Author Archives: Glynn Hargraves

South Ramsey Close The Gap

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.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown Continue Impressive Start

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.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

World Club Championships

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

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown Make Strong Start

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.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Bradford Wins Marown Floodlit Championship

Following the success of last year’s competition Marown once again held the opening tournament of the season with a strong entry of 94, played over four qualifying nights, with four qualifiers from each evening.

The competition commenced on Sunday evening with Colin Kelly, Tommy McMeiken, Rob Monk and Janet Monk all qualifying for Thursday’s finals night, with Tommy and Rob both being pushed all the way in their final qualifying games against Helen Martin and Clare Cooper respectively.

Monday evening’s action had a few shocks, with Marown B Captain Harry Barton coming through three tough games beating Island players Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger, along with club mate Lil Smith. Margaret Tasker was the second qualifier of the night, seeing off the challenges of Jerome Surridge and Matthew Keggen. Trish Bull came through three games to take the third spot of the evening, whilst Glynn Hargraves had to defeat his better half Kim Hargraves to take the final qualifying place .

Tuesday evening saw two home greeners qualify with Conor Keenan, coming through two tough games to take the first spot, whilst Steve Bridson defeated club mate Phil Kelly to book his place. James Teare excelled to beat Neil Withers, then topped off his evening by defeating partner and top lady player Jenny Moore. The final qualifying spot went to David Bradford who came from behind in both of his games to defeat Phil Kerruish 21-19 and Paul Dunn 21-15 respectively.

The final qualifying night on Wednesday was a cold evening with Jordan Cain coming from 17-14 down to end the challenge of Alison Keggen with a 21-18 win to book his spot. The final three spots went to South Ramsey players, with Alan Moore, Stefan Kelly and junior Austin Hart booking their places.

Thursday evening was finals night with the draw taking place live on the night, with the last 16 being played down to the winner. Once again the rain managed to hold off and there was a good turnout to watch the conclusion of the competition.

Losing out at the last 16 stage were Port St Mary’s Trish Bull and Margaret Tasker, home greeners Harry Barton, Steve Bridson and Conor Keenan, James Teare and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) and Tommy McMeiken (Peel).

In the quarter finals David Bradford had to once again come from behind to defeat North Ramsey’s Janet Monk 21-17, whilst Austin Hart came from behind to level things at 20 across before clubmate Stefan Kelly played a good first bowl under pressure to end the challenge of Hart. Marown’s Colin Kelly performed well to defeat Jordan Cain (Onchan) 21-9, whilst Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) took his place in the semi final with a 21-15 win over Rob Monk (Onchan).

In the semi final Stefan Kelly pushed club mate David Bradford hard before losing out 21-17, whilst Colin Kelly booked his place in the final with a 21-13 victory after pulling away from Glynn Hargraves after a nip and tuck start to the game.

The final was eagerly anticipated with neither player being able to get a run on the other in the first half of the game, before Bradford pulled away to build a 16-11 lead. Kelly responded with a two to pull the score back to 13-16, before Bradford once again had a run to take a 21-14 win and the title.

The presentation was made by Neil Withers, with spot prizes from each qualifying evening for the highest break, furthest junior went to Austin Hart and furthest lady went to Janet Monk. Prizes were paid out to the last 16.

Thanks were also given for the excellent refreshments of hot dogs, soup, cakes and more throughout the week.

Congratulations must go to Marown on a well run competition which looks like becoming a regular fixture in the bowling calendar to start the season.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

New Season Gets Underway

South Ramsey A Team 2017

Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter Collister
Front: John Kennish, David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves

In Division One South Ramsey A start the defence of their title with a visit to Crosby to take on the newly promoted Marown B, who will be looking to make a strong start to the season as they have several players who will be playing in the top tier for the first time. I am confident enough to predict that Marown B will retain their top flight status this season.

Marown A have one addition to their team this season with the addition of Paul Kelly from Douglas, with the Crosby men looking to close the gap to the top and build on last season’s Rayner Shield success, as they start with a visit to take on South Ramsey B.

South Ramsey will have their work cut out to once again prove they have the hunger to win the league for only the third time in their history.

Onchan A will be looking to improve on last season’s third place finish, they begin their season with the visit of Douglas A to Onchan Park.

Peel A have strengthened with the return of Tommy McMeiken. I can definitely see Peel building on last season’s sixth place finish and making the top four, whilst also having the firepower to damage the top three on their own turf.

Douglas B will have a fight on their hands to stay in the top tier this season, having narrowly avoided relegation in 2017. The Villa men commence their season with the visit of North Ramsey A.

