News: Announcements
Rayner Shield & Plate Quarter Final Draws
Rayner Shield Winners 2017 - Marown A
Back: Ian Kissack, Paul Dunn, John Gelling, Phil KellyFront: Matthew Keggen, Colin Kelly, Neil Withers
Missing: Dean Kipling
Draws for the Quarter finals
Nobles (2025)
Jean Kelly Knockout
| Date | Match # | Home | Score | Away | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prelim | Nobles (+24) | 205-180(7-2) | Castletown B (+62) | ||
| Quarter Final | Ballaugh A (+23) | 201-183(7-2) | Nobles (+44) |
Nobles (2025)
Jean Kelly Knockout
| Date | Match # | Home | Score | Away | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prelim | Nobles (+24) | 205-180(7-2) | Castletown B (+62) | ||
| Quarter Final | Ballaugh A (+23) | 201-183(7-2) | Nobles (+44) |
Hannah Is Top Lady
Top Lady Winner 2018
Hannah DrewettPort St Mary Bowling Club hosted the annual Top Lady Bowling Competition with 32 ladies invited to play.
The first round saw some of the favourites fall with current Manx Champion Shelley Kennish losing 21-8 to Chris Price. Last years winner Janet Monk lost to Marown player Rosie Winkle 21-12 and Jenny Moore despite a late fight back lost to home-greener Trish Bull 21-18.
Quarter finals saw Katy Williams defeat teammate Chris Price 21-17. Jayne Kneen beat Peel Sunset’s Joyce Kelly 21-15. Castletown bowler Hannah Drewett won 21-15 against last seasons overall merit winner Ann Maddrell and Debbie Leece beat Mary Moffatt 21-11.
The first semi final saw a clash of home greeners, also sisters, Jayne Kneen and Katy Williams. After an early exchange of the jack Jayne built up a 11-5 lead. Katy, despite picking up a couple of two’s couldn’t get ahead and Jayne won 21-13 to book her spot in the final.
The other semi final between Hannah Drewett and Debbie Leece was nip-tuck all the way and after 27 ends the score was 18-17 to Debbie. Hannah dug in an won back to back twos and came out on top 21-18.
In the final, Hannah maintained a lead throughout and at the halfway stage led 12-7 before Jayne came back to trail 15-14. Another surge from Hannah put her 19-14 up and within touching distance of the win. Jayne used all her experience to close the gap but Hannah maintained her high standard of bowling and won her first Top Lady title 21-18.
Thanks go to the Association for running the competition and Port St Mary for hosting and providing an excellent playing surface.
A Fitting Tribute to Sophie
Income Plus Services Jim Senior - Winners 2018
Jordan Cain, Stefan Kelly, Alan Kelly & Dave 'Dido' KellyThe Income Plus Services sponsored Jim Senior Team Fours was held on Sunday at South Ramsey with 19 teams taking part which resulted in the games being played as two pairs instead of the usual doubles and two singles games with the team with the highest chalks taking the win in each tie.
The competition was a massive success with the aim being to raise £1,000 in favour of Rebecca House Children’s Hospice. This target was easily surpassed thanks to the generosity of the local bowling fraternity who dug deep for this very worthy cause with £1,400 being raised thanks in part to those who couldn’t be there but still purchased raffle tickets ahead of the day. This amount will be topped up by a further £1,000 by Barclays to give a grand total of £2,400 to be passed on to Rebecca House Children’s Hospice in memory of Sophie Kelly, which is a charity close to the heart of the family of Dido and Lisa Kelly following the loss of their daughter last year.
In what was a fitting tribute to Sophie, the winners at the end of a long day were Sophie’s brother Stefan Kelly, Dad Dido Kelly and Grandad Alan Kelly ably backed up by Onchan’s Jordan Cain. They held off the home team of Lyn Bolton, Sid Bolton, Steven Waters and included Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) to record a win of 38-31 in the final. It was great to see Alan Kelly back playing and he defied his years to play superbly throughout the day to help his team win.
Losing out at the semi final stage to the eventual winners by eight chalks (34-42) were the Ballaugh Team of Patrick Grant, Steve Grant, Tony Quine and Edward Trustham, along with the Ladies Team of Lil Smith, Mary Alderson, Elaine Moore and Gill Dixon who lost out by just five chalks (31-36).
