News: Reports
W. A. Roberts Ladies’ Singles
Although there was a strong wind the weather stayed dry and sunny for the W. A. Roberts ladies’ singles, sponsored by Celtic Associates Ltd, played at Port St Mary on Wednesday 9 August. Once again this year the entry was disappointing with 26 players, although what the field lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality.
Quarter-finals: Margaret Tasker 21, Philippa Taylor 14; Katy Williams 21, Caroline Whitehead 15; Kath Kinley 21, Paula Firth 10; Paula Garrett 21, Lin Ruscoe 13
The first semi-final saw two home players facing each other, and early exchanges were evenly matched with the score standing at 11 across after nine ends. However Margaret then powered ahead, with Katy not able to keep hold of the jack on the two occasions she won it, to reach the final 21-13.
In the second semi-final Paula had no answer to Kath’s play despite her valiant efforts, Kath coming through 21-11.
The two players were evenly matched in the final, the score standing at 13-13 after nine ends at which point Kath won the next three ends, giving her a three point lead. A two from Margaret followed by a single from Kath Made the score 17-15 to the Castletown player. After regaining the jack with a two at the next end Margaret refused to relinquish it again, taking the next three ends to win 21-17.
Vice-president, Chris Holland, thanked everyone who had helped during the afternoon particularly Sean on the sheet and the ladies in the kitchen, before introducing Iain Wood, from sponsors Celtic Associates Ltd., to present the prizes.
Iain was pleased to see so many people there and hoped everyone had enjoyed their afternoon. He also said that Celtic Associates Ltd. would be happy to continue to sponsor the event next year.
Howland Pairs Victory for Hargraves and Garrett.
On Friday 4th August the ‘Howland Pairs’ sponsored by Charlie Howland took place at Ballaugh Bowling Club with this event being very well hosted by the Ballaugh Club with their Ladies as ever providing great refreshments.
There was an entry of twenty nine pairs and the Trophy was won by Mike Hargraves and Stuart Garrett who beat John Keenan and John Maddrell 21-10 in the Final.
The losing semi-finalists were George Brew and Chris Penketh who lost 21-19 to the Keenan/Maddrell pairing and Arthur Halsall and Peter Hughes who lost 21-13 to Mike Hargraves and Stuart Garrett.
Many thanks to John Ryder and George Peach who ran the event for the Over 60’s League.
‘Town’ still looking good at the top.
On Thursday 3rd August League Leaders Castletown A travelled to play Ballaugh B in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League and despite some very close games it was the Castletown men who ran out 6-2 winners with Trevor Jones and Ray Parry winning the two for Ballaugh.
Castletown B however did not do quite as well when they hosted Ballaugh A and this time it was the Ballaugh men who took a 5-3 win.
At the ‘Villa’ it was an ‘all Douglas Bowling Club’ event with the B Team taking on the A Team and the A Team took a 7-1 win with Bob Banning being the winner for the B Team.
At Finch Hill the home side lost 6-2 to Nobles Park A with Sefton Dent and Arthur Halsall getting the wins for Finch Hill. The Nobles B Team hosted Marown and the lads from Crosby went back home with a 6-2 win under their belts with Lawrence Doogan and John Clague being the winners for Nobles B.
North Ramsey B lost at home 6-2 to Port St Mary A and the North Ramsey A travelled to Port St Mary B and a very tight match ended in a 4-4 draw with two games ending 21-20 and two ending 21-19.
Onchan A hosted Peel Sunset B at Onchan Park and in another match with some tight games it was the home side that took the victory 5-3.
The Onchan B Team travelled to play Peel Sunset A and once again this match had a 5-3 score line but on this occasion it was to the Peel team.
South Ramsey took the long journey to play Port Erin at Breagle Glen and it was the Southerners who ran out 5-3 victors.
So as we came to Game 32 on Tuesday 8th August the day started wet but cleared beautifully for a sunny afternoons bowls and the sun certainly shone in more ways than one for Ballaugh A as they beat Port St Mary B 8-0.
Ballaugh B travelled South to play a very strong Port St Mary A side and they really gave the Southerners a scare before eventually losing 5-3 to them. The result of the day for Ballaugh has to be the 21-10 by Maurice O’Reilly over the individual Merit leader Chris Oates.
