Castletown A consolidated third place in Division One this week following a hard fought 7-3 home win over Peel A. Leading the way for the home team Aaron Richardson beat David Proctor 21-10, whilst Town Captain Nathan Hamilton beat Pip Pemberton 21-14. Dean Kinley beat former teammate Stevie Kelly 21-14, with Ian Watson matching this as he beat Paul Quirk. Andy Clark had to scrap for his 21-18 win over Andy Mackie. For the visitors the winners were Gary Smith, Tommy McMeiken, and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, with the latter winning to single figures. The Town men secured the aggregate two points by just five chalks (139-134).

In an even closer game North Ramsey A hosted Breagle Glen A, with the Mooragh side securing a 7-3 win as just three chalks separated the teams (127-124). Paul Allison & Tom Collins both won 21-6 for the home team, with home captain Rob Monk seeing off Trevor Quayle 21-13. John Cannan scraped home 21-20 against Dan McCabe. For the visitors Tim Williams stormed home 21-2 against Joe Kneale, whilst Wayne Roberts beat Steve Walmsley 21-9. The third winner for Breagle was Bernie Durcan who beat Jimmy Moffatt 21-11.

Two heavy defeats for Marown B saw the Crosby men slip to a 4-6 home defeat against Onchan A, with Steve Wilson losing 9-21 to Matthew Quirk, whilst Neil Dunwell won 21-7 against Kevin Kelly. Phil Kerruish was a welcome sight for the Onchan men, as he held off Jamie Joughin 21-20, with long time teammate Kevin Quirk beating Stephen Rundle 21-15. For the home team Juan Killip beat Mike Kelly 21-8, whilst Karl Parker edged home 21-20 against Reg Temporaza. The Onchan men are slowly closing the gap to the teams above them, as they recover from a slow start to the season having faced most of the top sides already.

Marown A got back to winning ways away to South Ramsey B, winning 1-9 and keeping the home team under 100 chalks (93-162). Preventing the whitewash was Lee Dawson who beat Paul Kelly 21-15, with Christian Caley the next closest to picking up a win, eventually losing out 17-21 to Tom Kelly. Three single figures wins for the Crosby men arrived from Paul Dunn, Peter Jones and Neil Withers, as they half the deficit to top spot in half to just two points.

South Ramsey A had a tough away game to Douglas A (pictured), with the Villa men picking up three wins, with Bob Clark and David Bradford both winning to single figures. Winning for the home team were captain Merv Sayle, as he beat Jordan Cain 21-13, Andy Cannell won 21-10 against Alan Moore, whilst Shaun Seal hung on to beat James Teare 21-17.

In Division Two Ballaugh A kept the foot on the gas, as they beat Noble’s B 10-0 at home, with a reality check for the visitors having been promoted from Division Three last season. Single figure victories were secured by Patrick Grant, Nigel Tebay, and captain Phil Quayle, who has made some sweeping changes to his squad over the winter, as this appears to be paying dividends as they extended their lead at the top to three points.

Second placed Marown C are waiting in the wings for a slip up from the Ballaugh men following their 1-9 away win over Breagle Glen B, with Ben Mowle the lone winner as he beat John Kelly 21-15. For the visitors Peter Kelly used all his experience to hold off Nick Peterson 21-20, with Sid Bolton and James Kelly winning 21-9 against Seamus Whelan and Derek Cadamy respectively.

Finch Hill A took the spoils 4-6 away to Noble’s A, with their cause helped by big wins from Mark Taylor, Stephen Oates, and Kevin Anderson. Kevin Moore has shown why he is now featuring for Noble’s A with a 21-4 win over Brian Aspden.

Peel B secured a solid 7-3 home win over Castletown B to lift themselves from bottom of the table to seventh place, with both teams securing 21-20 wins. Denzil Smith held off Ross Moore for the Peel men, whilst David Quayle did likewise against Andrew Cover. For Town Patrick Cooper beat Ross Menton 21-15. Dougie Allan was the best winner on the night beating Juan Drinkwater 21-4.

