News: Reports
Town Lead the way after season openers
South Ramsey started their season with a tremendous 7-3 home victory to kick of their campaign in style and throw down a marker to all the other teams in the Isle of Man Bank Division 1, letting the Islands bowls fraternity know that they are the real deal and a genuine contender for top honours. Peter Collister rolled back the years with a brilliant 21-8 victors over the visitors captain Neil Withers.
New boy Dave Hughes raised a few eyebrows on his debut performance as he found himself trailing 14-3 but managed to turn the game around and pick up a 21-16 win over John Gelling. Whilst Marown will be gutted not to have started with a win, lets not forget that last season started with an away defeat at the Villa yet the Crosby Men rallied and went onto pick up an historic double in one of the most memorable seasons ever, so lets not writhe them off just yet!
Onchan A slipped up last time out at Castletown B but there were no mistakes this time around as the title favourites picked up a solid 8-2 win to get them off to a strong start, and set them up in their bid to bring the silverware back to the park.
It was Castletown A, however, who top the tree after the first set of fixtures as they picked up a very impressive 9-1 victory on their travels at Ballaugh, only missing out on a maximum by a single point as Daniel Fenton picked up a 21-20 victory over Mike Hargraves on his return to his home club this season.
Port Erin began life in the top tier in style with a 6-4 win over Douglas. Port will need to do well in their home games if they want to cement a place amongst the games elite and this start will definitely have done their chances no harm at all.
Port St Mary A started the season well with a 7-3 win away at Peel. They hae a stronger line up this year and I think they are capable of causing more than a couple of upsets. Frank Watson’s Govags can draw comfort in the performance of their winners with new boy Nigel Thomas leading the way with a 21-4 victory.
North Ramsey A will be happy to have left Castletown C with a win as they drew 4-4 on games with the northerners picking up the 2 aggregate points by a single chalk. Whilst Ramsey will be happy with the win Town should be proud of their first game at this level and it something they can certainly build on.
Newly promoted North Ramsey B top the second division after a brilliant 8-2 away win at Castletown D. There has been a revolution at the Mooragh in recent years and it is breath taking to watch the massive strides this club is taking. I am not sure they have enough to gain promotion again this time around, but this team has the tenacity to prove me wrong.
NoblesPark A pipped North to the third division title last year and they also began life at the higher level with an 8-2 win. This is another rejuvenated club which is going from strength to strength and it is great to see a new lease of life to the former giants of the local game.
Douglas B, Onchan B and Port St Mary B are hot on the heals of the top 2 as they all picked up strong 7-3 wins and they will all be intent on showing the divisions new boys ‘the way it is done around here’ in forthcoming fixtures.
Division 3 is the breading place of our games top players and it is simply awe inspiring to see 3 new teams starting out this season. South Ramsey C, Onchan C, South Ramsey B and Port Erin B all got of to a fine start with respective 7-3 wins.
With 23 players making their debuts across all divisions it looks like our game is moving in the right direction and in an attempt to freshen things up I will be putting together a team of the week for each division based on individual performance, and rotating which divisional team appears in print each week starting this time out with division 1. Details of how the team of the week is selected and all 3 teams every week are available on iombowls.com
Team of The Week Division 1 – Ewan Cooil & Paul Skelly (PSM), Steve Durcan (P Erin), Peter Collister & David Hughes (South Ramsey), Peter Slinger (Onchan), Jack Beecham & Nigel Thomas (Peel)
IOM Ladies Reach Semi Finals
Raymotors Mooragh Park Ladies travelled to Todmorden at the weekend to play in the British Crown Green Ladies Bowling Association Club Championships (qualifying is through winning the leagues per County), 16 Counties were entered in the Competition. Mooragh Park were drawn in Group 1 against Bolsover Castle – North Derbyshire, Hatton – Burton & District and Dilhorne – Staffordshire. In extremely cold and windy conditions the Mooragh Park Team started positively with a very good win over Bolsover Castle 103-70. Second game saw a strong opposition of Hatton who they played last year, this was a closer game with a winning outcome of 102-91. Third game was Dilhorne a team who qualify on a regular basis and look to be the strongest opposition, this was proved in the result and after a very hard fought contest MooraghPark just lost by 10 points, score 106-96. But to the delight of the Isle of Man team, even with the loss against Dilhorne, they had the best aggregate which meant they went through to the Semi-Finals. After waiting half an hour for the other groups to finish their qualifying rounds, Mooragh Park knew they had a tough game against previous winners St. Oswalds who had players in their team of a very high standard. Now feeling very cold and tired the IOM team gave it their best, but unfortunately were beaten by a very strong opposition 115-69.
