Game 1
The much anticipated start to the 2017 Men’s Crown Green Bowling Season was on Tuesday 4th April with the first shock being the 6 -2 defeat of last years runners up Port St Mary A by Onchan B at Onchan Park.

The performance off the day in this match has to be the 21-9 defeat of Ron Maycox by Peter Wallis but there were steady performances by many of the Onchan Lads with a good win for Gary Lee over Brian Lowe being worthy of mention as Gary only took up Crown Green towards the end of last season.

Last years winners Castletown A travelled just a little farther South to Port Erin and came out winners by taking five of the eight games. Unfortunately Port Erin were a player short so Castletown had one walkover and with Derek Cadamy only losing 21-18 to Mike Hargraves and Ken Horsley losing 21-17 to George Peach there was always a chance that the team from Port Erin could have picked up at least one point.

Nobles A with a very strong team this year had an 8-0 victory over Peel Sunset C with the nearest of the Sunset City Players to a win being Steven Bradley who only just lost out 21-20 to Roy Murphy. I mentioned Nobles A last week as being a possible strong contender this season and I certainly think that they will finish in the top three.

Elsewhere South Ramsey had a 5-3 home win over Nobles B with Chris Penketh being top man there beating Tony Jones 21-1. At Port St Mary the Ports B Team beat Peel Sunset B 5-3 with Tom Wilson winning the battle of the ‘Wilsons’ by beating Jeff Wilson 21-19.

In Douglas the Douglas A Team beat the League’s newest Team Ballaugh B 7-1 at the Villa with David Quirk of the Douglas side performing very steadily in only his second league game in Crown Green before eventually losing 21-16 in a good game with Ray Parry.

Peel Sunset A had a battle with Marown with the Westerners running out 5-3 winners but a close battle between Phil Parker and Alan Kennaugh which ended 21-18 in favour of Phil could easily have made this a draw. Ballaugh A lost 3-5 to Onchan A and the Finch Hill match with North Ramsey B ended all square at 4-4 and finally Castletown B beat Douglas B 6-2 with the well known ex local Football Referee Willie Cowley making his debut for Douglas B but sadly he was shown the Red Card by Dave Ali of Town who managed to beat Willie on this occasion.
Game 2
Thursday 6th April saw the second games of the Season for the over 60’s and saw the League’s newest Team Ballaugh B gain their first victory by defeating Finch Hill 6-2 in a match of mainly very close games with Ray Parry of Ballaugh continuing his good form with a 21-5 defeat of Kevin Skillicorn.

As expected Castletown A are still a force to be reckoned with as shown by their 8-0 victory over Port St Mary B whilst the Castletown B Team drew 4-4 with North Ramsey B at the Mooragh Park.
Douglas B hosted Peel Sunset A at the Villa but found the men from the West too strong as they took an 8-0 victory back home to Peel although there were some valiant performances from some home players with three games being closely contested.

Port Erin travelled to Marown and although there were some close games Marown ran out 6-2 winners with Bernard Thackrah and Seamus Whelan being the two winners for the Southerners.
Ballaugh A travelled to Nobles Park B and not to be outdone by their new B Team they also came away with a 6-2 win John Clague and Tony Jones being the only ones to be successful against the men from Ballaugh.

North Ramsey A travelled from the Mooragh Park to Onchan Park to play a strong Onchan A Team with the home lads gaining a 5-3 victory in a match that saw Norman Radcliffe now back playing this year for North Ramsey beat Mike Alexander 21-5, Mike Thomas of Onchan beating Jimmy Moffatt 21-6 and his team mate Colin Hinds beating Mike Skelly 21-6.

Peel Sunset C lost 5-3 at home to Onchan B and Peel Sunset B drew 4-4 with a very strong Nobles A with Roy Murphy of the Nobles Team having a 21-3 win over Ted Cain.

Last years runners up Port St Mary A who lost last game to Onchan B were back on form defeating South Ramsey 7-1 although the Northern Team were one player short with Chris Penketh being the only winner for South Ramsey.

