Author Archives: Glynn Hargraves

New Season Gets Underway

League Champions 2018

The long awaited night league crown green bowls season starts on Monday 1st April with Division One champions South Ramsey A, who will have it all to do to retain their title with the news that the Islands undisputed number one player John Kennish is taking a break from night league bowls having won everything there is to at team level, with the loss further compounded by a couple of their top players due to be missing for stints throughout the season. With the loss of Kennish, this has given James Teare the opportunity to step up having improved each season that he has played since taking the game up in 2013 to prove there is a reward for putting the time in to the game.

South Ramsey B have signed Edward Carlyle from Onchan, who will be encouraged to be playing regular first division bowls, as they look to secure another season in the top division.

Marown A have no changes to report from their first team from last year, may well be favourites to win the league for the first time since 2013. Whilst Marown fell short by 21 points last season, they will no doubt feel that they can perform better individually and as a team, and will be in good spirits with a number of their players having recently returned from a bowling holiday in Cyprus.

Marown B who have a good blend of youth and experience will feel confident of retaining their top flight status once again, having done so fairly comfortably last season.

Onchan A look to have made a couple of signings, with Frank Watson joining from Peel A whilst Steve Parker is rumoured to be making the move from North Ramsey A, they will look to improve on last seasons points total.

Peel A have signed three time former Manx Champion Andy Kennish, who joins from Douglas having captained them last season, with Stevie Kelly taking on the captaincy for a second season.

Douglas A having lost their captain, appear to be largely unchanged. Former Manx Champion Gary Conwell is now entering his 40th season of league bowls with 25 of those on the Isle of Man.

2018 Division two winners Noble’s A will be hopeful of staying in the top division, provided they have managed to keep the same team as they had last season, with young Glenn Boland and newcomer Reginald Temporaza in their ranks with both keen to impress in the top flight.

Port St Mary A have signed Dave McCabe who has made the short move from Port Erin, which has allowed McCabe to continue to play bowls in division one, whilst my younger brother Glenn ‘Tango’ Hargraves is rumoured to be on the verge of making a bowls comeback after a number of years away from the game.

Castletown A have been struck a blow with the news that Mike Hargraves has taken the tough decision to stop playing bowls having played for Castletown A since 1974, with 17 year old Sam Clague believed to be taking the opportunity to step up into the A Team.

The B team will be confident of staying in division one having gained promotion last season and may look to give their A Team a run for their money as to who will be top dogs in the town. Rumour has it Bob Clark has returned to Castletown and will be playing in the B Team, with Nathan Cooil making a full comeback which is great to see. Nathan Hamilton has left Port St Mary after just one season to join up with Clark & Cooil. 

Back to the north of the Island and North Ramsey A have a new captain in Allan Callow, who will no doubt hope the improvement in the green last season has continued over the winter to help their good home form. 

In Division Two Port Erin A will be looking to bounce back from being relegated, with the club hoping to take over the maintenance of the bowling green shortly which will allow them the opportunity to have the green as they would like it, this may well encourage new members to join the club. Port Erin when running well can be a difficult green to play.

Ballaugh A & Finch Hill A are the only other A Teams in the men’s night league that don’t have an A Team in division one, with Ballaugh A the more likely of the two who could possibly go up, with their home form not in doubt, it is their results on their travels that will be key to mounting a serious challenge.

Douglas B who were relegated along with Port Erin A may find it a bit tougher to go straight back up to division one.

Division three champions Marown C, will be hopeful of continuing their season by season improvement by retaining their place in division two, whilst Ballaugh B may find it a bit tougher to stay up.

In Division three Noble’s have added a third men’s night league team, with Douglas D dropping out of the league having struggled to fill four teams for the majority of the 2018 season, whilst Port Erin B will be looking to make an immediate return to division two.

After a tough summer last season the Islands clubs can only hope their greens have wintered well following the work carried out in the Autumn to help get them into good condition for the 2019 season.

I hope everyone is looking forward to the new season and I look forward to seeing you around the greens.

