News: Reports
South Top At Half Way
South Ramsey A defeated Port Erin A 8-2 last week ensuring they top Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s Division one at the half way stage.
As the domestic league scene now takes a week out, with the Island hosting the June Bowls Festival, South will be delighted with how they have performed so far this season winning all 12 of their matches to head Marown by four points at the turn.
Their talisman John Kennish also leads the way at the top of the individual merit with team mate Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly hot on his heals to add to what has been a brilliant start for the Ramsey men. They were most peoples tip for the title before a bowl was played and they are certainly living up to their billing as the ones to beat.
Marown A are course and distance men and are still very much in the hunt, knowing that a big result against South when they play each other would be enough to cancel out the points differential. They played South Ramsey B last time out and with an 8-2 win of their own kept the point’s difference static.
Defending champions Onchan A are third but trail the leaders by thirteen points, after a good 7-3 win away to Castletown A, which may be a bridge too far.
Realistically they need a near perfect second half to close the cap and mount a serious title challenge, and I am not sure they have enough in the tank to do it. That said they know how to win though, and if they can get themselves there or there about approaching the closing stages you just never know.
Port St Mary A seem to have settled into fourth spot now and will have their sights firmly set on Onchan who are 9 points ahead of them, and results like their 8-2 win over North Ramsey will do them no harm at all.
As the division starts to take shape it’s the bottom that proves equally as interesting as the top. Ballaugh A occupy the foot of the table after narrowly losing out 4-6 away from home to second bottom Nobles A. Both these teams have improved dramatically in recent weeks and they will be hoping to build on their first half results as they fight for their first division lives.
Finch Hill A are third bottom, four points ahead of Nobles, and will be delighted to have picked up four points in the last match at the Villa against Douglas A narrowly losing out 6-4 after tying on games.
Peel A remain at the summit of Division Two however they were made to fight all the way to the end last time out at Ballaugh A winning 6-4 thanks to the aggregate points.
Castletown B are second, seven points behind the leaders, and will be delighted to have left Port St Mary C with a 7-3 win.
Peel B put in a great performance to beat Noble B 8-2 and move within one point of Town. This will be a remarkable turn around for the club if they can get both of their teams in the top two spots and back into division one.
Peel C aren’t having the same good fortunes and are bottom trailing second bottom team Ballaugh C by seven points. North Ramsey B are only one point better off in tenth place.
Division Three leaders Douglas C put in a really strong showing at home to beat new boys Marown C 9-1 and extend their lead at the top to ten points.
Port Erin B are still in second place and should be happy with a good 6-4 win away from home at Finch Hill B.
Microgaming ladies’ doubles
The weather was beautiful in Castletown on Saturday 18 June when 21 pairs entered for the ladies’ doubles competition sponsored by Microgaming. The field included several visiting ladies who were over for the June Festival.
Semi-finals: Paula Firth and Sylvia Kennaugh 21, Brigid Lunn and Hilary Kermode 19; Fiona Kennish and Jenny Moore 21, Lyn Bolton and Paula Garrett 18
In a very close final Fiona and Jenny eventually came through to win 21-19.
The presentation was made by Hilary Kermode on behalf of the sponsors, Microgaming.
Pre-Festival ladies’ open
There was an entry of 32 for the Association Pre-Festival ladies’ singles played at Port Erin on Sunday 19 June.
In contrast to Castletown the previous day the weather was atrocious, and the organisers did well to finish before the green was completely water-logged !
Quarter-finals: Jenny Wilby 21, Joan Jolly 21; Ronnie Lyon 21, Kathryn Gee 20; Heather Johnson 21, Rita Manning 18; Elaine Moore 21, Jenny Moore 17.
By the time the semi-finals started the players were trying to avoid the pools on the green !
Semi-finals: Jen Wilby 21, Ronnie Lyon 13; Heather Johnson 21, Elaine Moore 19
In the final Jen dealt with the conditions better than Heather, coming through to win 21-6.
The presentation was made by Janet Shilling who thanked everyone, particularly the Port Erin ladies’ for their work and Heather and Elaine for running the sheet.
