Week two in division one had the weather play a factor with strong winds on Monday evening making for difficult bowling conditions with Onchan A hosting pace setters Marown A at the Park with the visitors taking the spoils with a 3-7 win. The five winners for the Crosby men were all comfortable with low double figures victories, with the biggest win from Juan Killip who inflicted a rare home defeat on Kevin Quirk 21-10. Winners for the home team were Jordan Cain with a 21-8 win over Matthew Keggen, Mike Thomas recorded a 21-16 victory over Phil Kelly, whilst captain Peter Slinger just got the win 21-20 over John Gelling.

Peel A sit in second place following their tricky away fixture against North Ramsey A, who now have their destiny in their own hands having recently taken over the maintenance of their bowling green, they will look to get their green back to its best over time. The visitors came away relatively unscathed with a good 2-8 victory thanks to Tommy McMeiken winning 21-19 against Ray Skelly, whilst George Gadsby inflicted a second consecutive 21-20 defeat of the season on Tony Smart. Winners for the Mooragh men were Gary Merrill with a 21-15 victory over Gary Smith, whilst John Cannan continues to be tough to beat at home with a 21-19 win over Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly.

South Ramsey keep ticking along quietly with a rewarding visit to the opposite end of the Island to take on Port St Mary A recording their second 8-2 win of the season. Winners for the home team were Trevor Quayle who won 21-7 against Chas Grills, with Dan McCabe not far behind with his 21-10 victory over Alan Moore. South Ramsey responded with three single figures wins from Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly beating Paul Russell 21-5, whilst David Bradford & Glynn Hargraves matched each other with their 21-7 wins over Paul Skelly & Tim Williams respectively. Peter Collister continued his fine form with a good 21-11 win over Wayne Roberts.

Promoted teams Peel B & Ballaugh A met in the Sunset City with the home team recording an assured 7-3 win, which on another night could have been 9-1 with Gordon Corrin losing out 19-21 to Barry McDonald, whilst Robert Middleton just missed out 20-21 to John Maddrell, Paul Quirk was heavily defeated 6-21 by Philip Quayle. For the home team captain Paul ‘Pookie’ Quirk continues to impress and is not looking out of place in division one with a 21-14 win over the experienced John Keenan.

Noble’s A hosted Castletown A and will have been pleased to take four games from the visitors with Les Brookes, Dave Naughton and Sam Stannard-Duke all winning 21-14, whilst Martyn Hobson will have been delighted with his 21-13 win over Nathan Cooil. A lot of credit must go to the Noble’s men with four of the players having never played first division bowls, yet all four are giving a good account of themselves as they look to gain experience. For the visitors Bob Clark recorded an unbelievable 21-0 win over Tommy Collister, which must be a first with Tommy always being the standout performer at every club he has played for. Sam Clague returned to winning ways with a 21-8 win over Mark Quinn, captain Ian Watson beat Stephen Hampson 21-14, whilst Nathan Hamilton continues his good start to the season with a 21-10 win over Steve Cook.

Marown B reversed their 2-8 defeat from the previous week with an 8-2 home win over Douglas A with two changes made from the last team with Bobby Thorne coming in to record a 21-14 win over Andy Cannell, whilst James Kelly also came in and just missed out 20-21 against Shaun Seal. Stephen Rundle stayed with the B Team this week and got his reward with a 21-20 win over Ian Moore, whilst Karl Parker beat Gary Conwell 21-7, with Brian Kelly winning 21-8 against Gordon Wynne-Smythe. The second winner for Douglas was Jimmy Sansom, who would have been pleased to take a 21-10 win over Glenn Boland.

In division two Marown C pulled off the shock of the night with a 3-7 win away to South Ramsey B, who continue to make life hard for themselves in their quest for an immediate return to division one. Winning for the visitors were Kevin Kelly who recorded his second win in five days on the same green, this time seeing off Christian Caley with a 21-12 win, Jamie Joughin performed well to win 21-13 against Austin Hart, whilst Carey Dewhirst just got home with a 21-20 win over Steven Waters. Winning for the home team were Edward Carlyle who has returned from an injury over the winter to beat Matt Derrick 21-12, ably backed up Bryan Corner and the ever reliable Tony Dugdale.