World Club Championships

Following their success in winning the league for a third consecutive season, South Ramsey A once again have the opportunity to compete in the World Club Championships on Sunday 7th April, with the competition taking place at Spen Victoria Bowling Club where they take on Ecclestone (Merseyside). The competition involves 16 teams, is played over four consecutive weekends in a group of four teams on a straight knockout basis. The other two teams in the group are Newdigate (North Midlands) who will play Thurgoland (South Yorkshire). The winners from each game in the group then play off to qualify for the finals day on Sunday April 14th.


Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Kelly Wins First Open of 2019 Season

Kelly On His Way to Victory in 2019 Season Opener

Photo: Mike Ashmole

Marown held the opening tournament of the season for the third successive year, with the floodlight competition sponsored by Ardern & Druggan Limited attracting a strong entry of 80. The competition was played over four qualifying nights, with four qualifiers from each evening.

The competition commenced on Sunday evening with home greener Colin Kelly doing enough to qualify for Thursday’s finals night ending the challenge of Rob Monk (Onchan), Nathan Hamilton (Castletown) performed well to defeat Matthew Keggen (Marown), with Jimmy Samson (Douglas) and David Proctor (Peel) the other qualifiers.

Monday evening’s action had the first lady qualifier for finals night with Clare Cooper (Noble’s) winning three games to go through. Marown captain Paul Dunn took his place, Phil Kerruish (Onchan) defeated home greener Dean Kipling, with Reg Temporaza (Noble’s) taking the last spot of the night.

Tuesday evening saw Steve Parker (Onchan) win three games to qualify, seeing off last year’s winner David Bradford (South Ramsey) along the way, with new Onchan team mate Frank Watson also making the cut. Home greeners John Gelling and Luke Hyland performed well to take the last two spots to qualify for finals night.

The final qualifying session on Wednesday was a fine evening heavily dominated by South Ramsey players, with Alan Moore seeing off Paul Kelly, Jenny Moore disposing of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, whilst James Teare defeated Neil Withers along the way to qualify. Home greener Celia Joughin took the last qualifying spot and was the third lady to reach finals night, just edging out another South Ramsey player Paul Routledge.

Thursday evening was finals night with the draw taking place live on the night, with the last 16 being played down to the winner. There was a good turnout to watch the conclusion of the competition.

Losing out at the last 16 stage were the Onchan trio of Phil Kerruish, Steve Parker and Frank Watson. Paul Dunn (Marown), Jimmy Sansom (Douglas), Reg Temporaza, David Proctor (Peel) and Nathan Hamilton (Castletown) also lost out.

In the quarter finals Colin Kelly gave no mercy to team mate John Gelling winning 21-5, James Teare won 21-13 against Celia Joughin. In the other half of the draw Alan Moore won 21-12 against Clare Cooper, whilst Jenny Moore would have a been a huge favourite to go through, however Luke Hyland had other ideas taking a good 21-16 win.

In the first semi final Colin Kelly won comfortably 21-11 against James Teare to reach the final, whilst club mate Luke Hyland carried on his good form seeing off Alan Moore with a 21-14 win.

The final was eagerly anticipated with neither player being able to get away from the other throughout the entire game, with Kelly playing some good weighted shots to stay in the game. Hyland did manage to go ahead 17-15 before Kelly’s experience pulled him through to take a hard earned 21-17 win to secure the title and £125 first prize.

The presentation was made by Neil Withers and Philip Kelly, with various spot prizes being awarded. Best junior went to Harry Barton, furthest lady went to Jenny Moore and Celia Joughin was the furthest Over 60’s player. Prizes were paid out to the last 16.

Thanks were also given to the sponsor Ardern & Druggan for supporting the competition, along with the Marown ladies for the excellent refreshments throughout the week.

Congratulations must go to Marown on a well run competition, which has is now a regular fixture in the bowling calendar to start the season.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Durcan’s Win Juan Kelly Cup

Juan Kelly Cup Winners 2018

Marown Bowling Club held the Juan Kelly Cup last week with the competition in its second year being played under the excellent floodlights it was like playing in daylight.

The format was any competition doubles, played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the Men’s and Ladies game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one end shootout would take place to decide the winner.

The competition in this format improved on last years entry of 40 pairs, with 42 pairs entering. Again there were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system played over two qualifying nights, with four pairs qualifying from each night for the quarter finals.

