News: Reports
Top Four, All To Play For
Friday 14th September saw the penultimate games take place in the Ladies Bowling Night League.
Port St Mary remain on course for their fifth title in succession, and eight overall, following their full house win over Douglas. Douglas unfortunately were a player short and were unable to push close in any of the games with Chris Price and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures. The match ended 189-84 (9-0).
Castletown A nearly matched their rivals but dropped one game in their 184-86 (8-1) win over Ballaugh. Hilary Kermode, Kim Foy, Heike Perry, Anne Oates and Sue Peach turned in fine home performances to win to single figures. Ballaugh avoided a whitewash with Gill Dixon defeating Hannah Drewett 21-16.
The battle for third position continues into the final week of the season with South Ramsey heading Nobles for the position. South Ramsey defeated Port Erin with Elaine Moore and Jenny Moore both playing well winning 21-0 and 21-4 respectively. Port Erin did pick up two wins from Caroline Whitehead and Lynda Cadamy but South won the match 182-122 (8-2).
Nobles kept up with South by winning their match against Mooragh Park 179-98 (7-2). Debbie Leece, Alison Keggen, Paula Firth and Clare Cooper all won to single figures. Mooragh’s wins came from Helen Martin and Caroline Parker.
Peel Sunset suffered a home defeat to Purt Le Moirrey despite winning more games on the night. Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Louise Horsfall, Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt won for the home side. Purt Le Moirrey pulled off a six chalk win with wins from Sandra Lowe, Dot Mylchreest, Wyn Collister and Linda Dawson. Final score 154-162 (5-4).
In the final match from Friday, Onchan defeated Castletown B 176-74 (8-1) with the visiting team managing to avoid a full house defeat with Barbara Young winning 21-8.
Heading into the final game of the season Port St Mary hold a strong 81 chalk advantage over Castletown A. On paper Castletown A’s final game against their B team could result in another maximum 189 score. That would mean Port St Mary would have to score a minimum of 108 chalks to retain the league, but face a strong Nobles side who are themselves chasing South Ramsey for third position.
South Ramsey will only play their final match against Douglas on Thursday 27th and will look to turn over whatever advantage Nobles have built.
In the race for the individual merit Chris Price leads on 482 chalks followed by Amanda Lawler 478, Jayne Kneen 476 and Jenny Moore 469. All four ladies are in contention for the top spots with the last game of the season the crucial deciding game.
Millennium Fours
Millennium Fours Winners 2018
Rebecca Teare, Paula Firth, Maureen Payne, Lin RuscoeA good turnout of 32 ladies split into eight teams took part in the Millennium Fours competition held at Marown.
The competition see’s teams of four play two singles and a doubles match with total chalks determining the winner.
In the first semi final Margaret Tasker, Trish Bull, Mavis Franks and Chris Price booked their spot in the final with a 34-29 victory over Jenny Moore, Kim Hargraves, Bethany Kennish and Fiona Kennish.
In the other semi, Maureen Payne, Rebecca Teare, Lin Ruscoe and Paula Firth advanced following their 45-31 win over Alison Keggen, Debbie Leece, Lil Smith and Lyn Bolton.
In the final, Maureen Payne defeated Mavis Franks 15-5 whilst Trish Bull responded for her team winning 15-4 against Lin Ruscoe.
With the match evenly balanced at 20-19 the doubles would settle the contest.
After some brilliant ends Rebecca Teare and Paula Firth edged past Margaret Tasker and Chris Price 15-13 giving their team an overall 34-33 victory.
Thanks to Marown for hosting the competition, Heather Horsburgh and Elaine Moore for running the competition and all those who helped on the day.
Maddrell & Kennish Triumph
The Friends Provident Mens doubles drawn partners was played on Sunday 16th September at Port St Mary. An entry of 38 players were split into group A and group B, with group A being mainly division one players. One player from each group were drawn out to make up what should be 19 fairly evenly matched pairs.
Three preliminary matches were needed to get down to the last 16. Tim Williams & Bernard Thackrah beat Bernie Durcan & Derek Cain 21-17. Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil defeated Derek Allen & Ray Watterson 21-15, whilst Lee Dawson & Karl Parker won 21-16 against Glynn Hargraves & Tony Hart.
