Monthly Archives: April 2018
Champions Port St Mary off to a flyer
The Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s Bowling League returned this week with reigning champions Port St Mary A making a blistering start by beating Ballaugh 126-56 (6-0). Port St Mary A have won the league the last four seasons and on this early performance they will be hard to stop again this season.
Second placed team last year Peel Sunset will be looking to push Port St Mary and underlined their title credentials with a strong showing down south beating Port Erin 110-66 (5-1) with Jacqui Elliott winning 21-5 to prevent a whitewash.
Castletown faced Douglas at home and edged the match 114-101 with both teams winning three games each.
Villa were home to Nobles and unfortunately were one player short as they went down 40-114 (1-5) with home player Pat Kelly winning to save their blushes.
Mooragh Park A are playing their home matches in April at South Ramsey and first up were league newcomers Mooragh Park B. The A team won 126-48 (6-0) and whilst that is not the start the B team will have wanted I can only see these ladies improving as the season progresses and it is great to see another club being able to field a second team.
Port St Mary B faced the other new team in the League South Ramsey who return to the over 60s league for the first time since 2007. Port came out on top winning 101-85 (4-2) with good individual performances from Edwina Reid, Pauline Whorrall and Elaine Moore who all won to single figures in the match.
Marown who have been the most improved team over the last few seasons beat Onchan 111-98 (5-1) with Margret Scarffe the best winner for the home side 21-7 whilst Marilyn Ellison won 21-6 for the away side to prevent a full house.
Looking ahead to next week sees a double week with a Northern derby between South Ramsey and Mooragh Park A. Port St Mary face Villa at home and a tough away encounter at Marown later in the week.
Weather disrupts the start of the Over 60’s Men’s Season.
GAME ONE, The talking point of the opening day of the 2018 Over 60’s Men’s Crown Green Bowling Season was undoubtedly the weather with heavy rain causing a lot of cancellations.
Those games that were played however failed to provide any surprises with all going to form and we start with Castletown B who had a good 6-2 win over Douglas B at Castletown. The highlight of this match was a great battle between Castletown’s Terry Jackson and Tony Creer with the latter man taking the win 20-21.
In a match at the Villa where the Home Green was running superbly well despite all the rain Douglas A took a 7-1 win over Ballaugh B in a match played in great spirit and in warm sunshine which we hope will continue for the Season.
Onchan B hosted Port St Mary A at Onchan Park and here it was the visitors who came away with a 5-3 win despite a spirited effort from the Onchan side who had Gary Lee and Kelvin McNicholl showing good early season form.
Last Season’s League Champions Castletown A travelled just down the road to Port Erin and immediately posted ‘a statement of intent’ as they came away with a convincing 6-2 win with perhaps the performance of the day being the 21-7 win by Derek Allen over Mike Hargraves.
South Ramsey who have gained some new players this season had a 5-3 win over Nobles B in a match that saw some very close games.
Nobles A hosted Peel Sunset C and this resulted in an easy 8-0 win for the men from Nobles Park.
Because of the weather the Ballaugh A match against Onchan A took place on Friday 6th April and this was a tough battle which ended with a 4-4 scoreline.
GAME TWO. The second fixtures of the new season started in much better weather with the players enjoying bright sunshine .
Castletown A continued their good opening form with a 7-1 home win over Port St Mary B with the only winner for the Port St Mary side being Brian Lowe who beat Derek Lewney 21-19. The Castletown B side also had success with a 5-3 victory over North Ramsey B in a strange match where the North Ramsey side actually won one more game than Castletown B but then had to give away three walkovers because of a shortage of players for the Ramsey side.
Douglas B hosted Peel Sunset A and it was the Westerners who showed that they will be a force to reckon with this season as they came away with a 7-1 win. Bob Banning was the only winner for Douglas B with a fine performance in his 21-9 defeat of Alec Taylor.
Marown played Port Erin at Crosby and showed fine form in a 5-3 defeat of Port Erin and I feel that the Marown Team could well be in the mix for the League Title this time.
Ballaugh A, a team that I think could cause a few surprises this season travelled into Douglas to play Nobles Park B and returned home with a 5-3 victory after a playing a good Nobles B team.