C Tarleton Hodgson ladies’ league Friday 17 June
There were some very close matches in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored league on Friday June. Noble’s and Castletown took advantage of this to try to close in on the league leaders. With 5 wins, 20 by Sue Peach against Sylvia Shelbourne and their other players reaching double figures, Castletown posted a score of 172, while Noble’s top scored with 7 wins and 174 points. The two winners for Douglas were Paula Garrett and Muriel Cain to single figures. The top two teams met at South Ramsey with leaders Port St Mary having the better of a low scoring encounter, despite South Ramsey winning 5-4 on games, with Win Collister reaching 20 against Fiona Kennish and three of their players winning to single figures. Purt le Moirrey dropped just three games against Mooragh Park, although Helen Martin and Rosemary Quirk won to single figures for the visitors. There was not much difference in the final points when Ballaugh visited Peel, despite the home side winning 6 games, with each side winning two games to single figures. Two close games saw Shirley Corrin with a 21-18 lead over Voirrey Oates while Heather Horsburgh came through 21-20 in “a game of two halves” against Brenda Bowyer. Things were even closer at Onchan where the visitors, Marown won 5 games but lost by one point. The closest match saw Maureen Payne lose out 19-21 to Mary Alderson.
Jean Kelly semi-finals
The two contrasting semi-finals of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap competition were held on Thursday 16 June. Castletown had the better of Port St Mary winning by 6 games to 3 and, despite a good win to single figures by Val Macfarlane for the visitors, a strong advantage on points, making their +5 handicap irrelevant. Things were much closer in the other match, although South Ramsey also had the advantage 6-3 on games. The three wins for Noble’s were all to single figures and South Ramsey had two in reply. Two of the home players reached 19, Rebecca Teare against Lyn Bolton and Lin Ruscoe against Fiona Kennish, which together with their 5 point handicap advantage meant Noble’s ended just 4 points short of their opponents.
The final, between Castletown and South Ramsey will be played on Thursday 7 July, provisionally at Onchan.
SEMI-FINAL: CASTLETOWN 163, PORT ST MARY 138
: Handicap 5, Handicap 0; Kim Foy 21, Ann Maddrell 9; Hilary Kermode 21, Wyn Collister 10; Hannah Drewett 21, Kath Looney 16; Heike Perry 21, Alison Keggen 14; Kathryn Kinley 21, Katy Williams 10; Ann Hollingworth 11, Margaret Tasker 21; Anne Oates 19, Jayne Kneen 21; Sue Peach 21, Tricia Bull 16; Joy Stevens 2, Val Macfarlane 21;
NOBLE’S 152, SOUTH RAMSEY 156
: Handicap 15, Handicap 10; Deborah Leece 12, Shelley Kennish 21; Rebecca Teare 19, Lyn Bolton 21; Clare Cooper 21, Jill Quayle 8; Kim Hargraves 4, Jenny Moore 21; Joyce Ogden 9, Elaine Moore 21; Sylvia Kennaugh 21, Lauren Groen 9; Paula Firth 21, Nicola Kneale 3; Lin Ruscoe 19, Fiona Kennish 21; Jayne Smith 11, Gillian Dixon 21;
Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 16 June
It was back to normal after the break for the TT in the Trend sponsored over 60’s league on Thursday 16 June when the last game of the first half of the season was played. Top scorers were Castletown who dropped just 6 points to Villa who had two winners, Kay McKiernan and Muriel Cain who pipped Barbara Young 21-20.Onchan won 4 games, and with Lynda Clarke winning to single figures, ended with a 15 point lead over Breagle. Moira Anderson and Ann Chapman were the two winners for Mooragh Park at Marown while Maureen Wright fell just short reaching 20 against Shirley Whelan. The closest game at Noble’s saw Kath Looney edge out Sonja Lees 21-19 in a match which league leaders Port St Mary won 4-2, while Ballaugh’s visit to Purt le Moirrey saw them go down 2-4 on games, their two winners being Ann Gale and Brenda Bowyer. There was not much separating the two sides at Peel in a match that ended level on games, with home advantage giving the westerners the win on points over Port Erin.
