News: Men’s
Top Teams Dominate
Port Erin A Mens Team - 2017
Back (l-r): Stuart Gale, Harry Minor, Bernard Thackarah Front (l-r): Seamus Whealan, David Cain, Dave McCabe, Steve Durcan, Bernie DurcanThe league table is getting a familiar look about it following the second set of fixtures played on Monday evening, with what most bowlers consider to be the top two teams Marown and South Ramsey both winning 10-0 with the opposing teams failing to reach the 100 point mark.
Marown stormed to a convincing home win against Port Erin (pictured), who having sat out the first round of fixtures last week were unable to capitalise against a Marown team who were missing a couple of regulars.
South Ramsey A got over the disappointment of two dropped points last week with a convincing win at Ballaugh.
Onchan were a solitary point away from a maximum, with Jimmy Samson being the only winner for Douglas B over Jordan Cain.
Port St Mary got their first full house of the season with a 10-0 victory over North Ramsey who almost picked up a point, with Gary Merrill just losing out 20-21.
Castletown continued their confident start to the season with an assured 9-1 result over their B Team with Dave Faragher the lone winner for the B Team.
All eyes were on newly promoted Peel with three players coming up against the Douglas team they played for last season. This did not stop their season from getting up and running with a 7-3 victory over the visiting Villa side with Keith Rise holding off the challenge of former team mate Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly with an assured 21-16 win on a green that Barney is notoriously tough to beat on.
In the second division Marown B are proving their title credentials having now played both teams relegated from the first division last season, this week winning 8-2 over the visitors Noble’s A.
It is not looking so good for Finch Hill A, who suffered their second straight 9-1 loss of the season, this time to Onchan B.
Port St Mary C lost 5-3 on games to Peel B, but just edged the aggregate by a solitary chalk to obtain a draw overall.
Onchan C were unable to hold off the strong challenge of Port St Mary B who came away from the Park with an 8-2 victory.
Newly promoted Port Erin B will have been pleased to have taken the spoils from a Douglas C Team that got promoted with them last season, with an 8-2 win having edged the aggregate by two chalks. The home team were unfortunate to not get over the line in two or three of the games.
In the third division Marown C visited a much improved Ballaugh green, but were unable to get to grips with it on the night, with the home team winning 8-2.
South Ramsey D played their first home fixture of the season, with the result being 4-4 on games and the visitors Ballaugh B taking the overall victory 6-4.
South Ramsey C visited Noble’s C, with the visitors taking a comfortable 7-3 win.
Castletown C were convincing 9-1 winners over the newly formed Douglas D Team, who for many of their players would have had their first experience of playing on an away green. I am sure this season will give the team a number of ups and downs.
Upcoming Opens
Sat April 23 – Douglas – Association Singles
Announcement
Sun April 23 – Peel Sunset will now hold a Mixed Doubles Competition The Lancaster Cup. This competition replaces the South Ramsey Team 4s competition which has been moved to September due to the extensive work being carried out on the new club house & surrounds.
Monk’s Have a Happy Easter
Douglas Mixed Doubles Winners 2017
L-R: Janet Monk, Norman Kneen, Robert MonkNorth Ramsey held their first open of the season on Good Friday, the Ken Parker Trophy having recently returned to Mooragh Park following a seasons break from the green due to extensive work carried out over the past year.
The competition was played as an any combination doubles and attracted an entry of 34 pairs, with the field having a strong northern based look about it.
Losing quarter finalists were Chris Price and Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary), Jenny Moore and James Teare (South Ramsey), along with homegreeners Caroline Parker and Adam Yates, Geoff Porter and Brian Colquitt.
The first semi final had homegreeners Helen Martin and Allan Callow up against Alan Moore and Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey), with the latter storming to a 21-8 victory.
In the other semi final mother and son pairing Janet and Robert Monk had their work cut out to beat southerners Dave McCabe and Derek Allen (Port Erin) with the Monk’s booking their place in the final with a 21-18 win.
