In division one South Ramsey A took on league leaders Marown A with the reigning champions using their home advantage on a tricky green to record a tremendous 9-1 win over the Crosby men, who I cannot recall ever suffering such a heavy defeat in my 25 years of league bowls. For the Home team John Kennish defeated Paul Kelly 21-11, with David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves and Peter Collister not far behind winning to 12, 14 and 15 over John Gelling, Paul Dunn and Neil Withers respectively. In the second half of the match Dido Kelly and Chas Grills won to single figures over Matthew Keggen and Phil Kelly, whilst Stefan Kelly defeated Dean Kipling 21-15. Marown’s only winner was Colin Kelly who performed well to hold off Alan Moore winning 21-18. The Marown men can take comfort from South Ramsey suffering a 9-1 defeat at Crosby in 2016, however South Ramsey still went on to take the title that season, Marown will be looking to repeat this result later in the season to square things up.

Peel A took full advantage of the top of the table clash to leapfrog Marown A recording a 10-0 win in the sunset city over South Ramsey B with David Proctor, Jerome Surridge, Tom Kelly and Dave Kelly all winning to single figures. Tony Dugdale was the highest scorer for the visitors, however Frank Watson managed to win 21-17.

Marown B finally got their season up and running with a 7-3 home win over visitors North Ramsey A with Harry Barton, Peter Kelly, Steve Bridson, Brian Kelly and Juan Killip winning for the Home team. The winners for North Ramsey were Steve Walmsley, Gary Merrill and Allan Callow.
Douglas A took on Port St Mary A with the Villa men winning 6-4. For the Home team Andy Kennish, Merv Sayle, Keith Rise and Jimmy Sansom all won, whilst for the visitors Ewan Cooil, Trevor Quayle, Steve Franks and Wayne Roberts were the winners. Wayne’s 21-20 victory was all the more impressive given he was 6-20 down before recording 15 consecutive points to run out on his opponent. This goes to show that a game is never over and is one of the biggest comebacks I can recall.

Onchan A had a good 9-1 win over Douglas B, just missing out on a whitewash with Pat O’Donohue winning 21-18 over Steve Crampton. For the home team Matthew Quirk, Phil Kerruish and Rob Monk all won to single figures, whilst Mark Kelly had to work hard to hold off Andy Cannell to record a 21-18 win.

Port Erin A made the short trip to the ancient capital of Mann to take on Castletown A, coming away with a 3-7 defeat. For the visitors Dave McCabe, Peter Addision and Bernie Durcan won, whilst for the home team Ian Watson, Mike Hargraves, George Peach, Peter Oates and Jeff Kinley all won.

In division two Nobles A stunned high flying Castletown B to record an 8-2 home win to overtake the Castletown men at the top. For the visitors the winners were Dave Faragher and George Foy, whilst the home team winners were Reginald Temporaza, Bod Boland, Glenn Boland, Steve Cook, Tommy Collister and Dave Pease.

Ballaugh A recorded an 8-2 home win over Onchan B with Peter Wallis and Bernie McPhee the only winners for the visitors.

Bottom of the table Port Erin B will have had their spirits lifted considerably following a 7-3 home win over Peel C to close the gap on the teams above them, whilst Port St Mary B had a good 8-2 home win over Peel B. Finch Hill A also had an 8-2 win away to Port St Mary C. Nobles B won 7-3 at home to North Ramsey B.

In division three Marown C stayed top following their 8-2 away win over South Ramsey D with Jamie Joughin and Walter McCarthy winning to single figures. The winners for the home team were Ian Moore and Richie Davies.

Ballaugh B kept up the pressure on Marown C with an 8-2 home win over South Ramsey C. For the Home team Philip Quayle and Percy Faragher won to single figures, with Paul Routledge and David Corkill the winners for the visitors. The Ballaugh men have a game in hand on Marown C and will be looking to return to the top of the table once Marown take their turn to sit out later on in the season.

Ballaugh C came away from their short journey along the West coast to take on Peel D with a 7-3 victory taking the extra two points by only three chalks with Steve Tate losing out 20-21 and junior Ryan Tate losing out 19-21.

Castletown C came away from the Villa with a 6-4 win over Douglas C, whilst Onchan C had a 7-3 home win over Finch Hill B, however only eight chalks separated the teams.

