The weather was not kind for the preliminary round of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap knock-out competition played on Wednesday 19 April.

Nobles and Castletown were both in devastating form, and won all nine games with six of them to single figures. At Nobles Marilyn Ellison put up the greatest resistance, reaching 16 against Lin Ruscoe, and at Castletown Jan Osborne reached 16 against Heike Perry while Pat Kelly almost denied the hosts a full house as she just lost out 20-21 to Anne Oates.

Mooragh Park showed that as a team things are looking up – they had a good win at Ballaugh, and would have been victorious even without their handicap. Although it was close on games, the visitors having the advantage 5-4, the fact that all their players reached double figures gave them a big points advantage.

The final preliminary round match, between two teams who will be fighting over the summer for the league title, looked tasty on paper and did not disappoint in fact as they produced a nail-biting encounter. Port St Mary won 6-3 on games with three wins to single figures, with the three winners for South Ramsey being Lyn Bolton, Elaine Moore and Jenny Moore who also won to single figures. Despite Jenny’s result and their 10 point handicap the visitors fell just 6 points short.

Going through to the next round will be Nobles, who play Mooragh Park, Port St Mary who play Castletown. Having had byes in the preliminary round Peel Sunset will now play host to Marown, while Purt le Moirrey visit Port Erin.

PRELIMINARY ROUND: BALLAUGH 162, MOORAGH PARK 218; CASTLETOWN 194, DOUGLAS 133: NOBLE’S 204, ONCHAN 119: PORT ST MARY 147, SOUTH RAMSEY 141

On a dry but cool evening there were few surprises in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league, although despite every team passing the 100 point mark, there was a big disparity in the scores in several of the matches.

The closest encounter saw Mooragh Park come through 163-141 at Marown. Two games went all the way, Pat Withers coming through 21-20 against Aalish Haworth being balanced by Helen Martin edging out Mary Alderson by the same score. It was a similar scoreline at Purt le Moirrey, with the away side winning 163-139. Tracy Moore won to single figures for the home side as did Sylvia Kennaugh for the visitors. Onchan had two winners on their visit to Port Erin in Marilyn Ellison and Jo Smith, but Port Erin were ruthless in winning 5 of their 7 games to single figures. Although Peel Sunset fought hard, they were only able to take one game of South Ramsey, courtesy of Mary Moffatt, while Douglas managed to take two games of Port St Mary, their winners being Paula Garrett and Brenda Williams. Five of the champion’s wins were to single figures. Christine Macdonald and Voirrey Oates were the two winners for Ballaugh at Castletown, with Pat Mason getting close to adding a third, reaching 18 against Kim Foy.

It was Noble’s turn to score a maximum as Onchan, still finding their feet, had only one player reach double figures. Marown have started strongly, losing only one game against Douglas, with Paula Garrett once again spoiling the party for the opposing team, while Castletown showed the value of fighting for every point as they dropped just six points in losing three games. Ann Gale and Christine Macdonald both won at Port St Mary, but their having to give a game away and the home side winning four games to single figures meant Port St Mary ended with a large points advantage. Caroline Parker spared Mooragh Park’s blushes winning their only game to single figures, as South Ramsey won the other eight games, five of them to single figures. Peel Sunset continued as they left off on Wednesday, sneaking a win 5-4 on games and a margin of 7 points. Rose Corfield came through 21-20 for the second time of the week, this time against Phil Dobson.

The ladies’ night league, sponsored once again by C Tarleton Hodgson, had it’s first matches, in fine weather, on Wednesday 5 April. It is nice to see Onchan fielding a team, but it is a pity that luck was not with them when the fixtures were made, as they started their campaign against Castletown, at Castletown – a start that no team in the league would welcome !! The home side posted a maximum with only three of the visitors reaching double figures. Re-building is never easy, as Mooragh Park can confirm, but perseverance will bring reward in the long term. Douglas were another team to struggle as they played host to South Ramsey, who will surely be contenders again this year. The visitors won eight games, seven of them to single figures, the sole winner for Douglas being Paula Garrett. Champions Port St Mary were on fine form against their near neighbours, Purt le Moirrey, winning 6-3 on games with none of their players scoring less than 17 points. It was a strange match at Noble’s, with most of the games being a little one sided. The home side won 6-3 on games and a large points margin. The only close game saw Mavis Franks come through 21-18 against Paula Firth. Marown had the better of Ballaugh in a low-scoring game, winning 5-4 on games with three wins to single figures, while this year Peel have made a cagey start with a game that could so easily have been a draw, winning by one point and 5-4 on games with Maureen Lacey (Wright) so nearly reversing that as she reached 20 against Rose Corfield.