News: Reports
Douglas Stun Marown
With South Ramsey A sitting out the Monday evening fixtures it was a good opportunity for the chasing teams to close the gap on the league leaders in the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored League Division One.
Marown had the pleasure of visiting Douglas A at the Villa. The home team performed magnificently to take a 7-3 win over the Crosby men, with three of the home players holding their nerve gaining vital wins for their team in close games. Green keeper Ian Moore won 21-17, followed closely by Stuart Garrett who won 21-19. Andy Kennish also got over the line with a 21-18 victory over Mark Moorley, who was marginally in front lying two at a critical point in the game, with Kennish hitting a strike to turn the game in his favour. Neil Withers edged his game 21-18 over Keith Rise, with Mervin Sayle & Colin Kelly both winning 21-8.
Onchan A also had a tough fixture, away to Castletown A & this proved to be very much the case. From the first four jacks Onchan stormed into a 3-1 lead, with Mike Thomas winning to single figures, followed up by father and son Kevin & Matthew Quirk both winning comfortably. Castletown pulled a game back with Derek Lewney scraping home 21-20 over Jordan Cain, who had come back from 20-16 down to 20-20 playing a long length. Cain led a good lead to the side of the jack last end, before Lewney made sure he reached with his bowl to trail the block. This gave the home side a boost for the last four blocks, with Juan Kermode coming close, before losing out 18-21 to Adrian Skinner. Nathan Cooil took on Rob Monk in a great encounter to watch with both players trying different lengths, before Cooil settled on a shorter length to go 13-6 up. From there Monk pulled the score back to 15-16, before Cooil managed to see the game out to take a 21-16 victory. Peter Slinger took on George Peach , with Slinger getting into a great position to go 14-6 up. From there Peach dragged himself back into the game to get the score back to 18-18, before Slinger got back in to go 19-18 up. Peach then took the win by taking three singles to see the game out. Captain Ian Watson took on undefeated Rob Cowley, in doing so gave a captains innings to recover from 11-15 behind to take the win 21-16. Onchan managed to take the overall victory thanks to gaining the two bonus points for the aggregate.
Port Erin A had the short trip to take on Port St Mary A on a tricky green, with the visitors managing to take two points off the home team, thanks to David Cain & Dave McCabe winning to 18 & 19 respectively, despite having to give a game away.
Peel A were at home to South Ramsey B who will have been delighted to take two points off the home team thanks to George Brew & Tony Dugdale both winning 21-20. Peel will have been disappointed to lose out on a maximum by only two chalks.
North Ramsey A sent Douglas B back home with their tails between their legs by taking a 9-1 victory over the visitors, whilst Ballaugh A hosted Castletown B with the home side taking the victory 7-3.
Wednesday evening was played in fine weather once again, with South Ramsey A back in action having sat out the previous round of fixtures, with the trek down south of the Island to take on Port St Mary A, which hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Ramsey men over the past few years. The visitors put in an assured performance on a green which is in excellent condition to take a 7-3 victory over the home team with five good wins, the two aggregate points to seal a fine victory.
Marown got over the disappointment of Monday’s result to take what looked like a strong 9-1 away win over Castletown B, just missing out on the maximum by only three chalks, with Ron Williams the lone winner, however it could have been very different with two of the Marown men Phil Kelly and Paul Dunn holding their nerve to win 21-20 for the visitors.
North Ramsey A played their second home fixture of the week taking on Douglas A this time, in doing so securing a 6-4 win thanks to winning the aggregate by six chalks.
South Ramsey B made it a miserable journey home to Port Erin by winning 9-1 over their rivals, in doing putting a bit of breathing spacing between themselves and the bottom three teams.
Ballaugh A took four points off visitors Castletown A, who managed to reverse their result from Monday with a 6-4 victory. Ballaugh will have been pleased with their weeks work.
In division two this week Onchan B held on to top spot thanks to a 6-4 home win against Nobles B.
Looking at how the Nobles teams are performing I can’t help but feel that they have players in their B who should be in their A. Time will tell if this will ultimately cost them a place back in the top flight.
Marown B kept in touch at the top thanks to a 6-4 win over Port St Mary C, who will have been pleased to have taken four points off the home team.
Peel B closed the gap by a point thanks to a 7-3 away win at Finch Hill A, to now sit just three points off top spot.
At the other end of the table Douglas C are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table following a 3-7 loss at home to Port St Mary B, whilst the team closing to them, Onchan C continue to struggle with a 8-2 loss at Nobles A. The bottom two look likely to go down with Onchan C now 11 points from safety with nearly a third of the season played.
