Wednesday 4th April 2023 saw the first of the Open Age League matches being played. Last year’s league winners were off to a flying start taking the highest score of the night with 185 away to Ballaugh, who were all playing well after their warm-up led by captain Michelle Cubbon. Michelle took one of Ballaugh’s wins against Stella Watterson 21-19. The other Ballaugh win went to Maria Dimsdale against Hilary Kermode 21-19. Alison Kearsley had the best win for Castletown against Rose Waterworth, the only game to single figures, 4-21. Match score ended 2-7, 133-185.

The revamped Marown A team paid a visit to Port St Mary. The only win for PSM was by Margaret Tasker who beat Rebekah Kelly 21-8. We saw the return of Lyn Bolton to league bowling who beat Nicola Cain 9-21. Jayne Smith clocked up the best score beating her mother, Chris Holland, 2-21. Match score ended 1-8, 95-176.

Marown B, captained by Lil Smith, hosted Port Erin. Strong performances by Marown B ladies saw four games won to single figures. One of these wins was by junior bowler Grace Cooper 21-7 against Susan Inch. Match score ended 5-4, 159-128.

Another junior bowler named Grace (Gawne) also had a win for the newly formed Nobles team against Ann Gale 5-21, when they went to South Ramsey. Nobles took another two games to make the match 6-3, 161-125 for an on form South Ramsey side.

Douglas hosted Peel and saw the first league match for Jo Masson who’s score of 5-21 against Joyce Kelly did not reflect the way she played. Strong performances also from the two juniors, Erin Quayle 7-21 against Gilly Clark and Katie Jacobs 10-21 against Shirley Corrin. Peel took the match 3-6, 122-161.

Castletown B, who unfortunately were a player short, were able to give junior Olivia Johnson 21 points. The other five juniors in the Mooragh Park team took another 88. The adults in the team did well too winning the other three games. Winners for Castletown B with Rachel Palmer against Victoria Johnson 21-18, Charlotte Peach against Bailey McMullan 21-17, and Judith Moore against Lacey McMullan 21-11. Match score ended 3-6, 105-172.

Thursday 5th April 2023 saw the first of the Over 60’s League matches being played. The newly formed Nobles teams l took the maximum points of 126 against Castletown B whose score of 39 did not reflect the performance. Finch Hill also took the maximum points available against Port Erin B who scored 62. Last year’s league winners Castletown A had a solid performance winning 4-2, 108-91 against Peel Sunset. Despite winning four games Onchan A lost out on points 100-90 against Port Erin A. Ballaugh didn’t have far to travel to South Ramsey where they took two games one being by Michelle Cubbon in her first over 60’s match. The closest match of the day was between Mooragh Park A and Marown, with Mooragh Park A winning 5-1 games but only taking an extra 5 points, 108-103.

After a four-year break Lin Ruscoe returned to play against Margaret Tasker when Port St Mary went to the Villa to play Douglas. The match score ended 1-5, 78-117.

With 15 teams in this league Mooragh B have yet to play.

The British Merit Qualifier took place at a cold & windy Onchan green on Sunday afternoon with 9 Ladies participating, thus necessitating 1 prelim which was played between Sandra May (Onchan) & Louise Tebay (Ballaugh). Although the green proved was quite difficult to read, it was level pegging all the way but Louise just edged ahead towards the end to win 21-17.
The quarter finals saw some real tussles and quality bowling with Jayne Smith (Marown) beating Debbie Leece (Marown) 21-13, Kim Hargraves (South Ramsey) beating Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) 21-12 & Sue Gawne (Nobles) beating her Lakers teammate Louise Tebay 21-15. Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) & Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin) had a superb game with Fiona coming out ahead at 21-18.
The semi finals saw Jayne Smith beat Fiona Kennish 21-8 & Sue Gawne beat Kim Hargraves 21-10.
The final between Jayne & Sue saw Jayne get off to a flying start, leading 10-2 before Sue decided it was time to join in. There were some excellent ends in this thoroughly watchable final but Jayne’s experience in short mat shone through & Sue had given herself just a bit too much to do, the final score being 21-18. Thank you to Onchan for their excellent catering & stewarding & to everyone who stayed to support the finalists. At this point we have not been advised of our allocation for the British Senior Merit competition but congratulations Jayne & good luck competing in Lancashire on 8th July.