In division one on Monday evening Peel A made the trip East to take on Douglas A at the Villa and came away with a 7-3 win. The overall result was a lot closer than the score line suggests as Peel took the two points for the aggregate thanks to edging the chalks by five. For the visitors Gary Smith and Ste Kelly had comfortable wins, whilst the other three wins for Peel were a lot closer with David Proctor and Tommy McMeiken winning 21-19 and Jerome Surridge winning 21-20 over Shaun Seal. For the home team captain Andy Kennish won to single figures, whilst Stuart Garrett held of Frank Watson to record a 21-19 win and Merv Sayle beat Peel man Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-17.

South Ramsey A took on their B Team on another evening of swirling winds up the North of the Island and the A team recorded an 8-2 win. For the A team Peter Collister, Dido Kelly and Glynn Hargraves all won to single figures. For the B team James Teare performed well to beat Chas Grills 21-14 with the other winner being stand-in captain Tony Dugdale who just got over the line 21-20 thanks to securing a double on the last end. Steven Waters just missed out on the result of the week losing out 19-21 to John Kennish after leading for a large part of the game. The B team will feel confident having now played last season’s top three in their first four games.

Marown A extended their lead at the top to five points courtesy of a 10-0 over Douglas B but didn’t have it all their own way with Paul Kelly beating Mark Corrin 21-19 whilst Dean Kipling had his first real test of the season using all experience to get over the line 21-20 against Andy Cannell. Marown recorded this win despite missing three of their regular starters.

Port Erin A took on Onchan A at Breagle Glen and whilst losing out 8-2 they did record two good wins with Peter Addison beating visiting captain Peter Slinger 21-17 and Dave McCabe who defeated Kevin Quirk 21-14.

North Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Castletown A with the home team recording a 7-3 win they had to work for the victory with captain Ian Watson winning 21-19 and David Quayle winning 21-18. For the visitors the winners were Allan Callow, John Cannan and Steve Parker who all recorded strong wins, however these wins were not quite big enough to take the aggregate losing out by just 3 chalks.

Marown B hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors putting out their strongest line up of the season resulting in a 7-3 win for the visitors. For the Home team Juan Killip, Arnie Withers and Bobby Thorne won, whilst Trevor Quayle, Paul Skelly, Rob Cooil and Nathan Hamilton won convincingly with Ewan Cooil having to work harder to beat Steve Bridson 21-19.

In the first double set of league fixtures on Wednesday the game of the night on paper was Marown A against Onchan A at Crosby with the Home team winning 7-3 with Peter Slinger going close before losing out 20-21 to Dean Kipling and Steve Crampton losing out 18-21 to Matthew Keggen. For the visitors Kevin Quirk will have been relieved to get over the line 21-20 against Peter Kelly, whilst Matthew Quirk beat Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-18, and Phil Kerruish won to single figures.

In the other fixtures Peel A, Douglas A and Port St Mary A all recorded 6-4 home wins over North Ramsey A, Marown B and Douglas B respectively however all three visiting teams will have been pleased to come away with four points each. Castletown A came away from their trip North from South Ramsey B with a 6-4 win, whilst reigning champions South Ramsey A had the longest trip of the night to take on Port Erin A and came away with a strong 9-1 win.

In division two Castletown B had another fine week with a 9-1 win over Ballaugh A and a 10-0 win over Nobles B to strengthen their grip at the top. Nobles A had a good week themselves thanks to a 10-0 away win against bottom of the table Port Erin B with Reginald Temporaza continuing his good start to the season in only his second year since taking the game up with a 21-2 win. Nobles A followed this up with an 8-2 home win over Ballaugh A, who may struggle to get back up to division one unless their away form improves considerably.

Not far behind the top two of Castletown B and Nobles A are Onchan B who recorded two 8-2 wins with an away win against Port St Mary B and a home win against Port Erin B.

In division three Ballaugh B are in second place but have a game in hand over Marown C and they faced bottom of the table Douglas D at home and came away with a good 9-1 win. Marown C kept the pressure on with two good 7-3 away wins to Ballaugh C and Douglas D who despite giving away two games took three points off the visitors.

South Ramsey D recorded their first win of the season with a 6-4 home win over Castletown C with the night leagues youngest player nine year old Ryan Hargraves fighting back from 15-20 down to 19-20 and having two good bowls either side of the jack until his opponent Castletown’s Rob Sayle played off his bowl and sat alongside the jack to claim a 21-20 victory. In their other game South Ramsey D made the short journey to take on Ballaugh C, but were sent home with a solitary point following a 9-1 loss with Ian Moore the only winner following a 21-9 win. Ryan Hargraves came closest to adding a second game, however he lost 20-21 after being 20-15 up but was unable to get over the line against Bert Quayle.

