News: Reports
Over 60’s Men’s 2017 Season Preview.
The eagerly awaited 2017 Crown Green Over 60’s Men’s Bowls Season begins on Tuesday 4th April with the League having one extra Team added, this being Ballaugh B.
Although some of the participants may have been playing for many years their enthusiasm never wains and with the addition of new players who have reached the ‘magic age’ of sixty we look forward to an exciting season with some very good bowls as always from our ‘senior competitors’.
To predict who may be challenging for the League Title we obviously have to look at last years Champions Castletown A who were taken ‘right down to the wire’ by Port St Mary A with both finishing with sixty eight points but Castletown edging it on chalks. It would be a brave man who would write either of these Teams off and I firmly believe that they both have to be considered as equal favourites.
Historically Castletown have won the League every year since 2008 with the exception of 2015 when they were pipped to the post by North Ramsey A who slipped to eighth place last year hampered by the fact that they had to play their ‘home games’ on the South Ramsey Green due to a problem with their Green at the Mooragh Park. The northerners are back on their home Green this year and will be looking to mount a challenge once more as will their northern neighbours at South Ramsey who on their day are capable of beating anyone.
If however I were to name the Team that I think will mount a serious challenge to last years top two I would nominate Nobles A who finished in third spot last season and have some very good consistent players who will be motivated to move to a higher league position. A good test of Nobles A strength will be on the third match of the season when they entertain Castletown A at Nobles Park.
If however I were to choose my ‘Match of the Day’ for the opening day on the 4th April I would go for Peel Sunset A v Marown with both teams being more than capable of getting in the mix and challenging for the title. I will put my head on the block and tip Peel Sunset A to just edge this one with the advantage of playing on their home green.
Although I have mentioned a few teams I believe that this year may see a number of teams battling it out to the end for the title and possible even a surprise winner but only time will tell.
Well with nothing left for me to do now but to wish all players and teams the best of luck and enjoyable bowling and for some of us to work on our excuses such as ‘the green was too heavy’, or ‘ he was lucky’ and perhaps we can hear some more original ones for 2017.
Wishing good bowling to all for the 2017 Season.
South Ramsey Trio Triumph
With no open competitions on Saturday, there was a good entry of 66 at Port St. Mary for the C. Tarleton Hodgson & Son Ltd sponsored Mixed Triples Jubilee Cup on Sunday.
Eventual winners after five tough games were the South Ramsey trio of Kim Hargraves, Glynn Hargraves and Dido Kelly, with a 21-14 victory under the floodlights over last year’s winners Lyn Bolton (South Ramsey), Sid Bolton (South Ramsey) and Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary).
Losing out in the semi finals to the eventual winners were homegreeners Chris Price, Wayne Roberts and Ewan Cooil 21-16.
In the other semi final Janet Monk (Mooragh Park), Robert Monk (Onchan) and Jordan Cain (Onchan) were unlucky to lose out 21-18.
The presentation was made by club President Ken Karran, who thanked the sponsors, everyone involved, from the team who prepared the excellent green and surrounds to the club members who ran the competition, not forgetting the ladies who provided the refreshments throughout the day.
Marown Teams Make Strong Start
Despite the poor weather conditions Marown A got their season off to a solid start with a 9-1 win at home to Douglas B. The visiting team would have been disappointed not to have taken one or two more points off the home team having lost out 21-19 & 21-20 with both the Douglas players letting commanding leads slip away.
Defending champions South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against local rivals North Ramsey A with the ‘North’ men taking two points off the home team & running close in a couple of other games.
Douglas A shrugged off the disappointment off losing over half of last year’s team with a comfortable 9-1 victory over a visiting Ballaugh team who tend to struggle on their travels. Onchan A matched the Villa side with a 9-1 scoreline.
South Ramsey B made the trek to Port St Mary & will have been pleased to have taken three points off the home team, who don’t drop many points on their home turf.
Castletown A used their home advantage to take a 6-4 victory over Peel A, with the result being 4-4 on games, but just edging out Peel by one chalk to take the crucial aggregate to gain the two ‘bonus’ points.
In the second division Marown B had an excellent start to their season having beat Finch Hill A 9-1 away from home.
Nobles A came closest to matching Marown B with a 7-3 victory, dropping only six chalks.
Peel B started their season with a 7-3 win over Onchan B, however this doesn’t tell the whole story with only three chalks separating the teams.
In the third division Douglas introduced a D team for the first time despite losing a number of players over the winter. It is really positive to see six new players taking up the game. The newly formed D Team did themselves proud to take 4 games off the visitors.
Marown C look to have stuck together, having introduced a new team last season & will look to improve on last season’s fifth place finish. I am sure they will improve on last season’s league position with an extra year’s experience under their belt.
Ballaugh B made an assured start to their season with a 10-0 win over Finch Hill B with the visitors failing to reach the 100 point mark.