The presentation was made by South Ramsey Chairman Steve Moore and thanks were given to the sponsors Income Plus Services and everyone for their generosity. Thanks were also given to Glynn Hargraves for organising and selling the raffle, all the club members who contributed in anyway from those running the competition, to the Ladies for providing the top notch refreshments throughout the day. Not to forget the improvement on the green and to those who helped on and off the green to prepare for the competition.
In Dido’s speech he became understandably emotional and thanked everyone who made today possible as Rebecca House had helped the family so much.
The winner of the 2 foot passenger IOM Steam Packet vouchers was Gill Morgan who eventually claimed her prize after purchasing £20 worth of raffle tickets!
Finally a personal thank you to everyone who helped source raffle prizes and to all the local businesses who kindly donated a prize:-
IOM Steam Packet, Splinters, Feltons, JJ barbers, Intersport, Teare’s Butchers, Farmer Combine, Ramsey Garden Centre, Allan Callow, Bourne Plaice and Trawler Man Chippy
Avant Amenity Mixed Doubles
Avant Amenity Mixed Doubles Winners 2018
Jenny Moore, Mike Atherton (Sponsor), James TeareOn Saturday 14th April the Avant Amenity sponsored Mixed Doubles was held by Douglas Bowling Club on a superb bowling surface at the ‘Villa’.
The sunshine arrived just in time for the start and ensured a bright afternoon and great bowls from all taking part in what proved to be a great days bowls for competitors and spectators.
With twenty nine pairs taking part there were some very competitive matches from the onset and as we arrived at the Semi Final Stage we had Alison Keggen and Brian Kelly drawn to play Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle and Jenny Moore and James Teare to play Kim Hargraves and Alan Moore.
In the first of these Semi Finals we saw the pairing of Alison Keggen and Brian Kelly not quite maintaining their brilliant early afternoon form and eventually losing out 21-9 to the ever consistent Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle.
The second Semi Final was a much closer affair with Jenny Moore and James Teare being severely tested by Kim Hargraves and Alan Moore before eventually winning 21-19.
The Final started with Lyn and Trevor looking as if they would take the honours but Jenny and James although looking down at times were certainly not out and a dramatic last couple of ends saw Jenny and James run out 21-18 winners.
The prizes were presented by Mike Atherton of Sponsors Avant Amenity and in his winners speech James thanked the Sponsor and commented on the good condition of the Douglas Bowling Club Green.
Teare, Leece & Boland do the Treble
Jubliee Cup Winners 2018
Rebecca Teare, Debbie Leece & Glenn BolandAn entry of 14 teams competed for the Port St Mary Jubilee Cup mixed triples, sponsored by CTH Insurance.
After a damp start the sun came out and the green became very nice to play on. The first round matches were played to 21 off 3, allowing everyone to get a good run on the green. All other rounds were played to 21 off 6.
Making it through to the semi-finals were Tim Williams, Katy Williams and Jayne Kneen who took on Rebecca Teare, Debbie Leece and Glenn Boland, with the latter winning a close match 21-17. The other semi-final saw Janet Monk, Rob Monk and Jordan Cain win 21-13 after a slow start against Ray Watterson, Robbie Cooil and Ange Maddrell-Reeve.
In the final Rebecca, Debbie and Glenn got of to a good start winning the first three ends. Janet, Rob and Jordan fought back well to take the lead. The score got to 20-18 to Janet, Rob and Jordan, but Rebecca, Debbie and Glenn scored three on the last end to win the match.
Club President Robbie Cooil presented the Jubilee Cup to the winners on behalf of CTH Insurance, thanking them for their continued sponsorship. Robbie also thanked the Port St Mary Ladies for their usual excellent catering and the green keeper for the excellent playing surface.
Thank you to everyone who competed and came to watch.
New Season Gets Underway
South Ramsey A Team 2017
Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter CollisterFront: 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.