Onchan A hosted North Ramsey A in what promised to be a very close match and although the home side ran out 6-2 winners the scoreline could be regarded as being a little deceptive as their were some very close games which could have gone either way.
Peel Sunset B lost 3-5 to Nobles A in the Sunset City despite a very spirited effort and some close games and the Peel Sunset C side went down 7-1 to Onchan B with Eddie McAvoy being the only winner for the Westerners.
South Ramsey had one of the longest treks in Manx Bowls as they travelled to play Port St Mary A and it was the Port St Mary side that won 6-2 with Robert Callister being the only winners for the Northerners.
So after the opening week of the 2018 Season there have been no great shocks and although some Teams have only played one match the League Table does not give a true picture but of those who have played two we still have four unbeaten with those being, Castletown A, Nobles A, Castletown B and Port St Mary A.
Teare, Leece & Boland do the Treble
Jubliee Cup Winners 2018
Rebecca Teare, Debbie Leece & Glenn BolandAn entry of 14 teams competed for the Port St Mary Jubilee Cup mixed triples, sponsored by CTH Insurance.
After a damp start the sun came out and the green became very nice to play on. The first round matches were played to 21 off 3, allowing everyone to get a good run on the green. All other rounds were played to 21 off 6.
Making it through to the semi-finals were Tim Williams, Katy Williams and Jayne Kneen who took on Rebecca Teare, Debbie Leece and Glenn Boland, with the latter winning a close match 21-17. The other semi-final saw Janet Monk, Rob Monk and Jordan Cain win 21-13 after a slow start against Ray Watterson, Robbie Cooil and Ange Maddrell-Reeve.
In the final Rebecca, Debbie and Glenn got of to a good start winning the first three ends. Janet, Rob and Jordan fought back well to take the lead. The score got to 20-18 to Janet, Rob and Jordan, but Rebecca, Debbie and Glenn scored three on the last end to win the match.
Club President Robbie Cooil presented the Jubilee Cup to the winners on behalf of CTH Insurance, thanking them for their continued sponsorship. Robbie also thanked the Port St Mary Ladies for their usual excellent catering and the green keeper for the excellent playing surface.
Thank you to everyone who competed and came to watch.
World Club Championships
South Ramsey competed in the World Club Championships at Fox Lane, Leyland for the second time on Sunday April 8th but were unable to find a way to defeat their opponents Holme (Cumbria)
The team did fare better than last year losing out by a 5-3 scoreline with the three winners being Peter Collister who just got over the line 21-20, Jenny Moore who played well to earn a 21-14 victory proving once again that she can mix it with the men and Stefan Kelly who had a good 21-10 victory over Liam Baxter who has won the Cumbria merit.
Overall the team lost out by 22 chalks.
Holme 5 (149) South Ramsey 3 (127): Daniel Varcoe 21, David Bradford 13; Mark Ashburn 21, Glynn Hargraves 16; Tom Baxter 20, Peter Collister 21; Robert Grisedale 14, Jenny Moore 21; Stephen Ashburn 21, Alan Moore 12; Callum Baxter 21, Chas Grills 8; David Grisedale 21, James Teare 15; Liam Baxter 10, Stefan Kelly 21
Marown Make Strong Start
Marown A started their season on Wednesday evening with a strong 9-1 victory away to South Ramsey B, with Steven Waters preventing the whitewash with a 21-15 win over John Gelling, whilst Tony Dugdale came next closest for the home team before losing out 19-21. New signing Paul Kelly came back from 3-10 down to win comfortably and Dean Kipling made his return to the fold with a 21-1 win to make the absence of their top player Colin Kelly go pretty much unnoticed.
Looking at Marown’s squad of nine players, they have no weak links and will be the team to beat this season.
South Ramsey A started their season with a good 8-2 win away to newly promoted Marown B. Peter Kelly used all his experience to record an assured 21-13 win, whilst Chas Grills couldn’t quite get over the line against Juan Killip to lose out 19-21. One of three youngsters in the home team Bobby Thorne just fell at the final hurdle to lose out 20-21 to Alan Moore. The Marown B Team has a good mix of youth and experience which should stand them in good stead in their quest to remain in the top division.