Peel D visited Castletown C but lost out 3-7 with young Ryan Tate winning his first game of the season courtesy of a 21-20 victory over Clifford Clague who has recently took up the game after spending a lot of time last season watching his Grandson Sam play bowls around the Islands bowling greens.

The Association Singles was held on Saturday afternoon at Douglas Bowling Club on a superb surface.

The winner was David Bradford (South Ramsey) who defeated Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly in the final to 21-12.

Losing out at the semi final stage were Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) and Edward Carlyle (Onchan).

Losers at the quarter final stage were South Ramsey’s John Kennish, Glynn Hargraves, Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) and Walter McCarthy (Marown).

The presentation was made by competition secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Douglas for hosting the competition, providing the refreshments and for preparing a superb green.

In division one South Ramsey B travelled to Onchan A and were delighted to come away with a 4-6 loss, drawing on games. For the visitors Ben Dugdale had an excellent 21-10 win over Kevin Quirk, with Tony Dugdale also winning 21-14. James Teare performed well to beat Rob Monk 21-18, whilst Sid Bolton just got past Steve Crampton 21-20 to ensure the Ramsey men left with their spirits lifted.

Marown A had the pleasure of a trip down South to take on Port St Mary A. The two winners for the home team were Trevor Quayle who beat Phil Kelly 21-14 and Rob Cooil who beat John Gelling 21-11. Wayne Roberts nearly added an extra win for the home team but fell at the last hurdle 20-21 to Matthew Keggen who had to dig in after being behind the entire game. For the visitors Dean Kipling, Neil Withers and Colin Kelly all won to single figures.

Peel A made the short trip to take on Marown B and will have been pleased to come away with an 8-2 victory thanks to winning three close games. Tommy McMeiken and Gary Smith won 21-18, defeating Arnie Withers and Harry Barton respectively, whilst David Proctor beat Juan Killip 21-19. Ste Kelly and Tom Kelly both won to single figures. For the home team Brian ‘Boothy’ Kelly beat Jerome Surridge 21-11 and Steve Bridson had a strong 21-9 win over Frank Watson.

North Ramsey A didn’t have far to travel to take on South Ramsey A and came away with one winner, bettering their Rayner Shield result from the first week of the season. For the visitors Allan Callow prevented the whitewash with a comfortable 21-12 win over Alan Moore. For the home team Dido Kelly and John Kennish won to single figures, with Chas Grills manging to hold off John Cannan to win 21-18 in difficult conditions.

Douglas A played their first home league fixture of the season on what is without doubt the most improved and best surface on the island at present thanks to the hard work that the club has put in over the past year. The ‘Villa’ men only just missed out on a maximum with Castletown’s George Peach edging his game 21-20 against Gary Conwell. Green Keeper Ian Moore, Mervin Sayle & Keith Rise all won to single figures. Mike Hargraves was next closest to adding a second win for Castletown, however Jimmy Sansom won 21-18.

Port Erin A had a good result at home with a 9-1 win over fellow strugglers Douglas B, who lost three games to single figures, will feel slightly unfortunate not to take at least one more game with Graham Moore, Gordon Wynne-Smythe and Pat O’Donohue losing out to 19,18 and 17 respectively. Andy Cannell was the only winner for the visitors with an excellent 21-6 win over Dave McCabe.

Rearranged fixtures also took place this week with Port St Mary A defeating local rivals Port Erin A 8-2, the winners for the visitors were Dave McCabe beating Wayne Roberts 21-17 and Seamus Whelan who defeated Rob Cooil 21-20.

In the other rearranged fixture Peel A took on Castletown A with Peel using their home advantage to record a 10-0 win. For the home team Frank Watson, Tommy McMeiken & Gary Smith all won to single figures, whilst coming closest to winning for the visitors were Jordan Drewett, Jeff Kinley and Mike Hargraves who scored 20, 19 and 17 respectively.

In division two Castletown B are top of the table and they continued their strong start to the season with an 8-2 home win over Finch Hill A. Hot on their heels are Onchan B only two points behind, who had a 9-1 home win over Port St Mary C. Noble’s B kept the pressure on the top two with a 9-1 home win over Port St Mary B. At the other end of the table Port Erin B are finding life tough as they made the trek to Ballaugh whose A Team were in uncompromising mood and the trip would have been a long one home following a 9-1 loss.