Ladies Night League & Over 60s Season Preview
Jean Kelly Memorial Winners 2017
Back: Wendy Kennuagh, Chris Price, Kelly Maddrell-Reeve, Margret Tasker, Ann Maddrell, Trish Bull, Val MacFarlane, Win CollisterFront: Jayne Kneen, Katy Maddrell
As we approach the start of the 2018 CTH Insurance Sponsored Ladies Night League and Trend sponsored Over 60s League it is fantastic that we welcome four new teams to bowls. Castletown B into the night league, South Ramsey and Mooragh Park B into the Over 60s League and Finch Hill who are entering the Mixed Team Competition. It is great to see Finch Hill returning with some lady bowlers having last competed in the over 60s league in 2012 and the night league over 10 years ago back in 2005.
Port St Mary dominated the 2017 season winning the Night League, Over 60s League and Jean Kelly with individual success for Ann Maddrell and Val Macfarlane topping the merits. Port St Mary have won the league for the last four years but South Ramsey are close on their tail, closing the gap to just 85 chalks – an average of around 4 points a game. Nobles Over 60s picked up the JMS Shield beating Marown.
The top four teams in the night league have been the same for the last three years and I can only see the battle getting closer. In the over 60s Peel Sunset pushed Port St Mary A all the way and I predict another close encounter this year. A mention to Marown who in 2015 finished bottom of the league and in 2017 finished 6th and will look to further improve in 2018. With a strong set of mentors in Castletown A I can only see their new B team sitting nicely in the league.
The first competition of the season is the re-arranged Non Winners from 2017. This is to be held at Nobles Bowling Club Saturday 7th April players can enter via the website or contact Debbie Leece ([email protected]) or Heather Horsburgh ([email protected]).
Result Cards
From the start of the new season all night league match cards should be sent electronically as a photo to [email protected] as soon as the match finishes. These no longer need to be posted to Heather but please keep hold for a couple of weeks in case of any queries.
Over 60s match cards where possible should be sent as electronic photo to [email protected]. However, if this isn’t possible they should be posted to Alison Keggen and rung through to 425242. Anyone at the match, other than the captain, can send this through.
Good luck to all for the 2018 season
Mens Over 60’s Season Preview
Ismay Cup Winners 2017 - Castletown A
Back: Jimmy Young, Collin Holland, Ron Williams, Derek Lewney, Mike Hargraves, Dave Faragher Front: George Foy, Peter Oates, George PeachTuesday 3rd April sees the start of the Men’s Over 60’s Season with last years Champions Castletown A opening with a short trip to Port Erin which could see them having to dig deep to come away with a win. At this time of the year all Greens will be slightly slow and with Port Erin never being the quickest the Castletown men may find themselves under pressure from the home team.
Last seasons runners up Port St Mary A may find themselves with the same difficulties in their trip to Onchan B, again on a Green which is not the quickest and may suit the home team although I do expect the Southerners to come away with a win.
Onchan A travel to Ballaugh A for what could be a very close game and with Ballaugh having a couple of new players I will tip this one for a draw.
Peel Sunset A host Marown A and again I anticipate a tight match here but would expect home advantage to swing things in Peel’s favour but I wouldn’t be confident enough to bet on it.
Nobles A host Peel Sunset C and although the Westerners finished bottom of the table last year I expect them to do much better this term although on this occasion I would expect Nobles to get the win.
Douglas A host Ballaugh B at the ‘Villa’ and although the Douglas side look favourites on paper I think the men from Ballaugh will give them a tough battle.
Castletown B have a home match against Douglas B and again on paper the Castletown Team should be favourites. I expect the Douglas lads will be looking to improve on last years position and will give them a close game.
Port St Mary B host Peel Sunset B which will once again be a tough match and here we have two teams who are used to playing on a challenging Green so this will add to the interest and I am going to sit on the Fence and predict a draw here.
South Ramsey have a visit from Nobles B and I am not sure of the strength of either of these teams this season but will go for South Ramsey to use home advantage and take the points.
Finch Hill A see North Ramsey B coming into Douglas for a game which once again it is difficult to predict because although it is rumoured that Finch Hill have a number of new players we will have to wait and see who turns out on the day.