Helen Martin – Captain said “I am very pleased of my team’s achievements to get to the semi-finals of this prestigious event, they all proved that even though we are a small Island, we have some very good players who can compete with the best in England, we flew the Manx flag with pride, well done to all the Mooragh Park Ladies, for getting to the semi-finals for the second year”. Final result – New Mill (Yorkshire) 103 v St.Oswalds (Cheshire) 92.
Full Results
| Game 1 | |||
| Mooragh Park | Bolsover Castle | ||
| Isle of Man | North Derbyshire | ||
| Janet Monk | 15 | 8 | Kiatreana Stray |
| Lilian Slinger | 15 | 6 | Joan Shardlow |
| Maureen Payne | 14 | 15 | Shirley Wharmby |
| Kellie Maddrell-Reeve | 10 | 15 | Elaine Rigby |
| Kim Hargraves | 4 | 15 | Mandy Wilks |
| Christine Price | 15 | 4 | Judy Walker |
| Helen Martin | 15 | 6 | Naomi Bennett |
| Rachel Quirk | 15 | 1 | Jayne Emmerson |
| Total | 103 | 70 | Total |
| Game 2 | |||
| Mooragh Park | Hatton | ||
| Isle of Man | Burton & District | ||
| Janet Monk | 15 | 13 | J. Brooks |
| Lilian Slinger | 10 | 15 | L. Cox |
| Maureen Payne | 15 | 3 | S. Wood |
| Kellie Maddrell-Reeve | 4 | 15 | S. Young |
| Jean Radcliffe | 15 | 14 | M. Merry |
| Christine Price | 13 | 15 | M. Stevenson |
| Helen Martin | 15 | 8 | F. McDiarmid |
| Rachel Quirk | 15 | 8 | B. Lowe |
| Total | 102 | 91 | Total |
| Game 3 | |||
| Mooragh Park | Dilhorne | ||
| Isle of Man | Staffordshire | ||
| Janet Monk | 15 | 11 | Carol Matthews |
| Lilian Slinger | 14 | 15 | Stacey Brown |
| Maureen Payne | 15 | 13 | Janet Hope |
| Kellie Maddrell-Reeve | 13 | 15 | Chris Adams |
| Jean Radcliffe | 5 | 15 | Pam Aston |
| Christine Price | 15 | 11 | Janet Salmon |
| Helen Martin | 15 | 11 | Sue Wright |
| Rachel Quirk | 4 | 15 | Laura Hallsworth |
| Total | 96 | 106 | Total |
| Semi Final | |||
| Mooragh Park | St. Oswalds | ||
| Isle of Man | Cheshire | ||
| Rachel Quirk | 8 | 15 | Lesley Smith |
| Lilian Slinger | 4 | 15 | Jean Wanbon |
| Maureen Payne | 10 | 15 | Ronnie Lyon |
| Kellie Maddrell-Reeve | 15 | 11 | Glenda Carroll |
| Jean Radcliffe | 3 | 15 | Barbara Beddall |
| Christine Price | 15 | 14 | Elaine Berry |
| Helen Martin | 8 | 15 | Maureen Lyons |
| Janet Monk | 6 | 15 | Irene Reardon |
| Total | 69 | 115 | Total |
C.Tarelton Hodgson Mixed Triples
A total of 16 teams turned out on Sunday at Port St Mary Bowling Green to take part in the C.Tarleton Hodgson sponsored mixed triples competition and there was some terrific bowls played on the magnificent surface.
It was the home team of Anne Maddrell, Jane Kneen & Paul Skelly who were victorious thanks to a 21-17 win over the mix and match combination consisting of Jordan Cain, Bob Clark and Amanda Lawler. The home team stormed into a commanding lead at 18-12 with the finishing line in sight, but the runners up dug in and battled their way back to 17-18 before our eventual victors moved through the gears to seal the win.
Maddrell, Kneen & Skelly booked their final berth thanks to some magnificent bowling in the semi-finals where they put out the team of Michal Collister, Matthew & Alison Keggen 21-10. Cain, Clark and Lawler had to work harder for their place in the finale and were behind 17-16 to Alan Moore, Jenny Moore & Andy Kennish before running out with a 3 and 2 in respective ends.
Peter Linck of the sponsors presented the prizes and thanks goes to them for their support of the competition. Thanks also go to Port St Mary bowling club for the playing surface and another well run competition.