In division three Ballaugh C continued their rise to the top with a 10-0 victory over Finch Hill B, with a game in hand they can take over at the top.
Marown C and Peel C both won 6-4 thanks to home wins against Ballaugh B and South Ramsey D respectively, South Ramsey were only four chalks from a maximum with two of their players losing out 19-21 to the visiting Douglas D players. The newly formed Douglas D Team continue to impress me with their individual scores in their debut season.
Last and by no means least Peel D had a 7-3 home win over Castletown C.
Capital International Cup
Port Erin hosted their mixed doubles competition on Sunday with 34 pairs taking part.
The eventual winners were the South Ramsey duo of Shelley Kennish and Sid Bolton beating Alison Keggen (Nobles) and Neil Withers (Marown) 21-15.
Kennish and Bolton got through their semi-final with a 21-17 victory over home greeners Mavis Franks and Bernard Thackrah. In the other semi final Keggen and Withers ended the challenge of Caroline and Steve Parker winning 21-19.
Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Lyn Bolton and Trevor Quayle, Shirley and Gordon Corrin, Voirrey Curphey and Seamus Whelan, Phil Dobson and Chris Dent.
At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by the sponsor Darren Ward of Capital International, who expressed his delight at the varied age range playing bowls.
Gladys Cowell ladies’ over 60’s competition
There was a disappointing field of 22 at Peel, on Saturday 13 May, for the Gladys Cowell Over 60’s competition sponsored by Gladys’ grandson Nigel Rawlinson. However, as the competitors said, what the entry lacked in quantity was more than made up for by the quality! The standard of play and some very close matches confirmed the truth of that statement.
The horrible weather during the morning cleared to give a reasonable afternoon, although it was beginning to get very cold for the final stages.
Quarter-finals: Mary Moffatt 21, Margaret Tasker 6; Philippa Taylor 21, Libby Andrade 14; Maureen Payne 21, Tricia Bull 10; Rosie Winckle 21, Celia Joughin 16.
Both semi-finals were tense affairs. In the first Philippa had the better of the early exchanges, taking a lead of 13-8 before Mary won three of the next four ends to close to13-14. Once again Philippa took control and looked a shoo-in to win the game at 19-14, but Mary dug in to win the next six ends and move into the final. In the other semi-final things were pretty even for the first half of the game with Maureen 13-12 ahead after nine ends, before winning three of the next four ends to lead 17-13, when Rosie upped her game to level at 17-17.However Maureen won the next three ends to book her place in the final.
Semi-finals: Mary Moffatt 21, Philippa Taylor 19; Maureen Payne 21, Rosie Winckle 17.
In the final Maureen was ruthless racing to a 16-7 lead after nine ends, but as she showed in her semi-final, Mary is a fighter and scored 7 on her next four ends to get back within two points, before Maureen finally ran out the winner 21-15.
The presentation was made by club president, Heather Horsburgh, who congratulated the players and thanked everyone who had helped during the afternoon.
Trio at the top.
On Thursday 4th May Castletown A welcomed Ballaugh B to the Islands former Capital and the Southerners soon showed their intention of hanging on to their lead as they beat the men from Ballaugh 8-0.
Castletown’s B Team travelled in the other direction to play Ballaugh A and this time it was Ballaugh A who won 6-2 in a match which saw a close game between Bob Unsworth and Juan Kermode which Bob eventually won 21-19.
At the Villa Marina Douglas A played Douglas B with the A Team emerging as 6-2 winners with Arthur Ashcroft and Malcolm Black being the two winners for the B Team.
Nobles B travelled along the T.T Course to Marown where the Crosby men beat them 7-1 with Geoff Crellin being the only winner for Nobles by beating Steve Bridson 21-15.
The Nobles A side hosted Finch Hill and the home side took a 5-3 win in a match which could easily have gone either way as there were some very close games.
North Ramsey A beat Port St Mary B 6-2 while the North Ramsey B Team travelled to the South to play Port St Mary A and again the Southerners took the points with a 5-3 win while the other Northern Team South Ramsey hosted Port Erin and this time it was the Northerners who took the points with a 6-2 win.
Onchan B took on Peel Sunset A at Onchan Park and this ended in a hard fought 4-4 draw whilst the Onchan A side went to the Sunset City to take a 5-3 win from Peel Sunset B.
Game 11.
