A healthy entry of 40 players took part in Port St Mary’s Dreswick Cup men’s singles competition played at Port Erin Bowling Club on Thursday afternoon. Luckily the weather was warm and sunny making it a very enjoyable afternoon of bowls.

The Dreswick Cup has been going for over 50 years and has always been played on a Thursday afternoon when traditionally most local shops had half day closing on a Thursday.

A couple of big matches in the second round saw club mates competing with each other, in the top half of the draw South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves pushed David Bradford hard eventually losing to 19-21. In the bottom half of the draw Marown’s Colin Kelly also went close before losing to 20-21 against Neil Withers.

At the quarter final stage David Bradford beat teammate James Teare 21-18, Paul Dunn beat clubmate Walter McCarthy 21-11, Alan Moore (South Ramsey) ended home greener Bernie Durcan’s (Port Erin) run winning 21-17 and Neil Withers got the better of Nathan Hamilton (Castletown) 21-16.

Both semi-final matches involved players from South Ramsey and Marown, Bradford and Dunn have had many battles together, Dunn came out on top this time winning seven of the last eight ends to win 21-17.

In the second semi-final Moore and Withers had a good match with the lead constantly changing, Withers finished stronger though and won 21-18.

An all Marown final between team mates Dunn and Withers was a good quality game, Withers started strong building up a 16-7 lead, Dunn came back winning the next five ends closing the gap to 16-14 before Withers took control again taking the next four ends to win 21-14.

The Presentation was made by Port St Mary Club President Margaret Tasker who thanked all the members that helped through the day to run a successful competition. In his speech Withers said it was his first time winning the title having reached the final five times previously.

After two days of qualifying rounds in the Men’s 2023 Crown Green Bowls Championship last week the last eight met at Peel Sunset Bowling Club on Tuesday afternoon to decide a winner.

The first of the quarter finals saw Peter Collister (South Ramsey) put up a great performance to beat Neil Dunwell (Onchan) 21-5 while Brian Lindsay (Peel) lost 19-21 to Derek Allen (Onchan). The only past winner in Finals Day was Brian Colquitt (North Ramsey) who beat Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) 21-12, while Peter Slinger (Onchan) proved to be too strong for home greener Dougie Allan (Peel) as he took the win 21-10.

In the semi-finals we saw Peter Collister putting up another strong performance to beat Derek Allen 21-5 and despite a spirited performance Brian Colquitt went down 13-21 to Peter Slinger.

So to the final and here we saw Peter Collister struggling to match his great form from the earlier rounds, while Peter Slinger played good bowls to build up a 15-7 lead after 18 ends. Collister then won the jack and fought back to 16-16 after 25 ends and get himself back in the game, he then he lost three singles, but then he picked up two singles to make it 18-19. Slinger then scored a two to win his first Over 60’s Championship with a 21-18 victory.

The Trophies were presented by Mark Kelly the Competition Secretary of the Isle of Man Over 60’s League. Peter Slinger then thanked the spectators for staying to watch on what was an extremely wet day, he also thanked the organisers and Peel Sunset Bowling Club for hosting the event and said that it was enjoyable to play such a great opponent as Peter Collister who showed great sportsmanship throughout the competition.

In Canada Life International League Division One, the biggest clash of the night was between Onchan A and Marown A at the Park as the home team were defeated 4-6 but made a good fight of it, losing the aggregate by just nine chalks (138-147) with a couple of high profile upsets thrown in by Onchan, as Jamie Clague beat Dean Kipling 21-17, whilst Will Penhallurick got over the line 21-20 against seven time Manx Champion Colin Kelly 21-20, with Kelly having room to get in on the last end he was short with his last bowl. Other winners for Onchan were Matthew Quirk who beat Paul Kelly 21-8, whilst Peter Slinger had to dig deep for his 21-18 victory. For the Crosby men Glenn Boland had it all to do as he trailed Neil Dunwell before edging over the line 21-20, Peter Jones beat Mike Thomas 21-10, Paul Dunn won 21-11 against Reg Temporaza and Neil Withers performed well to beat Kevin Quirk 21-13.