Ladies’ Veteran’s County Championship
Shrewsbury is still recovering from its invasion by a party of sixteen ladies from the island, there for the Veteran’s County Championship on Tuesday 14 June. Having arrived on the Monday, the team of eight, plus reserve then played on the Tuesday. After the pleasant weather to which we were beginning to get accustomed to on the Isle of Man, Tuesday turned out to be a bit of a shocker.
Sixteen counties played in groups of four on a round -robin basis, the Isle of Man meeting North Midlands first and going down 89-104, before getting the better of Merseyside 104-98. Half way through the second match the rain and thunder came although the lightning passed either side of the bowls complex, allowing the event to continue. The final match against Lancashire, a team containing several of our Festival regulars, who will be here next week, was played in miserable conditions with the green starting to become water-logged, but dogged determination from the Manx girls meant that although they did not win the score of 101-106 shows the closeness of the contest. Congratulations go to all the team for their efforts, especially Anne Oatea and Margaret Tasker who won all three of their matches. Over all the team scored 294 for and had 308 against, and as an extra boost to their confidence the team they beat, Merseyside, went through to the final where they lost to Cheshire (another team with familiar faces we shall be seeing next week).
Threesomes Cup
Port St Mary welcomed a good field of 21 teams to their green for the annual men’s threesomes competition once again kindly sponsored by Colas I.O.M Ltd, the weather started out fair but a couple of showers during the course of the afternoon put a slight dampener on things but helped to take the sting out of the fast and tricky green.
The eventual winners were the team of Jordan Cain, Bob Clarke and Matthew Quirk (Onchan/Douglas) who seemed to run through the competition with consummate ease, in the semi-finals they ended the chances of a home victory by beating the team of Wayne Roberts, Pete Collins and Tom Collins (P.S.M) by a score of 21-10 and following this up with the victory in the final against the Marown trio of Walter McCarthey, Tom Kelly and Colin Kelly by a score of 21-15 which was as close as anyone got to the winners all day.
Walter, Tom and Colin had maybe played their final in the round before where they overcame the challenge of John Kennish, Alan Moore and Glynn Hargraves from South Ramsey 21-20 in an exciting encounter which was decided on a measure, it was even more of a feat when you consider that Walter is in his first season of playing the sport after only taking it up a few months ago so well done to him.
At the end of play club president Ken Karran thanked everyone who had helped in the running of the competition and preparation of the green and also a big thanks to the ladies section of the club who once again worked tirelessly to keep everyone fed and watered throughout the day, he then introduced Ian Dunbar who was appearing on behalf of the sponsors (Colas I.O.M Ltd) to hand out the prizes and the trophy to the victors.
IOM vs North Lancs & Fylde Report
Isle of Man County Home Team vs North Lancs & Flyde 2016
The Paddy Power sponsored Isle of Man senior men’s team faced off against and extremely strong North Lancs & Fylde team on Mad Sunday and won the home leg at Port St Mary, however they lost out overall.
This is becoming a familiar story for the Manx Men as this is their third consecutive home victory, however they are yet to pick up an overall win.
With the team taking part in the competition for only the second year we should be delighted with these performances as the team really is taking on the best that the sport has to offer, however it is testament to how far we have come that this result is still tinged with a bit of disappointed as we had hoped for more.
They are really flying the flag for the Isle of Man proudly and there was nothing but praise from their counterparts from across the water who could only applaud everything about the local effort from the hospitality shown by Port St Mary, the organisation on the day right through to some brilliant performance both home and away.
The Port St Mary green is an absolute testament to the club and thanks go to the green keepers for the preparation of it. It was quite simply frightening! This was by far the fastest green that the Island team has used to date in the Crosfield Cup, and overall the home side handled it well with five out of twelve winners, but taking the leg victory on points.
There were some real positives to take out of the day and first county wins for Matthew Keggen and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly were definitely amongst them. The former picked up the Gellings man of the match award for an Isle of Man player as a result of his battling 21-17 win over Tommy King.
