The Rayner Shield has a new sponsor onboard this year with Plumbmaster taking over sponsorship of the Rayner Shield and Rayner Plate competitions. The Rayner Shield gives teams from the lower divisions the opportunity to test themselves against stronger teams, depending on how kind the draw was to them, however all the top teams went into the draw for the next round.

Early Division One league leaders and current Rayner Shield holders South Ramsey A won 8-0 at home to Finch Hill A. Just one of the visiting players got into double figures with Brian Murphy just losing 20-21 to Alan Moore.

The following evening Marown A had their second game of the season away to South Ramsey B, this time they went one better with an 0-8 away win. For the home team Austin Hart was the only man who failed to get into double figures as he had tough opposition in the form of Colin Kelly, whilst Bryan Corner was the highest scoring loser as he got to 17 against Glenn Boland.

Peel A made light work of second division team North Ramsey B in the Sunset City as they won 7-1 with the visitors scoring just 76 chalks. Ray Skelly caused an upset with his 21-16 win over George Gadsby to prevent the whitewash.

There were three close ties with the first being a 4-4 at Breagle Glen as Port Erin B lost by just three chalks (135-138) at home to Douglas B. The home teams cause was not helped by once again being a man short.

The second was between Marown B and Onchan A at Crosby with another 4-4 being settled on chalks (145-148) as Onchan edged it on the night. Home captain Darren Kerruish edged his game 21-20 against his Uncle Phil Kerruish, whilst John Kelly beat Mike Thomas 21-19.

The final close encounter was between third division teams Douglas C and Finch Hill B at the Villa, as the home team drew 4-4 and went into the draw for the next round as they won by five chalks (136-131).

Douglas A progressed to the next round courtesy of a 6-2 home win over Noble’s A with Merv Sayle winning 21-1 against John Andrew. For the visitors Alex Yates beat Ian Moore 21-19, whilst Dave Naughton won 21-14 against Mark Kneen.

Castletown A beat fellow first division team Peel B 7-1 at the Crofts, with three single figure wins for Ron Williams, Nathan Cooil and Nathan Hamilton. The Town also had a rare guest appearance from 81-year-old Mike Hargraves who beat Dave Smith 21-18. Preventing the whitewash was Paul Quirk who beat David Quayle 21-19.

Marown D welcomed Noble’s B to Crosby, with the visitors (pictured) coming away with a solid 2-6 victory. For Noble’s Junior bowler Alex Hampson won 21-16 against Eddie Rough, Stephen Corkill won 21-7 against Andy Sykes, whilst James Kelly stormed home 21-4 against Barry Salmon for the Crosby men.

First division side Port St Mary A came away from Ballaugh B who ply their trade in Division Three with a 3-5 win, helped by single figure wins from Wayne Roberts, Dan McCabe, and Trevor Quayle.

North Ramsey A came away from their game with a hard earned 3-5 away win over Onchan B, helped by Paul Allison who beat Mike Kelly 21-19 and John Cannan who won 21-20 against Paul Clinton. Impressing for the home team were Sid McKnight, Mike Alexander and Colin Spence who beat Gary Merrill, Rob Monk, and Allan Callow respectively.

Peel C made home advantage count as they played out a 4-4 draw with Onchan C, as they won by 17 chalks (146-129).

Castletown B keep visitors Ballaugh C under 100 chalks with their 6-2 home win (131-91), with single figure wins from Ross Moore, Derek Lewney, and Junior Sam Quayle with the latter winning 21-2 to take the team ‘kitty’ home.

On Wednesday night South Ramsey C came away from their visit to Peel as they took on the D Team, with a 3-5 victory. For the Peel men James Lee and Andy Jackson bot won 21-8 against Ian Moore and Anthony Kelly respectively.

Third division side South Ramsey D hosted first division side Marown C, with the home team performing well as they reached over 100 chalks in their 1-7 home defeat (102-166). Greg Barlow was the lone winner for South Ramsey beating Jamie Joughin 21-19 as he continues to impress having only taken up the game late last season.

Losers in the preliminary round and first round go into the Rayner Plate competition with handicaps awarded based on league position.

Just one Canada Life International league tie took place this week with the postponed South Ramsey C v Ballaugh A fixture taking place. The visitors will have been delighted with their 2-8 away win but will have left with regrets over not picking up a 0-10 win as they hit top spot by two points. Anthony Kelly held off Mike Spooner 21-18, whilst Ian Moore won to the same score against John Keenan. The battle of the captains was won by Phil Quayle who beat David Corkill 21-13, Steve Grant won 21-11 against Jay Moore, whilst Steve’s son Patrick beat Andy Morgan 21-12.