Douglas B lost to Onchan A 7-1 at the Villa with Vic Sewell being the solitary winner for Douglas B and the Douglas A Team went to Onchan Park where they beat Onchan B 5-3.
Finch Hill suffered a home 5-3 defeat to Marown whilst a little further up the road at Nobles Park the Nobles Park A side beat Port Erin by the same 5-3 score.
With a result that hampers Peel Sunset A’s challenge for the top they were defeated 5-3 by North Ramsey A at the Mooragh Park while Peel Sunset B and North Ramsey B played out a 4-4 draw in the Sunset City.
South Ramsey travelled to play Castletown B and the went back to Ramsey after battling to a 4-4 draw with the Castletown side.
So after Game 32 we still see Castletown A maintaining their lead in the League and looking favourites now to win but there are still enough games for the others to catch should the Southerners falter.
Marown C open their account
Rayner Plate Winners 2017
Marown CThe final of the Ron Williams sponsored Rayner Plate competition took place at Finch Hill on Friday evening, between Marown C from the third division and Port Erin B from the second, with the latter having to give their opponents a 16 point handicap advantage.
Things didn’t go well from the start for the southern outfit after they lost two of the opening games, John Kelly beat Derek Allen and Carey Dewhirst defeated Bob Kay, so just 18 to add to their start of 52, thus giving the Crosby outfit a 40 point margin on a tally of 110.
Port Erin took the third game when Ken Horsley got the better off Steven Rundle, before Walter McCarthy extended the division three team’s advantage by a further 18 with victory over Ben Mowle.
The next result was the closest of the night and again it went in favour of Marown, when Gary Weightman won an all-but game against Chris Dent to make it 4-1 and a lead of 53 with just three games to complete.
Port Erin were victorious in two of them, when Ed Benson beat John Kelly and Derek Cadamy won to 18 against Conor Keenan, but another good win for Marown – a 21-7 success for Stuey Clague against Alan Crebbin, saw the division three outfit cruise home with a margin of 57 and a total of 220, Port Erin trailing on 163.
So the Marown C side have won their first trophy and follow in the footsteps of their A team who won the Rayner Shield just seven days earlier.
The presentation was made by Ron Williams the sponsor, who was welcomed on to the green by Steve Moore on behalf of the competition committee. Ron thanked all those who helped and Finch Hill for an excellent playing surface, he then introduced the Marown C captain Steve Rundle, who offered his commiserations to Port Erin B and reiterated all the thanks; before congratulating his team.
Barbara Lee IOM Ladies’ Merit
The weather was not kind for the Barbara Lee IOM Ladies’ Merit which was played on Sunday 6 August at Ballaugh. There was an entry of 21 players of all ages, with several juniors taking part, many from Mooragh Park which had been Barbara’s last club.
In the preliminary round the toughest match saw Madison McMullen come through 21-20 against Tricia Bull, while in the first round Fiona Kennish edged out Lil Smith 21-19.
Three of the quarter-finals were relatively one-sided but the other saw a mother-daughter battle going all the way with Elaine Moore having the better of Jenny Moore 21-20.
Quarter-finals: Elaine Moore 21, Jenny Moore 20; Janet Monk 21, Kim Hargraves 12; Helen Martin 21, Caroline Whitehead 2; Fiona Kennish 21, Lin Ruscoe 5.
In the first semi-final Elaine made the better start, leading 12-2 after twelve ends before Janet started to slowly reel in the deficit pulling back to 15-16 after 26 ends, then levelling at 17’s..Two singles from Janet followed by a two from Elaine left them 19-19, a further two singles giving Janet the game 21-19.
If possible the second semi-final was even more tense. After eight ends Fiona had a 7-1 advantage while Helen had the better of the next few ends levelling at 10-10. Again Fiona forged ahead, leading 19-12 after 24 ends, before Helen took the next five ends and a 20-19 lead. Fiona won the next end, but could not take another, Helen going through to the final 21-20.