Port St Mary A start their campaign with the visit of local rivals Port Erin A, who will hoping to make a better start to the season than they did in 2017, to avoid getting dragged into a relegation fight for another year.

In Division Two there are three A Teams sitting outside the top tier, Ballaugh who got relegated last season, Finch Hill and Nobles who were both relegated in 2016. Out of these Ballaugh are best placed to make an immediate return to Division One, with Nobles having the potential to do so if they field their strongest eight players in their A Team.
Also looking to go straight back up are Castletown B, whilst Onchan B finished runners up last season they will be keen to build on last season’s position.
At the other end of the table Peel C will be hoping to stay up after winning Division Three last season.

In Division Three Marown C now have the benefit of two years league experience behind them and they will be confident of building on their third place finish in 2017.
Douglas D look to have retained their fourth team for another season to give their new players the opportunity to gain vital league experience and improve on last season’s points total.

Finally I hope you have all wintered well and wish everyone an enjoyable season.

World Club Championships

Following their success in retaining the League last season, South Ramsey A have the opportunity to compete in the World Club Championships at Fox Lane, Leyland on Sunday April 8th where they take on Holme (Cumbria).

The competition is played in a group of four teams on a straight knockout basis. The other two teams in the group are Wharton Cons (Cheshire) taking on Eccleston (Merseyside). The winners from each game in the group then play off to qualify for the finals day on Sunday April 22nd.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Juan Kelly Cup

Juan Kelly Cup Winners 2017

David Proctor, Juan Kelly (sponsor), Glenn Boland

Marown Bowling Club held an end of season Floodlit competition, hosting the inaugural Juan Kelly Cup, with the format being an 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 bowl shootout would take place, with a player from each team nominated to play the deciding end.

The competition in this format, attracted a bumper entry of 40 pairs, with 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.

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 pairing of David Proctor and Glenn Boland, who mastered the extremely wet conditions, defeating Bethany and John Kennish in the final to a 29-19 score line. Proctor and Boland were superb throughout the whole competition, winning all of their games to comfortable scores.

Losing out in the semi-finals were Clare Cooper and Rebecca Teare 20-22 to the runners up, along with Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly 19-27 to the winners.

Losing quarter finalists were Dave Pease and Steve Cook, Thomas Keggen and Dave McCabe, Jenny Moore and James Teare, Lil Smith and Maureen Payne.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all those who stayed to support. Juan Kelly then presented the prizes. Spot prizes were also given for highest score in the first round, which also went to David Proctor and Glenn Boland, (37 points) with the biggest break being awarded to Fiona Kennish and Alan Moore (15 points) Credit must also be given to Marown for trying something different, with the excellent entry showing the support for the new format.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Getting the Job ‘Dunn’

Jim Senior Winners 2017

Tom Kelly, Colin Kelly, Paul Dunn & Neil Withers

South Ramsey held the Income Plus Group sponsored Jim Senior Fours on Sunday. There was a good entry of 10 teams of four taking part, with teams selecting their players to play a doubles game and two singles games to take on opposing teams, with teams rotating at least one player from the doubles matches in each round.

The eventual winners were the team named ‘Getting the Job Dunn’ which was made of Paul Dunn, Colin Kelly, Tom Kelly and Neil Withers, who defeated the South Ramsey team ‘The Chuckers’ in the final, with the team being made up of Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly, Stefan Kelly, Alan Moore and Steven Waters.

In the Doubles match Neil Withers and Tom Kelly defeated Steven Waters and Alan Moore 21-16, whilst in the singles Stefan Kelly beat Paul Dunn 21-12. In the other singles game Colin Kelly had a strong 21-8 win over Dido Kelly to ensure the team were in fact ‘Getting the Job Dunn’ to secure the title for his team.

Losing out in the semi-final to the runners were ‘The Teacaddies’ made up of Lynda & Derek Cadamy, and Philippa & Alec Taylor. Losing out in the other semi-final to the eventual winners were the North Ramsey team ‘Smarticus and the Gladiators’ made up of Tony Smart, Allan Callow, Steve Parker and Steve Walmsley.

The presentation was made by Chas Grills, who thanked the sponsors Income Plus Group, all those who entered the competition and braved the conditions, the Ladies for the refreshments and the club members who assisted throughout the afternoon.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Champion of Champions

The Champion of Champions was held at the Waterloo over the weekend with the Men’s event taking place on Saturday.

South Ramsey’s John Kennish qualified through winning the Manx Championship earlier this year, however Kennish lost out in his first game to Gareth Herbert 21-12.

The eventual winner was Michael Beer who defeated teammate Callum Wraight 21-11 to secure his first Champion of Champions title.

