A top of the table clash took place at Crosby in Canada Life International Division One on Wednesday evening as league leaders Marown A hosted South Ramsey A on a night which had plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Marown captain Paul Dunn set down a marker for the home team as he beat John Kennish 21-14, swiftly followed by Peter Jones who defeated Glynn Hargraves 21-13. Colin Kelly recovered from a 1-9 deficit against Bob Clark to win 21-16. South Ramsey’s Peter Collister got over the line 21-19 against Neil Withers with a great last bowl, to secure a first point for the visitors as the latter failed to count two on the last end with the game finely poised at 19-20.

In the second half of the match David Bradford secured a resounding 21-9 win over Paul Kelly, as he took the only single figure win of the night. James Teare battled well to be level with Tom Kelly at 16-16, however a strong finish from Kelly ensured a fourth win for the home team. With the last two games on the green heavily in Marown’s favour as Glenn Boland led 18-13 against Dido Kelly, the latter dug deep to score four doubles over the last five ends to win 21-20. This left Dean Kipling on the green with Jordan Cain, with the Marown man leading 9-1, 14-4, and 20-15, it looked like a game that couldn’t be won by the South Ramsey man, however a huge effort saw Cain get over the line 21-20 to secure a fourth win of the night, as the home team ultimately won 6-4 and by nine chalks (152-143).

South Ramsey will have been mightily relieved to escape with this defeat, as the Crosby men could just as easily have won 9-1, which would have put them 10 points ahead, instead of the four point it now stands at.

Peel A made the most of the top two clashing as they closed the gap on the top two, as they beat North Ramsey A 9-1, as the visitors hit 100 chalks despite suffering four single figure defeats.

Onchan A sit in fourth place as they won 9-1 at home to Port St Mary A, with Paul Skelly the lone winner as he beat Jamie Clague 21-10. The visitors lost one game to 17, two games to 18, and a further game to 20, the Port men will have felt hard done by on the night.

Castletown A slipped to a heavy 2-8 home defeat against Marown B, with former home greener Sam Clague recovering from a 9-20 deficit against Andy Clark to win 21-20.

Douglas A won 8-2 at home to Marown C, with James Kelly stepping up from the D Team to beat the previously unbeaten Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-16. Winning close games for the Villa were Jimmy Sansom, Andy Cannell, Stuart Garrett, and Dave McCabe.

In Division Two Noble’s A picked up an impressive 7-3 home win over early league leaders Douglas B, in a close match with 12 chalks separating the two teams (149-137).

South Ramsey B took full advantage of the defeat for Douglas B, hitting top spot for the first time this season, as they beat visitors Onchan B 10-0, with James Evans making his first appearance of the season for the home team, as he secured a 21-6 win over David Tait.

Peel B were once again the only away winners in Division Two as they beat Ballaugh A 4-6, helped by winning the aggregate by a solitary chalk (151-152).

North Ramsey B also won 6-4, as they beat Finch Hill A by just two chalks (140-138). Castletown B remain winless after five games, as they lost 8-2 to Port Erin A at Breagle Glen.

In Division Three Nobles D went into second place ahead of Noble’s C, as they came away from their game with South Ramsey D with a 2-8 victory.

Ballaugh B were the biggest winners on Tuesday night as they beat Castletown C 9-1 at home, whilst South Ramsey C came away from Marown D with a 3-7 victory as they sit just four points off top spot, whilst Peel C managed to see off Port St Mary B 7-3, despite Trevor Quayle turning out for the B team, as he won 21-3 against Peel captain Kevin Murray.

In Division Four Ballaugh C sit in top place by 10 points as they beat the new bowlers from Noble’s E 3-7 away from home.

Douglas C matched them Ballaugh C with their own 7-3 win at home to North Ramsey C, with 15-year-old Robert Tomlinson the last game on the green with Paul Arthur, the junior bowler held his nerve to seal a 21-17 win.

Elsewhere Finch Hill B beat Castletown C 9-1 at home, with James Drinkwater the lone winner for Town as he beat John Smith 21-1.

Noble’s Bowling Club hosted the Association Non-Winners’ Cup on Sunday afternoon with the competition open to those who had never won a Men’s singles open previously, with 40 players entering to take their chance to win their first open, a significant increase on last year’s entry of 25.

Losing quarter finalists were Steve Parker (Onchan) who lost 20-21 to clubmate Will Penhallurick. Marown man James Kelly beat North Ramsey’s Joe Kneale 21-9.

In the other half of the draw Nigel Tebay (Ballaugh) took a comfortable 21-12 win over Les Brookes (Finch Hill), whilst Dave McCabe (Douglas) lost out to 11-21 to Brian Lindsay (Peel).

In the semi-finals Penhallurick booked his place in the final with a 21-16 win over Kelly, scoring six doubles on the way, whilst Tebay got the better of Lindsay with a 21-11 win, as the latter scored in just four ends.  

The final got underway with Tebay carrying on where he left off in the semi-final as he kept Penhallurick down to scoring four chalks over four ends to secure a well-deserved 21-8 win to claim his first Men’s open title.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association Competition Committee Officer Steve Moore who thanked Noble’s Bowling Club and its members for hosting the competition, everyone who entered, and those who came to support.

Week four of league fixtures took place in Canada Life International Sponsored Division One on another blustery Monday evening.

