News: Reports
Bradford Wins Marown Floodlit Championship
Following the success of last year’s competition Marown once again held the opening tournament of the season with a strong entry of 94, played over four qualifying nights, with four qualifiers from each evening.
The competition commenced on Sunday evening with Colin Kelly, Tommy McMeiken, Rob Monk and Janet Monk all qualifying for Thursday’s finals night, with Tommy and Rob both being pushed all the way in their final qualifying games against Helen Martin and Clare Cooper respectively.
Monday evening’s action had a few shocks, with Marown B Captain Harry Barton coming through three tough games beating Island players Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger, along with club mate Lil Smith. Margaret Tasker was the second qualifier of the night, seeing off the challenges of Jerome Surridge and Matthew Keggen. Trish Bull came through three games to take the third spot of the evening, whilst Glynn Hargraves had to defeat his better half Kim Hargraves to take the final qualifying place .
Tuesday evening saw two home greeners qualify with Conor Keenan, coming through two tough games to take the first spot, whilst Steve Bridson defeated club mate Phil Kelly to book his place. James Teare excelled to beat Neil Withers, then topped off his evening by defeating partner and top lady player Jenny Moore. The final qualifying spot went to David Bradford who came from behind in both of his games to defeat Phil Kerruish 21-19 and Paul Dunn 21-15 respectively.
The final qualifying night on Wednesday was a cold evening with Jordan Cain coming from 17-14 down to end the challenge of Alison Keggen with a 21-18 win to book his spot. The final three spots went to South Ramsey players, with Alan Moore, Stefan Kelly and junior Austin Hart booking their places.
Thursday evening was finals night with the draw taking place live on the night, with the last 16 being played down to the winner. Once again the rain managed to hold off and there was a good turnout to watch the conclusion of the competition.
Losing out at the last 16 stage were Port St Mary’s Trish Bull and Margaret Tasker, home greeners Harry Barton, Steve Bridson and Conor Keenan, James Teare and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) and Tommy McMeiken (Peel).
In the quarter finals David Bradford had to once again come from behind to defeat North Ramsey’s Janet Monk 21-17, whilst Austin Hart came from behind to level things at 20 across before clubmate Stefan Kelly played a good first bowl under pressure to end the challenge of Hart. Marown’s Colin Kelly performed well to defeat Jordan Cain (Onchan) 21-9, whilst Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) took his place in the semi final with a 21-15 win over Rob Monk (Onchan).
In the semi final Stefan Kelly pushed club mate David Bradford hard before losing out 21-17, whilst Colin Kelly booked his place in the final with a 21-13 victory after pulling away from Glynn Hargraves after a nip and tuck start to the game.
The final was eagerly anticipated with neither player being able to get a run on the other in the first half of the game, before Bradford pulled away to build a 16-11 lead. Kelly responded with a two to pull the score back to 13-16, before Bradford once again had a run to take a 21-14 win and the title.
The presentation was made by Neil Withers, with spot prizes from each qualifying evening for the highest break, furthest junior went to Austin Hart and furthest lady went to Janet Monk. Prizes were paid out to the last 16.
Thanks were also given for the excellent refreshments of hot dogs, soup, cakes and more throughout the week.
Congratulations must go to Marown on a well run competition which looks like becoming a regular fixture in the bowling calendar to start the season.
New Season Gets Underway
South Ramsey A Team 2017
Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter CollisterFront: John Kennish, David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves
In Division One South Ramsey A start the defence of their title with a visit to Crosby to take on the newly promoted Marown B, who will be looking to make a strong start to the season as they have several players who will be playing in the top tier for the first time. I am confident enough to predict that Marown B will retain their top flight status this season.
Marown A have one addition to their team this season with the addition of Paul Kelly from Douglas, with the Crosby men looking to close the gap to the top and build on last season’s Rayner Shield success, as they start with a visit to take on South Ramsey B.
