News: Reports
A Double Win For Nobles
On Sunday 29th April, a surprisingly sunny and warm spring day, Nobles Bowling Club hosted the Cu-Plas Callow pairs competitions, with 19 ladies pairs and 23 mens pairs taking part.
There was some extremely good bowling on both greens all afternoon, on number one it was the South Ramsey sisters Shelley and Bethany Kennish taking on the home greeners Rebecca Teare and Clare Cooper in the first semi-final, with two time winners Jenny Moore and Fiona Kennish taking on Chris Price and Jan West in the other semi-final. Both Rebecca and Clare, and Jenny and Fiona started well, with some strong ends, to secure their places in the final.
In the final Jenny and Fiona started very strong, having the home greeners worried with a huge lead of 12-3. Once Rebecca and Clare settled into the game they fought back well to take the trophy with a 21-15 win.
In the Mens competition on number two it was the father and son pairing of Bod and Glenn Boland who contested the final against Sid Bolton and Mike Hargraves. It was another victory for a Nobles pair, with Bod and Glenn beating Sid and Mike to 21-13.
The losing semi-finalists in the Mens competition were Les Brookes and Reg Temporaza and Alec Taylor and Derek Allen.
Thank you to everyone involved in the running of the competition, the lovely catering, all the supporters, and to anyone who stepped in to measure.

Marown Maintain 100% Start
In the Trend sponsored Over 60s League on Tuesday Peel Sunset were two points from a maximum beating Ballaugh 124-64 (5-1). Mary Moffatt 21-5 and Pat Robertson 21-9 were Peels best performers whilst Brenda Bowyer prevented the whitewash by beating Lynda Wilson 21-19.
Port Erin took on Villa with home greener Carol Kaye using all her knowledge and experience winning 21-1. Teammates Jean Thackrah 21-8 and Jacqui Elliott 21-7 also won well however, Port Erin were pegged back in two games as Pat Kelly and Muriel Cain won for the visitors restricting Port Erin’s win to 108-74 (4-2).
Port St Mary welcomed Nobles and the visitors would have been pleased to win three games as Sylvia Kennuagh 21-15, Viv Cook 21-12 and Joyce Ogden 21-15 all won for the away team. The difference on the final result is Port St Marys strength as their winners won 14, 6 and 2 with Val Macfarlane and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures. The final result was a home win 105-85 (3-3).
Marown made the short Journey to face Douglas and remained the only unbeaten side in the league winning the match 67-110 (1-5). Mary Alderson won 21-5 for the away team and Jan Osborne prevented the home side losing to a maximum by winning 21-5.
In the remaining games on Tuesday South Ramsey beat Breagle 111-72 (4-2), Castletown defeated Mooragh Park A 108-86 (5-1) and Mooragh Park B lost 61-105 (1-5) to Onchan.
As Thursday’s matches kicked off Port St Mary who sit out this round of matches would have been keeping a close eye on Peel’s result to see how much advantage they would keep at the top of the league.
Peel Sunset closed the gap to five points after collecting their second maximum of the season away to Villa. Joyce Kelly won 21-1 to remain undefeated this season and the final score was 85-126 (0-6)
Marown who sit in third position hosted Port Erin. Fine individual performances from Ceila Joughin and Mary Alderson setup the win with the home side keeping their 100% record the final score being 120-81 (4-2).
Onchan performed well at home defeating South Ramsey 108-89 (4-2) with standout home performances from Maureen Payne and Dee Lewis. Elaine Moore and Ann Gale won for the away side.
In other matches played on Thursday Breagle lost at home to Douglas 78-109 (2-4). Mooragh Park A were defeated by Port St Mary B 91-98 (2-4). Nobles beat Mooragh Park B 122-53 (5-1) and Castletown won away at Balalugh 80-106 (2-4).
After round 7 Port St Mary sit at the top averaging 113.83 however, Peel Sunset are right on their tails averaging 113. Marown sit third with Nobles fourth.
Looking ahead Mooragh Park A & B will now move back to their home green. Round 8 see’s Peel and Marown go head-to-head.
South Ramsey Take Revenge
Early Leaders Nobles sat out from this weeks Ladies night league fixtures as champions Port St Mary would look to close the gap in their match against Marown.
Marown put on a big performance away from home taking four out of the nine games. In a high scoring match home greener Wendy Kennuagh won 21-20 against Elaine Dewhirst and Marown’s Rosie Winkle beat Chris Price 21-20 showing how close the match was on the night. Val Macfarlane top scored for the home side beating Shirley Whelan 21-8 and Port St Mary just had the upper edge overall winning the match 171-155 (5-4).