Round one had several close games, with the closest being John Kennish & Ray Maddrell squeezing past Dave McCabe & Walter McCarthy 21-20.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Lee Dawson & Karl Parker, Mike Hargraves & Austin Hart, Matthew Keggen & Paul Quirk along with Edward Carlyle & Ryan Hargraves.
The first semi-final saw Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil (South Ramsey/Castletown) take on John Kennish & Ray Maddrell (South Ramsey/Port St Mary), with the latter pair going through quite comfortably 21-10. In the second semi-final, Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett (Port St Mary/Castletown) went through almost as comfortably 21-13 against Wayne Roberts & Dave Saxon (both Port St Mary).
A very good final followed between the top two teams of the day, there were many tight ends, but in the end John Kennish & Ray Maddrell were just too strong for Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett winning 21-14.
The presentation was made by Ann Maddrell, who thanked the sponsors Friends Provident, everyone at Port St Mary bowling club that helped with the running of the competition and to everyone that took part. Ann then introduced Katy Williams of Friends Provident to present the prizes.
Marown & South Ramsey Set to Clash In Final
The mixed team semi-finals were played on Thursday evening with the matches played at neutral venues.
Marown A took on Port St Mary at Finch Hill in a match that went to the wire (145-139), however it was Marown who booked their place in the final despite suffering two heavy defeats. Lil Smith lost 2-21 to Trevor Quayle, whilst Shirley Whelan lost 5-21 to Wayne Roberts. The other winner for Port St Mary was Margaret Tasker who beat Mary Alderson 21-12. Marown’s five wins were enough to see them over the line with Dean Kipling the only single figure winner for Marown beating Ray Watterson 21-8. Paul Dunn beat Tim Williams 21-10, Neil Withers won 21-11 against Dan McCabe, with Colin Kelly beating Mavis Franks 21-13 whilst Paul Kelly won 21-14 against Jayne Kneen. The closest match of the night was between Philippa Taylor and Chris Price with Taylor edging it 21-20.
South Ramsey A took on Noble’s A at Onchan on Thursday evening with the match expected to be close. South Ramsey wasted no time in the first five games to all but secure their place in the final winning all the games to comfortable score lines to build up a 59 point lead. James Teare performed well to record a 21-5 win over Alison Keggen, Stefan Kelly beat Clare Cooper 21-13, whilst Glynn Hargraves defeated Paula Firth 21-8. The next two games off were 21-10 wins for Ben Dugdale & Elaine Moore against John Ruscoe and Reginald Temporaza respectively. In the second half of the match Lyn Bolton beat Sylvia Kennaugh 21-8, with Jenny Moore seeing off Glenn Boland 21-13. Noble’s two wins were well deserved with David Pease beating Alan Moore 21-10, whilst Rebecca Teare played well to beat Gill Dixon 21-15. South Ramsey won the match 7-2 on games and taking the victory by 63 chalks (172-109).
The mixed team final between Marown and South Ramsey takes place on Thursday 20th September with the venue still to be confirmed. Marown will start the match as favourites on the night.
Marown Book Final Spot
Marown Club Team who took on Peel at Crosby
Photo: Arnie WithersIn Group A Marown secured their spot in the final with a game to spare despite suffering losses in all of their doubles games at home to Peel. Jerome Surridge & Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly beat Neil Withers & Paul Kelly 21-18, Gary Smith & Gordon Corrin defeated Phil Kelly and Juan Killip 21-14, with Stevie Kelly and David Proctor seeing off Paul Dunn & Peter Kelly 21-16. In the singles Frank Watson was the only Peel winner defeating Matthew Keggen 21-17. Marown’s victory ended up being comfortable (149-112) thanks to wins in the singles from Dean Kipling, Brian Kelly and John Gelling all winning to single figures against Dave Smith, Mike Ashmole and Tommy McMeiken respectively, whilst Colin Kelly showed no mercy against his eldest son Tom Kelly with a 21-13 win.
In Group B it is set up nicely for the last group match at Onchan against South Ramsey who sit top by two points holding an 18 chalk advantage. For Onchan to progress to the final they need to win the match by 19 chalks to reach the final.
