Port Erin v South Ramsey 110-180 (2-7) The Ramsey side travelled south and won 4 of their 7  games to single figures, 21-9, 21-5, 21-7 and 21-8. The closest game of the evening was Port Erin’s Jenny Cain 21-20 win over Judy Kelly.

Marown A were home to Nobles scoring 168-119 (7-2) Where Nobles were unfortunate with Marowns Lynda Cadamy winning 21-19 against Grace Gawne and Rebecca Teare 21-18 to Sylvia Kennaugh. Nobles Paula Firth and Caroline Corlett were the Nobles winners.

Mooragh Park v Marown B 126-153 (3-6) After Marown having to give away a game, they still managed to come off eventual winners. Joyce Ogden won 21-1 to help her team secure the away win.

Castletown A v Port St Mary 172-121 (5-4)  Castletown A fought hard to keep themselves on the top of the table by reaching  13,17,18 and 19 in the games that they lost. Which helped them secure a good win. 

Peel Sunset reached double figures in all their games when they hosted Castletown B 161-138 (5-4) Joyce Kelly 21-1,  Gill Clarke and Louise Horsfall won 21-8 to give Peel their second win this season.

Ballaugh v Douglas 170-119 (5-4) Ballaugh scored a good home win, with Julie Reilly winning 21-8, Cath Harvey 21-1 and Julie Waterworth 21-3. For the Douglas side Paula Garrett just edged out Michelle Cubbon 21-19 as did Erin Quayle against Pat Mason 21-20

Ladies Open Age League Friday 21st April saw Castletown A keep their spot at the top of the table playing away to Douglas at the Villa 92-184 (1-8) with Paula Garrett at Douglas winning 21-16. Back down at Castletown the rain held off and saw the B team take on Marown A 83-186 (1-8) Rebekah Kelly Marown A picked up her 1st win playing for the A team 21-11 and Linda Dawson Castletown B  Played her home green well to win 21-18 to keep Marown A below their A team on the table. Nobles v Mooragh Park 153-129 (5-4) saw a mix of games. Five of which were won to single figures, whilst Victoria Johnson just held off Paula Firth at Nobles to win 21-18 as did Sue Gawne 21-18 against returning player Rosemary Quirk. I’m sure Mooragh Park are happy to see Rosemary returning back to the game. There wasn’t much travelling involved for Port St Mary 155 v 135 Port Erin (6-3) Nicola Cain and Margaret Tasker both won to single figures for the home team. Whilst the winners for Port Erin were Jean Thackrah, Jenny Cain and Caroline Whitehead. Marown B 124 v 154 Ballaugh (3-6) Both Rosemary Winckle and Junior bowler Grace Cooper won 21-4 whilst Joyce Ogden just held off Louise Tebay  21-20. Winners for the Ballaugh side were Rose Waterworth, Elaine Fenton, Julie Reilly, Michelle Cubbon, Cath Harvey and Maria Dimsdale. The final game of the evening saw South Ramsey welcome Peel Sunset 179-87 (8-1) Joyce Kelly won 21-11 for Peel Sunset. Jenny Moore, Lauren Groen, Gillian Dixon, Elaine Moore and Kim Hargraves all won to single figures for the South Ramsey side.

Friday evening 14th April saw Castletown A host Marown B with an impressive 189 – 109 (9-0) win.
Celia Joughin and Elaine Dewhurst came close to ending Castletown A’s full house by reaching
19 and 18. Hannah Drewett, Ali Kearsley, Sue Peach and Kath Kinley all won to single figures.
Martha Butler for Marown B wasn’t fazed playing Hannah Drewett and scored an impressive 14.
Douglas traveled down to Port Erin for a close result with Port Erin winning 144-140 (6-3). The
Douglas youngsters are all coming on well and pushed Port Erin all the way to secure their win.
Marown A hosted South Ramsey where the Ramsey side won 5 – 4 on games, but Marown A
took the match points winning 160- 145. Helen Withers and Lynda Cadamy both reaching 18
and Sue Collier for Ramsey put a stop to Jayne Smith’s winning streak with a 21-17 win.
The new Nobles Team played home to Castletown B winning 169-127 (6-3) Keri Hampton
played her 1st league game and scored an impressive 13-21 against youngster Aalish Moore.
Port St Mary traveled to Peel where they won 140-155 (4-5). Lynda Wilson for Peel won to single
figures as did for Port St Mary’s Trish Bull and Margaret Tasker. Maggie Jackeman from Peel
scored 16 in her 1st ever match against an experienced Edwina Reid.
Ballaugh hosted Mooragh Park where the latter won 5 of the games, but the home team made
all the points count giving them the win 147-131 (4-5) with Elena Dimsdale just losing her 1st
game 20-21 against Bailey McMullan.
It’s lovely to see lots of newcomers this season scoring fantastic results in their 1st league
games, well done to them all.