Port Erin A continue to set the pace at the top of division two with their second 9-1 win of the season, this time seeing off Finch Hill B at Breagle Glen. For the home team Harry Minor, Derek Cadamy, Bernie Durcan and David Cain all won to single figures, with Brian Murphy sparing the whitewash with a surprise 21-19 win over Steve Durcan.

Finch Hill A sit in second place following their 8-2 home win over Peel C, with Onchan B performing well to record a 3-7 away victory over Castletown B with Will Penhallurick continues to impress in division two having only taken up the game last year, he took a 21-15 win over George Peach. Douglas B won 8-2 at home against Port St Mary B with single figure wins from Andy Foster, Steve Gregg & Willy Cowley. In division three only a point separates Ballaugh C and their higher ranked B side who sit at the top, with the B winning 7-3 at home against Castletown C, whilst the C bettered this with a 1-9 away win over Douglas C. South Ramsey D won 7-3 over Douglas with all five wins being to single figures. Marown D recorded their first ever win with 7-3 home victory over Noble’s B, with the visitors Junior player – 12-year-old Alex Hampson impressing with a 21-20 win over Steve Cain. Finishing off the round of fixtures Onchan C won 3-7 away to Peel D.

Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Charity Cringle Fours men’s open competition on Sunday attracting 26 pairs to compete for the trophy.

The quarter finals had three Castletown pairings lose out with Derek Lewney & Ian Watson well beaten 8-21 by Port St Mary pair Wayne Roberts & Trevor Quayle, Jordan Drewett & Nathan Hamilton were defeated 15-21 to brothers Kevin & Tom Kelly (Marown/Peel), George Foy & Mike Hargraves lost out 8-21 to Marown men Juan Killip & Colin Kelly, whilst South Ramsey pair James Teare & Stefan Kelly were defeated 11-21 by home duo Sam Clague & Bob Clark.

Both semi-finals finished around the same time with Roberts & Quayle seeing off the Kelly brothers with a 21-12 win from 15 ends played to take their place in the final, whilst Clague & Clark also progressed with a 21-16 win over Killip & Kelly, also with 15 ends played.

The final got underway with the scored tied 8-8 after three ends played. Roberts & Quayle stepped up a couple of gears to put themselves firmly in control of the game taking four of the next six ends to lead 19-11, scoring three trebles and a double on the way. The last four ends were shared by both teams, this was enough to see Roberts and Quayle over the line with a 21-13 win to seal Roberts’ second win in this competition and Quayle’s first.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Ron Williams, who thanked Kath Kinley and the club members for the smooth running of the competition & announced that £280 had been raised for Manx Blind Welfare Society. Noel Cringle, the long standing sponsor of the competition then presented the prizes.

After over 19 months since league games took place it was great to be back bowling in the night league. After a day of heavy rain on Monday only three first division fixtures went ahead with the current champions and league favourites Marown A hosting Noble’s A at Crosby. The home team showed no mercy to the visitors with a 10-0 whitewash. One notable absence from the Marown line-up this season is Dean Kipling, with Juan Killip stepping up from the B Team, with Killip just scraping home with a 21-20 win over Steve Cook to ensure the visitors went home empty handed and soaked through. Noble’s look to be in for a tough time this season, having had a tough winter with the club rumoured to be close to collapsing, there has been a fantastic effort from the remaining club members to ensure the club survived and are able to prosper once more. 

Ballaugh A having been promoted in 2019 have had to wait a considerable amount of time following their return to the top tier, they hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors claiming a 2-8 win thanks to Robbie Cooil winning 21-19 against Patrick Grant, whilst Paul Skelly won to the same score against John Maddrell. For Ballaugh Barry McDonald and Tony Quine beat Tom Collins and Paul Russell respectively. Ballaugh look to have a good blend of youth and experience, however I do feel they will need to rely heavily on their home form to remain in division one come the end of the season.