Noble’s Bowling Club hosted their Men’s pairs competition sponsored by Gerry Maginn Painters & Decorators on Sunday attracting 25 pairs to compete for the trophy. The competition was played on Noble’s Two green, with the Ladies playing their competition on the top green.

Losing out at the quarter finals stage were Marown pair Phil Kelly and John Gelling, who were on the end of an upset to Noble’s pair Lee Price and Steve Cain 19-21. Onchan’s Kevin Quirk and Steve parker got the better of Marown’s Sid Bolton and Walter McCarthy 21-15.

Paul Dunn and Stephen Rundle (both Marown) got the better of Phil Dunn (Marown) and Paul Clinton (Onchan) 21-18 in a close game, whilst another Marown pairing Glenn Boland and Peter Jones had a comfortable 21-14 win against South Ramsey’s David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves.

In the semi-finals the new bowlers Price and Cain went one step further as they reached their first final, with Cain only taking up the game last season, whilst Price only took the game up four weeks ago, he has clearly got the ‘bug’ as they ended the challenge of Quirk and Parker 21-16.

In the other semi-final it looked like the game was heading in favour of Boland Jones who had built up a five point lead at 18-13. Rundle and Dunn responded with four successive scoring ends taking a double, a four and two singles to book their place in the final.

The final looked like it could be a close affair after the early ends with Price and Cain playing well as a pair they led 10-9 after five ends, however Rundle and Dunn soon hit their stride as they finished the game in just 10 ends scoring three trebles, a four and two singles to take a comfortable 21-10 victory with Rundle claiming his first success in an Open competition. Price and Cain can certainly hold their heads high, as they weren’t given any start on their opponents in the competition and took out some good pairings along the way.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Phil Salmon and Tina Hampson, with the latter thanking all the club members and anyone who had helped towards the smooth running of the competition, also giving thanks to the sponsors.

Tina then went on to say how thankful she was from everyone involved in bowls on the Isle of Man for the support they have given Noble’s as a club, as just over a year ago the club was on the brink, as they struggled to field a team to keep the club going. Now the club have four Men’s night league teams, a Ladies Team and Ladies Over 60’s Team, with the club getting a welcome influx of players which is testament to the efforts that have been made by the new members. It is certainly onwards and upwards for Noble’s Bowling Club.

Peel Bowling Club hosted the Lancaster Cup men’s doubles on a wet Saturday afternoon, with the extensive work undertaken over the winter resulting in a green with much better coverage than this time last season as 24 pairs entered the competition.

Falling at the quarter final stages were South Ramsey pair Alan Moore and Stefan Kelly 16-21 to Dean Kinley (Peel) and Nathan Hamilton (Castletown), whilst Glenn Boland and Peter Jones edged home 21-20 in an all Marown affair against Kevin Kelly and Tom Kelly.

Also progressing were Neil Withers and Paul Dunn (Marown) who won 21-15 against the home green pairing of Rob Middleton and Dave Smith, whilst South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves and Bob Clark beat Peel pair Tommy McMeiken and George Gadsby 21-18.

Reaching the end of the road at the semi-finals were Kinley and Hamilton who lost out 14-21 to Boland and Jones, whilst Hargraves and Clark were beaten 17-21 by Withers and Dunn.

The final which coincided with the best part of the day as the sun shone was another all Marown battle with Withers and Dunn taking the initiative early on to lead 10-4 after just four ends. Boland and Jones closed the deficit to just two chalks with 11 ends played the score was 10-12.

Hitting back to win four successive ends Withers and Dunn looked to have taken control of the game once more at 17-10, then got within touching distance to lead 20-15 only for Boland and Jones to score a single and double to leave the game finely poised at 18-20.

With Boland and Jones counting for two Jones tried to make a third only to unluckily knock in Withers short bowl for game. Withers and Dunn retained the title they picked up in 2021 as the competition was not played in 2022.

The presentation was made by Peel Bowling Club President Lynda Wilson, who thanked the sponsor David Lancaster Limited for their continued support, the team who have worked on the green over the winter after a tough 2022 season, those who helped run the competition and all the club members who had helped throughout the day.