News: Reports
Ladies’ league Friday 1 July
The rain which had been threatening all day on Friday 1 July stayed away from most of the matches played in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league that night. With all the re-arranged matches the top of the league table is a bit distorted, but Port St Mary, Castletown and South Ramsey seem to be the teams fighting for top spot. (Can I remind captains to let me know when matches have been re-scheduled and the date on which the match will actually be played ). Top scorers of the night were Castletown, dropping just one game to Purt le Moirrey, whose lone winner was Chris Price .Port St Mary were pegged back by Nobles in a low scoring encounter winning just 4 of the 9 games, three to single figures which did give them the advantage on points despite Paula Firth’s good win. South Ramsey won 7 games but with the two winners for Ballaugh, Christine MacDonald and Jenny Maddrell, winning to single figures, they too ended with a disappointing total. Marown had a terrific win against Douglas, ending as second highest scorers of the evening, with some very close games particularly the 21-20 win by Pat Withers over Sue Caley. There were also good wins for Peel at Port Erin and for Mooragh Park who had six wins against Onchan.
Isle of Man vs Derbyshire
Isle of Man County Squad 2015
The Paddy Power sponsored Isle of Man Senior Men’s county team took the greens for the final time this year and fell just short of finding their first illusive overall victory.
They took on a very strong Derbyshire team both at Castletown and away in Burton on Trent and despite losing out in both legs can draw many positives from another brilliant display at the highest level.
It was an emotional day all round for both counties as they spent the match was dedicated to the memory of both our own Lillian Slinger and Derbyshires Darren Smith, two of the finest exponents our sport at seen.
It had almost become the norm for the Manxmen to win their home leg, having done so on the last three occasions, and the performance of the visitors to stop them was a stark reminder of just how hard bowls is at the top table.
Gellings home man of the match Phil Kerruish was the only local winner in the first four and he was simply magnificent as he beat Belvedere’s ‘Matt Kelly-Walley 21-13. Paul Stretton (Belvedere) won the Endsleigh Insurance player of the leg award for his 21-12 win against Peter Collister.
There was more success in the next four blocks as the Isle of Man added two more victories with Port St Mary’s Ewan Cooil winning 21-12 against Chris Adams (Burbage) and John Kennish fighting his way back with a brilliant performance to win 21-19 over John Dewey (Belvedere).
David Bradford added his name to the winners list playing extremely well to beat Paul Hawker (Whaley Brodge) 21-15. That was in for the locals on home soil as they went down 8 games to 4 and by 30 points.
Across he water something quite remarkable was happening as the men in red in yellow put in their finest away team performance to date and at one point and unprecedented away leg victory looked on the cards, however they lost out by just four points overall.
Barney Kelly led from the front with a totally assured Captains performance to put the Isle of Man 1-0 up as he beat Dave May 21-17. Neil Withers lost out by the narrowest of margins in the next game going down 21-20 before Jordan Cain righted the ship with another inspired away county performance beating Conor Chamberlain 21-18.
The Island didn’t have to wait too long for their next win as Rob Monk was in truly sensational form to win 21-9 against Neil Worthington and pick up the Endsleigh Insurance Man of the match awards for his efforts. I can’t put into words how well he played and I am sure he made his grandma Lillian proud with his breathtaking performance.
Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger both came close, scoring 20 and 19 respectively, before Paul Skelly picked up his first county win and the Isle of Man award for man of the match after a spirited performance to fend off the battling Mick Grattan 21-19.
Phil ‘Rambo’ Kelly is fast becoming the patriarch of the Isle of Man team and he put in another stunning display last man on to beat arguably Derbyshires best player Paul Chamerlain 21-15. To put this into perspective Chamberlain has won his other two home matches this year 21-4 and 21-6. Five wins, two 20’s and a 19 is not just competing away from home it is showing that we really can mix it with the best. I am sure it will not be too long before our stars align both at home and away to bring us the overall match victory we so desperately want to see. A massive thank you to sponsors Paddy Power, Castletown for hosting the match and anyone else who helped in any way.
IOM Ladies’ Championship
Ladies Manx Champion Winner 2016 - Jenny Moore
There was an entry of 27, at Marown on Saturday 2 July, for the Ladies’ Manx Championship, which with a start time of noon enabled the competition to be concluded in one day rather than the scheduled two. The weather was fine for most of the afternoon with the odd light shower, however the rain became much heavier during the final. The competition was once again sponsored by Ann Gale and Dave McTaggart.
The tricky green meant that there were a few one-sided games but also some very close encounters, in particular the quarter-final between Ann Gale and Mary Alderson where Mary just edged it 21-20.
Quarter-finals: Helen Martin 21, Janet Monk 18; Jenny Moore 21, Caroline Parker 5; Mary Alderson 21, Ann Gale 20; Elaine Moore 21, Fiona Kennish 7
In the semi-finals Jenny was in ruthless form coming through 21-4 against Helen Martin, while Elaine had more of a tussle before coming through 21-12 against Mary Alderson.
This pitted mother against daughter in the final. Although Elaine won the first two ends, Jenny showed that her form of Festival week had not deserted her as she powered to a lead of 15-5.At 19-8 down Elaine staged a mini break back but in vain as Jenny came through to win 21-12.
Association president Rosie Winckle thanked the Marown club for their help during the afternoon and for providing the refreshments. Thanks also went to Ann and Dave for their continued sponsorship, before Ann presented the prizes.