Castletown A look to have got their team heading towards their strongest eight players at the club with one eye on the future, they hosted North Ramsey A at the Crofts with the home team claiming a 7-3 victory. That said 79-year-old Mike Hargraves stepped in at late notice and proved he can still compete seeing off Tony Smart 21-20. Bob Clark marked his return to the A Team with a 21-4 victory over Allan Callow. Winners for the visitors were Gary Merrill who beat town captain Ian Watson, Ray Skelly who took a notable 21-15 win against Association Cup holder Sam Clague, whilst Steve Walmsley beat Jordan Drewett 21-18.

On Wednesday evening the weather was much kinder to the teams that had rearranged their fixtures with the closest match of the first round of fixtures between Douglas A and Onchan A at the Villa. With the match tied 4-4 on games the visitors just edged the chalks by seven (136-143) to claim the two aggregate points with a 4-6 victory. For the visitors Mike Thomas beat Mervin Sayle with a 21-13 win, Kevin Quirk & Frank Watson beat Gordon Wynne-Smythe & Shaun Seal 21-11 respectively, whilst Peter Slinger had to work for his 21-17 win over Gary Conwell. For the home team Andy Cannell claimed the biggest win of the night with his 21-6 victory over Reginald Temporaza. Keith Rise claimed a good 21-15 win against Phil Kerruish, whilst Ian Moore and Jimmy Sansom both edged home 21-19 against Jordan Cain and Mark Kelly respectively.

Rayner Shield holders Peel A hosted their newly promoted B Team in the sunset city with the higher ranked team taking a 9-1 win. The only winner for the B team was Paul ‘Pookie’ Quirk who claimed a stunning 21-7 win over Gary Smith. Rayner Shield hero Peter Greenlees continues to impress and has remained with the A Team this season, George Gadsby made his comeback after a seven-year gap, whilst Darren Young returned to the fold after last turning out for Peel in 2018.

South Ramsey A hosted Marown B with the visitors coming away with two points following their 8-2 loss. New Marown signing Glenn Boland won 21-15 against James Teare, whilst Kevin Kelly stepped up from the C Team to stun Alan Moore with a 21-18 victory. Leading the way for the home team were David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves with single figure victories, whilst the other four home wins were comfortable.

In division two Castletown B have a wealth of experience and will be looking for an immediate return to division one, they got their season off to a flying start with a 1-9 success away to Finch Hill B. The other team relegated to division two was South Ramsey B, they started off their campaign with a 3-7 victory against their C Team who have been promoted from division three, they will be keen to consolidate their place in the division this season.

There are just two A teams in division two with Port Erin looking the most likely to challenge at the top, they got off to a good start with a 1-9 away win against Peel C with David Cain & Peter Addison both winning to single figures. The other A Team in division two are Finch Hill A who made a solid start to the season with a 3-7 victory at Port St Mary, with Dave McCabe and Peter Hughes both taking single figures victories.

Marown C had to juggle their team this week due to rearranged fixtures, this didn’t stop them from recording a 7-3 home win over Douglas B with Jamie Joughin the biggest winner for the Crosby men.

In division three Port Erin B gave Douglas D a drubbing with a 0-10 away win at the Villa, with the D Team including a number of new bowlers it was always going to be tough. Noble’s B scored well individually despite losing 1-9 at home to Ballaugh B, with Terry Bates sparing the whitewash with a 21-20 win over Dicky Watson. Onchan C matched Ballaugh’s victory with their 9-1 home win over Douglas C with Michael Knowles the only winner for the visitors, who won 21-18 against Jamie Clague.

Marown fielded a D Team for the first time in their history and performed well taking four points following their 6-4 loss away to Ballaugh C, whilst Castletown C made a positive start to the season with a 7-3 home win over South Ramsey D.