In the semi-final Wraight ended the challenge of hot favourite Greg Smith 21-20 in a fascinating game that will live long in the memory, whilst Beer defeated the newly crowned Autumn Waterloo winner Wayne Ditchfield 21-16 to book his place in the final.

On Sunday in the Ladies event there was more South Ramsey representation, with Shelley Kennish (Manx Championship winner) and Jenny Moore (September Pre Festival winner) who managed to get a late entry due to another player double qualifying for the event.

Kennish won her first game with a 21-19 victory over Lisa Kerford, whilst Moore won by an even closer score line of 21-20 over Jo Webster.

Kennish just lost out 21-18 to the experienced Gay Cooper in the second round, whilst Moore booked her place in the quarter finals courtesy of a strong 21-12 win over Kellie Hill.

In her quarter final game Moore had the tough challenge of facing Emily Kernick, but battled well to only just lose out 21-17.

Losing out in the semi-finals were Nicola Boulton and Emily Kernick.

The eventual winner was Lynsey Gorman who beat Angela Gaut 21-9 in the final.

Post published by Glynn Hargraves

Marown ‘Mix’ Things Up

Mixed Team Winners 2017 - Marown

Back: John Gelling, Mary Alderson, Shirley Whelan, Lil Smith, Philippa Taylor, Phil Kelly
Front: Colin Kelly, Neil Withers, Matthew Keggen Paul Dunn

The Ellan Vannin Fuels Mixed League was brought to a conclusion on Thursday evening.

The competition commenced in early May, with 14 teams entering the competition, the teams were split into four groups playing each team in their group home and away, earning two points for a win on chalks, one for a draw. The winners with the most points from each group then qualified for the semi-finals.

The four group winners were South Ramsey A, Port St Mary A, Marown A, and Onchan A. The draw for the semi-finals put South Ramsey A v Marown A and Port St Mary A v Onchan A. The semi-final fixtures were held on neutral greens. Last year’s winners South Ramsey were disposed of comfortably on Noble’s one by Marown, who had a convincing win by 39 points. The other semi-final was a lot closer with Port St Mary booking their place in the final winning by 10 points to book their place in the final.

The final was held on a fantastic Peel green, who were able to show off their new floodlights, against the backdrop of a stunning sunset.

The final got underway with Matthew Keggen first off for Marown, with a 21-18 win over Paul Skelly in a good quality and entertaining game to watch. Second game off was Phil Kelly who overcame the strong challenge of Chris Price to win 21-14 to extend Marown’s lead to 10 chalks. The third game off was Dan McCabe who had a comfortable 21-12 win over Mary Alderson, to reduce the deficit to one chalk for Port St Mary. This was swiftly followed by Neil Withers who won 21-8 defeating Margaret Tasker to extend Marown’s lead to 14 chalks. The last game of the first blocks on the green went to the wire, with Wayne Roberts just getting home with a 21-20 victory over Philippa Taylor, reducing the deficit to 13 chalks.

The second set of games all became vital, with Jayne Kneen leading 15-6 over Paul Dunn, with Dunn having to dig deep to get back into the game, however Kneen managed to get over the line with a 21-15 win to reduce the deficit to seven points for Port St Mary. Ewan Cooil put in a good performance for his team to turn the match on its head with a 21-5 win over Shirley Whelan to swing the match in favour of Port St Mary for the first time on the night by nine chalks. In the penultimate game, it was a blockbuster of a game with the men currently sat first and second in the division one merit facing off. After a slow start Colin Kelly built a commanding 15-6 lead over Trevor Quayle, with Kelly finishing the game off 21-13 to reduce the deficit to one chalk for Marown. At this point the last game of the evening was finely balanced between Lil Smith and Patricia Bull, with the match score being 4-4 on games only a win for Marown’s Lil Smith would do. The game could so easily have gone either way, however Smith wasn’t to be denied and became the hero of the night for her team, getting over the line 21-19 to secure a win by one chalk for Marown, who in doing so secured their first Mixed League title and are the only fifth team to take the title since its inception in 2005.

At the conclusion of play after what was a thrilling final, the presentation was made by the President of the Men’s Association Clare Cooper, who congratulated Marown on their win, thanked the sponsors Ellan Vannin Fuels for their continued support of the competition, Peel for hosting the final, and the spectators who came to support.

Mixed Team 2017 Runners Up – Port St Mary

Back: Paul Skelly, Ewan Cooil, Dan McCabe, Wayne Roberts, Trevor Quayle
Front: Trish Bull, Margret Tasker, Jayne Kneen, Chris Price

A beautiful sunset to go with the high quality action at the final of the Mixed Team competition. Photo taken by Gary Weightman

Post published by Glynn Hargraves