Spring Doubles
The mixed doubles season kicked off in earnest on Saturday at Noble Mixed bowling green as an intrepid line up made the trek to take part in the Spring Doubles. Although the weather started off a bit damp this did nothing to dampen the spirit and quality of bowls on display and as the sun began to shine so did Alison Keggen & Michael Collister who put in some breath taking displays to seal the win thanks to a magnificent final tussle with Paula Firth & Jordan Cain which they managed to edge 21-19.
It was nip and tuck all the way in the final and the standard of bowls was out of the top draw. There were some epic encounters in the semi-finals too with Keggen & Collister edging out the fancied husband and wife pairing of Fiona & John Kennish whilst Firth & Cain had another battle on their hands but this time they emerged victors as they saw off the challenge of Margaret Tasker and Ken Karran.
Nobles Mixed deserve praise for an extremely well run competition and highlight of the day was definitely Steve Cook’s ‘minion’ birthday cake, happy belated birthday Cooky!
Ladies matches Friday 11 April
Friday 11 April
Port St Mary posted the first maximum of the season in their match against Onchan on Friday 11 April. Four of their players won to single figures while Marilyn Ellison’s 20 against Wendy Kennaugh was the highest score for the visitors, who fell just short of the 100 point mark.
Mooragh Park visited Noble’s Mixed where the home side took three games courtesy of Paula Firth, Sylvia Kennaugh and Clare Cooper who edged out Helen Martin 21-20. Wins by Edwina Reid, Tracey Moore and Roma Ware helped Purt-le-Moirrey over the 100 point barrier against Castletown who had five of their players winning to single figures. The longest game of the night was possibly between Pat Robertson and Peggy Griffin at Peel, Pat eventually taking it 21-20 to help Peel to a 6-3 win over local rivals Ballaugh, while Sue Jones and Jayne Smith both won to single figures.
It was close at Douglas where, although Marown won 5-4 on games, the home side took the match by four points with Jan Osborne losing out 20-21 to Pat Withers. It was another close affair at South Ramsey where all nine games went to double figures with seven losing scores of 17or more. The closest game was between Jenny Moore and Lynda Cadamy with Jenny Coming through 21-20.
By Heather Horsburgh
Ladies’ league starts
C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored Ladies League
Wednesday 9 April
The ladies’ league,which is again sponsored by C. Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd, were treated to fine weather for its first round of matches on Wednesday 9 April. Top scorers were Mooragh Park who won 7-2 on games against Douglas with Lilian Slinger and Viv Grills winning to single figures, as did Jan Osborne for the home side. Patsy Rush was the other home winner. The match between Onchan and South Ramsey had to be played at Ramsey, as the Onchan green was unplayable. With Onchan being a player short South Ramsey took the match 5-4 on games by a margin of just one point.
By Heather Horsburgh
Second week sees Onchan B top of the pile in Over 60’s
ONCHAN B LEAD THE WAY
The second week of fixtures in the Tower Insurance over 60’s league saw the number of teams with 100% records drop from five to one. The Leaders Onchan A visited champions Castletown A and it was the southerners who took the points with a 5-3 victory, another team to fail on Tuesday was Castletown B who lost out, on their visit to Douglas A by 5 games to 3, two of the 100% teams met with Onchan B playing their home fixtures on Nobles 3 due to problems with their home green, hosting Peel A and in another close encounter Onchan B took the two points on offer with another 5-3 victory, Ballaugh the remaining unbeaten team again had the familiar score line of 5-3 by winning at home against Finch Hill B.
Other close games which all also ended 5-3 were Port Erin who visited and defeated Noble’s Mixed, North Ramsey B who won at home against Douglas B who were a couple of players short, and Marown who used home advantage to beat South Ramsey, North Ramsey A had a 8-0 victory on their travels at Peel B, while Port St Mary A used home advantage to beat Noble’s Park and Finch Hill A beat the Port St Mary B team both by 7-1 margins.
On Thursday joint leaders Ballaugh visited Peel A and suffered a 6-2 defeat, leaving Onchan B who travelled to hard to beat, Port Erin and came away with a superb 5-3 win to be the only team to have eight points from their first four games. Other 5-3 wins went to Castletown B who entertained Noble’s Mixed at the Crofts, and Douglas A and North Ramsey B who won on their travels at Port St Mary B and Finch Hill B respectively. The Finch Hill B North Ramsey B was very close with the finches losing two games to 20.
Onchan A also won 5-3 at home to Marown. South Ramsey beat Peel Sunset B 6-2, while 7-1 wins came from Port St Mary A on their visit to Douglas B, and North Ramsey A who entertained Finch Hill A at the Mooragh, while Castletown A inflicted a 8-0 win on their visit to Noble’s Park
Over 60’s under way
The ladies’ over 60’s league, which has once again been sponsored by Trend, got under way on Tuesday 8 April in fine weather, although a cold wind was getting up by the end of the morning.