North Ramsey A welcomed local rivals South Ramsey A to Mooragh Park with the home team taking four games off the current league champions in their 4-6 home defeat. In the first half the South men had three single figure wins from Dido Kelly, Jordan Cain and Glynn Hargraves as they beat Allan Callow, Mike Skelly and Jimmy Moffatt respectively. David Bradford was the only winner for the visitors in the second half of the match as he beat Gary Merrill 21-14. For the home team Steven Waters beat fellow Newcastle fan Bob Clark 21-9, captain Rob Monk beat Stefan Kelly 21-12, Steve Walmsley performed well to win 21-15 against James Teare, whilst Paul Allison just got over the line 21-20 against Peter Collister after leading 20-14.

Port St Mary A eased their relegation fears with a 7-3 win against Castletown A at Breagle Glen, as they won the aggregate by seven chalks (147-140), just missing out on a further two points as Dave Saxon lost 18-21 to George Foy, whilst Robbie Cooil lost to the same score against David Quayle. Nathan Hamilton was the third winner for the Town men as he beat Bernard Thackrah 21-6. For the home team Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle won comfortably against Ian Watson and Jordan Drewett respectively, Tim Williams beat Nathan Cooil 21-16, Tom Collins won 21-17 against Aaron Richardson, whilst Dan McCabe held off Chris Lever 21-18.

Peel A had the visit of Douglas A, with the home team winning five games this wasn’t enough to secure the chalks as two heavy defeats cost them the aggregate for a 5-5 draw (136-149). Winning big for the Villa men were Andy Cannell who beat Peter Greenlees 21-8 and Merv Sayle who won 21-6 against Dean Kinley. Ian Moore picked up a third win as he beat George Gadsby 21-17. In contrast all the home team wins were to high scores as David Proctor beat Shaun Seal 21-15, Pip Pemberton won 21-17 against Mark Kneen, with three 21-18 wins claimed by Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, Gary Smith and Tommy McMeiken against Gary Conwell, Jimmy Sansom, and Keith Rise respectively.

Marown B took immediate revenge on Peel B at Crosby on Monday night just four days after they were put out of the Rayner Plate by just six chalks, thanks to a 7-3 home victory over the Peel men, also winning the chalks comfortably (151-124) to show home advantage goes a long way. Captain Darren Kerruish played his 12^th game of the season and in doing so claimed his first league win of the season as he beat Thursday night hero Mick Kavanagh 21-9, whilst Harry Barton won 21-5 against Geoff Rice. Two 21-17 wins from Karl Parker and Walter McCarthy over Rob Middleton and Paul Quirk helped the home teams cause. For Peel Andy Mackie and Dave Smith took comfortable 21-13 wins against Brian Kelly and Juan Killip respectively, whilst Dewi Bartlett continues to impress as he beat Matthew Keggen 21-20.

South Ramsey B are rock bottom after another home disaster as they lost 3-7 to Marown C, who are moving ever closer to safety. Winning for the home team were Tony Hart who beat Steve Rough 21-19, Tony Dugdale won 21-16 against Sam Clague, whilst Eddie Carlyle won his game 21-15 against Dan Smith. For the visitors Kevin Kelly was the best winner on the night as he beat Christian Caley 21-4, Jamie Joughin beat Toby Hart 21-11, with Stevie Rundle, Peter Kelly and Tom Kelly all winning their games comfortably.

South Ramsey A played their rearranged home fixture with Port St Mary A on Wednesday evening with the league leaders extending their lead to seven points following a 10-0 victory as they kept the visitors below 100 chalks (168-95). Two games could have gone the other way, as Peter Collister fought back from a 2-9 deficit against Trevor Quayle to win 21-19, whilst Glynn Hargraves held his nerve to win his game 21-20 against Wayne Roberts after leading 14-7 before a spirited fightback from the Port Captain levelled the game at 20-20, only for Hargraves to secure the point on the deciding end.

In Division Two Finch Hill A are 13 points ahead of the second placed team as they beat Onchan B 7-3 at home. For the Finch men Dave McCabe was made to work for his 21-18 win over Mark Kelly, whilst Mike Kelly ensured it wasn’t a bigger win for Finch Hill as he beat John Qualtrough 21-19.