The ladies section kick started the 2023 season by holding the Hands Trophy Non-Winners competition at Port Erin. With a good entry of 24 the format decided upon was a straight knockout. The standard of bowls was really high even after the six month break. The diversity in ages was also good to see with the oldest player, Rita Callister, playing the youngest player, Grayse Blencoe, proving this sport is for everyone.
Quarter-finals saw Jayne Smith beat Tina Hampson 21-9, Lynda Wilson beat Libby Andrade 21-11, Jo Corkill beat Tracy Moore 21-10 and Sylvia Kennaugh beat Marilyn Ellison 21-16. In the semi-finals Jayne put an end Lynda’s winning streak 21-18 and Sylvia to Jo’s 21-18.
The final was a game of two halves with Jayne running away with it to be 19-9 in front. Sylvia then regained the jack to come back to only two points behind at 19-17. The last end was a show piece with Sylvia lying on for one Jayne took the jack with the last bowl of the end to secure the elusive two points required to take the title and her first open competition win. The irony of this is she is no longer a Non-Winner. Congratulations Jayne. The presentation was made by the competition secretary and a very proud mum, Chris Holland, who thanked those who stayed until the end, Port Erin for the use of the green and the catering. Great start to the year. Good luck to all.

Over 60s League: Castletown A ladies retained the ladies Over 60s league title last Thursday morning with a good 4-2 away win at Onchan A. Two winners for Onchan were Dee Lewis and Marilyn Ellison who won to 15 and 6 respectively. Marown A finished with a strong performance getting a full house at home against Port Erin B. Lynda Cadamy and Joyce Ogden both winning their games to single figures. Peel travelled to Port Erin A coming away with a 4-2 win and by 40 points. Kay Primrose-Smith (Port Erin) and Val Allwood had a tough game with Kay eventually crossing the line 21-20. Onchan B visited Castletown B winning five of the six games. Lone winner for Castletown B was Pauline Moore who won to 10 against Jane Robinson. Mooragh Park A hosted neighbours South Ramsey with South winning 4-2. Three of South’s plus one of Mooragh’s games were won to single figures with Lynn Mayers for Mooragh winning 21-13 against Moira Anderson. Finch Hill hosted Port St Mary A winning the match 4-2 and by 62 points with Lil Smith (Finch Hill) winning her game to single figures. On Friday morning Ballaugh were away to Port St Mary B. Match finished 4-2 in favour of Ballaugh and by 55 points. Two winners for PSM were Edwina Reid and Elaine Hawkins who won their games to 14 and 12. Many congratulations to Castletown A who led much of the way this season being pushed all the way by second placed Onchan A, third placed Marown and fourth placed South Ramsey. Also many congratulations to Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) who completed the season without losing a game.

Open age league: The penultimate matches in the Ladies Open Age League were played last Wednesday evening. Current leaders, Castletown A, had a good 8-1 win at home against Marown B. Lone winner for Marown was Clare Cooper winning to 11 against Anne Oates. Marown just missed out on another win when Deborah Leece lost to 20 against Rachel Palmer. Current second place South Ramsey also had a good 7-2 win away with four of the games being won to single figures. In third place Marown A had a comfortable 6-3 win at home against Castletown B. Closest game saw Castletown’s Susan Kerruish just pipping Jo Corkill 21-20. In fourth place Ballaugh suffered a heavy 7-2 defeat away to Onchan with  Onchan’s Sue Gawne and Marilyn Ellison winning their games to single figures. Two winners for Ballaugh were Pat Mason and Elaine Fenton who won to 14 and 13. Mooragh Park travelled to Douglas coming away with a 5-4 win and by 39 points. Two junior lady bowlers Katie Jacobs (Douglas) and Lacey McMullan had a good battle with Katie getting the point needed to win 21-20. Peel hosted Port St Mary winning 6-3 on games and by 11 points. All games bar two went into double figures with Joyce Kelly (Peel) pipping Margie Tasker 21-19. With only one fixture remaining Castletown A are 225 points ahead so cannot be caught but second and third places are still up for grabs as Marown A are only 42 points behind South Ramsey so it is still all to play for.

British Crown Green Ladies Junior Individual Merit: On Saturday 3 September, the British Crown Green Ladies Junior individual merit was held at Heswall Bowling Club, Merseyside. Representing the IOM at this event was current IOM Junior Ladies Champion Grace Gawne (Onchan) along with sisters Madison and Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park). Competition was a round robin played in four groups of 4 with the winner from each group progressing to the semi-finals. In group A, Grace and Shannon were with Aimee Garside (Yorkshire) and Cerys Parry from Wales. Madison was in group 3 along with Paige Hall (Warwick and Worcester), Amelia Northop (Wales) and Megan Hulme (Cheshire). Although Shannon and Grace bowled well, it was Cerys Parry who progressed from group 1 to the semis, along with Holly Jenkins from group 2 and Rebecca Sheriff (Burton and District) from group 4. Madison also progressed through to the semis having played exceptionally well not losing a game in her group. In the semi-finals, Madison played Rebecca and holding her nerve won 15-12 to reach the final against Cerys who put in a good performance winning 15-6 against Holly Jenkins.