On Sunday evening 16 pairs played their qualifying night, with 26 pairs competing on the Monday evening this proved to be the most popular night to play.

The finals night was held on Wednesday evening, with a live re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night.

The eventual winners were the father and son pairing of Bernie Durcan and Steve Durcan (+7), who mastered the green, defeating the home duo of Phil Kelly and Paul Kelly (+2) in the final to a 30-8 score line with the Marown men conceding the game with three ends still to play with the lead having become unassailable. The Durcan’s were helped massively by counting a four on end 10, which was a power end to score a huge eight points at a vital moment in the game, however this shouldn’t take away from their brilliant performance in the final to keep the Marown men down to single figures scoring just six points on their own green.

The Durcan’s were superb throughout the whole competition, taking out some good pairings along the way, and they don’t come any tougher than the South Ramsey pairing of John Kennish and David Bradford ending their challenge with a 21-17 win on Monday evening in the final qualifying game with Kennish and Bradford needing a big score on the power end to progress but just missing out.

Losing out in the semi-finals were Marown C Team captain Stephen Rundle and Celia Joughin (+10) who were beaten 16-21 to the runners up, Losing out to the Durcan’s in the semi-finals were the father and daughter pairing of Arnie Withers and Helen Withers (+9) who just needed to make another counting bowl on the final end to secure a spot in the final, however they just missed out agonisingly 23-24.

Losing quarter finalists were two South Ramsey pairings, Jenny Moore and James Teare (+6), along with Alan Moore and Glynn Hargraves (+3), Peel duo Tommy McMeiken and David Proctor (+6), along with the Noble’s pairing of Alison Keggen and Debbie Leece (+10).

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Neil Withers, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all those who stayed to support.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown Seal Club Team Championship

Club Team Championship Winners 2018

Photo: Arnie Withers

The final of the inaugural Club Team Championship was held on Friday evening under the floodlights at Noble’s Park in front of a good crowd. Marown reached the final after sailing through their group games, whilst Onchan came through a tough group, sealing their place in the final after seeing off South Ramsey with a convincing win in their final group game. Marown started the final as favourites, and with the format being five singles games and three doubles games the draw would be crucial to Onchan’s hopes of pulling off an upset.

First off for Marown was Matthew Keggen winning 21-12 against Colin Spence, with Spence staging a mini-comeback after being 4-16 down before losing out. The first doubles game off was Paul Kelly and Neil Withers who were up against Kevin Quirk and Peter Slinger with the Marown men seeing off the Onchan pair 21-14 in a high quality game. Third game off was another doubles game with Harry Barton and John Kelly performing well to beat Mark Kelly and Edward Carlyle 21-10. The last game off from the first half of the match was another Marown win with Brian Kelly beating Bernie McPhee 21-18, which was the closest game of the night. At the halfway stage, the chalks were 84-54 with Marown holding a 30 point lead.

Fifth game off on the night was Peter Kelly who helped increase Marown’s lead to an unassailable 44 chalks thanks to a 21-7 win over Mike Alexander. Onchan replied with the biggest doubles win of the night with Jordan Cain and Rob Monk playing the short lengths well to seal a 21-8 victory against the experienced pairing of Phil Kelly and John Gelling. With the match now secured with Marown having scored enough chalks in the two games left on the green, Onchan then recorded their second win of the night with Matthew Quirk holding off a strong challenge from Juan Killip to record a 21-17 win. The last match of the night was between Colin Kelly and Neil Dunwell with Kelly recovering from 2-8 down to eventually win 21-15. Marown won by 33 chalks (151-118) winning 6-2 on games.

The presentation was made by Association Press Officer Glynn Hargraves who congratulated Marown on a deserved win, whilst also thanking Noble’s Bowling Club for hosting the final and providing refreshments. Marown’s Neil Withers then accepted the winners shield and also congratulated his team and thanked their supporters. With his Association hat on Withers then gave a bit of background to emphasise why the competition was introduced, with the idea of increasing involvement from across the teams within a club and also to help create a better atmosphere around the green.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Quayle Seals Individual Merit

Trevor Quayle - Individual Merit Winner 2018

Photo: Steve Hall

Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle sealed the individual merit trophy in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one with a near perfect season winning 21 out of 22 games, losing his only game of the season away to the league champions South Ramsey. This success will go some way towards making up for the heartbreak Quayle suffered in 2017 when he missed out on the individual merit to Marown’s Colin Kelly, with Quayle having led the merit for the entire season he lost only his second game that season again at South Ramsey, which ultimately cost him the individual merit trophy.