Onchan B are smack bang in the middle of the table in 5^th place, as they consigned Douglas B to bottom spot following their 9-1 home win over the Villa men, with Willie Cowley ensuring the visitors didn’t go home completely empty handed with a 21-14 win over Neil Richmond.

In Division Three Peel C are in top spot despite playing a game less than the teams immediately below them, following their 8-2 home win over South Ramsey C. The Peel men won three close games, with Owen Crompton holding off Anthony Kelly 21-18, Nathan Jones beat Jay Moore 21-20, with Charlie McMeiken continuing his positive start to the season as he held his nerve to beat James Moore 21-20. Winning for the visitors were Paul Routledge (21-20) against Matthew Venables, whilst captain David Corkill beat Andy Jackson 21-14.

North Ramsey B lost ground on the leaders following their 7-3 home win over Breagle Glen C, with David Kinrade beating Peter Kennaugh 21-2, Lee Christian won 21-4 against Peter Collins, with Gary Merrill winning 21-5 against Mark Pendlebury. Winning for the visitors were Harry Minor, Alan Crebbin, and Christopher Dent.

Noble’s C were up against their lower ranked D Team, it the C side that edged it 6-4, taking the aggregate by 12 chalks (138-126).

Marown D are kicking on nicely, as they sit in fourth spot following their 8-2 home win over bottom side Ballaugh C.

In Division Four Onchan C remained top by four points despite taking their turn to sit out. Finch Hill B sit in second place following their 8-2 home win over Peel D.

South Ramsey D won 7-3 over Douglas D, with the Villa men going two players short on the night.

North Ramsey C had a positive week, will have been delighted to come away from the Villa with a 3-7 win over Douglas C.

Noble’s E came from the Crofts with a 3-7 win over Castletown C, as they navigated a tough away green for new bowlers. Leading the way for Town were 11-year-old star in the making Freddie Palmer who beat Lee Cain 21-16, Freddie’s Grandad George Peach won to the same score against Ross Pulman, whilst another Junior bowler continues to improve, as Zac Bowrey won 21-18 against Chris Kirkman.

Onchan 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 51 players entering to take their chance to win their first open, a healthy increase on last year’s entry of 40.

Losing quarter finalists were Bob Callow (Douglas) to Jamie Joughin (Marown) with the latter recovering from a 13-19 deficit to runout with a 21-19 win. Castletown’s Kieran Krypner lost out to the same score against Alex Yates (Noble’s).

In the other half of the draw Town captain Nathan Hamilton progressed to the next round with a 21-16 win over Mike Caley (Noble’s), whilst Walter McCarthy (Marown) made light work of Peel man Paul Quirk with a 21-9 win.

In the semi-finals Yates booked his place in the final with a 21-12 win over Joughin, keeping his opponent to scoring on just four ends, whilst McCarthy had to dig deep to hold off Hamilton 21-17, with a strong finish with the score tied at 17-17.

The final got underway with Yates getting out of the blocks the quickest leading 14-8 after six ends helped by scoring three doubles. McCarthy responded winning six of the next seven ends, working his way back into the game with three doubles of his own to take a 17-15 lead.

The Noble’s man stopped the rot with three consecutive singles to retake the lead 18-17 after 16 ends. The Marown man went one better scoring four singles over the next four ends to see the game out 21-18 to secure his first Men’s open title.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Onchan Bowling Club and its members for hosting the competition, everyone who entered, and those who came to support.

The top two teams in Division One over the past 10 years Marown A and South Ramsey A clashed at Crosby on Monday evening in ideal bowling conditions on an excellent surface.