Second placed Ballaugh A bounced back from defeat in their last outing with a 10-0 home win over Noble’s B who scored just 80 chalks, as the home team secured five single figures victories. Mike Spooner had a game on his hands against Alex Hampson, with the latter just losing out 20-21 to the Ballaugh man.

Castletown B are in fourth place just five points off second place with a game in hand following their 7-3 home win over Peel C, as Willie Corkill won 21-2 against Steven Bradley, with Ross Moore also winning to single figures as he beat Kevin Mort 21-9.

Elsewhere in Division Two Noble’s A took home a solid 8-2 win over North Ramsey B at home, with John Andrew and Alex Yates helping secure two points with their hard-fought wins.

Douglas B made sure it was an unhappy journey home over the mountain for South Ramsey C with the Villa men winning 7-3. Willie Cowley was the best winner for the home team as he beat Richie Davies 21-5, Stuart Garrett won 21-6 against Anthony Kelly, whilst Greg Barlow stepped in for the visitors to beat Les Quayle 21-7.

Onchan C welcomed Port Erin A to the Park as the home team won 5-3 on games and edged the chalks (136-135). There were two single figure wins for the home team and two for the visitors. Winning close games for Onchan were Colin Brown who won 21-17 against Derek Allen, Brian Aspden won 21-19 against Christopher Dent and Denis Maxwell edged his game with David Cain 21-20, as Mark Stockham reversed the 21-20 for the visitors against David Tait.

In Division Three it was another night of wet weather, as league leaders Ballaugh B came away from Noble’s C with a 7-3 defeat (143-134) as the newly formed team caused on of the upsets of the season. Steve Cain continues to impress as he beat Fred Waggett 21-2, whilst their four other winners were Lee Price, Lee Greggor, Dean Sowerby and Steve Brennan.

South Ramsey D were at home to Finch Hill B, this resulted in a 6-4 win for the home team (142-132). Losing close games 18-21 for South Ramsey were Hakim Thomas and Frank Feeney to Chris Thompson and Chris Duggan respectively, whilst Steve Kelly beat John Smith 21-6. The best winner for Finch was captain Kevin Stannard who beat Geoff Collier 21-9.

Marown D welcomed Noble’s D to Crosby, the visitors came away with a 4-6 victory, with the potential to win more points missed as they lost games to 17, 18 & 20.

Peel D secured their best win of the season with a 9-1 home win over Port Erin B. Charlie McMeiken won the battle of the juniors as he held off Dylan Marsh 21-20, whilst Ken Horsley ensured there was no whitewash as he beat Joshua Trickett 21-11.

Port St Mary B postponed their fixture against Douglas D due to the weather, will have the opportunity to hit top spot.

Peel Bowling Club hosted the Association Singles on Sunday with the competition attracting an entry of 47 on a continuously improving Peel green, which held up well despite the heavy rain throughout the afternoon.

At the quarter final stage Marown captain Paul Dunn beat Noble’s captain Steve Cain 21-11, David Bradford (South Ramsey) put out the last remaining home greener, George Gadsby with a 21-12 win. In the other half of the draw Marown clubmates Matthew Keggen and Peter Jones clashed, with the latter winning 21-17, whilst another all club clash took place between South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves and Bob Clark, with the latter also winning to the same score to progress to the next round.

In the semi-finals Dunn was up against Bradford, with the latter looking to be well in control of the game as the South Ramsey man built up a six chalk lead at 18-12, however a seven end winning streak for the Marown man sealed an impressive comeback to run out with a 21-18 victory. In the other semi-final it was another South Ramsey versus Marown clash, however Jones dominated the game with Clark to take a comfortable 21-9 win to book his place in the final.

The final got underway with the best part of the day as the sun made a special guest appearance. Dunn took the early initiative to lead 12-8 after nine ends, however Jones turned the game around to win eight of the next 10 ends to lead 18-14. With a good comeback already secured in the semi-final Dunn started another as he won five of the last six ends conceding just one single to secure another good comeback with a 21-19 victory.

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Steve Moore, who thanked Peel for the use of the green, the club members for providing helpers throughout the day and the competition committee for the smooth running of the competition.