Onchan A took on Peel at Onchan Park on Monday evening with only three points separating the teams third spot was still achievable for the visitors. Both teams were missing key players notably Phil Kerruish for Onchan and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly for Peel. The home side showed their dominance on the night with a 9-1 win with Kevin Quirk and son Matthew both winning 21-8 against David Smith and Peel captain Stevie Kelly respectively. Mark Kelly and Rob Monk both won 21-10 with Jordan Cain recording a good 21-13 win over Tommy McMeiken. Adrian Skinner was pushed hard by Tom Kelly with Skinner winning 21-18. Saving the whitewash for Peel was Gary Smith who beat Edward Carlyle 21-20.

Marown A took on Douglas A at Crosby with the Villa men rather disappointingly only managing to field seven players. Marown recorded a 9-1 win with Colin Kelly beating Shaun Seal 21-4. Despite the result the Douglas men scored well in four of their losses with Gary Conwell losing 17-21 to Neil Withers, Keith Rise reached 18 against Peter Kelly, Ian Moore lost out 19-21 to Gary Weightman who stepped in from the C team to record a fine win, whilst Jimmy Sansom fell at the final hurdle losing 20-21 to Phil Kelly. It was also good to see John Gelling make his first league appearance for over two months winning 21-14 against Mervin Sayle. Visiting captain Andy Kennish recorded the win for Douglas with a 21-15 victory over Paul Kelly.

Champions South Ramsey recorded their 21st win of the 22 game season with a 8-2 home win over Castletown A. Missing for the home team were John Kennish and Peter Collister which gave the northerners the opportunity to give some experience to two of their up and coming players. 15 year old Austin Hart lost 6-21 to Jeff Kinley, whilst 10 year old Ryan Hargraves playing in the same team as his Dad and making his first appearance in the top flight lost 7-21 to Castletown captain Ian Watson. Hitting back for South Ramsey were David Bradford with a 21-9 win over David Quayle, captain Glynn Hargraves beat Peter Oates 21-10. Stefan Kelly recorded a 21-3 win over Clifford Clague. Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly beat Jordan Drewett, whilst Alan Moore recovered from a poor start to beat Juan Kermode 21-19 and Chas Grills just got over the line 21-20 against Dean Kinley.

North Ramsey A travelled back north on a high despite giving a game away thanks to a 2-8 away win against Port Erin A recording only their second away win of the season. John Cannan and Tony Smart both won their games 21-20 against Christopher Dent and David Cain respectively.

Marown B also finished their season positively with a 3-7 away win against bottom of the table Douglas B. The Crosby outfit will be looking to push on next season and improve on this year’s finish.

South Ramsey B travelled to Port St Mary A safe in the knowledge that their top flight status was secure coming away with a 3-7 loss. Winning for the visitors were James Teare to single figures over Thomas Keggen, Steven Waters won a close game 21-18 against Steve Franks and Tony Dugdale won 21-12 against Dan McCabe. For the home team Wayne Roberts, Paul Skelly and Rob Cooil all came in with 21-7 wins over Sid Bolton, Steve Moore and Martin Caley respectively, with captain Trevor Quayle winning comfortably 21-10, whilst Steve Hall won 21-18 against George Brew.

On Wednesday evening Port St Mary A hosted North Ramsey A in a rearranged game, with the home team winning 6-4. North Ramsey will have been pleased with their weeks work away from home with wins from John Cannan, Geoff Porter, Ray Skelly and Steve Parker. For the home team captain Trevor Quayle had a comfortable 21-8 win which was enough to seal the individual merit. Also winning were Dan McCabe, Steve Hall and Wayne Roberts with the southerners taking the aggregate winning by 13 chalks on the night.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown C Crowned Champions In Style

Marown C - 2018 Ellan Vannin Fuels Division 3 Champions

Photo: Arnie Withers

Marown C were crowned champions of Ellan Vannin Fuels division three in their winner takes all game at home to Ballaugh B with a superb 9-1 win in front of a 60 plus crowd to gain promotion to division two in style.