South Ramsey will have their work cut out to once again prove they have the hunger to win the league for only the third time in their history.
Onchan A will be looking to improve on last season’s third place finish, they begin their season with the visit of Douglas A to Onchan Park.
Peel A have strengthened with the return of Tommy McMeiken. I can definitely see Peel building on last season’s sixth place finish and making the top four, whilst also having the firepower to damage the top three on their own turf.
Douglas B will have a fight on their hands to stay in the top tier this season, having narrowly avoided relegation in 2017. The Villa men commence their season with the visit of North Ramsey A.
Port St Mary A start their campaign with the visit of local rivals Port Erin A, who will hoping to make a better start to the season than they did in 2017, to avoid getting dragged into a relegation fight for another year.
In Division Two there are three A Teams sitting outside the top tier, Ballaugh who got relegated last season, Finch Hill and Nobles who were both relegated in 2016. Out of these Ballaugh are best placed to make an immediate return to Division One, with Nobles having the potential to do so if they field their strongest eight players in their A Team.
Also looking to go straight back up are Castletown B, whilst Onchan B finished runners up last season they will be keen to build on last season’s position.
At the other end of the table Peel C will be hoping to stay up after winning Division Three last season.
In Division Three Marown C now have the benefit of two years league experience behind them and they will be confident of building on their third place finish in 2017.
Douglas D look to have retained their fourth team for another season to give their new players the opportunity to gain vital league experience and improve on last season’s points total.
Finally I hope you have all wintered well and wish everyone an enjoyable season.
World Club Championships
Following their success in retaining the League last season, South Ramsey A have the opportunity to compete in the World Club Championships at Fox Lane, Leyland on Sunday April 8th where they take on Holme (Cumbria).
The competition is played in a group of four teams on a straight knockout basis. The other two teams in the group are Wharton Cons (Cheshire) taking on Eccleston (Merseyside). The winners from each game in the group then play off to qualify for the finals day on Sunday April 22nd.
Ladies Night League & Over 60s Season Preview
Jean Kelly Memorial Winners 2017
Back: Wendy Kennuagh, Chris Price, Kelly Maddrell-Reeve, Margret Tasker, Ann Maddrell, Trish Bull, Val MacFarlane, Win CollisterFront: Jayne Kneen, Katy Maddrell
As we approach the start of the 2018 CTH Insurance Sponsored Ladies Night League and Trend sponsored Over 60s League it is fantastic that we welcome four new teams to bowls. Castletown B into the night league, South Ramsey and Mooragh Park B into the Over 60s League and Finch Hill who are entering the Mixed Team Competition. It is great to see Finch Hill returning with some lady bowlers having last competed in the over 60s league in 2012 and the night league over 10 years ago back in 2005.
Port St Mary dominated the 2017 season winning the Night League, Over 60s League and Jean Kelly with individual success for Ann Maddrell and Val Macfarlane topping the merits. Port St Mary have won the league for the last four years but South Ramsey are close on their tail, closing the gap to just 85 chalks – an average of around 4 points a game. Nobles Over 60s picked up the JMS Shield beating Marown.
The top four teams in the night league have been the same for the last three years and I can only see the battle getting closer. In the over 60s Peel Sunset pushed Port St Mary A all the way and I predict another close encounter this year. A mention to Marown who in 2015 finished bottom of the league and in 2017 finished 6th and will look to further improve in 2018. With a strong set of mentors in Castletown A I can only see their new B team sitting nicely in the league.
The first competition of the season is the re-arranged Non Winners from 2017. This is to be held at Nobles Bowling Club Saturday 7th April players can enter via the website or contact Debbie Leece (debbie.evan@hotmail.co.uk) or Heather Horsburgh (heaho@live.co.uk).
Result Cards
From the start of the new season all night league match cards should be sent electronically as a photo to ladiesresults@iombowls.com as soon as the match finishes. These no longer need to be posted to Heather but please keep hold for a couple of weeks in case of any queries.