Castletown A picked up the only whitewash this week as they beat Marown C 10-0 at the Crofts, with the Town men picking up more points in Monday’s fixture than they had previously all season, going from nine points to 19 points to help their cause, whilst leaving the Crosby men three points adrift at the bottom.

Port St Mary A came away from Crosby following their game against Marown A with an 8-2 defeat, however the result could have been worse and better for both teams with the home team winning three close games and losing out in two close games. Big wins arrived from Colin Kelly, Peter Jones, and Dean Kipling. The close games won for Marown were Glenn Boland winning 21-18 against Wayne Roberts, with the latter leading 18-13 only for Boland to run out, Paul Dunn won to the same score against Paul Skelly, whilst Tom Kelly edged home 21-20 against Robbie Cooil. Winning for the visitors were Trevor Quayle 21-20 against Paul Kelly, with the latter leading 18-13, whilst Dan McCabe inflicted a second league defeat of the season on Neil Withers 21-18.

South Ramsey A safely seen off Marown B to pick up their biggest win of the season with a 9-1 home victory. Phil Kelly spared the whitewash with a 21-13 win over Stefan Kelly.

Peel A beat Douglas A 7-3 at home, with Pip Pemberton ‘pipping’ Paddy Murphy 21-20 in the closest game of the night, with the home team winning two games to single figures.

Onchan A recorded an 8-2 home win over North Ramsey A, with the home team also winning two games to single figures. Winning for the visitors were Paul Allison 21-16 over Will Penhallurick, whilst Rob Monk beat Neil Dunwell 21-17.

In Division Two Douglas B and Finch Hill A were the odd teams out on Monday evening, with their match being the only fixture that didn’t finish 7-3, as the Villa men used home advantage to beat the Finch men 8-2.

Peel B were the only away winners in Division Two as they beat Noble’s A 3-7.

Recording home wins were North Ramsey B over Onchan B, Port Erin A won 7-3 against South Ramsey B at Breagle Glen, whilst Ballaugh A just edged the chalks (140-137) at home to Castletown B, as the Town men remain winless and firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.

In Division Three the teams who finished in the top two last season Nobles C (who were the D team) hosted Port St Mary B, with the home team missing out on a 10-0 win by 9 chalks, with defeats to 17,18, and 19 for three of their players.

Nobles B march on at the top as they beat Onchan C 3-7 away from home, with just seven chalks separating the teams (138-145).

An even closer score on chalks arrived as South Ramsey C came away from Ballaugh B with an impressive 2-8 win, as just four chalks separated the teams (157-161) in a high scoring match, with the home team dropping nine chalks as they agonisingly lost three games to 20, one game to 19 and a further two games to 18. The home teams two wins arrived from Gary Griffiths who beat Paul Routledge 21-15, whilst Richard Green got home 21-20 against James Moore. South Ramsey picked up their second away win of the season, as they still await their first win in a home fixture this season.

South Ramsey D suffered a 3-7 home defeat to Peel C (pictured), with the home team picking up their wins from Frank Feeney, Austin Hart, and Alan Moore.

Finishing off the run of away victories in Division Three were Noble’s D who came away from Crosby with a 3-7 victory over Marown D.

In Division Four Ballaugh C head the table following their 8-2 away win over near neighbours Peel D, whilst Noble’s E continue to impress as they picked up their first true win as they beat Castletown C 6-2 on games, also winning the aggregate by 47 chalks (156-109) to seal an 8-2 victory. Rounding off the league action Douglas C beat Finch Hill B 8-2 at the Villa on Tuesday evening.

Port Erin B announced that they had pulled out of the league after struggling to field a team for some time now, this has resulted in all their results being voided. This has result in two teams having a bye each week, with this in mind the competition secretary is looking at options to schedule additional matches.

Peel Bowling Club hosted the Lancaster Cup men’s doubles on a fine Sunday afternoon, on a green that is improving year on year as 25 pairs entered the competition.

Falling at the quarter final stages were Castletown pair Kieran Krypner and Nathan Hamilton who lost out 9-21 to Andy Clark (Castletown) and Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), whilst an all Marown clash was won by Neil Withers and Paul Dunn 21-12 against Colin Kelly and Juan Killip.

Also progressing were South Ramsey’s John Kennish and David Bradford as they beat Marown pair Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly 21-15, with an all-Peel contest being won by Stevie Kelly and his father Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly to the same score against Dougie Allan and Gordon Corrin.

The semi-finals were straightforward for both pairs that went into the final as Withers and Dunn beat Clark and Hargraves 21-11, whilst Kennish and Bradford put paid to the challenge of the Kelly’s to the same score.

The final got underway as Withers and Dunn won the first four ends to lead 9-3. Kennish and Bradford worked their way back into the game to level up the game at 10-10, with 10 ends played. Despite the Marown pair going a few points ahead at 14-11 the game was nip and tuck, with the South Ramey men taking their own three-point lead at 17-14. From there Withers and Dunn dug deep to turn the game around as they scored three doubles over five ends with their opponents being kept to two singles. A single on end 22 was enough to secure a 21-19 victory and secure the title for a third consecutive time.

The presentation was made by Peel Bowling Club Chairman Dougie Allan, who thanked the sponsor David Lancaster Limited for their continued support, the team who have worked on the green to improve the surface, those who helped run the competition and all the club members who had helped throughout the day.