi-final Paul Skelly played Ste Kelly, with both players playing great bowls and it was nip and tuck all the way. After 26 ends Skelly scored a double to take a 19-18 lead. Kelly hit back with a two and a single to take his place in the final. The second semi-final between Trevor Quayle and Neil Withers was also a quality game. At the halfway stage the score was 11-11. Quayle then put a good run together to win 21-15.

In the final Quayle started off the quicker taking a 11-6 lead. With excellent bowling from both players, Quayle reached the 20 mark with Kelly on 15. Kelly fought his way up to 19-20 before Quayle got the point he needed to win The Dreswick Cup for the third time, in what was a quality final.

At the presentation Wayne Roberts thanked the Port St Mary ladies for their usual excellent catering, Ray Watterson for the great condition of the green, anyone else that helped on the day, and Pat O’Meara from the Albert Hotel for their continued sponsorship.

Positive Week for South Ramsey

The first Rayner Shield semi-final was played on Wednesday evening with South Ramsey A hosting Onchan A. The green was in fantastic condition and was running superbly considering the amount of rain throughout the day, with the gusting winds playing its part affecting the bowls.

First game off on the night was home captain Glynn Hargraves who was ruthless recording a 21-3 win over Mark Kelly, with Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly not far behind with his 21-6 win over Steve Parker. After just two games with a 32 chalk lead the home team became huge favourites knowing two more wins would be likely enough to secure the win on the night barring any heavy defeats. Kevin Quirk responded for the visitors with a 21-14 win over Peter Collister. The last game of the first half was a great battle between David Bradford leading 20-16 against Peter Slinger, only for Slinger to dig in to take four consecutive singles to level at 20-20 and lying one for game with a 15-inch bowl Bradford held his nerve to bowl in for game in what was an entertaining game to watch. 

In the second half Stefan Kelly put in a good performance scoring four doubles on the bounce to go from 8-6 up to 16-6 to take control, to beat Matthew Quirk 21-12. Alan Moore was next off and was the second home player on the night to get home 21-20 with Phil Kerruish 17-20 down he took three singles to level it at 20-20, only for Moore to put up a great first bowl to end the game. James Teare brought home the third 21-20 win of the night with his win over Frank Watson fighting back from a 16-20 deficit to win. With the match long over it was Chas Grills and Jordan Cain left on the green to entertain the crowd, with Grills leading 16-10 Cain dug in to run out with 11 consecutive chalks to take a 21-16 win.

The match of the season in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one took place at Crosby on Monday night between league leaders Marown A and current champions South Ramsey A. The visitors started strongly with captain Glynn Hargraves winning 21-13 over Dean Kipling after taking a 15-1 lead, Kipling dug in to claw his way back into the game. Next off was Alan Moore who had the visitors biggest win 21-12 against Phil Kelly, with Moore winning 17 ends to Kelly’s seven ends. James Teare continues to impress for the A team to make it 3-0 to the visitors with a good 21-14 win over Paul Kelly. Neil Withers took the only win in the first half for Marown with a 21-5 victory over Ian Moore to reduce the chalks difference to eight in favour of the visitors. In the second half the match was finely balanced with Colin Kelly swinging the aggregate in favour of Marown with a 21-9 win putting the home team four chalks ahead. Next off was David Bradford who claimed a hard fought 21-18 win over Paul Dunn, with Bradford taking a 9-1 and 14-6 lead which helped as Dunn found his rhythm to fight back well to get some all-important chalks on the board. Securing a fifth win on the night for South Ramsey was Stefan Kelly who held a 10-1 lead over Matthew Keggen, which he then extended to 19-9 only for Keggen to respond with three doubles on the bounce which would prove crucial in the match result. Kelly finished the game off with two singles to claim a 21-15 win. Last match on the green was between John Gelling and Peter Collister, with Collister performing well in the second half of the game to recover from a 4-15 deficit before losing out 15-21. Not many teams will go to Marown and take five games off the Crosby men yet South Ramsey did just that, however Marown had the last laugh of the night to edge the aggregate by a solitary chalk (135-134) to take the draw which kept their opponents at arm’s length.

Onchan A capitalised on the clash at Crosby to take a good 9-1 home win over Marown B to close the gap by four points on the league leaders. For Marown Peter Kelly prevented the whitewash with a 21-12 victory over Frank Watson.

In the other matches Castletown A brushed aside their B team with a 9-1 win, with Bob Clark the only winner with a 21-17 victory over Juan Kermode.

Noble’s A took a good 4-6 win away from Mooragh Park with their win over North Ramsey A with Tommy Collister merciless with his 21-0 win on the night.

South Ramsey B closed the gap on Marown B despite slipping to a 3-7 home loss to Peel A, whilst Douglas A did enough to take a 6-4 home win over Port St Mary A.

In division two Ballaugh A continued their good form with their 2-8 away win over second from bottom North Ramsey B, whilst Port Erin B took a hard fought 4-6 away win over Marown C who continue to hold their old own in a match that had five games losing to 19 and above in a finely contested match.

Port St Mary B slipped to a disastrous 3-7 home defeat to their C team with the result suggesting some of their players should be playing in different teams. Finch Hill A performed well to see off close rivals Onchan B with a 6-4 home win.

In division three runaway leaders South Ramsey C recorded a hard fought 6-4 home win over Onchan C, whilst the fight for second goes on with second placed Noble’s B winning 9-1 at home to Douglas C, Finch Hill B lie in third after their 3-7 away win against Port Erin B, whilst Ballaugh C were ruthless with their 10-0 home win over Peel D. Just four points separate second place Onchan (74) and fourth placed Ballaugh (70).