With League Leaders Castletown A having a bye for this game there was a chance for the chasing Teams to close the gap and by the end of the afternoon two of the top teams had done exactly that.
Onchan A were hosting Douglas B and the former men showed that they were determined to chase hard for the title this year as they beat the Douglas side 7-1 with Bob Banning being the only winner with a 21-20 victory over Colin Hinds. Vic Sewell of the Douglas B side needs credit for pushing Mike Thomas in their game with Vic who has just returned from illness played well to eventually lose 21-19.
Onchan B travelled the short journey to the Villa to play Douglas A and they brought ‘double trouble’ to the Douglas Club as they went back up the hill to Onchan with a 5-3 victory despite a spirited comeback in the second half by the men from the Villa.
Another ‘tip for the top’ this year are Nobles A and they travelled to Port Erin to take part in a match with some very close games but the Nobles A Team held their nerves despite pressure from Port Erin to eventually run out 6-2 winners with a score line that doesn’t appear to do justice to the Southerners.
Peel Sunset A hosted North Ramsey A and the home side put on a strong performance to win 6-2 while the Peel Sunset B side were visitors to the Mooragh Park where they beat North Ramsey B 5-3. The Westerners C Team visited Nobles Park B where they lost 6-2 with their two wins coming from Clyde Quine and Bert (the bowler) Quayle.
Elsewhere Ballaugh B put on a good show to get a draw at home to a strong Port St Mary A side while the Ballaugh A Team got the same result against Port St Mary B at Port St Mary.
A strong performance at home from Marown saw them take an 8-0 victory over Finch Hill and Castletown B beat South Ramsey 5-3.
So after a sunny afternoons bowls there were three teams equal on points at the top of the League with eighteen points, these being Castletown A, Nobles A and Onchan A who are then followed by Marown and Port St Mary A both on 16 points.
Ismay Cup
Wednesday the 3rd May saw the Round one of the Ismay Cup taking place and saw South Ramsey lose 4-5 to Port St Mary A while Nobles A defeated Marown 7-2. In the South Castletown B beat Peel Sunset B 7-2 whilst in Douglas the Douglas A side lost 7-2 to North Ramsey A.
Mini Cup
In the Quarter Finals of the Mini Cup Peel Sunset C lost 3-6 to Finch Hill and Port Erin beat Port St Mary B 5-4 whilst North Ramsey B beat Douglas B 7-2 and Onchan B beat Nobles B 6-3.
Onchan Ladies’ Singles
Onchan Ladies Singles Winner 2017
Paula FirthThere was an entry of 29 for the Onchan ladies’ singles which was played on Wednesday 10 May on a warm and sunny afternoon. The green was running well, if a little heavier than some players were used to.
The players relished the warm conditions and there were some very competitive games played in a friendly atmosphere.
Quarter finals: Lil Smith 21, Lynda Cadamy 20; Chris Price 21, Margaret Tasker 17; Philippa Taylor 21, Lynda Clarke 19; Paula Firth 21, Sylvia Kennaugh 17.
After the very even quarter finals the semis were a little disappointing as the two eventual finalists upped their game and their opponents perhaps ran out of steam a little, although this did not detract from their fine play throughout the afternoon..
Semi-finals: Chris Price 21, Lil Smith 12; Paula Firth 21, Philippa Taylor 13.
In the final Paula was on fire, determined to lift the trophy that she had already won three times in the past. This showed in the quality of her play to which Chris, despite her best efforts, could find no answer.
Final: Paula Firth 21, Chris Price 11
The presentation was made by the club’s lady captain, Libby Andrade, who thanked all those who had entered on an afternoon when the weather could not have been better. Thanks also went to those whose efforts ensured the smooth running of the event, the men who measured and the ladies responsible for the refreshments.
Jean Kelly Memorial Team Handicap
The quarter finals of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap competition took place on Thursday 11 May. Nobles played host to Mooragh Park, whose 35 point handicap advantage could not stop the progress of their opponents who were on brilliant form, dropping just one point thanks to Rosemary Quirk coming through 21-20 against Alison Keggen. Having recently had a close battle against Marown, where they won by just two points, Peel Sunset did not feel confident about facing them again, particularly as they started with a 25 point advantage. The visiting players struggled to come to terms with the Peel green, only Mary Alderson and Shirley Whelan winning their games, although Lil Smith came close reaching 20 against Joyce Kelly. Port Erin were very much in the ascendancy against Purt Le Moirrey, winning six games,four of them to single figures. The three winners for the visitors were Roma Ware, Linda Dawson and Tracy Moore who just edged Lynda Cadamy 21-20. Rita Callister almost gave her side a fourth game reaching 20 against Voirrey Curphey. The fourth match looked very tasty as last year’s winners faced the reigning league champions with a 10 point start on handicap. Port St Mary took five games to Castletown’s four, but with three of their players winning to single figures they had a big enough points lead to make the handicap irrelevant.