Colin Kelly, Peter Collister and John Kennish all showed their class and put in superb displays to add to the Islands tally of wins and ensure the points victory.
Visitor Sam Patterson picked up the Endsleigh Man of the Match award for his 21-15 win over David Bradford.
Take nothing away though from those that didn’t win, we place too much emphasis on winning individual games when the code in the Crosfield cup is all about points, and every point scored by every player went towards this win. To put in in its simplest terms if the losing players had all scored one less point we would have lost the match. This was a real team effort.
Away from home was a slightly different story and there were real lessons learned about both the class of the opposition and the importance of a strong home side on a difficult green. This is a learning curve though and every day is a school day and the team will be much stronger after this match.
Two real highlights though were the performances of Jordan Cain and Trevor Quayle. Cain picked up the overall Endsleigh Man of the Match award for his superb 21-16 win over North Lancs Captain Dave Watters, whilst Quayle was magnificent winning the Gellings award for his 21-13 win over the incomparable Mike Leach.
There were other good performances too and despite falling short of the overall win the Manx Men can be very proud of what they are achieving in this competition.
If they take heart from anything it should be Cumbria’s victory this weekend over reigning champions Warwick and Worcester. Not long ago Cumbria were considered an easy match and questionably the weakest team in the competition and yesterday they beat unquestionably the strongest county in the sport. Our day will come.
South Ramsey Top Ellan Vannin Division One
South Ramsey A top Ellan Vannin fuels Men’s league division one after a magnificent maximum result in the derby against their talented B team.
The 10-0 result sees the South first string lead Marown A by four points with just one more game to go before we enter the second half of the season they have a home draw against Port Erin A this week and will be hoping for another maximum to extent their lead at the top.
Marown A went down 6-4 away at third placed Onchan A. It was never going to be easy for the Crosby men travelling to the champion’s lair however they will be disappointed to not have sealed the win. They have the tricky task of entertaining South Ramsey B this week and will need to be on their game to win big.
This result could be the turning point for the champions as they look to reel in the top two. They will need to start doing it with every bowl though and can’t afford any slip ups as they are already twelve points off the pace. They have a tough test away at Castletown A and will need to be firing on all cylinders to leave with the big win they desperately need.
Town A could be a wounded animal looking to strike back after they suffered a surprise 7-3 defeat away at Douglas B last week. The villa second string rest this week and are already at the half way stage and will be delighted to have 53 points on the board already.
Port St Mary A picked up a good 8-2 win over Port Erin A to cement their position in fourth place. They have a difficult home draw this week against sixth place North Ramsey A and will do well to win. North have had a solid start to the season and narrowly lost out last week 4-6 to fifth placed Douglas A after drawing on games.
Douglas haven’t really delivered this season. They have a star studded line up but are yet to all perform on the same night. Apart from a great 8-2 win over Port St Mary A their results have been disappointing and they will be hoping to rectify this tonight when they take on Finch Hill A.
Finch are just above the relegation zone and will be hoping to keep things this way although bottom side Nobles A put in a barnstorming performance to beat them 7-3 last time out and drag them into the relegation dogfight.
Nobles A have a massive fixture this week as they take on second bottom team Ballaugh A at home. If they can replicate their performance from last week and Finch struggle at the Villa they may not only move of the bottom but could find themselves in the safety zone for the first time this season.
Second division leaders Peel A put in another strong performance as they beat Port St Mary C 9-1 in the Sunset City to move eight points clear at the top. Castletown B picked up their own 9-1 over Onchan B to keep the pressure on in second place.
Peel B also secured a 9-1 win over their C team to move into third only 2 points behind Castltown. These three teams now have a gap building between them and the chasing pack and if they continue to perform this well it will be a three horse race for the two promotion places.
Douglas C are doing their utmost to win Division Three and remain out in front thanks to a very impressive 8-2 win away at South Ramsey C last time out. They have the tough task of taking on new boys Marown C this week and another win will do their championship credentials no harm at all.