The outcome of the final was in doubt to the very end, with both players having winning streaks throughout. Janet started with 5 singles before Helen got on the scoreboard. She then won eleven of the next twelve ends to lead 15-7. Then it was Janet’s turn as she won the next seven ends to just edge a lead of 16-15.The ends were then shared with Janet taking the trophy 21-19, the first person to win it twice as she had been the first winner in 2009.
Association president, Rosie Winckle, thanked the Ballaugh club for the use of their facilities and their help during the afternoon.
JMS Veteran’s Shield Semi-finals
Mooragh Park’s terrific run in the JMS Veteran’s shield finally came to an end when they faced a rampant Marown on Thursday 3 August. They did deny their opponents a full house as Peggy Freeman edged out Shirley Whelan 21-20, but although they fought well, with three of their players reaching double figures, they did not amass sufficient points for their handicap to pull them through .
Things were much closer in the other semi-final. Port Erin won four of the six games, but there were some very close games. Lin Ruscoe lost out 18-21 to Phil Dobson, while two games went all the way with Carol Kaye edging out Pat Dacre 21-20 and in reply Shirley Fargher coming through against Voirrey Curphey by the same score. The final score of 117-107 to the home side was not enough to see them through once Nobles’ 15 point advantage on handicap kicked in.
SEMI-FINAL: MOORAGH PARK 124, MAROWN 150: Handicap 50, Handicap 25; Peggy Freeman 21, Shirley Whelan 20; Moira Anderson 10, Mary Alderson 21; Ellie Cowell 15, Margaret Scarffe 21; Anne Kean 7, Philippa Taylor 21; Linda Morgan 9, Mair Moore 21; Frances Radcliffe 12, Celia Joughin 21;
PORT ERIN 127, NOBLES 132: Handicap 10, Handicap 25; Carol Kaye 21, Pat Dacre 20; Phil Dobson 21, Lin Ruscoe 18; Mavis Franks 21, Sylvia Kennaugh 15; Voirrey Curphey 20, Shirley Fargher 21; Sylvia Shelbourne 13, Viv Cook 21; Jacqui Elliott 21, Flo Price 12;
The final of the JMS Veteran’s Shield will take place at Finch Hill on Thursday 17 August starting at 10.30am, with both teams playing off their home handicaps.
Marown (+20) v Nobles (+20)
C Tarleton Hodgson Ladies’ League 2 August and 4 August
It is tight at the top of the table in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored league, and the matches on Wednesday 2 August saw non-of the top three teams gaining an advantage as they all ended with similar scores. The meeting between the top two teams saw second placed Castletown with a 5-4 advantage on games, with Kath Kinley winning to single figures, while Port St Mary had two winners to single figures in Ann Maddrell and Margaret Tasker. The rest of the games were close with Kellie Maddrell-Reeve reaching 19 against Kim Foy and Jayne Kneen reaching the same score against Sue Peach, the final score showing the home team winning by six points. South Ramsey in third place gained just one point on the leaders when they visited Port Erin, where they won six games, three to single figures. Wins by Jacqui Elliott, to single figures, Caroline Whitehead and Carol Kaye for the visitors kept the home side’s score down.Mooragh Park had a comfortable win against Onchan, who were unfortunately a player short, winning 7-2, the two winners for Onchan being Jo Smith and Sue Gawne, while Libby Andrade reached 20 against Gill Morgan. Alison Keggen and Jayne Smith were the two winners for Nobles when they visited Marown, while Sylvia Kennaugh reached 18 against Rosie Winckle. Peel Sunset had a successful journey to Ballaugh, where the home side had two winners in Pat Mason and Christine Macdonald. Sue Jones and Mary Moffatt won to single figures while Heather Horsburgh and Shirley Corrin came through 21-19 against Brenda Bowyer and Barbara Graham respectively. With three wins to single figures a 5-4 win on games saw Douglas with a comfortable victory over Purt le Moirrey. The feature game of the match saw Tracy Moore edge out Brenda Williams 21-19.
Friday 4 August
With just two games left to play after tonight, Port St Mary’ lead looks fairly safe, but not unassailable. The real battle is for second place, where South Ramsey have now leap-frogged over Castletown and have a seven point advantage over them.