So with Douglas A having the bye in Game 2, the League Table sees four Teams at the top each with four points, these being;
Peel Sunset A, Castletown A, Onchan B and Onchan A

The eagerly awaited 2017 Crown Green Over 60’s Men’s Bowls Season begins on Tuesday 4th April with the League having one extra Team added, this being Ballaugh B.
Although some of the participants may have been playing for many years their enthusiasm never wains and with the addition of new players who have reached the ‘magic age’ of sixty we look forward to an exciting season with some very good bowls as always from our ‘senior competitors’.

To predict who may be challenging for the League Title we obviously have to look at last years Champions Castletown A who were taken ‘right down to the wire’ by Port St Mary A with both finishing with sixty eight points but Castletown edging it on chalks. It would be a brave man who would write either of these Teams off and I firmly believe that they both have to be considered as equal favourites.

Historically Castletown have won the League every year since 2008 with the exception of 2015 when they were pipped to the post by North Ramsey A who slipped to eighth place last year hampered by the fact that they had to play their ‘home games’ on the South Ramsey Green due to a problem with their Green at the Mooragh Park. The northerners are back on their home Green this year and will be looking to mount a challenge once more as will their northern neighbours at South Ramsey who on their day are capable of beating anyone.

If however I were to name the Team that I think will mount a serious challenge to last years top two I would nominate Nobles A who finished in third spot last season and have some very good consistent players who will be motivated to move to a higher league position. A good test of Nobles A strength will be on the third match of the season when they entertain Castletown A at Nobles Park.

If however I were to choose my ‘Match of the Day’ for the opening day on the 4th April I would go for Peel Sunset A v Marown with both teams being more than capable of getting in the mix and challenging for the title. I will put my head on the block and tip Peel Sunset A to just edge this one with the advantage of playing on their home green.
Although I have mentioned a few teams I believe that this year may see a number of teams battling it out to the end for the title and possible even a surprise winner but only time will tell.

Well with nothing left for me to do now but to wish all players and teams the best of luck and enjoyable bowling and for some of us to work on our excuses such as ‘the green was too heavy’, or ‘ he was lucky’ and perhaps we can hear some more original ones for 2017.

Wishing good bowling to all for the 2017 Season.

This week the semi finals of both the Ismay and Mini Cups took place with Peel A just winning at home to Onchan A, Peels Ray Hardman beating Mike Alexander, while teammate John Lightfoot lost out to Onchan’s Peter Karran in to 21-20 games the match going to Peel 5-4 at Castletown a local derby took place with the A team proving stronger than the B team, with Bootsie Cooil and Terry Jackson being the only B team winners on the day giving a 7-2 victory for Castletown A, to set up a final encounter with Peel A. In the Mini Cup Onchan B used home advantage to beat Port St Mary B 7-2, while Port Erin travelled to Nobles B and came away with a 6-3 win to set up a final against Onchan B which is scheduled to take place a Finch Hill on Wednesday 10th August. The venue of the Ismay will be announced next week.
League Leaders Port St Mary 49 points played both Nobles teams at Nobles this week and came away with both points against their B team after a 5-3 win, however they dropped a point against Nobles A in a closely fought match. This allowed Castletown to narrow the gap at the top to four points, after having two very tough games themselves, just being both Peel A and Marown A by 5 -3 Nobles A remain in third place six points behind Castletown after beating PSM B 6-2. Peel A hang onto fourth place after losing to both Castletown A at home and Onchan A away 5-3, allowing Onchan A to move to just one point behind Peel A . Marown and North Ramsey A and South Ramsey are locked together on 33 points with Marown beating Douglas B before going down to Town A. North Ramsey A had good wins against Onchan B and a very close 5-3 win at PSM B with Tony Smart just beating Archie Collister 21-20 to ensure the points went North. South Ramsey beat Peel C before sharing the points with Douglas A, this point moves Douglas to within a point of the three teams above them. Castletown B put their exit from the Ismay behind them with two good home wins against Peel B and Finch Hill to move to 28 points, on 27 points is Ballaugh who lost to Finch Hill before beating Peel B, Finch Hill are on 25 points and Peel B are on 23 points, with Port Erin on 21 points with a game in hand, Then come a big gap with Nobles B on 15 points, Onchan B on 14, Port St Mary B on 8, 7 for North Ramsey B who had a good win over Onchan B to move up two places, also on 7 points are Peel C with Douglas B who called their game off due to the weather on Thursday against Port Erin which will be played next week, at present holding up the league with 6 points,
The Merit has a new leader with Geoff Porter of North Ramsey having played 26 for 23 wins also on 23 wins are Castletown Pair Peter Oates and Ron Williams, on 22 wins come Peter Graham of Ballaugh and Chris Oates of PSM, on 21 wins are Ray Watterson (PSM), Mike Hargraves (Castletown), Dave Foulis (Ballaugh), Jimmy Moffatt (North Ramsey), Dave Foulis (Ballaugh), Dave Faragher (Castletown), Chas Grills (South Ramsey) and Peter Kelly (Marown), making 12 players separated by 2 wins to do battle for the Merit Trophy.