Over 60s match cards where possible should be sent as electronic photo to ladiesresults@iombowls.com. However, if this isn’t possible they should be posted to Alison Keggen and rung through to 425242. Anyone at the match, other than the captain, can send this through.
Good luck to all for the 2018 season
Mens Over 60’s Season Preview
Ismay Cup Winners 2017 - Castletown A
Back: Jimmy Young, Collin Holland, Ron Williams, Derek Lewney, Mike Hargraves, Dave Faragher Front: George Foy, Peter Oates, George PeachTuesday 3rd April sees the start of the Men’s Over 60’s Season with last years Champions Castletown A opening with a short trip to Port Erin which could see them having to dig deep to come away with a win. At this time of the year all Greens will be slightly slow and with Port Erin never being the quickest the Castletown men may find themselves under pressure from the home team.
Last seasons runners up Port St Mary A may find themselves with the same difficulties in their trip to Onchan B, again on a Green which is not the quickest and may suit the home team although I do expect the Southerners to come away with a win.
Onchan A travel to Ballaugh A for what could be a very close game and with Ballaugh having a couple of new players I will tip this one for a draw.
Peel Sunset A host Marown A and again I anticipate a tight match here but would expect home advantage to swing things in Peel’s favour but I wouldn’t be confident enough to bet on it.
Nobles A host Peel Sunset C and although the Westerners finished bottom of the table last year I expect them to do much better this term although on this occasion I would expect Nobles to get the win.
Douglas A host Ballaugh B at the ‘Villa’ and although the Douglas side look favourites on paper I think the men from Ballaugh will give them a tough battle.
Castletown B have a home match against Douglas B and again on paper the Castletown Team should be favourites. I expect the Douglas lads will be looking to improve on last years position and will give them a close game.
Port St Mary B host Peel Sunset B which will once again be a tough match and here we have two teams who are used to playing on a challenging Green so this will add to the interest and I am going to sit on the Fence and predict a draw here.
South Ramsey have a visit from Nobles B and I am not sure of the strength of either of these teams this season but will go for South Ramsey to use home advantage and take the points.
Finch Hill A see North Ramsey B coming into Douglas for a game which once again it is difficult to predict because although it is rumoured that Finch Hill have a number of new players we will have to wait and see who turns out on the day.
The last match of the opening Day will actually be played on the Wednesday as the North Ramsey Club are having to play all of April’s matches away from home due to difficulties with their Green at the Mooragh Park. This then sees North Ramsey A travelling to Finch Hill B and I really can’t see the home side being strong enough to beat the Northerners although I am sure that they will give it their best shot.
So that covers the first day of the new season which I think will see an intriguing battle for the League Championship and I think that this time Castletown A may well struggle to hold of the challenge that will be put up by a number of other teams.
I see a much closer battle with Port St Mary A, Peel Sunset A, Onchan A and North Ramsey A all being capable of posing a tough challenge to Castletown A.
Time will tell as to how bad my predictions are so for now polish up your bowls, pray for sunshine and enjoy your bowling.
Juan Kelly Cup
Juan Kelly Cup Winners 2017
David Proctor, Juan Kelly (sponsor), Glenn BolandMarown Bowling Club held an end of season Floodlit competition, hosting the inaugural Juan Kelly Cup, with the format being an any competition doubles, played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the Men’s and Ladies game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place, with a player from each team nominated to play the deciding end.
The competition in this format, attracted a bumper entry of 40 pairs, with some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system played over two qualifying nights, with four pairs qualifying from each night for the quarter finals.
The finals night was held on Wednesday evening, with a live re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night.
The eventual winners were the pairing of David Proctor and Glenn Boland, who mastered the extremely wet conditions, defeating Bethany and John Kennish in the final to a 29-19 score line. Proctor and Boland were superb throughout the whole competition, winning all of their games to comfortable scores.