The final started with the Monk’s taking the first few ends, before Moore and Kelly then won a few ends to close the gap. From there the Monk’s took control of the game, using all their knowledge and experience of the green to take a comfortable win 21-13.
The presentation was made by Caroline Parker on behalf of the Parker family with thanks expressed to all those who helped make a success of the competition.
The following day Douglas held their first mixed doubles competition of the season with an entry of 31 pairs taking part.
The Monk’s once again paired up to storm to their second victory in two days. Douglas seems to have become a favourite for the Monk’s, having had a number of victories on the Villa green over the past few years.
Losing out in the final were the Port St Mary pair of Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran, who did well to shake off the strong challenge of Amanda Lawler and Jordan Cain in the semi final. Chris Price and Dido Kelly also dipped out at the semi final stage.
Losing quarter finalists were homegreeners Jimmy Samson and Pauline Cowley, Jenny Moore and James Teare (South Ramsey, the Husband and Wife pairings of Caroline and Steve Parker, along with Philippa and Alec Taylor.
At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by club chairman Norman Kneen, who thanked the club for running the competition.
South Ramsey Trio Triumph
With no open competitions on Saturday, there was a good entry of 66 at Port St. Mary for the C. Tarleton Hodgson & Son Ltd sponsored Mixed Triples Jubilee Cup on Sunday.
Eventual winners after five tough games were the South Ramsey trio of Kim Hargraves, Glynn Hargraves and Dido Kelly, with a 21-14 victory under the floodlights over last year’s winners Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey), Sid Bolton (South Ramsey) and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary).
Losing out in the semi finals to the eventual winners were homegreeners Chris Price, Wayne Roberts and Ewan Cooil 21-16.
In the other semi final Janet Monk (Mooragh Park), Robert Monk (Onchan) and Jordan Cain (Onchan) were unlucky to lose out 21-18.
The presentation was made by club President Ken Karran, who thanked the sponsors, everyone involved, from the team who prepared the excellent green and surrounds to the club members who ran the competition, not forgetting the ladies who provided the refreshments throughout the day.
Marown Teams Make Strong Start
Despite the poor weather conditions Marown A got their season off to a solid start with a 9-1 win at home to Douglas B. The visiting team would have been disappointed not to have taken one or two more points off the home team having lost out 21-19 & 21-20 with both the Douglas players letting commanding leads slip away.
Defending champions South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against local rivals North Ramsey A with the ‘North’ men taking two points off the home team & running close in a couple of other games.
Douglas A shrugged off the disappointment off losing over half of last year’s team with a comfortable 9-1 victory over a visiting Ballaugh team who tend to struggle on their travels. Onchan A matched the Villa side with a 9-1 scoreline.
South Ramsey B made the trek to Port St Mary & will have been pleased to have taken three points off the home team, who don’t drop many points on their home turf.
Castletown A used their home advantage to take a 6-4 victory over Peel A, with the result being 4-4 on games, but just edging out Peel by one chalk to take the crucial aggregate to gain the two ‘bonus’ points.
In the second division Marown B had an excellent start to their season having beat Finch Hill A 9-1 away from home.
Nobles A came closest to matching Marown B with a 7-3 victory, dropping only six chalks.
Peel B started their season with a 7-3 win over Onchan B, however this doesn’t tell the whole story with only three chalks separating the teams.
In the third division Douglas introduced a D team for the first time despite losing a number of players over the winter. It is really positive to see six new players taking up the game. The newly formed D Team did themselves proud to take 4 games off the visitors.
Marown C look to have stuck together, having introduced a new team last season & will look to improve on last season’s fifth place finish. I am sure they will improve on last season’s league position with an extra year’s experience under their belt.
Ballaugh B made an assured start to their season with a 10-0 win over Finch Hill B with the visitors failing to reach the 100 point mark.