The Equiom any combination triples took place at Port St Mary bowling club on Saturday. With 81 bowlers from around the Island taking part and the sun shining, there was a great atmosphere around the green.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were the Marown trio of Paul Dunn, Phil Dunn and Neil Withers to club mates Colin Kelly, Karl Parker and Walter McCarthy 9-21. The youthful trio of Kevin Kelly, Tom Kelly and Tariq Taher were defeated by the home team of Chris Price, Kellie Maddrell and Jayne Kneen 17-21. Also losing out were Debbie Leece, Rebecca Teare and Alison Keggen (Noble’s) to Jordan Cain (Onchan), Bob Clark (Castletown) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan) 17-21. Home greeners Margie Tasker, Tricia Bull and Mavis Franks were defeated 11-21 by club mates Paul Skelly, Dan McCabe and Paul Russell.

In the first semi-final Chris Price, Kellie Maddrell, Jayne Kneen lost out to Colin Kelly, Karl Parker and Walter McCarthy. It was a close game all the way, but the guys scored seven points the last three ends to win 21-15. In the second semi-final, home greeners Paul Skelly, Dan McCabe and Paul Russell were up against Jordan Cain, Bob Clark and Matthew Quirk. With the scores tied at 18-18, Jordan, Bob and Matthew scored a three to reach the final.

With both finalists including previous winners of this trophy, a good final was expected and it didn’t disappoint. It was another close match at 15-14 before Jordan, Bob and Matthew won the last four ends to win 21-14.

The presentation was made by club captain Margie Tasker who thanked everyone at the club for putting on the event and to Equiom for their sponsorship. Margie then introduced Nina Moore of Equiom to make the presentations.

Noble’s Bowling club hosted the first open competition of the 2020 season, attracting a good entry of 62 men for the inaugural Aston International Cup following the enforced break. The weather was mixed with sun, rain and wind all playing a part throughout the day, with the green not running as well as you would expect this time of year.

A number of pre-tournament favourites lost out in the rounds before the quarter-finals, with the most notable being 2019 Champion of Champions Winner Colin Kelly who lost out to team mate Neil Withers 20-21.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were David Bradford (South Ramsey), who lost 20-21 to team mate Stefan Kelly, Alec Taylor (Peel) lost out 15-21 to Brian Kelly (Marown), Reg Temporaza (Noble’s) had his run ended by Dave McCabe (Port St Mary) to the same score, whilst Kevin Kelly (Marown) performed well to reach his first quarter final before losing out to his godfather Neil Withers 12-21.

In the semi-finals McCabe battled well before losing out 16-21 to Withers, whilst Brian Kelly pushed Stefan Kelly a bit harder before losing out 18-21.

At the final both players were on their sixth game of the day, which was a lot to ask with this being the first competitive bowls since September last year, especially for Withers who was making his return after breaking his ankle in two places, dislocated and also suffered torn ligaments during a football match for his local club. 

Kelly started strongly with a double, however Withers then took the next five ends along the edge of the green to take a 11-7 lead. Kelly got back in with a double by planting Wither’s bowl out to take a double, which he repeated on the next end to level the score at 11-11. Withers responded by taking the next two ends to go ahead 14-11, only for Kelly to take the next three ends and go ahead 15-14. Withers dug deep returning to a mark favoured throughout the afternoon, alternating between singles and doubles over the next five ends to run out with a convincing 21-15 win to take the title.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition secretary Alison Keggen, who thanked the sponsors Aston International for their support, everyone who had entered and the club members for assisting throughout the afternoon.

The ladies competition was well supported with an entry of 38, this will be reported separately by the ladies press officer.

Marown A sealed their first Ellan Vannin Fuels division one title since 2013 taking their tally to 13 overall. The Crosby men stormed to a 9-1 victory over Onchan A on Monday night and followed this up with a 3-7 away win against Douglas A at the Villa. Marown have been the team to beat this season going undefeated with 20 wins and one draw coming at home early in the second half of the season against South Ramsey A with the visitors winning five games, however Marown took the aggregate on the night to snatch a draw and preserve their unbeaten record. Marown have been relentless this season especially in the second half of the season with some big wins to ensure they never gave the chasing pack any hope.