Sad news reached us this week with the death after a short illness of Peter Fargher a stalwart of Finch Hill Bowling Club, could I pass on the Over 60’s condolences to his wife Shirley and daughter Paula and family, who are also both extremely well known to the islands bowling community. Peter was one of the characters of Bowls and will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him.
The Team of the week must be former bottom club Peel Sunset C who have had back to back wins to shoot up the league table in their inaugural year. Well done to Ray and his troops, they had a home win over a depleted Port Erin team on Wednesday and followed that up with a 5-3 away win at Nobles B. While the Peel C team were doing well their B team hit a bad patch losing 8-0 at home to North Ramsey A, before going down 7-1 at Ballaugh. Nobles A had a mixed week defeating Castletown A on Tuesday 5-3 at home before going down to new league leaders and the only club with a 100% record Port St Mary A by a 8-0 scoreline. Port also had a 5-3 win at Onchan A with Louis Callister just edging out David Higgins 21-20 to give the Port maximum points. North Ramsey A after their win at Peel entertained Port St Mary B who nearly provided another upset before going down 5-3 to the Northerners. Peel Sunset A had another good week to move into second place in the table behind PSM A with a 6-2 win at Douglas B before beating Onchan A 6-2 at Peel It is nice to see Peter Moffatt back on the green again for Peel. Marown are at the moment struggling to get their first victory going down 5-3 away to Ballaugh before losing by a similar scoreline on their visit to Castletown A. It won’t be long before they are firing on all cylinders again. Castletown B had a good week beating Douglas A at the Crofts 5-3 before repeating the score on their trip to Finch Hill. Finch Hill did win on their visit to PSM B again by a close 5-3 margin. South Ramsey beat Onchan B at home 6-2 before going down to Douglas A at the Villa, and Port Erin had a 7-1 win over Douglas B

After only two weeks only two teams can boast 100% records in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League which indicates that it is again going tight at the top. The Southside duo of Castletown A and Port St Mary A are the two top teams with Port beating league newcomers Peel Sunset C 7-1 on Wednesday before having a good 6-2 win over South Ramsey, while Town had an 8-0 away win over Douglas B and then a 7-1 victory at home against North Ramsey B which was a lot closer that the final score indicated. The other two teams that had 100% records were Peel Sunset B but they dropped a point in the 4-4 home draw against Douglas, and repeated the score line against Nobles B on the Thursday, Nobles A had a visit from Champions North Ramsey on Tuesday and suffered a 6-2 defeat, after losing at home they then went to near neighbours Douglas A and came away with the spoils in a 5-3 win, this allowed Peel Sunset A to move up to third in the table on seven points with a 6-2 win against North Ramsey B at Ballaugh, before receiving a bit of a fright from visitors Castletown B who were leading 3-1 at the half way stage before Peel A fought back to win 5-3, joining Peel B and Nobles on six points are North Ramsey A who again took maximum points this week. On five points are the two Onchan clubs and South Ramsey, with Douglas A on 4 points, on 3 points come Port Erin, Castletown B, Ballaugh and Marown, with both Nobles B getting a point of Peel B and Douglas B doing likewise against Ballaugh, with only new boys Peel C still awaiting their first point of the campaign.