C Tarleton Hodgson Ladies’ league Friday 24 June
There were only four games played in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 24 June., due to the involvement of other teams in the Super 32 event at South Ramsey. League leaders, Port St Mary, had a comfortable win over Onchan, dropping just two points to the home side’s lone winner Marilyn Ellison. The match between Douglas and Port Erin showed the importance of fighting for every point, as although they lost 6-3 on games the home side ended with a deficit of only 4 points. Purt le Moirrey were in fine form against Ballaugh, winning 5-4 on games but nearly getting a sixth game when Tracy Moore lost out 20-21 to Ellie Faragher. It is not often that Peel Sunset get the better of Castletown, but a 6-3 win gave them victory by 8 points as their opponents all fought well and all reached double figures.
Dorothy Piearce Ladies’ Pairs Qualifier
Ten pairs entered the qualifier for the Dorothy Piearce Pairs which was played at Finch Hill on Sunday 26 June, the winning pair to represent the island at the Longton VM Sports and Social Club, Lancashire, on Saturday 13 August.
The weather was not kind and waterproofs were the order of the day.
Semi-finals: Helen Martin and Janet Monk 21, Fiona Kennish and Jenny Moore 13; Joyce Ogden and Philippa Taylor 21, Jean Thackrah and Mavis Franks 4
Helen and Janet had the better of the first exchanges in the final, taking a 10-5 lead. The other pair fought back staunchly to level at 11-11.The Mooragh pairing swept through to lead again at 17-12 before Philippa and Joyce staged another come-back to 17 across, but their effort was in vain as a single followed by a three gave the game to Helen and Janet, who will now represent the IOM in Lancashire on Saturday 13 August.
Junior Girls Merit Qualifier
The Qualifier for The British Junior Merit, which will take place on 13 August at Gresford Colliery Bowling Club in Wrexham, was played on Saturday 25 June at Marown.
It was a pity that only three girls entered, but what the field lacked in quantity it made up for in quality. The event was played as a round-robin, with each girl playing two games to 15. It was the first year that Rebekah Kelly had entered, and her inexperience showed, but she also showed plenty of promise – watch out for her next year !
The final result Bethany Kennish 30, Sarah Quirk 26, Rebekah Kelly 11
There are several more girls playing on the island, and the standard on display at Marown on Saturday shows that the future of ladies’ bowls is in safe hands.
Julia North Ladies’ Singles
There was an entry of 32 for the ladies’ singles played at Marown on Saturday 25 June for the Julia North Trophy.
The fast and very tricky green engendered a sense of fun in some of the games and there were some excellent bowls played in a friendly atmosphere.
Quarter-finals: Katy Williams 21, Julie Reilly 17; Janet Monk 21, Alison Keggen 19; Lisa Boland 21, Rosie Winckle 18; Caroline Parker 21, Margaret Tasker 9.
This left 3 players from Mooragh Park plus Lisa Boland from Douglas in the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: Janet Monk 21, Katy Williams 20; Caroline Parker 21, Lisa Boland 18.
After two very close semi-finals, Janet got the bit between her teeth in the final, and although Caroline managed to take two 2’s and a single off her, she came through to win 21-11.
Rosie Winckle thanked everyone who came, and those who stayed to the end. Thanks also went to those who had helped during the afternoon.
She then introduced Julia North to make the presentations. Julia congratulated those who had taken part in the latter stages, and commented on the tense semi-finals and the standard of bowls in the final.
Ballacashtal
In contrast to the recent sunshine Castletown Bowling Club hosted the 50th Anniversary of the Veros Digital Sponsored Ballacashtal Cup in wind and rain on Sunday.
104 bowlers made the pilgrimage to the old capital for this biggest one day competition on the Island. It Was South Ramsey’s John Kennish went one step further that the previous day lifting the trophy thanks to a superb 21-7 final win over the Wirral’s Peter Jones.
Kennish eliminated Port St Mary’s Paul Skelly in the semi final 21-11 whilst Jones had to fight all the way to see of the challenge of Marown’s Neil Wilthers 21-20.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Ian Johnson, Mark Bramhall, Dave Halstead & Michael Hewitson.
Thanks go to Casteltown Bowling Club for putting on and running a superb competition despite very testing conditions for organisers and competitors alike and also to Veros Digital for their sponsorship.
Jim Kernan
Visitor Wayne Ditchfield won the Jim Kernan trophy on a very tricky South Ramsey green beating John Kennish 21-19 in a highly entertaining final.
Ditchfield settled superbly from his first bowl of the day and had to be at the top of his game to beat pre-tournament favourite Kennish on his own patch.
Wayne had to overcome the challenge of another local in the semi-finals as he dispatched David Bradford 21-14. At the same stage Kennish beat his common adversary Colin Kelly by the same score.
Fallers at the quarter finals were Stevie Kelly, Tony Hary, Mark Bramhall & John ‘Doctor’ Watson.
Thanks go to South Ramsey and to George Brew in both his capacity as green keeper for turning out an immaculate playing surface but also as sponsor. Thanks George.
June Festival Preview
It’s always hard to predict what will happen in the Men’s main festival competition, as unlike the programme the games won’t be played on paper.
There is always someone who tears up the form book and puts in a barnstorming performance to set the cat amongst the pigeons!
This year is no different and with the usual host of top visiting names it is almost impossible to call. Nicholson, Gilpin, Ditchfield, Wraight, Bailey & Gilmore they are all now familiar names on the Island and will be hoping this is their year.
There are some new names this time too and some unfamiliar faces who will be hoping to make their first visit to the Island a fruitful one.
There should be a strong local showing as well, although John Kennish will need to play the tournament of his life to win as he is giving the field a five point start after winning back to back festivals in September 2014 and June 2015. Colin Kelly will hope to do well as will David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves and in form Matthew Keggen to name just a few.
This always backfires on me but my predictions to qualify from their sections and make the last eight on finals day is below:
Jack Dyson v James Palmer, Ian Nicholson v John Bailey, James Wilcox v Matt Gilmore, Callum Wraight v Colin Kelly