Champions Have It All To Do
Champions South Ramsey extended their lead at the top to eight points with a 10-0 away win against Castletown A. Dido Kelly and David Bradford both won 21-3, whilst Chas Grills recovered from a poor start going 8-0 down before winning 21-18. Having competed in the Parish Walk on Saturday Stefan Kelly was quick out of the blocks going 9-0 up on Mike Hargraves before stumbling over the line 21-20. Whilst South Ramsey sit top at the half way stage they still have it all to do in the second half of the season with having to travel to the teams that sit in the top five, Marown A, Peel A, Onchan A and Douglas A.
Marown A sit in second place and will have been delighted to come away from their visit to the Villa with a 9-1 win over Douglas A, which stretched the gap on the teams below them. Captain Andy Kennish spared the whitewash for the home team with a 21-13 win over Phil Kelly. Dean Kipling and Paul Dunn made light work of their games beating Stuart Garrett and Ian Moore to single figures. Paul Kelly and Matthew Keggen were pushed a lot harder by Mervin Sayle and Keith Rise winning their games 21-18. Marown have seven home games in the second half of the season (due to their B Team being in the same division) and only have to face Onchan A away out of the top five, will fancy their chances of closing the gap on South Ramsey A to take their first league title since 2013.
Third placed Peel A once again proved they are force to be reckoned with defeating visitors Onchan A 7-3, on another night it could have been 9-1 with Gary Smith and Tommy McMeiken both just losing out 19-21 to Jordan Cain and Phil Kerruish. Steve Crampton had a comfortable 21-13 win over David Proctor. For the home team winners Frank Watson was pushed hardest winning 21-18 over Mark Kelly. Captain Stevie Kelly had a good 21-10 win over June Festival quarter finalist Matthew Quirk, whilst Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly made it back from his World Cup visit to Russia to beat Kevin Quirk 21-14. Tom Kelly beat visiting captain Peter Slinger 21-13 and Jerome Surridge won 21-15 against Rob Monk in a result that put them eight points ahead of their opponents on the night.
Port St Mary A sit in mid table and made the trek north to take on South Ramsey B, coming away with a 7-3 away win. Wayne Roberts won 21-3 over Christian Caley, whilst Ewan Cooil, Dan McCabe and Thomas Keggen had fairly comfortable wins, with Trevor Quayle pushed a lot harder before getting out 21-18 against Tony Dugdale. Home captain Ben Dugdale led by example winning 21-8, whilst Sid Bolton and Steven Waters both won 21-18 to help secure an extra two points for the team.
North Ramsey A won 8-2 with Allan Callow and John Cannan both winning to single figures. Geoff Porter was pushed harder with a 21-18 win over Seamus Whelan. The winners for the visitors were Steve Durcan and Peter Addison.
Marown B appear to have settled into division one nicely now and have given themselves plenty of breathing space to remain in the top tier following their 10-0 win over Douglas B, who appear set for the drop sitting nine points away from the two teams above them. I tipped Marown B to stay up at the start of the season and they look well placed to achieve this. No doubt helped by a quick green, the Marown players winning to single figures were Brian Kelly, Arnie Withers and John Kelly. James Kelly did well to beat visiting captain Andy Cannell 21-20, whilst another young star Bobby Thorne beat the experienced Pat O’Donohue 21-19.
In division two, word is reaching me that Ballaugh have a running green, which hasn’t been the case for a number of years now, no doubt helped by the recent fine weather and taking advice from Mike Atherton. The A Team would appear to be enjoying this recording a 10-0 home win over Noble’s B. The visitors did have to give a game away due to being a player short. For the home team Steve Grant had a fine 21-4 win.
Noble’s B continue their quest for promotion with a 7-3 home win over Finch Hill A, with their green not as quick as Festival week having been well watered ahead of their match. At the halfway stage Noble’s sit six points ahead of Castletown B, who had a slip up away to Peel C losing 4-6. The match ended 4-4 on games, however Peel picked up the aggregate thanks in part to Bob Berry’s 21-6 win.
Onchan B drew 5-5 at home to Peel B, despite winning 5-3 on games they lost the aggregate by three chalks with David Smith defeating Bernie McPhee 21–9. Onchan returned the favour with Paul Bailey beating Peter Greenlees 21-8, however of their other four winners Mike Alexander, Mike Thomas and Edward Carlyle could only win 21-19, whilst Roger Payne just got over the line 21-20 against Paul Quirk.
Port St Mary B took on their C Team with three big wins for the B Team, Dave Saxon, Paul Russell and Ray Maddrell all winning to single figures. Winners for the C Team were Ken Karran who beat Peter Collins 21-17, whilst Milton Cubbon stepped in to roll back the years beating Tom Collins 21-13.
Port Erin B didn’t fare well on their visit north to take on North Ramsey B at Mooragh Park, with the home team winning 9-1. Sparing the visitors blushes was Christopher Dent who beat Barry Teare 21-15. Winning big for North Ramsey were Alex Yates, Bryan Corner and Brian Colquitt.
In division three match of the week was Ballaugh B who took on league leaders Marown C. The home team had an 8-2 win, which allowed them to leapfrog the visitors to sit top of the table at the halfway stage. The two winners for Marown were Dan Smith and Stephen Rundle, whilst Dicky Watson won to single figures for Ballaugh. The other five winners for Ballaugh rather unusually recorded wins to scores of 15,16 17,18 and 19.
Castletown C slipped up away to South Ramsey C with the home team winning 7-3. This only tells half the story as Castletown gave away three games due to only being able to field five players, which pains me as the club up until a few years ago regularly had four teams competing in the league. James Drinkwater, Juan Drinkwater and Philip Smith all won for Castletown, whilst the two winners for South Ramsey were Anthony Kelly and Paul Routledge.
Finch Hill B closed the gap on the teams above them with a 9-1 win over Douglas D. Greg Brew was the only winner for the visitors beating Guy Smith 21-17. Finch Hill were awarded two walkovers. Home captain Pat Maher and Sam Stannard both won 21-9, with new bowler Brian Murphy winning his second game of the season, along with another newcomer Paddy Murphy who I am tipping to come on leaps and bounds, as he picked up his first league win in only his second league game for the club. It is great to see a player who has recently taken up the game getting around the opens, as this will definitely help improve his game.
Onchan C recorded a 6-4 home win over South Ramsey D, helped in part by Paul Clinton receiving a walkover. Winners for Onchan were Brian Woodall, Mike Kelly and Derek Anscomb. For South Ramsey Matthew Corkill and Ian Moore both won to single figures, with James Moore and Franz Ten Donkelaar also winning.
Peel D had an outstanding 7-3 away win against Douglas C, with Steve Tate and Bert Quayle winning to single figures, John Lightfoot who won 21-19 and Leslie Halsall winning 21-20. Winners for the home team were Parish Walk finisher Juan Readshaw, along with Keith Fearnley and Mike Cain.