Last season the Marown men did the double over South Ramsey in the league. The draw looked to be extremely well matched between the two teams. In the first half of the match David Bradford held onto the jack all game, as he defeated fellow island player Neil Withers 21-0, without doubt a first for the Marown man to not score a single point. Marown captain Paul Dunn hit back with a 21-10 win over Peter Collister, with the latter fighting back from a 1-14 deficit to close the gap to six chalks at 10-16, only for Dunn to get back in and finish the game over the next four ends. The top two players over the past 30 plus years Colin Kelly and John Kennish took to the green once more to battle it out with Kennish winning the first end then trailing all game, going five behind at 13-18 only for a strong finish from the 12-time Manx Champion to beat seven-time Champion Kelly 21-19, thanks to winning five of the last six ends scoring three doubles on the way to victory. Another colossus battle saw Jones and Clark go head-to-head, with the game being tight all the way through with the South Ramsey man edging ahead by three chalks at 17-14, the biggest gap all game. Jones managed to level the game up at 18-18 after 30 ends, with Clark rallying once more to see the game out 21-18. At the halfway point South Ramsey led 3-1 and by a margin of 15 chalks, this easily recoverable with one or two good wins for the home team.

South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves was next off with a 21-8 win over Dean Kipling, which made the score 4-1, gave an unassailable 28 chalk lead, with the remaining games on the green all into double figures. Tom Kelly got back to winning ways with a solid performance winning 21-14 against Dido Kelly, having trailed after three ends once he got in front he never let the lead slip. A third win soon arrived with Paul Kelly holding off Jordan Cain 21-19, having trailed 11-15 and 14-18, the Marown man only conceded one more chalk to seal his comeback. Comebacks from losing positions were the order of the night, as James Teare trailed Glenn Boland 9-15, only to edge in front at 18-17. Boland scored two singles, on the following end and was counting for one only to hit in Teare’s short bowl. The South Ramsey man took full advantage of this to win the next two ends and seal an unlikely 3-7 win for his team as South Ramsey hit top spot for the first time this season, to put daylight between the two teams.

Whilst South may think it might well have been a 2-8 victory, Marown will think what might have been had all the close games gone in their favour, it would have resulted in a 6-2 victory on games, with the aggregate still likely to have gone in the visitors favour to leave a unusual 6-4 victory.

Onchan A claimed their first league win of the season, as they beat Douglas A 8-2 at home. Kevin Quirk won 21-3 against Mervin Sayle, whilst Mike Alexander and Peter Slinger had to battle for their 21-20 and 21-18 wins over Ian Moore and Andy Cannell respectively. For the visitors Nick Firth is quickly adapting to life in Division One, as he picked up another win, defeating Will Penhallurick 21-15, whilst Dave McCabe beat Reg Temporaza 21-9.

Peel A suffered another home defeat, this time 4-6 at the hands of Marown B. Phil Kelly had to scrap for his 21-17 win over Andy Mackie, Peter Greenlees returned to his old stomping ground to beat Paul Quirk 21-7, whilst Juan Killip impressed with a 21-14 win over Stevie Kelly. Dave ‘Costa Del Barney’ Kelly returned to the Island to see off John Gelling 21-19, with the pair no doubt discussing their recent adventures, whilst David Proctor beat Brian Lindsay to the same score.

South Ramsey B picked up five valuable points at home to North Ramsey A to keep themselves ahead of the Mooragh men in a true 5-5 draw, as both teams won four games and shared the aggregate (138-138). Winning for the home team were Tony Dugdale, Eddie Carlyle, Toby Hart and George Brew, whilst Tom Collins, Rob Monk, Paul Allison, and Steve Walmsley responded for the visitors.

Breagle Glen A hosted Castletown A, with the teams evenly matched on the night, however the home team managed to secure a 6-4 win, taking the aggregate by nine chalks (151-142) in a high scoring match, however they missed out a possible three extra wins as Steve Durcan, David Cain and Dan McCabe lost 18, 18 and 19 to Jordan Drewett, Ian Watson, and Nathan Cooil respectively. For the home team their closest game was Wayne Roberts’ 21-17 win against Andy Clark, whilst former Town player Chris Lever beat Dean Kinley 21-16.

In Division Two Ballaugh A reached top spot thanks to a 9 -1 home win over Onchan B, missing out on the whitewash by four chalks as Mark Dimsdale lost out 17-21 to Derek Allen. The Onchan men will feel hard done by having lost three games to 17, and a further two games to 18 and 19.