South Ramsey picked up two points this week with a victory over Douglas (150-124) with the floodlights now coming into play early on in matches due to the nights closing in. In the singles matches Steven Waters and Chas Grills both recorded 21-18 wins over Gary Conwell and Shaun Seal respectively, whilst Stefan Kelly beat Willie Cowley to single figures. Austin Hart lost out 15-21 to Ian Moore, whilst Sid Bolton lost 19-21 to Andy Cannell. In the doubles matches Ben Dugdale & James Teare were well beaten 11-21 against Mervin Sayle and Keith Rise, with Alan Moore & Peter Collister cancelling this defeat out with a 21-10 win. Glynn Hargraves & Dido Kelly won 21-7 against Jimmy Sansom & Gordon Wynne-Smythe.
Cooper and Dawson Take First Mixed Doubles Title
Wilfred Quayle Winners 2018
Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Wilfred Quayle mixed doubles on Sunday with the competition attracting 37 pairs on a fine day.
The eventual winners were Clare Cooper (Noble’s) and Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) who overcame the strong challenge of Chrissy McManus (Ainsdale) and Steve McManus (Mere Brow) in a high quality final to secure their first mixed doubles win. After six ends the score was 13-12 to Cooper and Dawson with the McManus Husband and Wife partnership having only won two ends but scoring two three’s. From there the latter were kept down to four singles with Cooper and Dawson complimenting each other well with Cooper leading brilliantly at the front and Dawson doing the business at the back when needed to take three singles, a three and a double to take the title with a 21-16 win.
Losing out to the winners at the semi-final stage were Alison Keggen (Noble’s) and Neil Withers (Marown) 13-21, whilst the South Ramsey pairing of Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves lost out 12-21.
Falling at the quarter final stage were the Port St Mary pairings of Pauline Worrall and Paul Russell, Katy Williams and Tim Williams, home greeners Marie Ashurst and Dave Faragher, along with Paula Firth (Noble’s) and Sid Bolton (South Ramsey).
The presentation was made by Phil Taubman who thanked everyone who had entered and all the club members who had helped with the smooth running of the competition throughout the day. It was great to see some visitors extend their stay on the Island to enter the competition with the losing finalists playing on the green for the first time, showing how quickly they had adapted to a new green, with the visitors thanking everyone for such a warm welcome.
Monk Wins Thurlwell Bowl
Thurlwell Bowl Winner 2018
Noble’s Bowling Club hosted the Thurlwell Bowl on Saturday with the rain mostly holding off throughout the day.
The eventual winner was Rob Monk (Onchan) who defeated Paul Skelly (Port St Mary) 21-19 in a hard fought final. Both players performed well making good two’s throughout the game despite their opponent having good bowls. The game changer was at 18-18 with Monk playing a short round peg and Skelly was lying one on and looking to make two resulted in Skelly flicking his own bowl out to leave Monk on to go 19-18 ahead. Skelly got back in next again, however very nearly turned his counting bowl out again. At 19-19 Skelly headed for the corner and couldn’t have had a worse time to play his poorest end of the game to allow Monk to pick up an easy two for game in an otherwise entertaining and high quality game.
In the semi-final Monk ended the challenge of Paul Dunn (Marown) with a good display to book his place in the final, whilst Skelly was pushed all the way by team mate Trevor Quayle with the latter losing out 20-21.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greener Alison Keggen, Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey), Harry Barton (Marown) and Mike Hargraves (Castletown).
The presentation was made by Wendy Leece who thanked Clare Cooper for running the sheet throughout the day, the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and for providing refreshments to those taking part.
Double For Price
Bowling Green Café Ladies Singles Winner 2018
Chris PriceA strong field of 45 ladies made up of local and visiting bowlers for the festival contested the Castletown pre-festival ladies singles on Sunday 2nd September.
Losers in the quarter finals were Tracy Ryan, Pat Edwards, Julie Waters and Angela Gaut.
In the first semi final Chris Price faced Sarah Weaver. Sarah had battled through a tough field of competitors in the earlier rounds beating Tracey Ryan , Lyn Bennett and local Debbie Leece. Chris got of to a flying start moving 13- 6 ahead before Sarah won the jack. A close and high quality game but Chris proved too strong and the game finished 21- 12.