World Club Championship
Following their Historic title win last season South Ramsey recently travelled to Fox Lane in Leyland to compete in the World Club Championship.
With the competition being played in a straight knockout format South Ramsey were looking to progress in the competition. Unfortunately this wasn’t their day with the team only managing two individual victories and going close in a couple of other games. I am sure the experience will have served them well and no doubt the team will be looking to challenge for the league again this year in an attempt to return next season.
League Preview
Monday evening sees the return of the Men’s night league fixtures.
For the first division there has been a considerable movement of players none more so than Douglas losing five players, whilst making two or three new signings. Both South Ramsey & Marown look to have improved their squads with South having strengthened from within this year, while Marown have a couple of new signings.
Onchan have one in & one out, while Peel have an influx of players now their return to the first division has been sealed, with the return of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly being the most notable. It will be hard to see past Marown & South Ramsey competing for the title, however there are three teams, Onchan, Port St Mary & Peel who are more than capable of taking points from any team throughout the season.
At the other end Douglas B & Castletown B will be fighting hard to retain their first division status.
In the Second division Nobles & Finch Hill will be hoping to bounce straight back, with Marown B looking to go one step further following last years heartbreak.
That said if they can keep their team together, they have another years experience under their belt, so should be able to take that next step with promotion to the first division.
In the third division Peel C are my tip to gain promotion to the 2nd division, whilst it is good to see a number of new players gaining the experience in this division with a fair standard having followed a number of these fixtures last year.
Kennish Double & ‘Moore’
Bethany Kennish won the first Junior Manx Masters beating Sarah Quirk in the final. The event was well supported with a good entry of 13 juniors. The early stages were played in a round robin format.
There was some excellent bowling from these games that would not have been amiss in the seniors competitions that were taking place later on.
Qualifiers from the round robin stages were Bethany, Sarah, Austin Hart & Glenn Boland.
Bethany & Sarah came through tough semi finals against Glenn & Austin respectively.
In the Ladies event Elaine Moore beat daughter Jenny Moore 21-8. Losing semi finalists were Shelley Kennish & Mary Moffatt. Losing out in the quarter finals were Kath Kinley, Janet Monk, Philippa Taylor & Fiona Kennish.
The Men’s competition had a field of 32. The eventual winner was John Kennish beating South Ramsey team mate David Bradford 21-3. Losing semi finalists were Glynn Hargraves & Kevin Quirk. Losing out in the quarter finals were Chas Grills, Rob Monk, Ewan Cooil & Trevor Quayle.
Full report to follow.
South Ramsey Close In On History
With only a few weeks left of the Ellan Vannin Fuels Crown Green Bowls Leagues South Ramsey A have one hand on winning their first League Trophy and end 19 years of dominance of Marown A and Onchan A.
With Marown sitting out the Wednesday games they needed to better South’s score on Monday however they faced Nobles A who are fighting for their lives to stay in the top flight. Marown came away with a 7-3 win but crucially South Ramsey won 9-1 home to Ballaugh. Wednesday South Ramsey turned in their fourth 10-0 of the season moving them 11 points clear with three games to go.
At the other end Ballaugh A, Finch Hill A and Nobles A are fighting to remain in the 1st Division. Finch Hill have played an extra game than the other two teams and have tough games against Port St Mary A and Douglas A to come. Nobles and Ballaugh face off in what could be a relegation showdown this week.
In Division Two Peel Sunset A are still comfortable at the top of the League despite losing 7-3 to Marown B who are rallying to take 2nd place from Castletown B
Division Three remains tight as only 3 points separate Port Erin B and Douglas C at the summit of the table with two games to go.
Advantage South Ramsey
Marown A failed to capitalise on their fantastic 9-1 win last week as they slipped up with two home defeats in four days in Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s league division one.
Douglas A were the first to visit the memorial playing fields and put in a quite brilliant performance to win 7-3 but more impressively by 30 points on aggregate. Marown failed to bounce back on Thursday as they suffered another 7-3 defeat this time at the hands of third placed Onchan A.