Three time champions South Ramsey A had a good week and confirmed their runners up spot with two good wins over Peel A (9-1) and Onchan A (8-2) with both teams they faced missing key players. Whilst it was slightly disappointing to not take the title to the last match of the season, the South Ramsey men can be pleased to have taken the Rayner Shield this season defeating Marown A in a superb final.

Onchan A will have to go back to the drawing board if they are to build on their 22 league titles, will finish the season in third place having suffered two heavy defeats with a 1-9 away loss to Marown A, followed up by their 2-8 defeat to South Ramsey A. Matthew Quirk was the only Onchan player to win both matches last week, whilst a left handed Jordan Cain did brilliantly losing out 15-21 to Colin Kelly, then beat Chas Grills 21-17 with his weaker hand.

At the other end of the table Castletown B are destined for a return to division two, whilst South Ramsey B need a minor miracle after a mixed week following a 7-3 home win over North Ramsey A and a 4-6 away defeat to Port St Mary A. Next week South Ramsey B host Castletown A needing a big win, whilst hoping Marown can record a whitewash against Noble’s A.

In division two Ballaugh A are making hard work of their quest for a return to division playing their second game in hand away to Onchan B with the Ballaugh men suffering a 4-6 defeat. There was a first league defeat of the season for Mike Thomas by the finest of margins 20-21 to Edgar Cowin, however this defeat did not prevent Thomas from taking the second division merit.

Second placed Ballaugh need a big win over third placed Port Erin A who themselves need a big win over their opponents to stand any chance of promotion.

League leaders Peel B have a tricky looking away fixture against fourth placed Finch Hill A, so there could be a shock or two in the last round of fixtures.

At the bottom of division two it is all decided with North Ramsey B and Ballaugh B too far adrift to catch the teams above them.

In division three South Ramsey C won the league weeks ago in reality, could afford to give players up to their B team, paying the price for this with bottom of the league Douglas C taking full advantage to record a 6-4 home win over the league winners.

Individually Harry Minor capped a fine season by claiming the third division merit with 17 wins from 19 games, winning his last game of the season to ensure he couldn’t be caught. 11 year old South Ramsey D player Ryan Hargraves finished the season strongly with three wins from his last four games, whilst Peel D Junior Ryan Tate who isn’t much older improved on his previous seasons tally to win nine games from 16 played. Another Junior who plays for South Ramsey C is Toby Hart who is now ready for the step up to division two having won 12 games from 17 played. Other juniors who have started to feature in league games are Young Manx Masters Winner Alex Hampson, Harley Cowley and Clark Kelly. Leading the way for juniors in the top division are Glenn Boland whose first season in division one has gone well with a respectable 12 wins from 21 played , whilst Austin Hart improved considerably with eight wins from 19 played, following on from three wins from 21 in his first season at the top level. Sam Clague is another whose game has come along well winning nine games out of 17 for Castletown A.

On Sunday Peel Bowling Club hosted the popular pre-festival Autumn Shield sponsored by Davison’s Ice Cream with a strong entry of 88 taking part £740 with prize money available.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Mike Hargraves (Castletown), Paul Dunn (Marown) along Matt Bradwell (Fairfield BC and Wayne Usher (Gaghills).

Losing semi-finalists were Jon Guess (Fairfield BC) to Paul Kissock (Kendal Victoria) and Tom Kelly (Peel) who lost to team mate Stevie Kelly.

The final between home greener Kelly and visitor Kissock was well contested with Kissock building a 19-13 lead playing a straight mark along the edge, however Kelly fought back on a longer length to edge ahead at 20-19 before playing a poor end which Kissock wasn’t able to fully punish. At 20-20 Kissock led a good bowl only for Kelly to play a superb bowl to sit his opponent out to take a deserved first open win.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Dave Kelly, who thanked Davison’s for their generous sponsorship and then introduced Ian Davison to present the prizes.