The second semi final was between local Alison Keggen and Sharon Rigden. Sharon had already knocked out home greener Hannah Kermode, Fiona Kennish and Angela Gaut. Alison defeated on her run to the semi’s Sue Peach, Denise Tonks and Julie Waters. Sharon got off to the better start moving 14-7 up after 8 ends. Alison fought back into the game but Sharon showed her quality taking a 21-18 victory.
In the final it was nip-tuck with the scores being level in the early stages of the match before Chris found top gear and moved ahead on some very tricky marks to claim a 21-15 win, her second competition win of the weekend.
Linda Richman presented the prizes to the players and thanks goes to all those who helped run the competition. A big thank you must also go to Castletown Bowling Green Café for their generous sponsorship of the competition.
Posh Paws Ladies’ Singles
There was a field of 28 for the ladies’ singles open played at Peel on Saturday 1st September. The competition had a new sponsor in Posh Paws of Peel, and the players enthusiasm was not dampened by the inclement drizzly weather. Despite the conditions and the problems Peel have been having with their green there was some fine bowling on display.
There were some very close games and in the first round visitor Christine Lawton, St. Judes, just lost out 20-21 to Lyn Bolton while Jean Thackrah came through against Celia Joughin by the same score.
In the second round Voirrey Curphey edged out Lil Smith 21-20 while another visitor. Pat Edwards, Winstanley, just lost out on the last end to Philippa Taylor.
The quarter-finals all went to double figures with Mary Moffatt, Caroline Whitehead, Philippa Taylor and Chris Price going through to the semis.
Quarter-finals: Mary Moffatt 21, Voirrey Curphey 14; Caroline Whitehead 21, Lyn Bolton 17; Philippa Taylor 21, Jean Thackrah 17; Chris Price 21, Joyce Kelly 16.
Philippa had a struggle in her semi-final as Chris was quickly off the blocks, leading 11-5 after four ends. The Marown player won three of the next four ends to close to 9-12, but from that point Chris was unstoppable coming through to win 21-9.
The other semi-final was a bit tighter, with Mary having slightly the better of the early exchanges, leading 11-8 after six ends. Caroline scored seven in the next four ends to take a 15-11 advantage which Mary closed down to 14-15. With just another 2 being scored by the home player, the Port Erin player progressed to the final 21-16.
Semi-finals: Chris Price 21, Philippa Taylor 9; Caroline Whitehead 21, Mary Moffatt 16.
The final was a close affair with scores being level at 8-8,11-11 and 13-13. At that point Chris had a run of six ends taking the score to18-13. Caroline was not finished and fought to the end but could not overcome Chris’s mid-game advantage, eventually losing out 21-16.
The Presentation was made by Heather Horsburgh, who thanked Liz Shergold, of Posh Paws of Peel, for sponsoring the event. She also thanked the members of the Peel club for their help during the afternoon, and special mention was made of green keeper, Eddie Phillips, who was thanked for his efforts to overcome the difficulties of the green, and also for selling the raffle tickets !
Ditchfield Secures Davisons Autumn Shield
Peel Bowling Club hosted the popular pre-festival competition the Davisons Autumn Shield on Sunday. The competition attracted 96 entries which made for a long day, with start times given out to those taking part.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Bob Wyatt (Packhorse BC), Brian Furber (Pavilions) Tom Kelly (Peel) and Dido Kelly (South Ramsey).
In the semi-finals Neil Wright (Kirkham) ended the challenge of Neil Ridgen (New Longton) with a 21-15, whilst Wayne Ditchfield (Kirkham) booked his place in the final with a 21-12 win over Steve McCall (Kirkham).
In the final club mates Wright and Ditchfield took to the green with both players knowing each other’s game well it was always going to be a close final, however Ditchfield did enough to take a 21-18 win and his third success in this competition.
The presentation was made by Ian Davison, who once again sponsored the competition. There was over £750 paid out in prize money with the winner receiving £300. Thanks were also given to everyone who had helped with the running of the competition.