Last Thursday evening Finch Hill Bowling Club hosted the final of the Ladies Plate knockout between Port St Mary and Ballaugh.  With the introduction of the new individual handicap system this season, Port were off +30 and Ballaugh +40.  First five games saw Chris Price, Chris Holland, Kellie Maddrell and Jayne Kneen for Port winning to 6, 15, 12 and 7 respectively against Michelle Cubbon, Elaine Fenton, Louise Tebay and Pat Mason with Alison Millard for Ballaugh winning to 19 against Nicci Cain.  With Port just ahead on points at the halfway stage, it was still all to play for.  Katie Williams (Port) played next taking on Julie Reilly.  Although Julie tried her best, Katie was on good form winning to 11.  Seventh and eighth games saw Trish Bull and Margie Tasker (Port) take on Barbara Graham and Christine McDonald.  All four ladies battled well, but Barbara and Christine just  had the edge winning to 12 and 15. Last game was between Mavis Franks (Port) and Cath Harvey with Mavis eventually winning 21-14.  It was a very good final with all the spectators enjoying some excellent bowling.  Result : Port St Mary 193 (6), Ballaugh 168 (3). Presentation was made by the Ladies President with PSM Captain Chris Price, thanking Finch Hill for the use of their green, all those who helped in any way, the spectators, but most of all to her ladies for playing so well.

In the Open Age League last Friday night current leaders  Castletown A were away to second placed Port St Mary A.  Match was much closer than on their previous encounter earlier in the season with Port winning on games but losing on points.  Closest games saw Nicola Cain and Trish Bull (Port) both winning to 19 against Hilary Kermode and Anne Oates with Kath Kinley (Castletown) being the only player to win to single figures.  Marown home to Port Erin and Onchan away to Peel both had good eight games to one wins with both teams only dropping one point.  Lone winners for Port Erin and Peel were Caroline Whitehead and Sue Jones.  South Ramsey had a good away win at Castletown B with Lorraine Moore (South) winning her first league game.   

There were four 5-1 results in the Ladies Over 60s matches on Tuesday morning.  Closest of these was the match between Finch Hill and Peel where Peel won by 29 points. All games went into double figures apart from the lone winner for Finch, Jan Osborne, who won comfortably to 5. Brenda Williams for Finch battled well against Val Allwood eventually losing to 15. 

There were some close matches last Friday night in the Open Age League.  Marown B played Peel at home and although Peel won 5-4 on games they lost by 11 points.  Port Erin played host to Mooragh Park with Port winning the match by 12 points.   Mooragh Park junior, Lacey McMullan, won her first game to 18 against Rita Callister whilst Jenny Cain for Port came back from 16-8 down to win 21-17 against Lacey’s sister, Shannon.

In the Over 60s league on Tuesday morning, two full houses were achieved by Onchan A and Castletown A who were both home to Castletown B and Mooragh Park B respectively.  Closest match saw Marown winning at home by four points against Finch Hill. 

Semi finals of the Jean Kelly knockout competition were played last Thursday.  First semi-final was between South Ramsey (+25) and Peel (+59).  South won six games to three and by six points.  Second semi between Castletown A (+19) and Marown A (+34) resulted Castletown winning five games to four and by 25 points.  In the plate knockout semis, Port Erin (+42) took on Ballaugh (+53). Match resulted in Ballaugh winning six games to three and by 29 points.  Second semi was between Onchan (+41) and Port St Mary A (+35).  Port won five games to four and by 12 points. Final of the Jean Kelly Knockout will be at Onchan on Friday 6 August with the final of the Plate being held on Thursday 22 July at Finch Hill. 

In the Open Age League last Friday night, Douglas and Mooragh Park both had good home wins against Castletown B and Onchan respectively.  Douglas won seven games to two and by 58 points. The two winners for Castletown were Jo Robert and Elaine McElroy who won to 16 and 17.  Mooragh won six games to three and by 46 points with five of Mooragh’s players winning to single figures. The closest games of the night saw Madison McMullan (Mooragh) beating Sue Gawne to 16 and Marilyn Ellison (Onchan) winning to 18 against Maureen Hamilton.