Ballaugh won their first match of the season away against Castletown B. Ballaugh picked up six games in the match with Gill Dixon winning 21-3. For the home side Sonya Mercer won her first league game with wins also for Tracy Moore and Barbara Young. The final score was 140-165 (3-6).
In the tightest match of the night Douglas welcomed Purt Le Moirrey to the Villa. The match was only separated by three chalks. A big home win for Paula Garrett 21-4 wasn’t enough as the away side won 5-4 on games with Edwina Reid and Linda Dawson winning to single figures. The final result was a Purt Le Moirrey win 152-155 (4-5)
A repeat of last weeks Jean Kelly tie saw Mooragh Park once again visit South Ramsey. Last week Mooragh triumphed knocking South Ramsey out. This week however South Ramsey prevailed restricting the visitors to under a hundred chalks. Janet Monk won 21-8 over Lauren Groen to prevent a whitewash in a match that finished 176-96 (8-1) with some strong individual performances from the South Ramsey ladies.
In the final matches Castletown faced Port Erin away at Breagle Glen and came away with a fine 116-170 (2-7) victory. Onchan hosted Peel Sunset with the away team winning 142-157 (4-5).
Looking ahead Mooragh Park play their first home match of the season following the work to their green and Castletown make the trip up North. Port St Mary face their toughest away challenge of the season so far as they face last years runners up South Ramsey. South Ramsey won last seasons tie 162-159 (5-4). Next weeks encounter should be just as close.
Tight At The Top Of The Over 60’s Men’s League.
Game 7 on Tuesday 24th April once more saw wet weather clothing being almost as important as the woods themselves this season with persistent rain through most of the afternoon.
This did not dampen the spirits of League Leaders Castletown A though as they travelled to Douglas B and came away with an 8-0 win. The Castletown B side hosted Douglas A and it was the Douglas side that got off to a great start and were 4-0 up after the first half but the Southerners fought back and the game ended in a 5-3 victory for the men from the ‘Villa’.
Peel Sunset A travelled to Port St Mary B and achieved a 6-2 success with Brian Lowe and Chris Oates taking the wins for the Port St Mary side. Meanwhile back in Peel the Peel Sunset B team lost 5-3 to a strong Port St Mary A side and Peel Sunset C travelled to Onchan Park where they lost 6-2 to Onchan A with Leslie Halsall and Brian Lindsey taking the two wins for the Westerners.
Ballaugh A had a very successful ‘day out’ in Douglas where they beat Nobles Park A 5-3 while the Ballaugh B Team stayed at home and had a 6-2 win over Nobles B with Terry Bates and Brian Atherton being the two winners for the Nobles Park men.
Finch Hill A found the visiting North Ramsey A side too strong as the Northerners beat them 6-2 but the North Ramsey B side went down 7-1 to Marown at Crosby with David Thompson being the only winner for the North Ramsey B Team.
And finally at Port Erin there was a close battle between the home side and Onchan B which resulted in a 4-4 draw with some close hard fought games.
Game 8 on Thursday 26th April saw the Castletown A Team being pushed very hard by a strong Onchan A side at Castletown but the home men ran out 5-3 winners in a match that could quite easily have gone either way as there were some very close games. The Castletown B side travelled to Onchan Park where they were beaten 5-3 by the Onchan B Team also in a close match which could easily have gone either way.
Peel Sunset A who are the second placed team in the League played their own B Team and it was the A Team who ran out 7-1 winners with Phillip Clarke being the only winner for the B Team. Peel Sunset C meanwhile held North Ramsey B to a 4-4 draw in a match that saw the Westerners score their first point of the season.
Douglas A took a good 7-1 win from Port St Mary A at the Villa with Team Captain Colin Leece being the only winner for the Southerners. Douglas B travelled South to play Port St Mary B and this time the scores were reversed with Bob Banning being the only winner for Douglas B defeating Mike Skelly 21-16.
Ballaugh A showed great form beating Finch Hill A 8-0 at Ballaugh with the Finch Hill Team scoring only 70 chalks but unfortunately for Ballaugh their B Team were beaten 7-1 by Marown at Crosby with Ray Parry being the only
Nobles A hosted South Ramsey and it was the home side that took a 7-1 win with the only winner for South Ramsey being Chas Grills.
In the South of the Island Port Erin hosted North Ramsey A in a match that ended in a 4-4 draw.
So as Game 8 drew to an end we still had Castletown A topping the League having played 8 games for 16 points closely followed by Peel Sunset A who have played 7 games for 14 points. In third place are Marown who have played 8 games for 14 points and in fourth are Douglas A who have played 7 games for 12 points and in fifth place are Port St Mary A who have played 8 games for 12 points.