In a rearranged fixture Noble’s B had their toughest test of the season at home to Marown C, so it proved as they lost 3-7. All of the home team comfortably reached double figures, with Steve Cain leading the way for his team with a 21-7 win over Walter McCarthy, Paul Moore held off James Kelly 21-17, whilst Lee Greggor edged home 21-20. The five wins for the Crosby men were fairly comfortable ranging from 13-16.

Noble’s A came away from the Crofts with a 4-6 win over Castletown B. The visitors won 5-3 but couldn’t edge the two-point aggregate as this was shared (137-137). Ron Williams returned to the B Team having turned out for the C team the previous week, went on to win 21-8 against Stephen Corkill. For the visitors Kevin Moore was the best winner as he beat John Holden 21-11, whilst Jim Callister held off Patrick Cooper 21-18.

Finch Hill A kept up their good form with a 9-1 home win over Breagle Glen B, with four of their wins to single figures. Peter Hulley ensured the Breagle men didn’t go home empty handed with a 21-11 win over Kevin Stannard, with Seamus Whelan closest to picking up a second point for the visitors losing out 19-21 to Pat Maher.

Douglas B lifted themselves off bottom spot, jumping two places as they beat opponents Peel B 6-4. Single figure wins were secured for the Villa men from Paul Cowley, Kevin Firth, and Steve Cook, with Dougie Allan returning the favour for Peel with a 21-6 win over Paddy Murphy. Both teams shared a 21-20 win with Willie Cowley holding off Harry Kelly, whilst Andrew Cover got over the line against Bob Callow.

In Division Three Breagle Glen C picked up their best result of the season drawing 5-5 at home to Noble’s C, winning five games, but losing the aggregate by six chalks (118-124) due to being a man short. Mike Caley was the lucky recipient of a walkover. A blast from the past saw Terry Collister return to crown green bowls after an absence of 13 years, he shown he hasn’t lost his touch with a 21-3 win over Pete Bass. Hitting back for the visitors was Andrew Bell, who beat Mark Pendlebury to the same score.

South Ramsey C picked up a solid 3-7 away win over Ballaugh C, with Ian Moore stepping in to beat Ray Corlett, whilst Franz ten Donkelaar beat Simon Clarke 21-4. John Kneen managed to win 21-19 against recent open winner Paul Routledge despite not having a good start to his evening by turning up at the wrong green!

Noble’s D won 7-3 at home to Ballaugh B, with 14 chalks separating the two sides (142-128). John Andrew and Michael Johnson both won to single figures for the home team, whilst Gordy Moore won 21-7 for the visitors.

Marown D hosted North Ramsey B at Crosby, with the home team preventing the Mooragh men from hitting top spot with a 7-3 win. Winning close games for Marown were Steve Walters, Eddie Rough, and Jay Waters against Paul Cannan, Lee Christian, and John Corteen respectively.

In Division Four South Ramsey D hosted Finch Hill B, it was the visitors who went away the happier of the two teams with a 3-7 victory. Elsewhere Peel D edged the aggregate by a solitary chalk (135-134) to seal a 7-3 home win, with three of the wins being close. Noble’s E beat Douglas C 7-3 at home, with nine chalks separating the teams (153-144). Onchan C maintained their lead at the top with a 3-7 away victory over Douglas D as all four league games finished with a 7-3 scoreline. The Park men missed out on a whitewash by eight chalks with Roy Corlett losing out 17-20 to Clark Kelly, Marcus Avery was defeated 18-21 by Dave Jones, whilst Paul Callister was pipped at the post 20-21 to David Manley.

After a week’s break of league action following first round Rayner Shield fixtures, the third round of league fixtures were held this week. On Wednesday evening the top two Division One teams Marown A and South Ramsey A had tricky fixtures for different reasons.

South Ramsey A faced Onchan A with the visitors in a very false position having played teams that usually occupy the top spots in the league in their previous two fixtures Peel A and Marown A. The game resulted in a third consecutive 7-3 defeat for Onchan, with three of their top four players picking up wins with Matthew Quirk edging home 21-19 against David Bradford, Peter Slinger beat Dido Kelly 21-18, whilst Reg Temporaza held off a late fightback from James Teare to win 21-15. Alan Moore stepped into the A team with a solid performance to beat Kevin Quirk 21-13, whilst four single figure wins arrived from Bob Clark, Glynn Hargraves, Jordan Cain, and Peter Collister albeit the last win 21-0 against Steve Parker who injured himself during the first end of the game and was unable to continue.