Ladies’ Result Cards
Captains are reminded that match results are to be sent to Matthew via phone, text or e-mail, and the cards to be posted to me immediately after the match. The extra time taken when we cannot enter the results in one sitting is frustrating and could result in a delay in getting them on to the web-site.
Can I also issue my usual instructions on filling in the result cards :
1. Please fill in the names of the two teams at the top of the card. I have already received one card in which this was not done !!
2. Please put in the players full name, not an initial. Also ensure that all the names are on the card.
3. Put in the scores of all games played – in the rush at the end of a match the score for the final game played is often left out.
4. Use capital letters.
5. Both captains should sign the card. – this is not a formality, but says that you both agree that the information on the card re players names and scores, and final totals are correct. Please check that they are before signing.
World Club Championship
Following their Historic title win last season South Ramsey recently travelled to Fox Lane in Leyland to compete in the World Club Championship.
With the competition being played in a straight knockout format South Ramsey were looking to progress in the competition. Unfortunately this wasn’t their day with the team only managing two individual victories and going close in a couple of other games. I am sure the experience will have served them well and no doubt the team will be looking to challenge for the league again this year in an attempt to return next season.
Hands Trophy
There was a small, but select, field gathered at Castletown for the Hands “Non-winners” Trophy which had been held over from the end of last year.
On a sunny afternoon there were some very close matches and some very good bowling on display.
Barbara Young started with a bye, but then went all the way with Rita Callister coming through 21-20. She had a further tough battle with Margaret Tasker in the semi-final, booking her place in the final with another score of 21-20.
In the other half of the draw Paula Firth seemed in control in all three matches on her way to the final, although none of them was easy – 21-13 against Lisa Boland, 21-17 against Celia Joughin and another tough 21-15 against Mary Alderson.
In the final her battles in earlier rounds took their toll on Barbara allowing a determined Paula to come through 21-9 to take the trophy for the fifth time. Does this, in her own words, make her the greatest duffer of all time ?
The presentation was made by Association president, Rosie Winckle, who thanked the Castletown club for the use of the green and their members for their efforts in measuring and stewarding during the afternoon.
League Preview
Monday evening sees the return of the Men’s night league fixtures.
For the first division there has been a considerable movement of players none more so than Douglas losing five players, whilst making two or three new signings. Both South Ramsey & Marown look to have improved their squads with South having strengthened from within this year, while Marown have a couple of new signings.
Onchan have one in & one out, while Peel have an influx of players now their return to the first division has been sealed, with the return of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly being the most notable. It will be hard to see past Marown & South Ramsey competing for the title, however there are three teams, Onchan, Port St Mary & Peel who are more than capable of taking points from any team throughout the season.
At the other end Douglas B & Castletown B will be fighting hard to retain their first division status.
In the Second division Nobles & Finch Hill will be hoping to bounce straight back, with Marown B looking to go one step further following last years heartbreak.
That said if they can keep their team together, they have another years experience under their belt, so should be able to take that next step with promotion to the first division.
In the third division Peel C are my tip to gain promotion to the 2nd division, whilst it is good to see a number of new players gaining the experience in this division with a fair standard having followed a number of these fixtures last year.
Jenny ‘Lights Up’ Marown
Jenny Moore is believed to be the first woman to win a mixed singles bowling tournament in the Isle of Man for a number of years.
The South Ramsey player lit up the first open of the season at Marown Bowling Club last week following extensive work on & around the green by club members over the winter.
Some of this work involved ‘filling in the corner’ and more importantly the introduction of new floodlights, which will no doubt help our competition secretary with arranging fixtures!
An excellent entry of 98 meant that the event was held over 5 evenings with 4 qualifying nights, playing down to 4 each night. Finals night had some familiar faces, with Jenny Moore being the only Lady to qualify for the last 16.
The losing quarter finalists were Matthew Quirk, Adrian Skinner, (Onchan) Steven Waters (South Ramsey) & Mervin Sayle (Douglas)
The first semi final had John Kennish lined up against his niece Jenny Moore, with the latter getting over the line to win 21-20. In the other semi final Dido Kelly played home greener Colin Kelly in another tight game with Kelly taking the victory 21-19.
In the final Jenny was always in control of the game with a comfortable 21-13 win over her club mate,
The final was streamed live on Facebook.
With this victory Jenny has shown that she is more than capable of competing with the men.
Various prizes were handed out at the presentation ranging from biggest break, best 2nd & 3rd division players, to best junior and best lady.
Thanks go to all who helped make a success of the competition.
Winter League schedule completed
The final set of fixtures took place on Saturday to bring the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League to a conclusion in a season that saw all the games played as scheduled, something that has not occurred in the 10 years I have been involved.
Two of the sides in action had final league positions to play for, one of them fighting to move away from bottom place, whilst the other needed enough points to secure third.