The 2016 Tower Insurance Over 60’s Bowls League got underway this week with the Defending Champions North Ramsey A having to play all their home matches at their fierce rivals South Ramsey, and North Ramsey B have to make the short trip to Ballaugh for all their home fixtures. This has been brought about by the Mooragh Green being closed for the season. Can I on behalf of all the bowling fraternity thank both South Ramsey and Ballaugh for their help to North Ramsey in their moment of crisis. This year also has a first with Peel Sunset fielding a third team again I would like to wish them good luck. After the first games Defending Champions North Ramsey defeated Marown 5-3 while runners up Castletown A used home advantage to beat Onchan A 6-2, Port St Mary A, and Peel A both had 8-0 wins over Douglas B and Peel C respectively, Nobles A had an excellent win at Ballaugh 6-2, while Peel B went one better on their travels with an excellent 7-1 win at Finch Hill, Onchan B beat Castletown B 5-3 in the battle of the b teams, Port Erin and North Ramsey only had seven players each at the Breagle, with North Ramsey came away with the points in a close game 4-3 and finally South Ramsey came away from their visit to Nobles B with both points in a6-2 victory. The Second round of games was much closer with 4 games ending all level, South Ramsey and Peel A had a very close encounter as did Marown and Douglas A, while Douglas B got their first point of the season in holding Ballaugh, while Southsiders Castletown B and Port Erin shared the spoils at the crofts. Port St Mary B had a good 5-3 win over Nobles B while the following four teams have maximum points after their first two games, Peel B who had a superb 8-0 win over Onchan B, Castletown A also had a 8-0 win on their trip to Peel C, while fellow southerners Port St Mary A played North Ramsey B at Ballaugh and came away with a 7-1 win, and Nobles A had a good win over Finch Hill by 8 -0

With only six more games after this week’s Tower Insurance Over 60’s League the race for the title remains the same with North Ramsey A still three points clear of Castletown A after both teams had a couple of difficult fixtures on paper if not so on the green, North Ramsey A entertained Onchan A and had a good 6-2 win while down south Castletown hosted Ballaugh and had a 7-1 win to keep some pressure on the leaders, with North Ramsey heading to Peel A in the second fixture they managed to keep their heads in front with a close 5-3 victory with Ray Kelly and Jeff Oates both getting 19 for Peel as did John Radcliffe for North Ramsey, Castletown A also had a daunting trip to the Villa to play Douglas A who had a couple of reserves playing, Town eventually coming away with a 5-3 win to keep in contention, Port St Mary A look secure in third place on 44 points 6 behind Castletown A and 9 behind North Ramsey A, but they are 5 points ahead of Onchan A who had a free game on Thursday, Port had a superb 7-1 win at home to Marown on Tuesday, before they visited Nobles B and again came away with the points in a 5-3 victory. On 37 points come Peel A, closely followed on 36 points by Castletown B, Douglas A, Nobles A and Marown, with South Ramsey on 35 points and Ballaugh on 34 there will be some changed to this order as Peel A Castletown B and Douglas A have all played a game more than their pursuers. Peel B and Finch Hill are on 28 and 27 points respectively, with Onchan B on 19, Port Erin and North Ramsey B on 17, Port St Mary B and Nobles B on 14 and Douglas B on 2 points. Could I remind all players about Mobile Phones should you carry a phone on the green and it goes off you lose your game to the score that you have when the phone goes off., so please make sure that you do not have your phone on the green with you. As this has happened again this week. The individual merit is still lead by Mike Hargraves of Castletown who has won 27 matches as has Stuart Garrett of Douglas, Chas Grills of South Ramsey has won 26, Geoff Porter of North Ramsey has 25, Peter Kelly (Marown) Ron Maycox (PSM), Tony Carroon (Peel) and George Peach (Castletown) are all on 24 wins. I would like to verify that my article about PSM B failing to fulfil a fixture was not intended to reflect on Port St Mary Bowling Club as a whole, but just the team involved. The Ismay Cup Final was played in glorious weather at Nobles Green on Wednesday with two of the top teams in the Over 60’s doing battle. North Ramsey A versus Port St Mary A. The match resulted in a win for North Ramsey by 7 games to 2, although the result was a lot closer than the score line suggests. North Ramsey won the first four games off to give them a brilliant start, Brian Lowe of Port St Mary beat Steve Gill 21-20 to keep Ports hopes alive, and with Chris Oates adding to Ports tally the North Ramsey lead was down to 4-2, the three remaining games were all relatively close but in every case the North Ramsey men just came out on top against the Southerners winning to 18-19 and 20 to ensure the cup went North. Both teams played very well in a excellent match. I would like to thank Nobles for the use of the green and hospitality, Ian Kissack for his excellent refereeing, and George Brew, John Clague and Colin Gook for measuring. The Ismay Trophy was presented to Mike Skelly of North Ramsey by executive member Ray Griffin who also presented the winners and runners up medals to everyone involved. Mike accepted the Cup on behalf of his team and thanked Port St Mary for a good game and his team for their effort. Ken Karran, Ports skipper congratulated North Ramsey and thanked his team.