South Ramsey were in determined mood when they visited Onchan, winning all nine games, three to single figures. Once again Libby Andrade lost out 20-21, this time to Lauren Groen. Port St Mary were also in ruthless form on their visit to Nobles, winning six games, five of them to single figures, Sylvia Kennaugh nearly giving Nobles a fourth game reaching 18 against Ann Maddrell. Nobles’ three winners were Jayne Smith, Alison Keggen and Lin Ruscoe. Castletown visited Peel Sunset and came away with a comfortable points win although they did not have it all their own way as the home side won four games with Mary Moffatt winning to single figures. However Castletown won three of their games to single figures. There were some close games, in particular between Pat Robertson and Hilary Kermode where Pat came through 21-20.Port Erin and Marown slugged it out in a hard fought battle where all eighteen players reached double figures. The visitors had the better of it 5-4 on games and a winning margin of one point. The game between Carole Kaye and Celia Joughin could have gone either way, Celia taking it 21-19.Douglas won 5-4 at Ballaugh with Jan Osborne and Paula Garrett winning to single figures, as did Christine Macdonald and Brenda Bowyer for the home side. Pat Mason and Sue Caley had a good tussle before Sue came through 21-20.Mooragh Park won 6-3 at Purt le Moirrey, keeping the home side’s score down with three wins to single figures. Roma Ware almost gave Purt le Moirrey a fourth game, reaching 20 against Diana White.
Ladies’ over 60’s Tuesday 1 August
Peel Sunset fell just two points short of a maximum in the Trend sponsored ladies’ over 60’s league on Tuesday 1 August, when Moira Anderson came from behind to pip Lynda Wilson 21-19. Anne Keane was the other Mooragh Park player to reach double figures scoring 15 against Cath Parker. Port St Mary A had a tough struggle at Marown, winning 4-2 on games, the two winners for the home side being Mary Alderson and Philippa Taylor. Val Macfarlane had a good win to single figures, but with the other three Marown players reaching high double figures the winning margin was just 6 points. Nobles had two winners in Lin Ruscoe and Shirley Fargher, to single figures, when they travelled south to face Breagle, but with four winners, two to single figures, the home side took the match, passing the 100 point mark. Ballaugh also won four games against Douglas whose two winners were Sue Caley, to single figures, and Jan Osborne. Ann Gale and Kath King had a ding-dong battle with Ann coming through 21-18.With Onchan unfortunately being a player short their match with Port St Mary B was drawn on games. With Pauline Worrall winning to single figures, and Onchan only able to record five scores, the home side had a comfortable points win. The match at Villa was also drawn on games. Two of the games were close with Sue Peach reaching 19 against Pat Kelly and in reply Kay McKiernan scored 18 against Anne Oates, but with Ann Hollingworth and Barbara Young winning to single figures, Castletown had the advantage on points.
Marown A Fight On
Second placed Marown A took on third place Onchan A this week in the Ellan Vannin Fuels Crown Green Division 1. Only four points separated the two teams before play and with Marown not finishing outside of the top 2 since 1995 there was a lot at stake for them to bolster their position and continue to chase down leaders South Ramsey.
Marown got off to a great start winning the first four games with Neil Withers winning 21-3 to remain undefeated in the 2017 campaign. Colin Kelly 21-7, Paul Dunn 21-12 and Phil Kelly 21-12 all put in solid performances to give Marown a 4-0 lead. Onchan looked to rally in the second half and did just that with Matthew Quirk winning 21-9 against John Gelling. Matthew Keggen lead Rob Monk 19-11 and looked set to close the game out before a momentum shift and Rob took the game back to 18-19 before Matthew closed the game out to win 21-19. Bob Clark defeated two time Manx Champion Kevin Quirk 21-19 to take the score to 6-1 with the final game between Mark Moorely and Jordan Cain left on the green. At 16-16 Jordan managed to get on a run to run out winner 21-16 picking up another point for Onchan. The match finished 6-2 (151-113) and overall 8-2 victory.
South Ramsey A would have been looking to extend their lead over Marown on their visit to relegation threatened Douglas B. South as expected dominated the game. Douglas did pick up a valuable couple of points with Jimmy Sansom and Andy Cannell winning for the home side. South won the match 8-2 (151-91).