Ladies’ over 60’s league Tuesday 9 May
There were two maximums posted in the Trend sponsored ladies’ over 60’s league on Tuesday 9 May. Port St Mary A were quite ruthless against their club colleagues, Port St Mary B. Tricia Bull and Val Macfarlane both won to single figures while the main resistance came from Chris Holland who reached 18 against Win Collister. Douglas rued their visit to Port Erin as the home side showed them no mercy, winning all six games, two of them to single figures. Sue Caley came closest to giving the visitors a game, reaching 19 against Jean Thackrah. There were two close games in the west when Maureen Payne and Wendy McDowell, for Onchan, won to 19 and 18 against Heather Horsburgh and Cath Parker to keep Peel Sunset just 5 points short of a full house. Castletown won 4-2 on games at Marown in a match where all six players gained double figures, Mair Moore coming closest to levelling the games score when she reached 18 against Joy Stephens. Mooragh Park fought well at Ballaugh, with wins by Moira Anderson, to single figures, and Ann Chapman,while it was a nail-biter at Villa,where the match ened as a draw on games with the home side snatching victory by one point.
Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 4 May
Four teams shared the top score of 116 points, and with another four clubs passing the 100 point mark it was a high scoring morning. Peel travelled to face champions Port St Mary A and managed to win two games, courtesy of Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt, while Lynda Wilson reached 20 against Kath Looney. Jenny Cain spoiled the party for Villa, being the lone winner for Breagle, although Hesba Skelly almost added a second game as she just lost out 19-21 to Mary Black. Onchan were in storming form against Ballaugh who had just the one winner in Voirrey Oates while Ellie Cowell was the sole winner for Mooragh Park against Port Erin. Port St Mary B were a player short at Castletown but did come away with two wins from Brenda Hawkard and Chris Holland who edged out Joy Stephens 21-20. The closest match of the morning was at Nobles where the match ended level on games with a win to single figures for each team. The stand-out game saw Josie Harding just come through 21-20 against Marcia Pearson in a match which saw a win for the away side by 3 points.
Ladies’ over 60’s Tuesday 2 May
Breagle may have wondered whether their journey north, in the Trend sponsored over 60’s league on Tuesday 2 May, had been worthwhile, as their opponents, Marown, finished the morning with a full house. However with all six players reaching double figures the visitors ended with a respectable points total. Things were much tighter at Douglas where it ended level on games, with two games won to single figures by each side. .Douglas made the most of home advantage coming through to win by one point. At Ballaugh Peggy Griffin was the lone winner for the home side, denying Port St Mary A a maximum while at Peel good wins by Barbara Young and Ann Hollingworth kept the home team’s score down. Port St Mary B drew on games with Nobles, but with Sylvia Kennaugh winning to single figures and all the Nobles’ players reaching double figures the visitors ended with a fair points advantage. It was also close at Port Erin, where the home side won by just eight points.
Ladies’ league Friday 5 May
With the match between Castletown and South Ramsey being held over until Tuesday 9 May, there were only five matches played in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 5 May.
Three teams passed the 170 point mark with Nobles falling just short on 169. Top scorers were Port St Mary with 178, as only Celia Joughin from the Marown team managed to take a game off them.
On 174 were two teams, Port Erin and Peel Sunset. Douglas had two winners in Paula Garrett an Jan Osborne, with Mary Black almost adding a third as she reached 19 against Caroline Whitehead, but with three games won to single figures Port Erin finished with a healthy points margin.
It was a similar tale at Peel with Edwina Reid and Tracy Moore being the two winners for Purt le Moirrey. The game of the match saw Sarah Quirk come back from 17-6 down to just edge out Lesley Coker 21-20.Onchan had three winners against Ballaugh but with each of their other players being unable to reach double figures their opponents ended with a big points difference.
For Onchan the only way is up, and with a lot of new talent on show it will be interesting to see their results this time next year.
Mooragh Park are another club who have had to rebuild, and already they are beginning to be a force to be reckoned with. Although well beaten on points by Nobles, they did win four of the nine games.