Losing out in the semi-finals were Clare Cooper and Rebecca Teare 20-22 to the runners up, along with Kim Hargraves and Stefan Kelly 19-27 to the winners.
Losing quarter finalists were Dave Pease and Steve Cook, Thomas Keggen and Dave McCabe, Jenny Moore and James Teare, Lil Smith and Maureen Payne.
At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all those who stayed to support. Juan Kelly then presented the prizes. Spot prizes were also given for highest score in the first round, which also went to David Proctor and Glenn Boland, (37 points) with the biggest break being awarded to Fiona Kennish and Alan Moore (15 points) Credit must also be given to Marown for trying something different, with the excellent entry showing the support for the new format.
South Ramsey Retain Division One
South Ramsey A Team 2017
Back: Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly, Dave 'Dido' Kelly, Alan Moore, Peter CollisterFront: John Kennish, David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves
South Ramsey A retained the Division One title by beating Port St Mary A 6-4. South have been a dominant force all season and fully deserve to win back to back trophies and will look forward to competing in the 2018 World Club Challenge and going for a hattrick of wins next season.
Marown A pushed hard in the second half of the season to chase down South Ramsey but despite their best efforts settle for second place finishing eight points behind the champions.
Onchan A had already guaranteed third position but Douglas A, Port St Mary A and Peel Sunset A were all fighting for fourth position.
Peel slipped to a 8-2 defeat away to Onchan A leaving them to finish sixth. Douglas A picked up a 8-2 win over North Ramsey A but crucially Port St Mary A picked up four points in their defeat at South Ramsey A pipping Douglas by a single point to claim fourth position.
Castletown B finish bottom following their 8-2 loss at Marown A but Ballaugh A, Douglas B or Port Erin A could still finish in the bottom two. Douglas B sat out Wednesday having already completed all their matches so were sweating on the results from their relegation rivals.
Port Erin A who with only a few games to go were rock bottom found good form in their final few matches finishing the season off by defeating South Ramsey B 7-3 and keeping them in the top flight.
That left Ballaugh A, they went to Castletown A knowing they needed three points to jump Douglas B and save their season. On the night they lost two games 21-18 and another 21-17 and could only manage two wins losing 8-2 on the night and leaving them with Castletown B at the bottom.
Colin Kelly collected the division one merit on the final day of the season with David Bradford finishing second and Trevor Quayle third.
Marown B had already confirmed themselves as Champions and finished the season with a 5-5 draw at Peel Sunset B. Onchan B finished seven points behind the men from Crosby with Nobles B third and a further 20 points back.
Nobles B have enjoyed much success this season incredibly finishing nine points ahead of their A team. In their final matches Nobles B went down 7-3 away to Port St Mary B and Nobles A defeated Port Erin B 9-1.
Douglas C finish bottom along with Onchan C.
The division two merit came right down to the wire and Steve Crampton finished top of the shop signing his season off with a 21-9 victory. Kerry ‘Bod’ Boland finished second.
Division three had a great finale with Ballaugh C leading the division by two points ahead of Peel Sunset C. With both teams having one hand on the trophy the fixture list happened to throw them together on the last night of the season.
Ballaugh travelled to Sunset City and the match was close, only separated by eight chalks but it was Peel who won 7-3 and took the third division trophy.
The division three merit was also just as close, Dave Smith led the way but three other people were waiting to pounce should he have lost. Away at Ballaugh B Dave won 21-7 and collected the merit in only his second season of league bowls.
So the curtain has fallen on another fantastic season of league bowls. We thank our Sponsors Ellan Vannin Fuels for their continued support along with all the people behind the scenes that help with the running of the league.
South Ramsey Stay On Course
In week 24 of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored league, South Ramsey A were once again on top form and swept aside the challenge of Castletown A 9-1 and look like they are about to see out the season with the style they have shown throughout its duration.