Leading the way for the Crosby men was captain Stephen Rundle who dug in and kept his composure to see his game out 21-19 against John Kneen. The Marown men’s nerves would have been helped further winning three games 21-16 with Darren Kerruish, Dan Smith and Kevin Kelly beating Tony Quine, Phil Quayle and Fred Waggett respectively.

Jamie Joughin beat John Looney 21-5, with Karl Parker winning 21-9 against Percy Faragher. Steve Wilson had a fairly comfortable 21-14 win against Dickie Watson. John Bolton spared the whitewash for Ballaugh with a 21-14 win over Carey Dewhirst.

This is a great achievement for the team and indeed the whole club, who have introduced new players into the game, with this continuing this season with Kevin Kelly and Karl Parker taking the game up recently with both players contributing to the overall success of the team.

Castletown C finished in third spot, but may have been left wondering what might been having finished just 10 points off the top, with their cause not helped by having to give 15 walkovers to the opposition during the season, which will have cost them extra points on individual wins and the aggregate with having to give 21 chalks away before the match has started.

Peel D hosted Douglas C recording a 7-3 home win, with young Ryan Tate turning in a good performance to win 21-8 against James King, with Dad Steve Tate not to be outdone winning 21-6 against Les Quayle.

Onchan C travelled north over the mountain to take on South Ramsey D to record a good 2-8 away win. Home winners were Ian Moore who has secured the individual merit in division three following a fine season winning 18 games from 20 played, whilst younger brother Jay Moore beat Erwin Gelling 21-15. The home team performed well despite the defeat with Steve Kelly losing 17-21 to Kelvin McNicholl, skipper James Moore, Matthew Corkill and Richard Davies all losing 19-21 to David Clucas, Graham Atkinson and Brian Kelly respectively, whilst Franz ten Donkelaar just lost 20-21 to Denis Maxwell.

Finch Hill B were another team to end the season on a high with a 0-10 away win against bottom of the pile Douglas D who were forced to give three walkovers to the Finch Hill men.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Noble’s A Crowned Division Two Champions

Rayner Plate Winners 2018

Noble’s A sealed their place in division one for the 2019 season with a 6-4 away win against Finch Hill A, which was enough on the night to seal the title by six points. This concludes a successful season for the Noble’s men following their Rayner Plate victory earlier in the season. Long time leader in the merit chase Dave Pease suffered a 19-21 defeat to Tony Epifani.

Castletown B finished second in the table suffering a disastrous 3-7 home loss to Peel C, who managed to do the double over the southerners with these two results ultimately costing Castletown the league.

Port St Mary C took the bragging rights over their B Team with a 6-4 win, taking the aggregate by just five chalks to upset the higher ranked team.

Port Erin B hosted North Ramsey B with both teams missing a player the score ended 4-5 to the northerners. The visitors just missed out on an extra three points with Barry Teare and Gary Lenton losing out 19-21, whilst Alex Yates lost 20-21 to Alan Crebbin.

Ballaugh A put their away day woes to one side to brush aside Noble’s B with a resounding 1-9 win. John Keenan sealed the individual merit trophy in division two with a 21-15 win, capitalizing on the loss of Dave Pease.

Fourth placed Peel B hosted third placed Onchan B with the westerners unable to overtake Onchan they could have drawn level with them if they were to secure a maximum 10-0 win. The Peel men did manage to secure a good 7-3 win to end the season just three points behind Onchan, which also allowed them to finish three points ahead of Ballaugh A.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Moore & Hargraves Win Kennish Cup

Kennish Cup Winners 2018

The last Mixed Doubles competition of the season The Kennish Cup was held on Saturday with the competition postponed at the end of July due to poor weather. The competition still managed to attract 24 pairs.

The winners were the home pairing of Elaine Moore & Glynn Hargraves who beat Chris Price (Port St Mary) & Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 21-19 in the final. The game was close throughout with both pairs taking some good counting bowls off their opponents throughout with neither pair able to break away from the other until the last few ends. With the score standing at 15-14 to Moore & Hargraves they conceded a four and a single to fall 15-19 behind. From there Moore & Hargraves dug deep to take three consecutive singles and counting with three good bowls on the final end to secure the title with a 21-19 win.

