Onchan A moved within touching distance of yet another Isle of Man Bank Division One title after two hard fought victories over tough opposition sees them move eighteen points clear at the top.

They hosted Douglas A on Monday night and with Douglas being the only team to beat them this year knew they had a fight on their hands. The Villa men put in a spirited performance in a match which could have gone either way but fell just short on this occasion losing out 7-3.

The champions then travelled to Marown A for the hugely anticipated top of the table clash, with the Crosby men needing to make up some ground on their rivals to stand any chance of snatching the title for themselves. Marown would have been pleased with how the week started as their 9-1 win away at Castletown A had seen them already claw two points back on Onchan.

The early stages of the old firm match were as even you would expect and with things finally balanced at three apiece it looked like the home side might just pull it off. It wasn’t to be though as Onchan’s tail showed their strength in depth as they took the remaining games to seal a 7-3 victory, and all but assure themselves of the silverware.

Port St Mary A are the form team at the moment and after a brilliant week have moved into third twelve points behind Marown with a game in hand.  They began the week with a brilliant 7-3 away win over high flying South Ramsey A and backed this up with a solid 8-2 home win over Castletown A.

Port’s primary aim will be to secure third spot but if they can make use of the extra game and Marown falter you just never know they might just pull off a massive upset and break into the top two.

South now find themselves in fourth place just two points above Douglas A after the sides won 7-3 and 9-1 respectively on Wednesday night. The top five are thirty points clear of North Ramsey in sixth, who are themselves 20 points clear of seventh, so whilst I don’t think anyone else can displace the top teams the order is still all to play for and Douglas will have their eyes on fourth spot.

South Ramsey B are turning the screw at the top of Division Two and a 9-1 victory away at Marown B backed up with a solid 6-4 showing against Port St Mary B will do their title aspirations no harm at all.

Port B are flying high too and their own 6-4 victory over Ballaugh B keeps them in the hunt for main honours. Douglas B need to relight the fire behind their challenge if they want to be at the top of the pile come September after they dropped points going down 7-3 away at North Ramsey B in their only match of the week.

Douglas C caused an upset in Division 3 on Tuesday as they beat runaway leaders Onchan C 7-3 at the Villa Mariina. It’s hard to believe that this high flying Douglas side picked up only one win in the final fixture of last season as they are now a match for anyone they play.

With a free weekend in store 32 men made their way to Nobles Park to take part in an adhoc singles competition, containing a plate competiton, that was put together last minute.

Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly got to grips with the green the best and came out on top of a quality field with a 21-14 win over Colin Kelly.

Dido led extremely well to his trademark short marks, and coped well when asked questions in the corners, and didn’t put a foot wrong as he bowled his way to victory.

Colin had his game of the tournament the previous round as he eliminated June Festival Winner John Kennish 21-1. Dido was again in good form beating Steve Parker 21-8.

Parker should take confidence in his performance though, as he has shown he can mix it at the top level and a 21-16 quarter final win over Neil Withers will do his credentials no harm at all.

In the plate competition Matthew Keggen took victory with a 21-18 final win over the evergreen David Faragher.

Thanks go to Nobles for their hospitality in allowing us to run the competition.

The Onchan A Express is surely on track for another title after another ruthless maximum 10-0 win stokes the fire of their title bid.

This time it was Castletown B who had to feel the wrath of the defending champions, who have now pulled away at the top of the table with sixteen points now between them and second placed Marown A. Town B shouldn’t lose heart as they are definitely improving and still have a chance of remaining in division 1 nest term if they can string some positive results together.

Despite losing ground second placed Marown A will be delighted with their result in game of the week as they beat third placed South Ramsey A 8-2. The result was not as one sided as it seems, however, as a reverse of two 21-20 wins to the home side could have been the ending to a very different story.

Douglas A remain in fourth place but were made to fight for the win by Castletown A at the Villa with the homesters having just enough in the tank to come home 7-3.

Port St Mary A are on a charge and are on equal points with Douglas having played a game less. They had their own 10-0 maximum win over Ballaugh A to really put some steam behind their season. They are now only four points behind South and will hope to make use of their extra game to leapfrog the two teams above them.

The mid table battle saw North Ramsey just come out on top as they picked up a solid 6-4 win away at Finch Hill A.

Whilst not out of the relegation dogfight just yet Port Erin A find themselves in the relative safety of ninth place after a good 7-3 home win over Nobles A leaves their opponents flagging behind them.

It all change at the top of Division 2 after leaders Douglas B travelled to South Ramsey B. South were on the top of their game to not only topple their opponents 7-3 but to also relieve them of top spot as there are now two points ahead of the men form the Villa.

Port St Mary B had their own 7-3 win away at Onchan B to move on to level points with Douglas and keep themselves well in the hunt for glory. Its going to be a race to the finish with all of these teams perfectly positioned to take top spot.

North Ramsey B kept their season going with a great 9-1 win over Nobles B, however they are still eleven point adrift of third place and its going to be hard for them to make up ground on the leading three.

Division 3 leaders Onchan C had to work hard for their win over second placed Peel C, coming out on the right side of a 6-4 win. This leaves them eleven points ahead of the govags in the title race and hot favourites to taste glory at the end of the season.

Onchan A are starting to run away in the Isle of Man Bank Men’s division title race as another 10-0 maximum win sees them move fourteen points clear of second placed Marown A.

Staggeringly their white wash of Port Erin A at Onchan Park is their sixth maximum in just fourteen matches. The frightening ease in which they dispatch their opponents this season is surely the key to them unlocking another championship door, which would be their twelfth in just thirteen years.

There is still a long way to go in the title race and there are three or four teams capable of beating the Champions in a one off, but there is no other team with the strength in depth to match their devastating consistency.

Second placed Marown A will be kicking themselves as they lost more ground even after a strong 8-2 showing away at Ballaugh A they will be wondering what they have to do to catch the leaders.

South Ramsey A had their work cut out in a battle with Douglas A just getting the better of the travelling side 6-4 after a hard fought battle. They will be hoping to catch Marown and be the first team to break into the top two since Castletown A finished second to Marown way back in 2002, the year before Onchan’s decade of dominance began.

Result of the week though came at the Crofts where Castletown B managed to overcome their A team 6-4 after some spirited performances from the second string. Town B are still firmly routed to the bottom of the table but results like this will do their chances of survival no harm at all.

North Ramsey A have made sixth place their own this term and an 8-2 win over Peel A helps them cement this place. In the final fixture of the week Finch Hill A continued their brilliant season beating Nobles A 8-2 away from home.

Douglas B are still at the top of Divison Two after their 6-4 home win over Ballaugh B, but only just.

Second placed South Ramsey B have started their assault on the title in earnest and have closed the gap to just two points with an impressive 8-2 away win at Castletown C.

Port St Mary B are closing in on a promotion spot in third place just two points further back that South after beating Marown B 6-4 away from home. These teams now have an eleven point buffer over the chasing pack and I can’t see anyone else winning either the title or promotion.

Onchan C’s 9-1 win away at Peel D has seen them move even further ahead at the top of division 3 and they are now nine points ahead of Peel C, who in turn are 8 points ahead of Port St Mary D.

Onchan A were merciless in their bid to defend Isle of Man Bank Men’s division 1 as a 10-0 maximum win away at Finch Hill A moved them closer to their target.

In the big game of the night Marown A overcame a battling Port St Mary A 8-2 at the memorial playing fields to keep their challenge alive.

Behind them South Ramsey A and Douglas A both picked up 8-2 victories, to keep momentum in their respective seasons.

Port Erin A Will be very pleased to have gotten the right side of a 6-4 win over southern neighbours Castletown A, whilst the battle between Peel A and Nobles A finished honours even at 5 apiece.

Division 2 leaders Douglas A remain in pole position despite going down 6-4 away at Port St Mary B and an 8-2 win for Onchan C over South Ramsey D keeps them flying high in division 3.

Onchan A take a ten point lead into the festival break thanks to a 9-1 win away at Nobles A. Tommy Collister was the star of the show for the home side, with a brilliant victory over David Bradford their only win.

Marown A were also in imperious form as they recorded a maximum 10-0 on their travels to Castletown B.

With half the season still to go it will be a massive challenge for anyone to catch the leaders of Isle of Man Bank Division 1, but Marown will relish this challenge and try to answer the gauntlet that has been thrown down to them.

South Ramsey A are also well and truly back in the race as they recorder their own devastating maximum on their travels to the Sunset City against Peel A.

Port St Mary A, who strengthened this year, are back to their best and equal on points with South after a 9-1 win in the local derby over Port Erin. Both Port and South only tail Marown by 3 points and will be hoping to keep pushing and maybe cause an upset by breaking into the top two.

These results leave Castletown B and Peel A routed to the bottom of the table at the half way stage and they will need to improve at the second time of asking if they want to remain in the top flight next term.

Douglas B remain at the top of Division 2 after a hard fought 7-3 win away at Marown B. They take a six point cushion into the break and have clear daylight between them and the chasing pack.

Port St Mary B are best place to challenge the Villa Men and will be very pleased with their work after a 10-0 win over Castletown C keeps them in the hunt.

South Ramsey B are only 3 points further back after they had to scrap for every point to overcome Port St Mary C 7-3 at home.

Onchan C recorded a strong 8-2 win over South Ramsey C to mover 6 points clear at the top of Division 3 and look like the team to beat going into the second set of fixtures.

Onchan A can rest next week safe in the knowledge that they will still be in top spot, despite missing a game.

It is their turn to sit out and a strong 9-1 win at home over Castletown B has seen them move nineteen points clear of nearest rivals Marown A. Onchan’s early season has been very impressive indeed and even if Marown record a maximum they will still have a very commanding nine point lead, which I think will be a big enough cushion to see them push on and retain their title.

Marown A had to work extremely hard for their 8-2 win at Finch Hill A over a side that have definitely turned a few heads and are exceeding expectations in the top flight. The Crosby outfit can’t afford anymore slip ups if they want to snatch the title away from Onchan and will need to start chipping away at the deficit week by week. Matching results will not be enough for them and they will need to start bettering the champion’s results and start now.

Third placed Douglas had another solid performance beating Port Erin A 8-2 away from home. They have started the season well but realistically could see themselves slipping down to fifth place come the turn as they still need to miss a game.

Fourth place Port St Mary A have momentum swinging their way at the minute and a 9-1 win over Peel A in the sunset city sees them march on. They will be gunning for third spot, and if they can get things right will have Marown in their sights and looking at second.

South Ramsey A are next and the team that finished third last term and hoped to push on from this will be hoping to kick on from an impressive 9-1 win over Nobles in the park. They are not out of the race for second and one thing is for sure they will fight to the last bowl of the season and nobody should ever bet against them causing an upset.

North Ramsey will be glad to be back to winning ways after a tricky run of fixtures with an 8-2 showing against Ballaugh A at the Mooragh. They have the all Ramsey derby next time out and will hope to cause a few surprises.

Douglas B are looking like the cream of the crop in Division Two and their very impressive 10-0 demolition of Casteltown C cements this status.

They have a seven point buffer over nearest rivals South Ramsey B and will be hoping to build on this in coming weeks. It has been a very good start to the season for Andy Cannell’s charges and their strength in depth has been the key to their success so far.

South B had to scrap for every point in the local derby over North and showed good fighting qualities to come out with a hard fought 6-4 win.

It was a similar story at Port St Mary where the B team had to use all of the weapons in their arsenal to just eclipse their C team 6-4 by just ten points.
Onchan C still look like the team to beat in Division Three and have managed to stay on top thanks to a 6-4 win away at North Ramsey C.

It was double success for Colin Kelly this weekend as he teamed up with Neil Withers to win the men’s doubles at Nobles Bowling Club, just 24 hours after he lifted the association cup on the same green.

Both men were relentless in their quest for victory and slipped into gear from the off, moving through them every game they played, and by the time they reached the final they were in overdrive and too hot to handle for Ian Moore and Stuart Garrett as they came home 21-9 winners.

The runners up had a great day out too and the Douglas pairing should be very happy with their efforts. In the semi final they knocked out Tom Kelly and Michael Collister, whilst Withers and Kelly eliminated John Kennish and James Teare.

Nobles Park ran the competition, which was held in conjunction with the ladies doubles on the other green, superbly and an entry of 33 pairs shows that things are definitely on the up for Manx bowls.