Onchan A managed to edge their home fixture against Douglas A in part thanks to getting a walkover due to one of the Douglas players pulling out due to illness. Peter Slinger and Jordan Cain had good wins for the home side, whilst Mervin Sayle won to single figures. Gary Conwell made a confident start to the season with a 21-13 win over Adrian Skinner, whilst Ian Moore defeated Rob Monk 21-15. Stuart Garrett just got over the line with a 21-20 win over Kevin Quirk.
Douglas B took on North Ramsey A at the Villa with the home side losing out 3-7. For the visitors Allan Callow and Geoff Porter both won to single figures, and Steve Parker got over the line with a 21-20 win. For the home team Andy Cannell put in an assured performance to win 21-7 over John Cannan.
Two first division fixtures fell victim to the poor weather, these were Peel A v Castletown A and Port St Mary A v Port Erin A.
In division two Nobles A look to have a squad that could go back up to division one following a two year absence and they started their campaign with a 8-2 home win over North Ramsey B.
Castletown B started their quest to make an immediate return to the top flight with a 9-1 win over Peel Sunset B, with Gordon Corrin sparing the blushes for the visitors with an excellent win over Derek Lewney.
Onchan B won’t be far away at the end of the season as they started with a 8-2 win away to Nobles B.
At the time of writing Ballaugh A hadn’t played their first fixture, however they are one of four teams who will be looking to challenge at the top of division two.
In division three Marown C got their season off to a flying start with an 8-2 home win over South Ramsey C. The Marown lads will be looking to improve as they have in their previous two years playing together. Five years ago Marown pulled their B Team out of the league as they were unable to field a team, now they have two teams in the top division with their C Team competing to get promoted, which reflects the great work the club has done to promote new players to the game.
Douglas D have managed to hold on to their D Team for a second season, however they were only able to field six players, whilst the visitors Castletown C only fielded seven players but managed to come away with a 8-2 win.
Douglas C made a strong start to the season with a 7-3 away victory over Onchan C.
Finch Hill B had new signings Kevin Stannard and his son Sam both marking their debuts with wins, however they could not prevent their team from losing 3-7 at home to Ballaugh C.
On Thursday evening the first rounds of the Rayner Shield took place with bowls once again showing it is a sport for all ages with South Ramsey D having nine year old Ryan Hargraves winning 21-8, which helped his team take the victory over Douglas C to put their name in the hat for the next round. At the other end of the spectrum Over 60’s player Arthur Halsall was the only winner for Finch Hill A edging his game 21-20 over Neil Withers.
Winter Club finale
The wet and extremely cold climate endured over recent weeks in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club were a distant memory as everyone enjoyed almost perfect weather at the final two events over the weekend.
One of those was the prize presentation afternoon, during which the annual Best versus Rest session opened proceedings and resulted in a comfortable victory for the Best outfit.
They were made-up with members of league winners, Jacks Off, plus the overall and ladies merit winners, along with a player from runners-up, Mooragh Lakers; their opponents were the merit winners or representatives from the remaining 11 teams.
It was unusual to have all 12-merit winners competing for the teams and representatives who filled in for the two who were promoted due to winning their merit titles supported them.
One slight difference from the league matches; was that games were played off scratch, rather than 21 up off six.
Scores (Best first, Jacks Off unless stated): Jordan Cain (Seven-Up, overall merit winner) 21, Doug Allan (Govags) 12; Alan Moore 21, Mark Kelly (Seven-Up representative) 20; Kim Hargraves 16, Frank Watson (Outsiders) 21; Glynn Hargraves 21, Gordon Corrin (Bowl Rollers) 11; James Teare (League runners-up, Mooragh Lakers) 21, Tracy Moore (Castletown Corkers) 16; Dido Kelly 21, Paul Bailey (Parkers) 6; Matthew Keggen 21, Tricia Bull (Louie’s Angels) 14; Stefan Kelly 14, Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters) 21; Elaine Moore 21, George Peach (Castletown Cannons) 9; Janet Monk (Mooragh Lakers, ladies merit winner) 18, Jenny Moore (Lakers representative) 21; Austin Hart 21, Geoff Mayles (Bits n Bobs) 13. Best 216 (8), Rest 164 (3).
The presentations followed and began with the team merit winners, all as listed in the results; next up was overall merit winner Matthew Keggen, who collected the Derek Killey memorial cup; Janet Monk(ladies merit) won the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy and Austin Hart (Jacks Off) took the junior merit title.