Marown A had a tough fixture away to North Ramsey A, which is notoriously a tough place to go, so it proved as they had to battle for a 3-7 victory, despite keeping the home team under 100 chalks, thanks to four single figure wins from Peter Jones, Paul Kelly, Colin Kelly, and Marown captain Paul Dunn. Winning for the home team were captain Rob Monk with a 21-2 win over Tom Kelly, Steve Walmsley beat Dean Kipling 21-16, John Cannan picked up an impressive 21-12 win over Neil Withers, whilst Tom Collins just missed out 18-21 against Glenn Boland.

Castletown A bounced back in style from their Rayner Shield defeat to beat South Ramsey B 9-1 at the Crofts, just missing out on the whitewash by a solitary chalk as Toby Hart ensured they didn’t go home empty handed with a 21-20 win over Nathan Cooil. The Town men are sitting pretty in third place, with Kieran Krypner getting his first Division One league win under his belt beating Eddie Carlyle 21-14, as he played with his new bowls, Dean Kinley and Jordan Drewett won to single figures, whilst Ian Watson had the toughest game on his hands with Tony Dugdale, with the former winning 21-16.

The closest match in the top division took place between Marown B and Breagle Glen A at Crosby, with a 6-4 win going to the home team, with 11 chalks separating the teams (145-134). Phil Kelly was the only single figure winner for the home team beating Bernie Durcan 21-6, whilst Dan McCabe responded with a 21-8 win over John Gelling. Chris Lever edged the battled of the captains with a 21-19 win over Juan Killip.

Douglas A were defeated 4-6 at home to Peel A, losing the aggregate by 35 chalks (110-145). Three single figure wins arrived from Gary Smith, Tommy McMeiken, and Stevie Kelly, with the latter winning 21-0 against former Villa teammate Mark Kneen. Hitting back for the home team were Andy Cannell, Ian Moore, Dave McCabe, and Gordy Wynne-Smythe.

In Division Two Noble’s A were the biggest winners of the week as they beat Douglas B 9-1 at the Park, with the Villa men struggling for form in the early part of the season. The lone winner for the visitors was Willie Cowley who delivered a 21-15 win against Mark ‘Postie’ Quinn. For the home team Alex Yates, Stephen Corkill, Mark Bradshaw, and Jim Callister kept the visitors down to just 86 chalks.

Finch Hill A, who are notoriously poor on the road, pulled off the biggest shock of the season, as they won 4-6 away to early pacesetters Marown C, just pipping the aggregate by five chalks (134-139). For the home team Jamie Joughin won 21-4 against Dave Dixon, whilst Stephen Oates hit back with a 21-2 win over Dan Smith. Three home wins were close – 21-17 going in favour of Darren Kerruish, Walter McCarthy, and James Kelly, whilst Sam Stannard-Duke beat Sid Bolton 21-19 for the Finch men.

Noble’s B came away from Onchan Park with a hard fought 4-6 win over Onchan B, as they took the two-point aggregate by just two chalks (140-142). Captain Steve Cain led the way for his men, as he was the only single figure winner beating Sid McKnight 21-8, whilst Lee Price held his nerve to beat Neil Richmond 21-20. The Noble’s men have settled into Division Two life without any issues, they will look to see how far they can go this season.

Castletown B remain winless but managed to pick up four points in their 6-4 defeat away to Breagle Glen B, losing out by just seven chalks (155-148) in a high scoring match. The Town men could have picked up a further three points with James Drinkwater, Patrick Cooper, and John Holden just losing out 20,19, 19 respectively. The Breagle men may also have felt two or three games could have gone their way with Seamus Whelan, Rod Swift and Derek Cadamy losing out 17, 18, and 20 respectively. Derek Cain’s win was never in doubt as he beat Sam Quayle 21-6.