Results : Mooragh Park 162 (6), Onchan 116 (3); Douglas 180 (7), Castletown B 122 (2); Marown A 169 (5), Marown B 133 (4); Peel 131 (3), South Ramsey 167 (6); Castletown A 176 (7), Port Erin 107 (2); Port St Mary 183 (8), Ballaugh 127 (1)

In the Over 60s league on Tuesday morning Port St Mary B won by one point at home to  South Ramsey.  All games went into double figures with Brenda Hawkard (Port) and Ann Gale (South) both winning to 18.  Second closest game saw Ballaugh winning by two points at home to Onchan A. Brenda Bowyer, Carol Holt and Maureen Trustham for Ballaugh plus  Paula Firth for Onchan all won to single figures. 

Results : Ballaugh 91 (3), Onchan A 89 (3); Port Erin A 109 (4), Marown 89 (2); Finch Hill A 100 (4), Mooragh Park A 81 (2); Castletown B 61 (1), Port St Mary A 116 (5); Mooragh Park B 54 (1), Peel 124 (5); Port St Mary B 105 (3), South Ramsey 104 (3).  No result for Onchan B against Castletown A at time of report.

The inaugural Over 60s Ladies Manx Championship took place at South Ramsey last Wednesday with an entry of 23 ladies.  The green was fast and tricky with some excellent bowling being played throughout the afternoon.  In the first semi-final, Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) played Joyce Ogden (Marown) with Elaine eventually winning 21-15.  In the second semi, Paula Firth (Onchan) played Margaret Tasker (Port St Mary) with Paula just having the edge winning to 12. Both ladies played well in the final and for most of the game it was very even, but with a final spurt  Elaine ran out to win 21-14. Presentation of trophy and prizes was made by Janet Latham, Ladies Treasurer, who thanked South Ramsey for hosting the competition and providing superb refreshments, and Gill Morgan, Ladies Competition Secretary for running the sheet.  Special thanks were given to Elaine for sponsoring the championship. 

Mooragh Park played host to Port Erin on Friday night. It was a tight match both on points and games.  The closest games of the night saw Maureen Hamilton (Mooragh) winning to 18, with Rita Callister and Carol Kaye (Port Erin) winning to 18 and 19 respectively. There were comfortable wins for Shannon McMullan (Mooragh) and Di Benson (Port Erin) who both won to single figures.  Overall score : Mooragh Park 160-Port Erin 148 (five games to four).

Results : Castletown A 183 (8), Ballaugh 107 (1); Douglas 120 (3), South Ramsey 162 (6); Marown A 154 (4), Onchan 163 (5); Peel Sunset 166 (5), Marown B 141 (4); Port St Mary 183 (7), Castletown  94 (2)

It may only be the second week, but Castletown A have started strongest out of the starting blocks with two good wins followed by Port St Mary.  These two teams are playing each other on Friday and, as in previous years, it may prove to be a close affair.

Ladies crown green bowling got underway on Friday night with the Open Age League following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.   It has been a bitter-sweet start to the bowling season with a couple of teams withdrawing from the Open Age League and Over 60s league due to dwindling club numbers and a couple of clubs forming a second team having increased membership of ‘new to the game lady bowlers’; Junior lady bowlers and bowlers transferring from other clubs.   Given these changes, this season has the promise of being an interesting one.

Featured match from the opening week in the Open Age Night League was between the newly formed Marown B playing host to their stable mates Marown A. This match was played on Thursday evening due to Marown having the official opening of their new clubhouse on the Friday evening.  Two new bowlers for Marown B, Jo Corkill and Amanda Butler, took on Marown A’s Elaine Dewhirst and Joyce Ogden respectively. Although Jo and Amanda played well they struggled against the more experienced bowlers with both losing 4-21.   The three junior lady bowlers of Marown B are sisters Grace and Emily Cooper (playing league bowls for the first time) and Rebekah Kelly.   Grace played Lynda Cadamy, Emily took on Marown A’s captain Lil Smith with Rebekah playing Shirley Whelan.   All three girls played exceptionally well, but couldn’t quite get over the line with Grace losing to 13, Emily losing to 6 and Rebekah losing to 3.  Next game saw Rebecca Teare for Marown B playing Philippa Taylor.  On paper this was always going to be a close game and it didn’t disappoint with Philippa eventually running out 21-18.   The two closest games of the night saw Deborah Leece for Marown B taking on Jayne Smith and Helen Withers, Marown B’s captain, playing Rosie Winckle.   Both games were nick and tuck throughout with Deborah losing 20-21 to Jayne and Helen beating Rosie by the same score line.  The remaining game was between Clare Cooper for Marown B and Celia Joughin for Marown A; this resulted in a comfortable 21-4 win for Clare.  Overall score: Marown B 110 – Marown A 171 (two games to seven).   

The remaining Open Age league matches were played on Friday.  There were some very close results, especially South Ramsey who lost on games, but won on points.