In division three Ballaugh B extended their lead at the top to two points thanks to an 8-2 home win over Onchan C. Marown C sit in second place and will have been pleased to come away from Castletown with a 6-4 win against third placed Castletown C after drawing 4-4 on games but taking the aggregate on chalks. At the other end of the table Peel D sit only a point behind Douglas D.

Marown A took on Port Erin A at Crosby on Monday evening, with the home team crushing their opponents 10-0. Four of the home team won to single figures, with the back four being pushed harder with scores of 18, 17 and 16. Seamus Whelan came closest to taking a point for his team before losing out 20-21 to John Gelling. Marown have certainly started the season with the bit between their teeth, but tougher tests are surely to come.

South Ramsey A played their first home fixture of the season taking on Douglas A who will recall they were beaten 10-0 last season in this fixture. It looked like luck was not on the home teams side with Douglas taking three points off the champions with Jimmy Sansom scraping home 21-20 after having a big lead against Peter Collister, and Keith Rise defeating captain Glynn Hargraves, with Keith himself leading for most of the game before going 17-20 down before picking up a double and two singles to also get over the line 21-20. Shaun Seal turned in the performance of the night to beat David Bradford 21-10.

Peel A started their season off with a defeat on games at home to Port St Mary A but managed to take the two point aggregate thanks to winning on chalks. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly won to single figures, whilst his son Ste Kelly also had a strong win. For the away team Nathan Hamilton made his debut for Port St Mary defeating Tom Kelly 21-16. Captain Trevor Quayle just managed to hold off Jerome Surridge to win 21-20, Thomas Keggen also came through a close game to defeat Frank Watson 21-19.

Onchan A got their season up and running with an 8-2 win over North Ramsey A, with Jimmy Moffatt beating Adrian Skinner 21-14 and Steve Walmsley defeated Steve Crampton 21-18. The home team had Peter Slinger, Matthew Quirk and Jordan Cain winning to single figures, whilst Kevin Quirk managed to hold off Tony Smart to win 21-20.

Douglas B had a tight 7-3 win over South Ramsey B, managing to edge the chalks by one point despite South Ramsey’s Tony Dugdale winning 21-0, James Teare winning 21-7 and Sid Bolton winning 21-13. For the home team they had a 21-9 winner, with the other four winning in double figures.

Castletown A first game of the season resulted in a 8-2 home win over Marown B, with their ‘old guard’ of Mike Hargraves, George Peach and Peter Oates all winning to single figures, whilst Juan Kermode just got over the line against Marown Captain Harry Barton. Jordan Drewett won 21-13 against Arnie Withers, with home captain Ian Watson winning 21-14 against Brian Kelly. For the visitors Juan Killip had a resounding 21-5 win, with Steve Bridson their other winner.

In division two Castletown B extended their lead at the top to three points courtesy of a 9-1 win away to Port Erin who were only able to field five players. The lone winner for the home team was Ben Mowle who beat Alan Phair 21-20, whilst Ken Horsley and Ed Benson both lost out 17-21.

Peel B will have been pleased to come away from their visit to Douglas taking on Finch Hill A with an 8-2 victory with three close games. Harry Kelly got over the line 21-19 for the visitors, whilst for the home team Dave Jones won 21-20 and Paul Dougherty won 21-19. On another night Peel could have won 10-0.

Onchan B continued their good start to the season with a 7-3 home win over North Ramsey B, whilst Noble’s A came away from Port St Mary C with a 6-4 win thanks to gaining the two points for the win on chalks. Peel C lost 3-7 away to Noble’s B.

In division three Marown C, Ballaugh B & Castletown C are all tied on 15 points with each team having matching 7-3 wins on the night. Marown C won at home to Finch Hill B with Dan Smith just losing out 20-21 to Bryan Masterson. Ballaugh B had Dicky Watson losing out 20-21, but will have been pleased to have Philip Quayle winning another close game 21-19. The chalks were close with Douglas C only losing out by six chalks. For Castletown C the chalks were even closer with only four chalks separating the sides. Castletown C managed to take the win on chalks despite losing two games to single figures, thanks to winning five games and having a single figure winner themselves.

Onchan C sit just three points behind the top three teams thanks to a 9-1 home win over Douglas D, with Norman Kneen sparing the visitors blushes winning to single figures in his game.

South Ramsey D took on South Ramsey C with a 4-4 draw on games, however the C Team displayed their superiority winning on chalks thanks to having Toby Hart and Tony Marler winning to single figures.