Peel B suffered a heavy defeat 2-8 at home to Ballaugh A, with Dougie Allan and Phil Clarke the two winners. Just losing out for the home team were Jimmy Corlett 18-21 to Tony Quine, Jeff Wilson 19-21 to Richard Hainge, and Ross Menton 20-21 to Mark Dimsdale. For the visitors captain Phil Quayle led the way for the Ballaugh men with a 21-9 win over Ian Gray. Despite suffering defeat just 15 chalks separated the sides (139-154).

In Division Three Peel C sit in top spot with a four point lead following their 8-2 home win over Noble’s D. Home captain Jimmy Lee beat John Andrew 21-14, Matthew Venables won convincingly 21-7 against Rob Bell, whilst Nathan Jones crept home 21-20 against Alex Hampson. For the visitors Stephen Hampson beat Stuart Morrison 21-19.

Occupying second spot North Ramsey B hosted Ballaugh C at Mooragh Park, with the home team prevailing 8-2.

Elsewhere Nobles C drew 5-5 at home to Marown D despite winning 5-3 on games, as they lost the aggregate by just three chalks in a high scoring game (145-148). Ballaugh B picked up their biggest win of the season 9-1 at home to Breagle Glen C, with Alan Crebbin preventing the whitewash with a 21-12 win over Steve Bassil.

In Division Four Onchan C secured a 10-0 home win over North Ramsey C, with the Mooragh men unfortunate not to pick up any points with losing scores of 17, 18, 19 and 20. Onchan extended their lead to nine points after the third round of fixtures.

Castletown C sit in joint second on 17 points following their 7-3 home win over South Ramsey D. The Town team fielded four juniors, once again it was Freddie Palmer who pulled off another win as he beat Chris Brown 21-8, whilst his father Chris Palmer beat Billy Blair 21-16.

Elsewhere Finch Hill B lost 4-6 at home to Douglas D, with the home team suffering three defeats to single figures which ultimately sealed their fate. Douglas C won 9-1 at home to Peel D, with five of the games finishing to single figures.

Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Charity Cringle Fours men’s open competition on Saturday attracting 24 pairs to compete for the trophy, an increase of eight pairs on last year.

The quarter finals saw Glynn Hargraves and Jamie Box (South Ramsey/Quarry) beat Marown pair Neil Withers and Paul Dunn, whilst the Peel/Marown combination of Pip Pemberton and Peter Greenlees ended the run of James Kelly and Trevor Quayle (Marown/Breagle Glen). In the other half of the draw Jordan Drewett and Dean Kinley were the furthest home greeners after seeing off Castletown clubmates Nathan Cooil and Aaron Richardson, whilst Crosby duo Glenn Boland and Peter Jones lost out to South Ramsey pair David Bradford and Dido Kelly.

Hargraves and Box booked their place in the final, with the score tied at 15-15 after 13 ends, it took a one, two and three in that order to secure a 21-15 win over Pemberton and Greenlees, helped in part by two full houses earlier in the game. The other semi-final saw Drewett and Kinley close the deficit with Bradford and Kelly to just two chalks (12-14) after 14 ends. A strong finish from the South Ramsey men ensured a 21-14 win.

The final got underway with the score tied at 6-6 after five ends, then a couple of fours for Bradford and Kelly gave the South Ramsey pair plenty of breathing room as they took a 15-9 lead. This quickly turned to 20-9, with Hargraves and Box lying one a great last bowl from Kelly sealed a deserved 21-9 victory. Bradford was looking for a partner in the morning, with Kelly stepping in at the 11th hour, it proved to be a successful partnership.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Nathan Hamilton, who introduced Murray Cringle’s son Phil Cringle to present the prizes. A grand total of £325 was raised for Sight Matters, with all prize winners putting their winnings back into the pot, this boosted the final figure raised.

The Plumbmaster Rayner Shield got underway last week, this gives teams from the lower divisions the opportunity to test themselves against stronger teams, with preliminary and first round losers going into the draw for the Rayner Plate.

