On Thursday morning last week, 30 July, Castletown A and Ballaugh A put in impressive performances as both teams scored full houses.  Castletown A were at home to Ballaugh B (126-50) with four of the Town ladies winning to single figures.   Closest game was a 21-14 win for Barbara Young against Carol Holt.  Ballaugh A were home to Castletown B (126-39) with all but one game being won to single figures; this one game was a 21-12 win for Alison Millard against Sheila Preston.  Home derby between Breagle Glen A&C resulted in a 5-1 win for the ‘A’ ladies dropping only two points (124-65) with four of their wins being won to single figures.  Stopping the whitewash was Wyn Collister who won to 19 against Linda Dawson.  Breagle Glen B also won 5-1 away at Mooragh Park B (118-72) with Jacqui Elliott and Pauline Worrall  for the visitors winning to single figures.  Sole winner for Mooragh was Joan Henderson who won to 13 against Elaine MacFarlane.  South Ramsey B won 4-2 at home against Finch Hill (119-100) with all games going into double figures.  Two winners for Finch were Anne Hon who just edged Lesley Murray 21-20 and Lil Smith who won to 15 against Sue Collier.  South’s Ann Gale and Jackie Murley both crossed the line 21-17 against Wendy Cowin and Sue Caley.  Mooragh Park A won 4-2 away at Onchan dropping only six points (120-99) with Mooragh’s Lynn Mayers being the only player to win to single figures. Two winners for Onchan were Maureen Payne and Sue McCourt who both won to 18 against Janet Monk and Chris Sims.   Closest game was a 21-20 win for Maureen Hamilton against Lesley Nicholl.  Nobles won 4-2 at home to Marown (116-87) with Sue Gawne for the home team being the only player to win to single figures.  Two winners for Marown were Philippa Taylor who won to 18 against Libby Andrade and Rosemary Winckle to 14 against Sylvia Kennaugh.  Closest game saw Marilyn Ellison cross the line 21-19 against Lynda Cadamy.  Peel Sunset drew three all at home to South Ramsey A but took the honours on points (91-86).  Mary Moffatt and Joyce Kelly for Peel plus Anne Buck for South all won to single figures.  South’s Elaine Moore had a real tussle with Val Allwood eventually winning 21-15.

On Tuesday morning, 4 August, Marown A had a comfortable 5-1 win at home against Mooragh Park B, dropping only 2 points (124-60) with Philippa Taylor and Lynda Cadamy winning to single figures for the Crosby ladies.  Lone winner for Mooragh was Jane Casey who won to 19 against Sue Hammond.  Peel Sunset won 5-1 away to a one player short Finch Hill (124-68) with Val Allwood and Terri Berry for the westerners winning to single figures.  Saving Finch’s blushes was Lil Smith who won to 19 against Joyce Kelly.  Sue Caley and Brenda Williams just missed out on wins for Finch when they lost to 18 and 19 against Shirley Corrin and Beverley Wilson.  South Ramsey B made the short distance to Ballaugh B coming away winning 4-2 (101-98).  South’s Sue Collier and Gail Curphey for Ballaugh were the only players to win to single figures.  The other winner for Ballaugh was Brenda Clayton who won to 12 against Sue Kinrade.  Breagle Glen A won 4-2 away at Mooragh Park A (110-101) with Janet Monk for the home team being the only player to win to single figures.  Chris Sims was the other winner for Mooragh winning 21-20 against Trish Bull with Margaret Tasker for Breagle also winning 21-20 against Elaine Slack.  Breagle Glen B won 4-2 at home against Onchan (111-107) with all games going into double figures.  Two winners for Onchan were Maureen Payne who won to 15 against Jean Thackrah and Rosemary Quirk who won to 12 against Voirrey Curphey.  Closest game of the match was a 21-19 win for Breagle’s Pauline Worrall against Jane Lothian.  Following morning, Wednesday, two postponed matches from the previous day due to weather conditions, were played.  First of these was Castletown B home to Nobles. The Nobles ladies were again on good form winning 5-1, dropping three points (123-67)  with three of their wins being won to single figures.  Stopping a full house was Sheila Preston who won to 18 against Pam Makin.  Another close game resulted in a 21-17 win for Sylvia Kennaugh against Judith Moore.  Second rearranged match was between South Ramsey A home to Ballaugh A.  South won 4-2 (119-91) with Jill Quayle for the home team being the only player to win to single figures.  Two winners for Ballaugh were Michele Cubbon who won to 18 against Gillian Jopson and Barbara Graham who won to 17 against Helen Caley.   Christine Macdonald just missed out on another win for Ballaugh when she lost to 18 after a nip and tuck game against Elaine Moore.  The only scheduled match of the morning saw Castletown A on fine form winning 5-1 away to Breagle Glen C dropping only two points (124-84).  Town’s Sue Peach was the only player to win to single figures.   Saving Breagle from a whitewash was Steph Swift who won to 19 against Jenny Saunders.  Next closest game was a 21-15 win for Chris Price against Kay Primrose-Smith.