After a tough couple of weeks Peel Sunset A put in a fine performance to defeat North Ramsey A 9-1 (164-115). Douglas A made the trip South to Port Erin and won 10-0 in a result which now places them in fifth position ahead of Peel.
Port St Mary A moved into third position after beating Castletown B 10-0. Port St Mary have played a game more than fourth placed Onchan but will are still well in the mix to finish in the top 3. Trevor Quayle also won to maintain his 100% league record.
Completing the Division 1 fixtures are South Ramsey B who defeated Ballaugh A 10-0.
In Division 2 Marown B travelled to fellow promotion candidates Nobles B who were only four points behind before the match. Marown put a marker down winning 8-2 to move 10 points clear and leave Nobles in third position. Onchan B made sure there were no slip ups beating Douglas C 9-1. Onchan B and Marown B are tied on 113 points and the battle for top spot looks set to go down to the wire. Nobles B won’t give up their fight for promotion easily and with Marown B and Onchan B due to play each other next week it could be an opportunity to close the gap.
At the bottom Douglas C and Onchan C are too far back and both look set to finish there come September.
Peel Sunset C still lead the way in Division 3 but the battle for second place is tight with only six points separating second to sixth position.
Marown Win Record Equalling Rayner Shield
Rayner Shield Winners 2017 - Marown A
Back: Ian Kissack, Paul Dunn, John Gelling, Phil KellyFront: Matthew Keggen, Colin Kelly, Neil Withers
Missing: Dean Kipling
The Canada Life International Rayner Shield final was held at Douglas Bowling Club on Friday evening, between South Ramsey A and Marown A in a match which was billed as ‘Thriller at the Villa’, with the current top two teams on the Island going head to head it certainly lived up to its billing. The green was in superb condition, especially considering the weather we have had this week.
First off the green for South Ramsey was John Kennish, who stormed to a 21-6 win over Dean Kipling with the score not really reflecting the game. Hitting straight back for Marown was Colin Kelly who had a resounding 21-5 win over Chas Grills. The third game off was David Bradford, who after being 14-5 up Ian Kissack managed to pull the score back to 14-10 down, before Bradford seen the game out 21-10. Next off was Glynn Hargraves who defeated Matthew Keggen 21-6 to give the Ramsey men a 3-1 lead at the half way point with a 25 advantage on chalks, it looked like the Shield would be heading North for a third consecutive year.
Marown had other ideas and hit back in the second half of the match, knowing unless they had a couple of big wins they would need to win the match 5-3 on games, as the chalks heavily favoured South Ramsey.
Fifth game off was Phil ‘Rambo’ Kelly v Alan Moore, who pulled out a superb bowl when 13-7 down with Moore lying two. From there Rambo came back from 17-12 and 19-14 down to see the game out 21-19 to give the Crosby men some hope. With the tension building around the green the next game off was John Gelling v Dido Kelly, with Gelling having a commanding 14-5 lead Kelly got himself back into the game with a good run to level the scores at 18-18, with Kelly lying two good bowls Gelling played a superb bowl to win the end and take a further two singles to win 21-18. In the penultimate game and one of three key games in the second half with the games being so finely balanced, it was Paul Dunn v Stefan Kelly, with Dunn behind all game at 13-7 and 17-13. With the score at 18-15 to Kelly, who had two bowls inside 18 inches Dunn played a superb bowl to win the end, and then finished the game on a longer length mark to see the game out with a vital 21-18 win. This left Marown needing only one more chalk to secure a great comeback and a famous victory with Neil Withers being 20-9 up over Peter Collister, Withers quickly took a 21-11 victory to secure the Rayner Shield for the Crosby men.
The presentation was made by Adrian Skinner on behalf of the competition committee, who thanked the sponsors for their continued support all those who helped and Douglas for preparing an excellent playing surface, he then introduced Marown captain Neil Withers, who offered his commiserations to South Ramsey and congratulated his team for their efforts on what was a great comeback.
Marown’s win sees them draw level with outright leaders Onchan on 15 Shield victories.