South Ramsey competed in the World Club Championships at Fox Lane, Leyland for the second time on Sunday April 8th but were unable to find a way to defeat their opponents Holme (Cumbria)

The team did fare better than last year losing out by a 5-3 scoreline with the three winners being Peter Collister who just got over the line 21-20, Jenny Moore who played well to earn a 21-14 victory proving once again that she can mix it with the men and Stefan Kelly who had a good 21-10 victory over Liam Baxter who has won the Cumbria merit.

Overall the team lost out by 22 chalks.

Holme 5 (149) South Ramsey 3 (127): Daniel Varcoe 21, David Bradford 13; Mark Ashburn 21, Glynn Hargraves 16; Tom Baxter 20, Peter Collister 21; Robert Grisedale 14, Jenny Moore 21; Stephen Ashburn 21, Alan Moore 12; Callum Baxter 21, Chas Grills 8; David Grisedale 21, James Teare 15; Liam Baxter 10, Stefan Kelly 21

Marown A started their season on Wednesday evening with a strong 9-1 victory away to South Ramsey B, with Steven Waters preventing the whitewash with a 21-15 win over John Gelling, whilst Tony Dugdale came next closest for the home team before losing out 19-21. New signing Paul Kelly came back from 3-10 down to win comfortably and Dean Kipling made his return to the fold with a 21-1 win to make the absence of their top player Colin Kelly go pretty much unnoticed.

Looking at Marown’s squad of nine players, they have no weak links and will be the team to beat this season.

South Ramsey A started their season with a good 8-2 win away to newly promoted Marown B. Peter Kelly used all his experience to record an assured 21-13 win, whilst Chas Grills couldn’t quite get over the line against Juan Killip to lose out 19-21. One of three youngsters in the home team Bobby Thorne just fell at the final hurdle to lose out 20-21 to Alan Moore. The Marown B Team has a good mix of youth and experience which should stand them in good stead in their quest to remain in the top division.

Onchan A managed to edge their home fixture against Douglas A in part thanks to getting a walkover due to one of the Douglas players pulling out due to illness. Peter Slinger and Jordan Cain had good wins for the home side, whilst Mervin Sayle won to single figures. Gary Conwell made a confident start to the season with a 21-13 win over Adrian Skinner, whilst Ian Moore defeated Rob Monk 21-15. Stuart Garrett just got over the line with a 21-20 win over Kevin Quirk.

Douglas B took on North Ramsey A at the Villa with the home side losing out 3-7. For the visitors Allan Callow and Geoff Porter both won to single figures, and Steve Parker got over the line with a 21-20 win. For the home team Andy Cannell put in an assured performance to win 21-7 over John Cannan.

Two first division fixtures fell victim to the poor weather, these were Peel A v Castletown A and Port St Mary A v Port Erin A.

In division two Nobles A look to have a squad that could go back up to division one following a two year absence and they started their campaign with a 8-2 home win over North Ramsey B.

Castletown B started their quest to make an immediate return to the top flight with a 9-1 win over Peel Sunset B, with Gordon Corrin sparing the blushes for the visitors with an excellent win over Derek Lewney.

Onchan B won’t be far away at the end of the season as they started with a 8-2 win away to Nobles B.

At the time of writing Ballaugh A hadn’t played their first fixture, however they are one of four teams who will be looking to challenge at the top of division two.

In division three Marown C got their season off to a flying start with an 8-2 home win over South Ramsey C. The Marown lads will be looking to improve as they have in their previous two years playing together. Five years ago Marown pulled their B Team out of the league as they were unable to field a team, now they have two teams in the top division with their C Team competing to get promoted, which reflects the great work the club has done to promote new players to the game.

Douglas D have managed to hold on to their D Team for a second season, however they were only able to field six players, whilst the visitors Castletown C only fielded seven players but managed to come away with a 8-2 win.

Douglas C made a strong start to the season with a 7-3 away victory over Onchan C.

Finch Hill B had new signings Kevin Stannard and his son Sam both marking their debuts with wins, however they could not prevent their team from losing 3-7 at home to Ballaugh C.

On Thursday evening the first rounds of the Rayner Shield took place with bowls once again showing it is a sport for all ages with South Ramsey D having nine year old Ryan Hargraves winning 21-8, which helped his team take the victory over Douglas C to put their name in the hat for the next round. At the other end of the spectrum Over 60’s player Arthur Halsall was the only winner for Finch Hill A edging his game 21-20 over Neil Withers.