The last match of the opening Day will actually be played on the Wednesday as the North Ramsey Club are having to play all of April’s matches away from home due to difficulties with their Green at the Mooragh Park. This then sees North Ramsey A travelling to Finch Hill B and I really can’t see the home side being strong enough to beat the Northerners although I am sure that they will give it their best shot.
So that covers the first day of the new season which I think will see an intriguing battle for the League Championship and I think that this time Castletown A may well struggle to hold of the challenge that will be put up by a number of other teams.
I see a much closer battle with Port St Mary A, Peel Sunset A, Onchan A and North Ramsey A all being capable of posing a tough challenge to Castletown A.
Time will tell as to how bad my predictions are so for now polish up your bowls, pray for sunshine and enjoy your bowling.
2018 Fixtures
The website has been updated with all Mens and Ladies fixtures for 2018. Including the Rayner, Ismay, Mini Cup and Jean Kelly competitions. The opens will follow in the next couple of days but nearly all the dates are rolled over from last year.
The Mixed Team and new Club Championship dates and draws will follow this week.
North Ramsey are faced with issues regarding their green which has meant over the last week spending a lot of time revising all of the prepared fixtures. The mens night league, ladies night league and mens over 60s fixtures have been adjusted so that all North/Mooragh games in April are away from home. The ladies over 60s have not yet been adjusted as we await confirmation how they will proceed. This will give the Mooragh Park Green another month to improve.
South Ramsey Retain Division One
South Ramsey A Team 2017
Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter CollisterFront: John Kennish, David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves
South Ramsey A retained the Division One title by beating Port St Mary A 6-4. South have been a dominant force all season and fully deserve to win back to back trophies and will look forward to competing in the 2018 World Club Challenge and going for a hattrick of wins next season.
Marown A pushed hard in the second half of the season to chase down South Ramsey but despite their best efforts settle for second place finishing eight points behind the champions.
Onchan A had already guaranteed third position but Douglas A, Port St Mary A and Peel Sunset A were all fighting for fourth position.
Peel slipped to a 8-2 defeat away to Onchan A leaving them to finish sixth. Douglas A picked up a 8-2 win over North Ramsey A but crucially Port St Mary A picked up four points in their defeat at South Ramsey A pipping Douglas by a single point to claim fourth position.
Castletown B finish bottom following their 8-2 loss at Marown A but Ballaugh A, Douglas B or Port Erin A could still finish in the bottom two. Douglas B sat out Wednesday having already completed all their matches so were sweating on the results from their relegation rivals.
Port Erin A who with only a few games to go were rock bottom found good form in their final few matches finishing the season off by defeating South Ramsey B 7-3 and keeping them in the top flight.
That left Ballaugh A, they went to Castletown A knowing they needed three points to jump Douglas B and save their season. On the night they lost two games 21-18 and another 21-17 and could only manage two wins losing 8-2 on the night and leaving them with Castletown B at the bottom.
Colin Kelly collected the division one merit on the final day of the season with David Bradford finishing second and Trevor Quayle third.
Marown B had already confirmed themselves as Champions and finished the season with a 5-5 draw at Peel Sunset B. Onchan B finished seven points behind the men from Crosby with Nobles B third and a further 20 points back.
Nobles B have enjoyed much success this season incredibly finishing nine points ahead of their A team. In their final matches Nobles B went down 7-3 away to Port St Mary B and Nobles A defeated Port Erin B 9-1.
Douglas C finish bottom along with Onchan C.
The division two merit came right down to the wire and Steve Crampton finished top of the shop signing his season off with a 21-9 victory. Kerry ‘Bod’ Boland finished second.
Division three had a great finale with Ballaugh C leading the division by two points ahead of Peel Sunset C. With both teams having one hand on the trophy the fixture list happened to throw them together on the last night of the season.
Ballaugh travelled to Sunset City and the match was close, only separated by eight chalks but it was Peel who won 7-3 and took the third division trophy.
The division three merit was also just as close, Dave Smith led the way but three other people were waiting to pounce should he have lost. Away at Ballaugh B Dave won 21-7 and collected the merit in only his second season of league bowls.
So the curtain has fallen on another fantastic season of league bowls. We thank our Sponsors Ellan Vannin Fuels for their continued support along with all the people behind the scenes that help with the running of the league.