Onchan A built on their great performance against South Ramsey A last week with a fine 7-3 victory away to Port St Mary A and are seeing out the season with the resilience that you would associate with them.
Second placed Marown A turned in a rock solid performance with 10-0 return over North Ramsey A, this leaves them twelve points behind impending champions but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that gap is much closer at the end of next season with talented young players such as Harry Barton coming through the ranks.
Below the top three the battle for fourth place is closer than any of these teams could have imagined, Peel Sunset A currently occupy fourth spot courtesy of a 7-3 home win over Port Erin A with the visitors turning in some creditable performances,
Douglas A and Port St Mary A are in fifth and six positions on level points and have a five point gap to make up on Peel A who sit out match 25, all will be resolved in the final round of matches on Wednesday night.
Division Two
Leaders Marown B were at home to Onchan C and repeated last week’s 9-1 score-line and have now opened up a ten point gap over second placed Onchan B, the latter had a sloid 7-3 home win over North Ramsey B but anything but a total disaster would see Marown B division 2 champions.
Division Three
Going in to the final round of matches in division three the division has a new leader, Ballaugh C now lead the division by two points thanks to a crushing 9-1 victory over their B team, the final match Peel Sunset C v Ballaugh C on Tuesday is the perfect climax to the season.
Getting the Job ‘Dunn’
Jim Senior Winners 2017
Tom Kelly, Colin Kelly, Paul Dunn & Neil WithersSouth Ramsey held the Income Plus Group sponsored Jim Senior Fours on Sunday. There was a good entry of 10 teams of four taking part, with teams selecting their players to play a doubles game and two singles games to take on opposing teams, with teams rotating at least one player from the doubles matches in each round.
The eventual winners were the team named ‘Getting the Job Dunn’ which was made of Paul Dunn, Colin Kelly, Tom Kelly and Neil Withers, who defeated the South Ramsey team ‘The Chuckers’ in the final, with the team being made up of Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly, Stefan Kelly, Alan Moore and Steven Waters.
In the Doubles match Neil Withers and Tom Kelly defeated Steven Waters and Alan Moore 21-16, whilst in the singles Stefan Kelly beat Paul Dunn 21-12. In the other singles game Colin Kelly had a strong 21-8 win over Dido Kelly to ensure the team were in fact ‘Getting the Job Dunn’ to secure the title for his team.
Losing out in the semi-final to the runners were ‘The Teacaddies’ made up of Lynda & Derek Cadamy, and Philippa & Alec Taylor. Losing out in the other semi-final to the eventual winners were the North Ramsey team ‘Smarticus and the Gladiators’ made up of Tony Smart, Allan Callow, Steve Parker and Steve Walmsley.
The presentation was made by Chas Grills, who thanked the sponsors Income Plus Group, all those who entered the competition and braved the conditions, the Ladies for the refreshments and the club members who assisted throughout the afternoon.
Champion of Champions
The Champion of Champions was held at the Waterloo over the weekend with the Men’s event taking place on Saturday.
South Ramsey’s John Kennish qualified through winning the Manx Championship earlier this year, however Kennish lost out in his first game to Gareth Herbert 21-12.
The eventual winner was Michael Beer who defeated teammate Callum Wraight 21-11 to secure his first Champion of Champions title.
In the semi-final Wraight ended the challenge of hot favourite Greg Smith 21-20 in a fascinating game that will live long in the memory, whilst Beer defeated the newly crowned Autumn Waterloo winner Wayne Ditchfield 21-16 to book his place in the final.
On Sunday in the Ladies event there was more South Ramsey representation, with Shelley Kennish (Manx Championship winner) and Jenny Moore (September Pre Festival winner) who managed to get a late entry due to another player double qualifying for the event.
Kennish won her first game with a 21-19 victory over Lisa Kerford, whilst Moore won by an even closer score line of 21-20 over Jo Webster.