This weeks Over 60’s Bowls has been marred with controversy after Port St Mary B decided to concede their game at North Ramsey B, due allegedly to the fact that some of their players were also playing at North Ramsey in the evening! Actions like this have a serious effect not only on the running of the league and also the merit competition, and it seems inconceivable that they were unable to muster a team from the players available. I would like to add that North Ramsey A are the innocent party in this, and I am sure they would have definitely preferred to have played rather than be given a walkover. Teams should play each and every game, and not decide not to attend, when it suits them, as this not only affects the opposition it also affects each and every team in the league, and would result in anarchy if other teams took similar action. I am sure the Executive Committee will come up with a more suitable punishment than the docking of two points should anything like this happen again, for the good of our sport.

Enough ranting, on with the game, this week with North Ramsey sitting a game out, Castletown narrowed the gap to three points with a very close away win at Marown with two of the two players winning to all but the 5-3 victory could just of easily been reversed. At home on the Thursday Town A hit top form against Nobles B inflicting a whitewash on the visitors. Port St Mary A dropped a point on their visit to Douglas A before beating North Ramsey B 7-1 To lie four points behind Castletown A, Onchan have moved up to fourth place on 36 points two behind PSM A, missing the chance to close right up by getting draws at South Ramsey, then being held by Peel A at home, Peel A are level with Ballaugh on 33 points 3 behind Onchan, Ballaugh having a full house this week with two 5-3 wins at home to Finch Hill and Away to Onchan B, next up one point behind come Castletown B, Nobles A and Douglas A, Castletown B beat Port Erin 7-1 before going down 5-3 at Nobles A, who in turn lost to Peel A in their other match. Douglas A had two tough games and came away with three points holding PSM A before winning at Marown 5-3. With South Ramsey and Marown on 31 points only two points separate 5th to 11th positions. The Merit is led by Stuart Garrett of Douglas who has won 24 games on 23 wins are Mike Hargraves (Castletown) and Geoff Porter (North Ramsey) with 22 victories are Chas Grills (South Ramsey) and Ron Maycox (Port St Mary) while on 21 wins are Tony Carroon (Peel B), Roger Thomas (South Ramsey), George Peach (Castletown B) and Colin Hinds (Onchan). The Popular Charlie Howland Pairs Competition was played at Ballaugh on Friday in good conditions with 24 pairs in contention. After some excellent bowling throughout the competition the Onchan Pairing of Mike Thomas and Paul Bailey were the victors over home green pairing Dave Foulis and Paul Bradford 21-19 in a very thrilling final, the losing semi-finalist were also both from Ballaugh, Dave McTaggart and Arthur Moore and John Keenan and Peter Graham. The Over 60’s are very grateful for Charlie Howland for his wonderful sponsorship of the competition, Ballaugh Bowling Club for being such good hosts and the ladies in the kitchen for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon. The Ismay Cup Final between North Ramsey A and Port St Mary A will be held at Nobles Green on Wednesday 12th August 2pm start