This opened the door for South Ramsey A who gladly stepped through picking up two 9-1 wins against Douglas B and South Ramsey B. These results leave South just one point behind leaders Marown, with a game in hand, and I can’t see them slipping up as they bid to win their first ever division one title.
Peel A won the top of the table clash with Castletown B 6-4 to go fifteen points clear in Division Two. Peel are all but home and hosed, barring any slip ups, and I am almost certain they will return to the top flight next term.
Marown B failed to make any ground on Town B slipping to a surprise 6-4 defeat and the hands of Nobles B.
Douglas C are back in pole position in Division Three as they won 8-2 away at Port St Mary D to move one point clear of Port Erin B with a game in hand. Both of these teams are well ahead of the chasing pack with third placed Ballaugh C some 16 points behind the Port Erin.
Marown Lead With South Ramsey Showdown Looming
Marown A took advantage of South Ramsey A not playing last week to move into top spot of Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s league division one.
The Crosby boys put in a strong performance to beat North Ramsey A and move seven points clear of their closest rivals. In truth South will be favourites to overturn this deficit when Marown sit out so if Neil Withers charges want to put the pressure on really set alight their championship aspirations their aim should be simple.
They must win tonight and either equal or better the score of the Ballure side and follow this up by beating them when they face off next week so that they give themselves at least ten points advantage, which they will aim to maintain and hold going into their own break. If they can do this they will guarantee themselves top spot with only three games remaining.
This is easier said than done however and the lads from Ramsey will be planning on doing the exact opposite and eroding their lead at every single opportunity to put themselves back on top and in pole position for their first Division One League title.
Champions Onchan A had a decent run out beating a battling Finch Hill A side 8-2 to all but guarantee themselves third place. I think realistically their defence of their title is over now, but you just never know. With only nine games left and eleven points to make up it will be a tall task for anyone, even a team with championship pedigree such as theirs.
Third placed Port St Mary A didn’t have things their own way against a rejuvenated Nobles A side who are clawing themselves out of the relegation zone. Port won 6-4, but only just, after tying on games and taking the bonus aggregate points by just seven chalks.
Douglas A have finally started their engines. Many fancied the Villa Men to be much closer to the top of the table and at least challenging for third place however some lacklustre results has seen them close to the teams below them than those above. They managed to put this behind them in spectacular fashion last week with a magnificent 10-0 maximum win away at South Ramsey B. With the Rayner Shield final only a few weeks away they will be delighted to at last find some form.
Ballaugh A are making their own bid for survival and will be ecstatic with a brilliant 7-3 away win over Douglas B. They have two home games coming up and with Nobles having two tricky away fixtures in the same period will be hoping to capitalise and make back the four points they trail by.
Castletown A made it three wins on the spin as they just got the better of local rivals Port Erin A 6-4. This should give them confidence as they go into the hardest away fixture of the year as they travel to South Ramsey A this week.
Second Division leaders Peel A failed to take the aggregate points for only the second time this season as despite winning on games they lost on overall points to draw 5-5 away at Port St Mary B.
Castletown B took full advantage of their rivals slip up winning 9-1 away at North Ramsey B to close in to just seven points off the lead.
Peel B put in a strong performance to leapfrog Marown B into third place beating Brian Kelly’s charges 7-3 in the sunset city. Both of these teams have an outside chance of promotion but they will need to start closing the gap now if they want to turn chance into reality.
Douglas C are still sitting pretty on the perch of Division Three after a decent outing at Nobles C where they won 7-3.
Nearest rivals Port Erin B managed to gain one point back as they picked up a good 8-2 home win over Castletown D.
It is Douglas’ turn to rest this week and port will be hoping to get at least eight points to hit the top and put the pressure on Douglas when they take to the green again next week. Realistically thought I think Douglas are too strong and that even a maximum for Port might not be enough but you never know points on the board are better than those that teams should get on paper.