Andy is handy in the Vet’s Merit Qualifier
The qualifier for the Vet’s Merit (Jack and Jean Isherwood Trophy) was played at Douglas Bowling Club on Wednesday 25th April and saw some excellent bowls from the Over 60’s taking part in this Mixed Singles Competition.
In the Quarter Finals we saw one of the great games of the day with Stuart Garrett and Janet Monk both playing excellent bowls and Stuey built up an early lead only to be overhauled by Janet in the later stages with Janet winning 21-18.
Frank Watson ran out 21-9 winner over Lil Smith and Phillipa Taylor lost 21-12 to Jimmy Sansom.
In the remaining Quarter Final Andy Kennish showed good form and Ron Williams who did little wrong lost out 21-13 to Andy.
In the Semi Finals we once more saw Andy play well to beat Frank Watson 21-15 and Janet Monk showing that the Ladies can play as well as the Men battled hard in the game with some great bowls but eventually Jimmy Sansom won 21-17.
So Andy and Jimmy promised to be a great Final but Andy got on his ‘mark’ and no matter how hard Jimmy tried he couldn’t match him so Andy won 21-10 and will now go on to represent the ‘Island’ in the Final Stages of this Competition in Shropshire.
Hannah Is Top Lady
Port St Mary Bowling Club hosted the annual Top Lady Bowling Competition with 32 ladies invited to play.
The first round saw some of the favourites fall with current Manx Champion Shelley Kennish losing 21-8 to Chris Price. Last years winner Janet Monk lost to Marown player Rosie Winkle 21-12 and Jenny Moore despite a late fight back lost to home-greener Trish Bull 21-18.
Quarter finals saw Katy Williams defeat teammate Chris Price 21-17. Jayne Kneen beat Peel Sunset’s Joyce Kelly 21-15. Castletown bowler Hannah Drewett won 21-15 against last seasons overall merit winner Ann Maddrell and Debbie Leece beat Mary Moffatt 21-11.
The first semi final saw a clash of home greeners, also sisters, Jayne Kneen and Katy Williams. After an early exchange of the jack Jayne built up a 11-5 lead. Katy, despite picking up a couple of two’s couldn’t get ahead and Jayne won 21-13 to book her spot in the final.
The other semi final between Hannah Drewett and Debbie Leece was nip-tuck all the way and after 27 ends the score was 18-17 to Debbie. Hannah dug in an won back to back twos and came out on top 21-18.
In the final, Hannah maintained a lead throughout and at the halfway stage led 12-7 before Jayne came back to trail 15-14. Another surge from Hannah put her 19-14 up and within touching distance of the win. Jayne used all her experience to close the gap but Hannah maintained her high standard of bowling and won her first Top Lady title 21-18.
Thanks go to the Association for running the competition and Port St Mary for hosting and providing an excellent playing surface.
No ‘Moore Teare’s’ for Alan and James
The Cringle Pairs mens doubles event took place at Castletown on Saturday and from a field of 17 pairs it resulted in a win for the South Ramsey pairing of James Teare and Alan Moore who beat the very impressive Port St Mary duo of Tim Williams and Tom Collins 21-14 in the final.
Losers in the the semi finals were Frank Watson (Peel Sunset) and Kevin Firth (Nobles) along with the home pair of Ian Watson and Juan Kermode.
This is an annual charity event and the club is extremely grateful to the players and spectators for helping to raise money for the worthwhile cause, to Shoprite for their donations to the raffle but in the main to Mr Noel Cringle OBE, whose family continue to sponsor this event and has done for many years.
During the presentation it was announced that a total approaching £200 had been raised and once again it would be donated to the Manx Blind Welfare Society.
Peel Upset Douglas
In division one on Monday evening Peel A made the trip East to take on Douglas A at the Villa and came away with a 7-3 win. The overall result was a lot closer than the score line suggests as Peel took the two points for the aggregate thanks to edging the chalks by five. For the visitors Gary Smith and Ste Kelly had comfortable wins, whilst the other three wins for Peel were a lot closer with David Proctor and Tommy McMeiken winning 21-19 and Jerome Surridge winning 21-20 over Shaun Seal. For the home team captain Andy Kennish won to single figures, whilst Stuart Garrett held of Frank Watson to record a 21-19 win and Merv Sayle beat Peel man Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-17.