Just one first division team went into the Rayner Plate as Castletown A suffered a heavy 8-0 defeat away to South Ramsey A, in what was a replay of the Rayner Shield final from last season. The visitors scored just 65 chalks, with David Quayle the highest scoring Town player with 13 chalks, whilst Jordan Drewett was the only other Castletown player to reach double figures, scoring 12 chalks. A subject that seems to get raised every year if first division teams suffer heavy defeats like this, this begs the question should lower division teams automatically go into the Rayner Plate?

Marown A hosted Ballaugh A at Crosby, the home team recorded an 8-0 win with four of the Ballaugh men reaching double figures, with Richard Hainge losing out 14-21 to Peter Jones.

Onchan A crushed Division Two league leaders Marown C 8-0, however the visitors passed the 100-chalk mark losing out 168-106. Three of the games were close with two losses to 18 and a defeat to 19. Just one game didn’t go to double figures as Will Penhallurick beat Steve Rough 21-3.

A much-changed Peel A team didn’t have it all their own way away to Onchan B, as they won 2-6 on the night with 15 chalks between the teams (124-139). Mike Kelly beat Phil Clarke 21-8, whilst Neil Richmond won 21-5 against Michael Kavanagh. For the visitors three of the Peel men had to battle for their wins as Pip Pemberton won 21-17 against Mike Thomas, whilst Tommy McMeiken and Harry Kelly won 21-19 against Colin spence and Bernie McPhee respectively.

Douglas A beat seven-man Castletown B 7-1 at the Villa, with green keeper Ian Moore the recipient of the walkover. The Town men were probably not expecting a result against a first division team, especially away from home.

Division Four side Peel D hosted North Ramsey A in the Sunset City, with Adam Kelly the only winner on the night 21-6 against Junior bowler Landon Allison, with the latter given the opportunity to make his A team debut against a lower league team.

South Ramsey B were in a tough game away to Noble’s D, with the score 2-2 at the half way point, only for the visitors to win 3-1 in the second half of the match to secure a 3-5 win. Winning for the home team were Alex Hampson, Grahem Moore, and Michael Johnson.

Marown B just missed out on an 0-8 away win against Breagle Glen C as they won 1-7, with Arran Dunn fighting back from a huge deficit against Alan Crebbin, only to cruelly lose 20-21. The Crosby men had the return of John Gelling, who made his first appearance of the 2025 season.

Of all the first division teams to progress to the second round Breagle Glen A had the toughest test, as they won 3-5 away to Finch Hill A, with just 10 chalks separating the teams (138-148). Two of the games that could have swung the result the other way had the scores been reversed were Pat Maher losing 19-21 to Pat Maher, whilst Paul Dougherty just lost out 20-21 to David Cain.

The first official men’s singles competition of the season was held on Sunday, with an entry of 37 taking part in the Ken Williamson Cup, with entries higher than when the competition is traditionally held in June after a long week of festival bowls.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were James Teare (South Ramsey) 14-21 to Tom Kelly (Marown), Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) 15-21 to Colin Kelly (Marown). Walter McCarthy just lost out 19-21 to Marown clubmate Neil Withers, whilst Castletown man Nathan Hamilton beat Nigel Tebay (Ballaugh) 21-13.

Both semi-finals were plain sailing for the winners as Colin Kelly beat his son Tom 21-11, whilst Hamilton’s hopes of a first open win were ended by Withers 12-21.

The final got underway with Kelly winning the first two ends with singles, only for Withers to score 10 chalks over the following eight ends to lead 12-6. Kelly responded with 10 chalks of his own over just ends in the corners to lead 16-12. Withers managed to close the gap to just two chalks at 15-17, however one more burst from Kelly sealed a 21-16 victory.

The presentation was made by Kevin Quirk with thanks given to Dave Tait for running the competition and to the ladies for putting on the refreshments. Ken Williamson’s relative Caroline Heathcote was then introduced to present the prizes on behalf of Ken Williamson’s family. In his speech Colin stated it was the third time he had won the trophy having won it for the first two years the competition was played in 1996 and 1997.