Losing semi-finalists were the two home pairings of Fiona Kennish and Steven Waters to the eventual winners (8-21), whilst Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly lost out 10-21 to the runners up.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were new bowlers Sue and Geoff Collier (South Ramsey) who only took the game up in June, Lil Smith (Marown) and Edward Carlyle (Onchan), Caroline and Steve Parker along with Janet Monk and Rob Monk (all North Ramsey).

The presentation was made by competition secretary John Kennish on behalf of the Kennish family who sponsored the competition, with thanks given to everyone who had helped with the running of the competition, the ladies for once again putting on a fantastic selection of refreshments throughout the afternoon, and the green keepers for preparing the green.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Title Still Up For Grabs In Division Two and Three

The tie of the week at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels division one was between third placed Peel A & champions South Ramsey A in the Sunset City with the Northerners having already secured the title the previous week. The champions came away with a respectable 6-4 win on a tough night in extremely windy conditions. Winning for Peel were captain Ste Kelly 21-20 against Peter Collister, Tommy McMeiken won to single figures against Alan Moore, David Proctor beat Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly 21-17 and Frank Watson who inflicted a second league defeat of the season on South Ramsey skipper Glynn Hargraves 21-19. Winning for the visitors were John Kennish to single figures against Gary Smith, David Bradford 21-11 against Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, Stefan Kelly 21-18 against Tom Kelly and Chas Grills who defeated Jerome Surridge 21-17. With six close games the result could have been a lot different for both teams on another night.

South Ramsey B having had a tough start to the season confirmed their place in division one for another year with a fine 7-3 win over Port Erin A who would have had a long journey home having been relegated as a result of losing the game. Winning for South Ramsey were Ben Dugdale, Tony Dugdale, James Teare, Sid Bolton and George Brew. The three winners for Port Erin were David Cain, Bernie Durcan and David McCabe with McCabe set to leave Port Erin to continue playing first division bowls next season.

Douglas A took on their B Team with the lower ranked team having been relegated some time ago there was little to play for, however this did not prevent the B team from taking two games off the A team with Andy Cannell and Gordon Wynne-Smythe the two winners. Winning for the A team were Andy Kennish, Keith Rise, Jimmy Sansom, Shaun Seal, and Gary Conwell whilst Roy Williams stepped in and was fortunate enough to receive a walk over.

Castletown A had a good 7-3 home win over Port St Mary A with visiting captain Trevor Quayle back to winning ways, with Quayle set to secure the individual merit title providing that he can win his last two league games with both of them being at home. Nearest rival is John Kennish who has recorded 20 wins from 20 games with Kennish due to miss the last league match of the season, having missed a game earlier in the season, it is in Quayle’s hands.

Marown A had a good 8-2 home win against North Ramsey A with the usual suspects winning for the Crosby men, whilst Steve Wilson stepped up to the A team just losing out 20-21 to Allan Callow. The other winner for North Ramsey was Steve Walmsley who had a comfortable 21-14 win over Matthew Keggen.

Marown B took on Onchan A at Crosby on Tuesday evening with the visitors taking an 8-2 win. Winning to single figures for Onchan were Matthew Quirk, Peter Slinger and Rob Monk. Winning for the home team were Rob Corkill, who beat Mark Kelly 21-16 and Brian Kelly who beat Steve Crampton 21-10. There was a first league appearance of the season from Mark Moorley who lost out 13-21 to Jordan Cain.

In division two the title is still up for grabs for which team will be crowned champions with Noble’s A dropping two points in their 8-2 win against their B Team. Recording big wins to single figures for the A Team were Glenn Boland, Tommy Collister and John Ruscoe. The two winners for the B team were Stewart Cubbon who beat David Quayle 21-10 and Les Brookes who beat Mark Quinn 21-15.