South Ramsey A took on their B Team on another evening of swirling winds up the North of the Island and the A team recorded an 8-2 win. For the A team Peter Collister, Dido Kelly and Glynn Hargraves all won to single figures. For the B team James Teare performed well to beat Chas Grills 21-14 with the other winner being stand-in captain Tony Dugdale who just got over the line 21-20 thanks to securing a double on the last end. Steven Waters just missed out on the result of the week losing out 19-21 to John Kennish after leading for a large part of the game. The B team will feel confident having now played last season’s top three in their first four games.
Marown A extended their lead at the top to five points courtesy of a 10-0 over Douglas B but didn’t have it all their own way with Paul Kelly beating Mark Corrin 21-19 whilst Dean Kipling had his first real test of the season using all experience to get over the line 21-20 against Andy Cannell. Marown recorded this win despite missing three of their regular starters.
Port Erin A took on Onchan A at Breagle Glen and whilst losing out 8-2 they did record two good wins with Peter Addison beating visiting captain Peter Slinger 21-17 and Dave McCabe who defeated Kevin Quirk 21-14.
North Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Castletown A with the home team recording a 7-3 win they had to work for the victory with captain Ian Watson winning 21-19 and David Quayle winning 21-18. For the visitors the winners were Allan Callow, John Cannan and Steve Parker who all recorded strong wins, however these wins were not quite big enough to take the aggregate losing out by just 3 chalks.
Marown B hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors putting out their strongest line up of the season resulting in a 7-3 win for the visitors. For the Home team Juan Killip, Arnie Withers and Bobby Thorne won, whilst Trevor Quayle, Paul Skelly, Rob Cooil and Nathan Hamilton won convincingly with Ewan Cooil having to work harder to beat Steve Bridson 21-19.
In the first double set of league fixtures on Wednesday the game of the night on paper was Marown A against Onchan A at Crosby with the Home team winning 7-3 with Peter Slinger going close before losing out 20-21 to Dean Kipling and Steve Crampton losing out 18-21 to Matthew Keggen. For the visitors Kevin Quirk will have been relieved to get over the line 21-20 against Peter Kelly, whilst Matthew Quirk beat Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-18, and Phil Kerruish won to single figures.
In the other fixtures Peel A, Douglas A and Port St Mary A all recorded 6-4 home wins over North Ramsey A, Marown B and Douglas B respectively however all three visiting teams will have been pleased to come away with four points each. Castletown A came away from their trip North from South Ramsey B with a 6-4 win, whilst reigning champions South Ramsey A had the longest trip of the night to take on Port Erin A and came away with a strong 9-1 win.
In division two Castletown B had another fine week with a 9-1 win over Ballaugh A and a 10-0 win over Nobles B to strengthen their grip at the top. Nobles A had a good week themselves thanks to a 10-0 away win against bottom of the table Port Erin B with Reginald Temporaza continuing his good start to the season in only his second year since taking the game up with a 21-2 win. Nobles A followed this up with an 8-2 home win over Ballaugh A, who may struggle to get back up to division one unless their away form improves considerably.
Not far behind the top two of Castletown B and Nobles A are Onchan B who recorded two 8-2 wins with an away win against Port St Mary B and a home win against Port Erin B.
In division three Ballaugh B are in second place but have a game in hand over Marown C and they faced bottom of the table Douglas D at home and came away with a good 9-1 win. Marown C kept the pressure on with two good 7-3 away wins to Ballaugh C and Douglas D who despite giving away two games took three points off the visitors.
South Ramsey D recorded their first win of the season with a 6-4 home win over Castletown C with the night leagues youngest player nine year old Ryan Hargraves fighting back from 15-20 down to 19-20 and having two good bowls either side of the jack until his opponent Castletown’s Rob Sayle played off his bowl and sat alongside the jack to claim a 21-20 victory. In their other game South Ramsey D made the short journey to take on Ballaugh C, but were sent home with a solitary point following a 9-1 loss with Ian Moore the only winner following a 21-9 win. Ryan Hargraves came closest to adding a second game, however he lost 20-21 after being 20-15 up but was unable to get over the line against Bert Quayle.
Peel D visited Castletown C but lost out 3-7 with young Ryan Tate winning his first game of the season courtesy of a 21-20 victory over Clifford Clague who has recently took up the game after spending a lot of time last season watching his Grandson Sam play bowls around the Islands bowling greens.
South Ramsey Storm The Castle
Game 4 of the Ladies League and Friday’s match of the day saw Castletown host South Ramsey. The home side won 6-3 on games however lost the match 164-170. South Ramsey lost six games however each held their own scoring a minimum of 13 and a number of games went down to the wire with Joy Stephens beating Kim Hargraves 21-20 and Heike Perry beating Lyn Bolton 21-20. The difference between the sides was a standout performance from Elaine Moore who won 21-4 to seal the victory for South Ramsey.