Kennish just lost out 21-18 to the experienced Gay Cooper in the second round, whilst Moore booked her place in the quarter finals courtesy of a strong 21-12 win over Kellie Hill.
In her quarter final game Moore had the tough challenge of facing Emily Kernick, but battled well to only just lose out 21-17.
Losing out in the semi-finals were Nicola Boulton and Emily Kernick.
The eventual winner was Lynsey Gorman who beat Angela Gaut 21-9 in the final.
Marown ‘Mix’ Things Up
Mixed Team Winners 2017 - Marown
Back: John Gelling, Mary Alderson, Shirley Whelan, Lil Smith, Philippa Taylor, Phil KellyFront: Colin Kelly, Neil Withers, Matthew Keggen Paul Dunn
The Ellan Vannin Fuels Mixed League was brought to a conclusion on Thursday evening.
The competition commenced in early May, with 14 teams entering the competition, the teams were split into four groups playing each team in their group home and away, earning two points for a win on chalks, one for a draw. The winners with the most points from each group then qualified for the semi-finals.
The four group winners were South Ramsey A, Port St Mary A, Marown A, and Onchan A. The draw for the semi-finals put South Ramsey A v Marown A and Port St Mary A v Onchan A. The semi-final fixtures were held on neutral greens. Last year’s winners South Ramsey were disposed of comfortably on Noble’s one by Marown, who had a convincing win by 39 points. The other semi-final was a lot closer with Port St Mary booking their place in the final winning by 10 points to book their place in the final.
The final was held on a fantastic Peel green, who were able to show off their new floodlights, against the backdrop of a stunning sunset.
The final got underway with Matthew Keggen first off for Marown, with a 21-18 win over Paul Skelly in a good quality and entertaining game to watch. Second game off was Phil Kelly who overcame the strong challenge of Chris Price to win 21-14 to extend Marown’s lead to 10 chalks. The third game off was Dan McCabe who had a comfortable 21-12 win over Mary Alderson, to reduce the deficit to one chalk for Port St Mary. This was swiftly followed by Neil Withers who won 21-8 defeating Margaret Tasker to extend Marown’s lead to 14 chalks. The last game of the first blocks on the green went to the wire, with Wayne Roberts just getting home with a 21-20 victory over Philippa Taylor, reducing the deficit to 13 chalks.
The second set of games all became vital, with Jayne Kneen leading 15-6 over Paul Dunn, with Dunn having to dig deep to get back into the game, however Kneen managed to get over the line with a 21-15 win to reduce the deficit to seven points for Port St Mary. Ewan Cooil put in a good performance for his team to turn the match on its head with a 21-5 win over Shirley Whelan to swing the match in favour of Port St Mary for the first time on the night by nine chalks. In the penultimate game, it was a blockbuster of a game with the men currently sat first and second in the division one merit facing off. After a slow start Colin Kelly built a commanding 15-6 lead over Trevor Quayle, with Kelly finishing the game off 21-13 to reduce the deficit to one chalk for Marown. At this point the last game of the evening was finely balanced between Lil Smith and Patricia Bull, with the match score being 4-4 on games only a win for Marown’s Lil Smith would do. The game could so easily have gone either way, however Smith wasn’t to be denied and became the hero of the night for her team, getting over the line 21-19 to secure a win by one chalk for Marown, who in doing so secured their first Mixed League title and are the only fifth team to take the title since its inception in 2005.
At the conclusion of play after what was a thrilling final, the presentation was made by the President of the Men’s Association Clare Cooper, who congratulated Marown on their win, thanked the sponsors Ellan Vannin Fuels for their continued support of the competition, Peel for hosting the final, and the spectators who came to support.
Mixed Team 2017 Runners Up – Port St Mary
Back: Paul Skelly, Ewan Cooil, Dan McCabe, Wayne Roberts, Trevor Quayle
Front: Trish Bull, Margret Tasker, Jayne Kneen, Chris Price