With only three matches remaining, barring a disastrous three last matches, the Nobles ladies are on course to retain the Over 60s league title as they have scored 3230 points, 149 points ahead of second placed team Breagle Glen A on 3081 points, followed closely by Castletown A on 3021 points and Ballaugh A on 2976 points.  Still all to play for ladies!

Wednesday evening, 29 July, South Ramsey’s chances of being in the running for the league title were dealt a heavy blow as Marown A, who are also very much in the running, won 6-3 at South Ramsey (168-122) with four of the Crosby ladies winning their games to single figures.  Three winners for South were Gill Dixon, Elaine Moore and Kim Hargraves who all won to 14 against Lyn Bolton, Philippa Taylor and Helen Withers.  Closest game resulted in a 21-20 win for Zoe Pearson against South’s Judy Kelly.  Breagle A won 7-2 against stablemates Breagle B (160-129) with Linda Dawson, Alison Stockham and Trish Bull for the ‘A’ team, plus Voirrey Curphey for the ‘B’ team all winning to single figures.  Claire Cain was the ‘B’ team’s other winner winning to 10 against Betsy Skelding.  Closest game of the match was a 21-19 win for Angela Bennett against Karolina Urbaniak. Ballaugh A took on Peel Sunset at home and although Ballaugh won 7-2, they only won by 10 points (162-152).  Two winners for Peel were Emilie Moss and Olivia Harrison who both won to single figures with Helen Cowley just missing out another win for Peel when she lost to 19 against Yvonne Ward. Mooragh Park travelled to Douglas coming away with a solid 6-3 win (172-121) with Janet Monk plus sisters Shannon and Bailey McMullan all winning their games to single figures.  Three winners for Douglas were Mel Molesworth who won to 19 against Lacey McMullan, Rebecca Jacobs who won to 16 against Katie Johnson and Graiagh Smith who won to 11 against Jackie Hassall.  Ballaugh B won 5-4 away to Castletown B (166-143) with Shirley Watling and Maggie Hughes for Ballaugh plus Aalish Moore for Castletown winning to single figures.  Three close winning games for Castletown resulted in a 21-20 win for Sonja Mercer against Rachel Thomas with Rachel Palmer and Sue Wilshaw both winning to 19 against Charlotte Neeson and Natalie Cubbon.  A rearranged match from this fixture between Marown B and Nobles was played on Thursday 23 July which resulted in a 6-3 win to the Nobles ladies, winning by only  two points (159-157).  Marown’s Emily Cooper was the only player to win to single figures.  The other two winners for Marown were Lil Smith who won to 13 against Colese Creer and Celia Joughin to 12 against Liz Vipond. Castletown  A didn’t play this fixture as it was their turn to sit-out.

Last Friday evening, all three teams vying for the top spot (Castletown A, Marown A and South Ramsey) all put in good performances.  Castletown scored a full house at home to a one player short Douglas team (189-85) with four of the Town ladies winning to single figures.  Nearly winning a game for Douglas was Harley Garrett who lost to 20 against Kellie Maddrell.   Marown A hosted Ballaugh A, and although the match finished 5-4 to Marown, Marown only dropped nine points due to their four losses being lost to high scores.  Lyn Bolton and Deborah Leece for Marown were the only players to win to single figures. Just missing out on winning for Ballaugh were Maria Dimsdale, Rose Waterworth and Alison Quaggan who all lost to 19.  South Ramsey made their way south to Breagle Glen A coming away with a solid 7-2 win on a very tricky green (174-152).  Two winners for Breagle were Alison Stockham who was the only player to win to single figures and Karolina Urbaniak who won to 19 against Lesley Murray.  Another close game saw South’s Kim Hargraves just pip Margie Tasker 21-20.  Mooragh Park also had a comfortable 7-2 home win against Castletown B (176-110) with four of the northerners winning to single figures.  Two winners for the Castletown ladies were Rachel Palmer who won to 17 against Katie Johnson and Susan Kerruish who won to 12 against Jackie Hassall.  Another 21-17 win was scored by Lynn Mayers against Sonja Mercer.  Ballaugh B won 6-3 at home to Marown B (159-124) with four of the Ballaugh ladies winning to single figures.  Three winners for Marown were Lola Tebay and Grace Cooper who both won to 10 against Victoria Johnson and Julie Cannon plus Emily Cooper who won to 13 against Gill Clarke.  Closest game was a 21-19 win for Natalie Cubbon against Jo Kelly.  Nobles won 5-4 at home to Breagle Glen B (143-137) with Jo Smith, Joanne Kelly and Colese Creer for the home team plus Anita Roberts and Chrissy Woodward for the visitors winning their games to single figures.  Breagle’s Zoe Durcan just missed out on reversing the scoreline when she lost to 19 against Larna Colquitt. 

With only three fixtures left to play, Marown A are currently top, Castletown A second and South Ramsey third, but with Marown having their sit out next Wednesday, league title is still very much up for grabs – watch this space!