Port Erin welcomed Nobles to Breagle Glen with the away side unexpectedly picking up a full house winning 118-189.
A second whitewash of the evening also came down south as Purt Le Moirrey played Castletown B. The home side put on a strong home performance to win 189-72.
Port St Mary travelled to the tricky Peel Sunset green and a solid showing from last years league winners resulted in a win 148-169 (2-7). Shirley Corrin and Mary Moffatt won for Peel and Joyce Kelly just lost to Margaret Tasker 21-20.
In the remaining matches Ballaugh lost at home to Onchan 135-144 (5-4) and Marown beat Mooragh Park 169-151.
The preliminary rounds of the Jean Kelly competition took place on Wednesday 18th April. The closest match of the night came from South Ramsey who faced Mooragh Park. The visitors started with a 25 point handicap and two big wins from Janet Monk and Caroline Parker only added to the advantage. South Ramsey won six of the nine games but were unable to reduce the deficit losing by 10 chalks 151-161.
Current holders Port St Mary played Marown at home with the away team having a 25 point handicap. Port St Mary put on a strong performance at home winning 181-143 (7-2) with Rosie Winkle and Lil Smith winning for Marown.
In the other matches Castletown A won away at Douglas 139-179 (1-8) with Paula Garrett the only winner for the home side. Ballaugh faced Port Erin with the visitors winning 141-179 (2-7) and Peel Sunset beat Castletown B 202-180 (6-3).
Quarter Final draw Thursday 10th May Onchan (+45) vs Nobles (+15), Castletown A (SCR) vs Mooragh Park (+25) and Purt Le Moirrey (+30) vs Peel Sunset (+25). Tuesday 22nd May Port St Mary (SCR) vs Port Erin (+15).
Looking ahead this Saturday Port St Mary host the Top Lady invitation competition. 32 Ladies will compete in the competition, players have qualified by winning their team merit last season with the remaining spots taken from the top placed players in the overall merit. Last years champion Janet Monk will be amongst the 32 ladies.
Port St Mary Lead the Way
In this weeks Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s League Tuesday saw three matches end as whitewashes. Port St Mary bounced back from their loss to Marown last week with an emphatic 126-45 (6-0) victory over Breagle who were a player short. Margaret Tasker and Wyn Collister both won to single figures.
Marown kept up the pace by picking up their first full house of the season winning away to Mooragh Park B 54-126. Philippa Taylor, Margaret Scarffe and Marcia Pearson winning well for the away side.
Peel Sunset also collected their first full house beating Port St Mary B 126-69 with Mary Moffatt, Heather Horsburgh and Lynda Wilson all winning 21-8.
Douglas faced Ballaugh who were a player short and lost the match 75-98 (3-3) with Peggy Griffin and Brenda Bowyer putting in fine performances both winning 21-6.
The closest game on Tuesday saw Port Erin take on Mooragh Park A. Home players Carol Kaye, Jenny Cain won 21-7 and 21-6 respectively and despite Janet Monk winning for the away team 21-4 the home side held on to win 99-80 (4-2)
Nobles sit out from Thursdays matches and welcomed Onchan to Nobles Park. Slyvia Kennuagh, Viv Cook and Flo Price all won to single figures for the home side to give them a comfortable 107-81 (4-2) victory. Onchan players Maureen Payne won 21-3 and Dee Lewis held on to beat Josie Harding 21-20.
Thursdays match of the day came between Mooragh Park A and Peel Sunset. Mooragh Park won the match by six chalks 107-101. Both teams won three games each to underline how tight the match was.
Marown won four games in their match against South Ramsey but crucially lost two to single figures making their overall total against South Ramsey well below their league average. They won the match 90-74.
Villa locked horns with fellow club members Douglas. Douglas were two players short and won all the other four games including Moire Turner and Jan Osborne winning to 9 and 6 respectively. Despite the result in the four games the 42 chalks given away was too much to claw back and Villa won the match 87-84.
Onchan hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors winning 5-1 on games. Maureen Payne won 21-2 against Wyn Collister to prevent a full house and Port St Mary won the match 95-107.
To round up the remaining matches Mooragh Park B picked up their second win of the season away to Breagle 100-107 (4-2). Ballaugh lost at home to Port Erin 77-114 (2-4) and Port St Mary B were pipped by nine chalks losing to Castletown 94-103 (3-3)
Looking at the league table after round 5 it is starting to take shape. As there is an odd number of teams I am looking at the average score of each team and Port St Mary lead the way averaging 115 followed by Nobles 111 and Marown 109. Next week the current top two face each other at Port St Mary.