The top score of 122 was recorded by Port St Mary A against an Onchan A team who were unfortunately two players short, Tricia Bull and Margaret Tasker won to single figures while Hazel Hughes registered a good win for the visitors. Port St Mary B also had a high-scoring game which ended level on games, three of the games going all the way to 21-20, with the visitors winning on points. Marown drew their match on games, although Margaret Scarffe almost gave them a fourth game reaching 20 against Maureen Trustham and won on points, while it was a similar story at Noble’s Mixed where Pat Dacre won to single figures for the home side as did Kay McKiernan for the visitors. Although Mooragh Park won four games to single figures, they were denied a maximum by Sue Peach who recorded the best score of the morning. Peel Sunset won four games but wins by Jan Osborne, to single figures, and Lynne Mansley and their other players all reaching double figures, meant that the home side also came away with a good score.
What a difference a year makes!
The Isle of Man Bank Man’s league springs into life tonight (7th April) and the much anticipated first set of fixtures will pose as many questions as they give answers. With the Isle of Man’s probable inclusion in the full county championship from next season this will be one of exploration and innovation with the men’s game moving into uncharted waters for the first time. This is an exciting time for our sport, and the winds of change are definitely at full force with more changes in personnel than usual amongst the top team.
Last season ended with a major change as Marown A completed an historic double, winning both the league title and much coveted Rayner shield, to leave perennial champions Onchan A without a trophy for the first time in over a decade. Onchan will be a wounded animal intent on fighting their way out of the corner that they find themselves trapped in to prove that the are still the major force in the Manx game.
Marown, fresh from their trip to the world club championship, have the unenviable task of starting their campaign away to South Ramsey A. Whilst Marown have the ninth man of confidence on their side South have a realistic shot a the title and former Island Champion Gary Conwell is just one of a string of new players to strengthen their ranks. South will want to lay down a marker tonight and the champions will need to be right on their game to leave with points.
Onchan A face what, on paper, looks like a much easier trip to Castletown B but as the ‘Crofters’ showed them last year this game isn’t played on paper and they will be looking to stun the title favourites once again this term. Gary Conwell’s departure has made way for Matthew Keggen to join Onchan and he will be hoping to start with a bang.
Castletown A are always a force to be reckoned with in the local game and whilst they can challenge for top honours it will be interesting to see how this fantastic club copes with three teams in the top tier. Even with a rule change allowing players to move between teams in the same division, I still think this may hamper their title ambitions.
I don’t know what will happen this season, but with 4 new teams joining the leagues, and the new Island adventures looming on the horizon I know it will be a ground breaking one with more twists and turns than can ever be imagined and the only certainty is that the sport of crown green bowls will be the winner.
Predictions:
Pos Div 1 Div 2 Div 3
1 Onchan A Nobles Mixed A South Ramsey B
2 South Ramsey A Onchan B Marown B
3 Marown A Port St Mary B South Ramsey C
Rel Castletown C Finch Hill B
Rel Port Erin A Castletown D
Kenny Parker Trophy
It was an all Ramsey affair in the latter stages of the Any Combination doubles played at North Ramsey’s Mooragh Park green on Sunday 6th April. This was particularly appropriate as the trophy had kindly been sponsored by the Parker family in memory of the late Kenny Parker who was a longstanding and popular member of both North and South Ramsey Clubs.
A total of 28 pairs braved the early wind and drizzle to compete for the trophy and fortunately before long blue skies prevailed allowing the latter part of the competition to be completed in much better conditions. The first semi final was an all North Ramsey battle between the mother and son pairing of Janet and Robert Monk against Steve Gill and Brian Colquitt. In a very close fought tussle it was the latter pair that just emerged victorious by 21 – 17. The second semi final was an even closer affair between Andy Kennish and Alan Moore from South Ramsey and Tony Smart and John Cannan from North Ramsey. Thanks to a four on the last end it was the North Ramsey pairing that edged through by 21 – 19.
The final looked as though it was going to be extremely one sided as Steve Gill and Brian Colquitt raced into a 20 – 10 lead but they lost the jack with the winning post in sight and were never quite able to get the crucial final point as Tony Smart and John Cannan fought back to win 21 – 20.
Fallers at the quarter final stage were Margaret Tasker and Trish Bull, Steve Walmsley and Steve Parker, Matthew Quirk and Michael Collister and Ray Hardman and Gordon Corrin.
The prizes were presented by Steve and Anthony Parker who stated how proud their father would have been to have seen the competition played in his memory.