The team honours followed, and they included Angels (fifth), Seven-Up (fourth), Outsiders (third), Lakers (runners-up) and victors Jacks Off. Last but not least the club champion, Jordan Cain collected his award, with the runners-up spot in this competition going to Alan Moore.
The latest two round robins held saw Steve Parker and Kevin Firth top their group ahead of Mark and Peter Kelly; while in a second gang the winners were Bernie McPhee and Tricia Bull, with second going to Derek Cadamy and Lil Smith.
Peter Hughes and Jo Smith won a session held on Saturday, with Steve Parker and Derek Allen in second spot.
At the conclusion of the season thanks are expressed to Douglas Corporation staff who did a great job with the green; also anyone who helped in any way and especially those who contributed to Sunday’s refreshments and raffle.
Finally as mentioned some time ago the club would appreciate the return of a measure, which went missing from a session at Nobles No. 3 green.
Bradford Wins Marown Floodlit Championship
Following the success of last year’s competition Marown once again held the opening tournament of the season with a strong entry of 94, played over four qualifying nights, with four qualifiers from each evening.
The competition commenced on Sunday evening with Colin Kelly, Tommy McMeiken, Rob Monk and Janet Monk all qualifying for Thursday’s finals night, with Tommy and Rob both being pushed all the way in their final qualifying games against Helen Martin and Clare Cooper respectively.
Monday evening’s action had a few shocks, with Marown B Captain Harry Barton coming through three tough games beating Island players Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger, along with club mate Lil Smith. Margaret Tasker was the second qualifier of the night, seeing off the challenges of Jerome Surridge and Matthew Keggen. Trish Bull came through three games to take the third spot of the evening, whilst Glynn Hargraves had to defeat his better half Kim Hargraves to take the final qualifying place .
Tuesday evening saw two home greeners qualify with Conor Keenan, coming through two tough games to take the first spot, whilst Steve Bridson defeated club mate Phil Kelly to book his place. James Teare excelled to beat Neil Withers, then topped off his evening by defeating partner and top lady player Jenny Moore. The final qualifying spot went to David Bradford who came from behind in both of his games to defeat Phil Kerruish 21-19 and Paul Dunn 21-15 respectively.
The final qualifying night on Wednesday was a cold evening with Jordan Cain coming from 17-14 down to end the challenge of Alison Keggen with a 21-18 win to book his spot. The final three spots went to South Ramsey players, with Alan Moore, Stefan Kelly and junior Austin Hart booking their places.
Thursday evening was finals night with the draw taking place live on the night, with the last 16 being played down to the winner. Once again the rain managed to hold off and there was a good turnout to watch the conclusion of the competition.
Losing out at the last 16 stage were Port St Mary’s Trish Bull and Margaret Tasker, home greeners Harry Barton, Steve Bridson and Conor Keenan, James Teare and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) and Tommy McMeiken (Peel).
In the quarter finals David Bradford had to once again come from behind to defeat North Ramsey’s Janet Monk 21-17, whilst Austin Hart came from behind to level things at 20 across before clubmate Stefan Kelly played a good first bowl under pressure to end the challenge of Hart. Marown’s Colin Kelly performed well to defeat Jordan Cain (Onchan) 21-9, whilst Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) took his place in the semi final with a 21-15 win over Rob Monk (Onchan).
In the semi final Stefan Kelly pushed club mate David Bradford hard before losing out 21-17, whilst Colin Kelly booked his place in the final with a 21-13 victory after pulling away from Glynn Hargraves after a nip and tuck start to the game.
The final was eagerly anticipated with neither player being able to get a run on the other in the first half of the game, before Bradford pulled away to build a 16-11 lead. Kelly responded with a two to pull the score back to 13-16, before Bradford once again had a run to take a 21-14 win and the title.
The presentation was made by Neil Withers, with spot prizes from each qualifying evening for the highest break, furthest junior went to Austin Hart and furthest lady went to Janet Monk. Prizes were paid out to the last 16.
Thanks were also given for the excellent refreshments of hot dogs, soup, cakes and more throughout the week.
Congratulations must go to Marown on a well run competition which looks like becoming a regular fixture in the bowling calendar to start the season.