Castletown B capitalised on the Noble’s result with a 9-1 win away to Port St Mary C to close the gap to just three points. The last league fixture of the season sees Castletown B with what looks like a fairly straightforward home game against Peel C, whilst Noble’s A have what could be a tricky away game against Finch Hill A. The two teams have matched each other blow for blow throughout the season and should Castletown manage to pull three points or more back on Noble’s Castletown would be crowned champions with a better games for record.

In the individual merit battle four players are tied on 18 wins each which David Pease (Noble’s A) can secure providing he wins his last game of the season. Hot on the heels of the Noble’s man are John Keenan (Ballaugh A), Dave Faragher and Ron Williams (both Castletown B) who only trail on points dropped having suffered heavier defeats than Pease.

In division three Ballaugh B took advantage of league leaders Marown C taking their turn to sit out with a 9-1 win at home to South Ramsey D with Ian Moore suffering a second league defeat of the season losing out 18-21 to Tony Quine. John Kneen crept over the line 21-20 against Matthew Corkill with a fine bowl on the last end to help secure a further point for the home team. Preventing the whitewash and sparing the blushes of the visitors was Geoff Collier who made his debut in the night league and performed brilliantly to win 21-13 against Mike Buckeridge.

The final match of the season to settle the title in division three is between Marown C and Ballaugh B at Crosby with the visitors sitting just one point behind the Marown men only a win will do for Ballaugh against the league leaders it promises to be a huge match for both teams which I am sure the clubs members will support. Marown will go into the match as favourites having won all their home fixtures throughout the season.

In the rest of the matches South Ramsey C won 7-3 at home to Ballaugh C, Castletown C lost 3-7 away to Finch Hill B, Onchan C won 6-4 at home to Peel D in a close match winning the aggregate by nine chalks (143-132) whilst Douglas C and Douglas D were missing five players from both teams with the C Team winning 7-1, and with their B team missing a player in division one it may well be a case of Douglas dropping a team next year to fill all of their teams each week.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

South Ramsey Stun Marown

South Ramsey A - Mixed Team Winners 2018

Photo: Arnie Withers

South Ramsey A took on Marown A at ‘The Villa’ on Thursday evening with the Crosby men starting the match as favourites due to their five strongest men being available (as per the merit table), whilst South Ramsey used just two of their Men’s A team. Prior to the match commencing the captains carried out an inspection on the green to ensure it was fit to play with the rain that had fallen throughout the afternoon and the likelihood of further heavy rain due.

From the first five games on the green Neil Withers was first off for Marown with a good 21-14 win over Tony Dugdale, who was 2-9 and 5-13 before fighting back with singles to reach 14. Elaine Moore was next off for South Ramsey with a big 21-4 win. The next three games off all went in favour of Marown with Paul Dunn performing brilliantly to fight back from 2-12 down to win 21-14 against Gill Dixon. Credit must go to both players with tight ends being played and Dixon never far away from counting despite Dunn taking 19 of the next 21 points scored. Top Marown man Colin Kelly was next off beating 19 year old Stefan Kelly who was 3-12 behind before matching the Marown man point for point from there on, before losing out 13-21. Dean Kipling was the last player off in the first half of the match fighting back from 14-19 down to win 21-20 against James Teare. At the halfway point the match was finely balanced with Marown holding a six point lead.

During the second half of the match the rain continued to get heavier, resulting in the green getting heavier with the South Ramsey players using this to their advantage. First game off in the second half for South Ramsey was captain Glynn Hargraves who ran out on a long length to record a huge 21-2 win against Lil Smith. Lyn Bolton was next off with a 21-10 win over Shirley Whelan who did well to reach double figures after trailing 0-13. With the match now secured with South Ramsey holding a 24 point lead and both games on the green having scored enough points Ben Dugdale was next off winning 21-15 against Philippa Taylor. Jenny Moore was the last game off winning 21-16 against Paul Kelly, with Kelly fighting back from 9-20 down to reach 16. This resulted in South Ramsey winning the trophy by 35 chalks (166-131) and also recording a 5-4 win on games.

The presentation was made by Association Treasurer Phil Kelly who thanked Douglas for the use of the green, providing measurers and refreshments, along with John Gelling for stepping in to assist on the night. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves acknowledged that the conditions had played a part in the result on the night, whilst also thanking his team and everyone who had came to support which made for a great atmosphere.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves