Finch Hill Bowling Club hosted the Association Cup on Sunday afternoon with the competition attracting 47 entries.

The weather held up until the quarter final stage only for the rain to arrive before clearing up fairly quickly. Losing out were Port St Mary’s Trevor Quayle who lost 16-21 to Marown’s Paul Dunn, Will Penhallurick (Onchan) was beaten 14-21 by Brian Kelly (Marown). Colin Kelly (Marown) ended the challenge of Nathan Hamilton (Port St Mary) with a 21-14 win, whilst Rob Monk (North Ramsey) also progressed with a 21-14 victory over Eddie Carlyle (South Ramsey).

In the semi-finals Colin Kelly put paid to the challenge of Dunn with a 21-13 win, whilst Monk booked his place in the final with his win over Brian Kelly, with the latter threatening a comeback from 13-20 down before losing out 17-21.

The final got underway with Kelly the current holder of the title having the better start as he scored two doubles in the first three ends to take a 9-6 lead. Monk recovered to win six of the next seven ends on a shorter mark over the middle of the green to take a four point lead at 14-10. Kelly responded in a similar manner as he played his favoured corners to go ahead 18-16, only for Monk to take a single thanks to a good second bowl, followed up by a double to go within touching distance of victory at 19-18. Kelly hit back scoring two points to lead 20-19. A single from Monk ensured it went to the wire at 20-20 and his lead bowl 18 inches away wasn’t beaten by Kelly and was enough for Monk to earn a hard fought 21-20 win in a good quality game.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Finch Hill for preparing the green, the club members for providing helpers and refreshments throughout the day and the competition committee for the smooth running of the competition. Association President Phil Kelly was then introduced to present the prizes. Upon accepting the trophy Monk thanked everyone who had helped, along with his opponents, going on to say that he didn’t think he would get back to being able to win competitions having suffered back problems for a number of years, that he was quite emotional to win the trophy after a testing time. It turned out to be a very good day for the Monk family with Rob’s mother Janet also going on to win the Top Lady at Onchan.

It was another busy week of bowls in the Canada Life International bowling leagues, with a double week which proved pivotal in division one. Monday evening had the wind play a factor around the island, with most of the greens affected by the conditions.

In Division One League leaders Marown A hosted Douglas A at Crosby, with Marown captain Paul Dunn leading the way with a 21-5 win over Gordon Wynne-Smythe, while their newest signing Sam Clague battled through to claim a 21-20 win over Merv Sayle. The only winners for the visitors was Keith Rise who performed brilliantly to beat Paul Kelly 21-11.

Second placed South Ramsey A stayed in touch as they matched the Marown result with their own 9-1 home win over near neighbours North Ramsey A. The lone winner for North was Paul Allison who impressed with a 21-17 win over Chas Grills, while Rob Monk just missed out 20-21 to former teammate Jordan Cain.

Elsewhere Onchan A recorded a solid 8-2 win over Marown B. Port Erin A lost 3-7 at home to Port St Mary A. Castletown A won 9-1 at the Crofts against Peel B, while Peel A dropped three games in their home 7-3 victory over Onchan.

On Friday evening in near perfect conditions the top two clashed with South Ramsey A hosting league leaders Marown A. The green was tricky for both teams to master, with the home team fully aware that Marown had won on their two previous league visits to South Ramsey. There was no mistake made on this occasion with the league champions using home advantage to take an 8-2 win on the night, with no games particularly close the result could not be argued. South Ramsey A hit top spot for the first time this season with 57 points, five points ahead of Marown A.

Marown B responded to Monday’s poor result with a 10-0 home win over Castletown A, while Onchan A had an excellent week with another good win as they beat Port St Mary A 1-9 at Breagle Glen, with the visitors having a ‘new’ name on their team sheet with Andy Kennish turning out for Onchan and winning on his second debut for the club. Those who have been around long enough will recall that Andy had a stint at Onchan in the mid-1980’s.

Onchan B did their cause no harm with an 8-2 home win over Port Erin A, Peel A battled to a 4-6 away win over North Ramsey A at Mooragh Park, while Douglas A battled back from Monday’s heavy defeat to beat Peel B 2-8 in the Sunset City.

In Division Two South Ramsey B started the week in top spot with a hard fought 4-6 away win over Ballaugh B in tough conditions, while on Thursday a solid 1-9 away win over Onchan C ensured they ended the week top of the pile.

Marown C jumped up into second spot thanks to a 7-3 home win over South Ramsey C on Tuesday, then battled to a 4-6 away win over Castletown B to ensure they stayed ahead of the Castletown men. Castletown stay in touch in third place, three points behind Marown C as they also lost 8-2 away to Douglas B.

In Division Three North Ramsey B are currently top on 46 points following two good wins starting the week with a 10-0 home win over Peel D, ending the week with a 3-7 away win over Noble’s B.

Sitting seven points behind in second place – with a game in hand are Marown D who continue to fly high as they took two 7-3 wins last week as they beat Castletown C away from home and Finch Hill B at Crosby.

South Ramsey D who finished third from bottom last year are currently in third place on 37 points as they beat Douglas C 8-2 at home, then lost 6-4 away to Peel D losing out on the aggregate by just four chalks (140-136).

Douglas C ended the week in fourth place on 35 points as they bounced back from their defeat on Tuesday as they won 7-3 at home to Castletown C. Noble’s B had a good win 3-7 away to Ballaugh C to finish the week in fifth spot with 34 points.

Nobles Bowling Club was the venue chosen to host the inaugural 3R’s Limited sponsored Association Non Winners Cup on Sunday afternoon with the competition open to those who had never won a Men’s singles open previously, with 29 players entering to take their chance to win their first open.

Losing quarter finalists were 17 year old Toby Hart (South Ramsey) who lost 17-21 to Marown’s Walter McCarthy, Tim Williams (Port St Mary) was well beaten 11-21 by Willie Cowley (Douglas), while home greener Jay Elliott battled hard before losing out 17-21 to Glenn Boland (Marown), with Ballaugh man Peter Corlett having his run ended by former home greener Les Brookes (Finch Hill) with a 11-21 defeat.

Both semi-finals were well contested with Cowley just edging it 21-20 against McCarthy, while Boland booked his place in the final with a 21-19 victory over Brookes.

The final got underway with Boland starting as favourite having played for longer than his opponent, also with a number of Junior titles to his name having won the Junior Manx Championship and Junior Manx Masters on more than one occasion. His opponent Cowley will not have been phased by the occasion, himself being a well known referee in local football over the years. It was Boland who took control of the final as he played corner to crown and back against his fellow left hander to keep Cowley down to scoring just four chalks throughout the game to take a well deserved 21-9 win and his first Men’s open title.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked 3R’s Limited for the sponsorship, Noble’s for hosting the competition, the players for entering, and all who came to support.

The early rounds of the Canada Life International Rayner Shield took place this week with teams from the lower divisions getting the opportunity to play first division teams, depending on how kind the draw was to them, as all the top teams safely went into the draw for the next round.

On Monday night third division Onchan C (pictured) travelled north to take on the current holders of the Rayner Shield South Ramsey A on a fine evening. Despite not winning a game the visitors enjoyed their evening and now go into the Rayner Plate having lost in the first round. The home team did not take their opponents lightly as they conceded just 48 chalks on the night.

Tie of the round was without doubt the game between second division Ballaugh A and Peel A, with the former having home advantage they managed to secure a 4-4 draw on the night resulting in the visitors progressing to the next round thanks to scoring 14 chalks more than the home team (134-148). For Peel David Smith stepped up to the A Team and did his credentials no harm with a superb 21-9 win over Patrick Grant, while captain Gary Smith beat Barry McDonald 21-12, George Gadsby won 21-13 against Gordie Moore, with Peter Greenlees being the fourth winner with his 21-16 win over Nigel Tebay. For the home team Richard Hainge beat Rob Middleton 21-15, John Maddrell won 21-16 against Tommy McMeiken, Edgar Cowin was the home team’s best winner as he won 21-13 against Dean Kinley, while Phil Quayle edged it 21-20 against Tom Kelly.

North Ramsey A go into the Rayner Plate after putting up a good fight at home to Marown A as they took three wins in their 3-5 defeat. Gary Merrill won 21-17 against Neil Withers, Brian Colquitt just got home with a 21-20 victory over Phil Kelly, while Paul Allison romped home with a stunning 21-3 win over Harry Barton. Three of the wins for the visitors were to single figures from Paul Dunn, Colin Kelly and Sam Clague, while Paul Kelly beat Tony Smart 21-10 and Dean Kipling had a tough battle with Steve Walmsley before winning 21-17.

Douglas A progressed to the next round with a 7-1 home win over South Ramsey D with Richie Davies preventing the whitewash as he beat Jimmy Sansom 21-18.

Marown C faced off against their D Team with the higher ranked side taking a 7-1 victory, while Peel B took on their C Team with the higher ranked side progressing to the next round with a hard fought 5-3 win. Port Erin B who were due to play their A Team pulled out of the Rayner Shield due to being unable to field a team.

South Ramsey B won 8-0 at home to Castletown C with the visitors’ junior players performing well with Sam Quayle losing out 10-21 to Bryan Corner, Dylan Marsh lost 21-9 against George Brew, while the youngest player in the league Freddie Palmer performed brilliantly as he scored 15 against Austin Hart.

Douglas B went into the next round following a convincing 6-2 victory over Castletown B with Mark Kneen turning out for the first time this season at the Villa.

Peel D also go into the Rayner Plate following their first round defeat 1-7 at home to Marown B, with the only winner for the home team Andrew Cover performing well to win 21-16 against Karl Parker.

Port St Mary safely navigated their away fixture with Noble’s B, coming away with a 1-7 win with Stephen Corkill the lone winner for the home team with a 21-4 win over Nicholas Peterson.

Finch Hill B went into the hat for the second round of the Rayner Plate after they seen off Noble’s A with a 5-3 home win.

Port St Mary A won 6-2 at home to Finch Hill A, with three of the home team wins to single figures from Nathan Hamilton, Trevor Quayle and Wayne Roberts, while Tony Epifani beat Glenn Hargraves 21-8. Dave McCabe upon his return to his old stomping ground at Breagle Glen won 21-11 against Steve Franks.

Castletown A kept visitors Ballaugh C down to just 66 chalks with their 8-0 home win as three of the visitors reached double figures.

South Ramsey C beat Ballaugh B 7-1 with the score not reflecting the performance of the visitors with all Ballaugh players reaching double figures.

Rounding of the fixtures for the week were Douglas C who hosted Onchan B at the Villa with the visitors taking a 1-7 win.

This week sees a return to league action and the group stages of the Mixed League which has been split into two separate competitions with the higher ranked teams in the Mixed Team Championship. South Ramsey A are the current holders.

The Mixed Team Plate for the lower ranked teams is being played for the first time in the same format as the Championship.

For both competitions the teams are split into two groups of four playing six games each, with the winners from each group playing off in their respective finals on Saturday 27^th August. Matches are played for on chalks with two points being awarded for a win, one point being shared in the unlikely event of a draw.

Noble’s Bowling Club hosted their Men’s pairs competition sponsored by Green Island Coffee on Sunday attracting 28 pairs to compete for the trophy on a much improved surface that was running well on the day.

The quarter finals had two Juniors through with Alex Hampson (Noble’s) and Ryan Hargraves (South Ramsey) before losing out to the Marown pair Phil Kelly and John Gelling, with another Marown pairing Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly getting the better of home greeners Dave Naughton and Steve Hampson. In the top half of the draw Onchan’s Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker ended the challenge of South Ramsey’s James Teare and Steven Waters, while South Ramsey team mates Glynn Hargraves and Stefan Kelly ended the hopes of Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary).

In the semi-finals an all Marown encounter had Keggen and Paul Kelly seeing off Phil Kelly and Gelling as they won 21-15, while Hargraves and Kelly had to battle hard for their 21-20 victory over Quirk and Parker to book their place in the final.

The final was high scoring with Keggen leading well at the front and Paul Kelly playing well at the back adding to their counting bowls they made light work of South Ramsey’s Hargraves & Kelly as they scored four trebles, a double and a single to romp home with a deserved 21-13 victory in just 10 ends to win their first Men’s pairs together.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Phil Salmon, who thanked all the club members and anyone who had helped towards the smooth running of their first competition as a number of the bowlers in the club are new to bowls. Csaba Bartha from the sponsors Green Island Coffee then presented the winners with their prizes.

The fourth game of the Canada Life International season had something new in Division One with fixtures being scheduled for Friday evening which has traditionally been used for Ladies league matches.

Marown A welcomed Castletown A to Crosby, with the home team winning 9-1, it was visiting bowler Ron Williams who prevented the whitewash as he ensured former club mate Sam Clague did not get the better of him as he took a deserved 21-15 win. Also just missing out for the visitors was Chris Lever, who has never played league bowls prior to this season who performed admirably as he lost 20-21 to Phil Kelly. For the home team four of the wins were to single figures with the captains playing each other with Paul Dunn winning 21-5 against Ian Watson, while Neil Withers, Colin Kelly and Harry Barton all won 21-9. The result seen the Crosby men hit top spot for the first time this season.

Upset of the week was without doubt the result between Peel A and Marown B with the Crosby men showing their credentials for a top four finish this season as they came away with a 2-8 victory. Home team winners were Ste Kelly who beat Jamie Joughin 21-5 and George Gadsby who won 21-14 against Brian Kelly. For the visitors Kevin Kelly upset older brother Tom Kelly with a 21-16 win, Peter Kelly inflicted a first defeat of the season on Dean Kinley 21-19, a score matched by Juan Killip who beat Peter Greenlees. Glenn Boland beat Gary Smith 21-14, John Gelling won 21-17 against Tommy McMeiken, while Matthew Keggen won 21-15 against Philip Pemberton. The result helped the Crosby men to third place leapfrogging Peel, who fell from top of the table to fourth place.

South Ramsey A rose to second place with their 9-1 home win over Port St Mary A on a superb playing surface. The visitors had to dig deep for players this week, wheeling out the Hargraves brothers, with Glenn performing well against Peter Collister early on with the score tied at 7-7, only to lose 9-21, while older brother Juan was 12-13 with Stefan Kelly before losing out 13-21. Both performed well having not picked up a bowl this season. For the home team James Teare led the way with a 21-6 win over Jordan Drewett, while Bob Clark overcame a slow start to beat Tom Collins 21-9. Dido Kelly beat Nathan Hamilton 21-10, with Hamilton being the first player to reach double figures against Kelly this season, David Bradford won 21-136 against Bernard Thackrah, both captains clashed with Glynn Hargraves getting the better of Wayne Roberts 21-13. The last game of the night ensured the visitors didn’t go home empty handed, as Trevor Quayle held off Jordan Cain to win 21-17.

North Ramsey A picked up their first win of the season as they edged it 6-4 on the night at Mooragh Park against Onchan B, thanks in part to Rob Monk receiving a walkover after Onchan fielded an illegible player as his opponent had played for Onchan C the previous evening in the same fixture number, which will result in deducted points for the B team as thy look to stay up it could prove costly at the end of the season. This ensured the aggregate went to the home team (145-122). Winning for the home team Steve Walmsley continued his fine start to the season as he beat Mike Kelly 21-9, Allan Callow won 21-10 against Mike Alexander, while Gary Merrill beat Colin Spence 21-19. For the visitors Frank Watson, Mark Kelly and Steve Parker had fairly comfortable wins over John Cannan, Tony Smart and Paul Cannan respectively, while Bernie McPhee beat Andrew Honour 21-18.

Peel B came away from their fixture with Port Erin A at Breagle Glen on a vastly improved green with a 4-6 win. For the home team father and son Bernie and Steve Durcan both won with Bernie winning 21-17 against Michael Kavanagh, while son Steve beat David Smith 21-16. For the visitors’ captain Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk won 21-5 against Peter Hulley, while Brian Lindsay won a close game 21-18 against Ian Taylor.

Onchan A had a close encounter at the Park with Douglas A, with the home team winning 6-4. Three big wins for the home team ensured the two-point aggregate went their way, with Phil Kerruish beating Willie Cowley 21-4, Matthew Quirk beat Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-9, and Mike Thomas won 21-10 against Mervin Sayle. The home team’s fourth win wasn’t so comfortable with Neil Dunwell beating Jimmy Sansom 21-19. For the visitors Andy Cannell had the best win beating Will Penhallurick 21-11, Keith Rise showing he has still got it as he beat Kevin Quirk 21-12, Ian Moore got home 21-17 against Peter Slinger, while Shaun Seal got past Reg Temporaza 21-19.

In Division Two South Ramsey B went six points clear at the top thanks to a 0-10 away win over Noble’s A, with the returning Sid Bolton leading the way for the visitors with a 21-5 victory over Juan Qualtrough. The home team scored enough chalks between them as they got 103 chalks on the night.

Castletown B sit in second place as they edged a tough encounter with South Ramsey C at the Crofts 6-4 with only six chalks separating them (138-132). George Peach was the best winner for the home team as he beat Christian Caley 21-9, with David Corkill responding for the visitors with a 21-7 win over Billy Jones.

Marown C leapt over Ballaugh A thanks to their 7-3 home win to sit in third place. Rayner Plate hero Stewart Clague edged home 21-20 against Barry McDonald, while Walter McCarthy was the best winner for the home team with a 21-11 win over Edgar Cowin. For the visitors Gordie Moore was their best winner as he beat Steve Wilson 21-8, Patrick Grant beat Rob Corkill 21-18, with Richard Hainge getting their third win of the night with a 21-17 victory over Bobby Thorne.

Elsewhere Peel C romped to a 9-1 home win over Onchan C, while Douglas B inflicted another defeat on Finch Hill A as they won 7-3, while Ballaugh B also won 7-3 at home to Port St Mary B.

In Division Three Noble’s B continue their fine early season form to sit top of the table on 24 points with a solid 2-8 away win against Port Erin B, as Grahem Moore and Noel Ash both won 21-9. Home team winners were Ed Benson who beat Stephen Corkill 21-12, while Alan Crebbin won 21-10 against Alex Hampson.

A strong looking North Ramsey B sit level at the top on 24 points with Noble’s B, following their 6-4 home win over Marown D. Paul Allison won 21-6 against Richard Bregazzi, while Mike Skelly, Brian Colquitt and Mike Skelly were the other winners for the home team. Winning for the visitors were James Kelly, Jay Waters, Steve Cain and Phil Dunn.

In other fixtures Douglas D beat Castletown C with the visitors fielding four junior bowlers, with two of them winning as Junior Keggen picked up his first league win in only his second league game as he beat James Teare 21-13, while Dylan Marsh won 21-20 against Greg Brew.

Ballaugh C and Douglas C played out a rare true draw as they drew 4-4 on games and tied on chalks 124-124. For the visitors Greg Tomlinson was the best winner on the night with a 21-4 win over Brian Lace, while team mate Nick Firth beat Michael Ellis 21-8. For the home team Peter Corlett won 21-7 against John Harrison, while Paul Cubbon beat David Cowley 21-8.