With both Cerys and Madison playing well the final was a nail biter with Madison coming back from 11-4 down to level it at 11 across. Unfortunately Madison scored one more point before her opponent scored the four points she needed to win 15-12 for a hard fought victory. All three IOM junior ladies should be commended on their performance, especially Madison for reaching the final and proving that our junior ladies are a force to be reckoned with.  

In last Friday night’s open age league ladies crown green bowls, all matches were relatively close as no team scored over 160 points. Closest match of the night saw Mooragh Park travel to Port st Mary coming away with a 5-4 win but losing the match by only one point. Dot Mylchreest and junior bowler Grayse Blencoe had a tussle with Grayse eventually winning to 19 whilst Nicola Cain (PSM) and Janet Monk (Mooragh) both won to single figures. Another close match was Marown B at home to Ballaugh with Ballaugh winning 5-4 and by 7 points. Game of the match saw Christine McDonald winning to 20 against home bowler Deborah Leece. Douglas hosted Port Erin winning 5-4 on games and by 9 points with six of the nine games being won to single figures.   The three games that went into double figures were Sue Caley and Emma Sayle (Douglas) plus Jenny Cain for PE winning to 18,10 and 11 respectively. Peel visited Castletown B coming away with a 6-3 win and by 24 points. Mary Moffatt (Peel) had a good battle with Joy Stephens with Mary crossing the line to win 21-19. South Ramsey hosted Castletown A winning the match 6-3 on games and by 7 points. Two games of the match saw Gillian Dixon and Kim Hargraves for South pipping Hannah Drewett and Barbara Young 21-20. Marown A visited Onchan winning the match 5-4 and by 21 points with four games being won to single figures. Marown Captain Lil Smith just got the better of Sylvia Kennaugh to win 21-19. With two fixtures  remaining, Castletown are currently on top 218 points clear of second place South Ramsey, therefore given this I don’t think they can be caught, but as we all know anything can happen in bowls!

In the Over 60’s league on Tuesday morning, both South Ramsey and Marown scored maximums. South were at home to Castletown B with four of South’s wins being won to single figures. Marown were away to Mooragh Park B, unfortunately no individual scores are on website at time of report. Elsewhere, Finch Hill had a good 5-1 win away to Onchan B with Libbi Andrade being the lone winner for Onchan winning to 10. Peel won 5-1 at home to Mooragh Park A with the closest game being between Shirley Corrin (Peel) and Maureen Hamilton with Shirley crossing the line 21-18. Onchan A travelled to Ballaugh coming away with a solid 5-1 win. Lone winner for Ballaugh was Rose Waterworth who won to 10. Derby between Port Erin A and B resulted in a 4-2 win for the A team and by 15 points. Alison Stockham (B) and Caroline Whitehead (A) both won to single figures with Voirrey Curphey (A) just getting the better of Kay Primrose-Smith to win 21-18.

In the ladies Open Age crown green bowling league last Wednesday evening, rearranged matches took place between South Ramsey who were at home to Onchan and Marown B home to Douglas. South Ramsey won 7-2 on games, although Onchan nearly took another game when Lily Gawne lost to 20 against South’s Lauren Groen. In the Marown B versus Douglas match, the Crosby ladies won 5-4 on games and by three points.  Again, scoreline could have been reversed as Douglas’s Emma Sayle lost to 20 against Lisa Pugh.

On Friday evening, current third placed Marown A scored a maximum away at Peel closing the gap to only 18 points on second placed South Ramsey who lost to Ballaugh.   Three of Marown’s wins were to single figures with the two closest games being Elaine Dewhirst and Rosemary Winckle both winning to 16. South Ramsey lost 4-5 on games and by eight points away to an improving Ballaugh team. Like Marown, three games were won to single figures with Elaine Moore (South) and Christine McDonald having a real tussle with Elaine eventually winning to 18. Current leaders, Castletown A, had a comfortable 7-2 win at home against Douglas. Two winners for Douglas were Sue McCourt and Harley Garrett who won to 15 and 19 against Sue Peach and Stella Watterson respectively. Mooragh Park hosted Castletown B winning 5-4 on games and by 17 points. Shirley Corteen (Mooragh) and Aalish Moore had a nip and tuck game before Aalish ran out 21-18. Match between Port Erin and Port St Mary was played on Monday evening. Port St Mary won 5-4 on games and by 22 points with Trish Bull and Lorna Brady (PSM) plus Jean Thackrah (PE) all winning to single figures. The match between Marown B and Onchan has been postponed to Friday 23 September due to players being off-Island representing the IOM in England.