Having missed out on the chance of a ninth title the previous weekend, Unstopabowls were now set to clinch third spot and they began the afternoon with a 13-point margin success over Erin Porters who couldn’t improve on seventh.
Next up the victors took on Bits n Bobs, who themselves needed to score well above average to move ahead of Castletown Cannons, but Unstopabowls inflicted a heavy defeat, which saw the basement side trailing home on a total of just 87.
This left the Bits outfit needing an almost perfect result in the final fixture of the 2016-17 campaign and they put up a good fight against Porters, but fell short of their target by eight points, much to the relief of Cannons, as they have held that bottom position for the past two seasons.
Match details (Bits first): Dot Mylchreest 19, Derek Cadamy 21; Geoff Mayles 21, Lynda Cadamy 14; Gill Morgan 9, Caroline Whitehead 21; Andy Morgan 20, Derek Allen 21; Allan Kennaugh 18, Bernard Thackrah 21; Sam Stannard and Tim Williams 21, Voirrey Curphey and Chris Dent 15. <strong>Bits n Bobs</strong> 108 (2), <strong>Erin Porters</strong> 113 (4).
Remaining results for Saturday, March 4: <strong>Erin Porters</strong> 100 (2), <strong>Unstopabowls</strong> 115 (4); <strong>Unstopabowls</strong> 115 (5), <strong>Bits n Bobs</strong> 87 (1).
As mentioned in an earlier report a few weeks ago, the introduction of doubles into the league games brought a new challenge, not least to the team captains who had to make the choice of who was to take part.
A look at the points scored over the winter shows it went in order of the league table for the top three – Lakers 451, Seven-Up 442 and Unstopabowls 431, a margin of 20 between them, whereas the league had 35.
Then things change, as next are seventh placed Erin Porters on 410, Louie’s Angels 398, Outsiders 388, Bowl Rollers 385 and Parkers back on 365.
Govags on 345 occupy ninth in both tables, and are followed by Bits n Bobs with 338, ahead of the two Castletown teams – Corkers on 306 and finally Cannons with 297.
This Saturday the club championship takes place, with an entry of over 40, and at the time of compiling this it is not sure if the competition will be over one or two days – as always the weather will be the determining factor.
With the annual prize presentation afternoon not far away on Sunday, March 19, which will include the best versus the rest encounter, the final two team merit winners have been decided, and they are Glynn Hargraves (Unstopabowls) and Bernard Thackrah (Erin Porters).
Two round robin sessions took place either side of the league games, with the midweek gang of 37 enjoying a busy afternoon from which Barbara Young and Doug Allan won the doubles ahead of Philippa Taylor and Jean Thackrah in second; with Vicky Lloyd-West and Peter Kelly third.
The triples were equally as tight at the top end, with the winners being Julie Reilly, Janet Monk and Rita Callister, in second were Steve Parker, Ken Karran and Derek Clarke; with third spot being taken by Allan Kennaugh, Bernard Thackrah and Tom Wilson.
Sunday’s session had a much smaller group and the doubles victors were Sam Stannard and Alan Moore, followed by Caroline Whitehead and Rita Callister; whilst in the triples Derek Allen, partnered with Steve and Jenny Moore took the spoils, ahead of Steve Parker, Marg Tasker and James Teare.
Looking forward to 2017
Last season was dominated by teams from the south of the island, with Port St Mary looking unassailable in both leagues, Castletown winning the Jean Kelly team handicap and Port Erin the JMS Shield.
At the end of the season it looked as though Onchan would be unable to field a team in the night league for this year, but everyone is delighted to hear that they have been able to put a team together.
Rumours abound of players changing clubs so it will be interesting to see who is playing where when the season gets under way and how this affects the league dynamics. Also, of course, we will find out who has had their “60<sup><span style=”font-size: small”>th</span></sup>. Birthday” during the winter !
In the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored night league, the main threat to Port St Mary would appear to come from Castletown and South Ramsey who were very closely matched in the battle for second and third in the last campaign. There are rumours of comings and goings for the champions – it will be interesting to see what effect the changes have.
Further down the table there are a block of teams, led by Noble’s, who are always evenly matched – could on of them come out of the pack and cause an upset ?
Marown should be strengthened by their imports, and Mooragh Park will be improving each year as players gain more experience. It waits to be seen which players Onchan will have, but it is good to see them still there.
The Trend sponsored Over 60’s league saw Port St Mary A almost in a league of their own, but the closely matched pack, Peel, Castletown, Port Erin and Onchan, in the minor places may contain a surprise package In the nether regions of the table, Breagle have the ability to cause an upset in any match, while the Mooragh Park team players have an extra year’s experience under their belts.
With only six players in a team, a lot will depend on which teams benefit from members’ relevant birthdays since September