News: Reports
Dorothy Piearce Pairs Qualifier
The weather was fine at Finch Hill on Sunday 28 June for the Dorothy Piearce Pairs Qualifier. Eight pairs gathered to battle it out, each game being 21 off scratch.
Semi-finals: Debbie Leece and Sylvia Kennaugh 16, Rosie Winckle and Lil Smith 21; Janet Monk and Lilian Slinger 21, Kim Hargraves and Helen Martin 8.
Despite the best efforts of Lil and Rosie the class of the other pair shone through , Janet and Lilian giving them few openings. The tail wagged a little at the end when Rosie and Lil did make them wait an extra two ends for the final point !
Association President, Pat Robertson presented the winners with flowers wishing them the best of luck when they go across.
Douglas Deliver Maximum Game 12
With Onchan A sitting out it was time for chasing pack to put on a show and Douglas A did so with devastating ease as they brushed Castletown B aside 10-0 at the Villa.
This win has seen them move back into second place on equal points with Marown A, however they sit out next time and should realistically slip down to fifth position if everything goes to plan for their rivals.
Third placed Marown A will be disappointed not to have made more ground up on the leaders and will be disappointed to have only won 8-2 at home over a battling Port Erin A side.
Port St Mary A are next just two points behind Douglas & Marown and will be pleased to have caught another point up on the Crosby boys thanks to a 9-1 win over Finch Hill A, who have been causing a few surprises in the top flight.
South Ramsey A were everybody’s tip to push the top two all the way before the season started and despite a shaky middle they are now back on track and will be delighted to have demolished their northern rivals North Ramsey A 10-0.
Castletown A will be pleased to have climbed to sixth place and will be very happy with their work seeing off Nobles A 8-2 at the Crofts.
Second Division leaders Douglas B had an excellent result to keep their title aspirations intact as they travelled to Onchan B and came away with an 8-2 result.
Despite winning 6-4 away at Peel B south Ramsey B have lost more ground and will need to start closing the gap on the Douglas side soon.
Third place Port St Mary B kept things on track with a 7-3 victory over Nobles B to stay in the hunt for top honours.
Onchan C’s 7-3 win against Port Erin B keeps them at the top of the division 3 tree.
Douglas B top of Division Two Tree Game 11
Onchan A can rest next week safe in the knowledge that they will still be in top spot, despite missing a game.
It is their turn to sit out and a strong 9-1 win at home over Castletown B has seen them move nineteen points clear of nearest rivals Marown A. Onchan’s early season has been very impressive indeed and even if Marown record a maximum they will still have a very commanding nine point lead, which I think will be a big enough cushion to see them push on and retain their title.
Marown A had to work extremely hard for their 8-2 win at Finch Hill A over a side that have definitely turned a few heads and are exceeding expectations in the top flight. The Crosby outfit can’t afford anymore slip ups if they want to snatch the title away from Onchan and will need to start chipping away at the deficit week by week. Matching results will not be enough for them and they will need to start bettering the champion’s results and start now.
Third placed Douglas had another solid performance beating Port Erin A 8-2 away from home. They have started the season well but realistically could see themselves slipping down to fifth place come the turn as they still need to miss a game.
Fourth place Port St Mary A have momentum swinging their way at the minute and a 9-1 win over Peel A in the sunset city sees them march on. They will be gunning for third spot, and if they can get things right will have Marown in their sights and looking at second.
South Ramsey A are next and the team that finished third last term and hoped to push on from this will be hoping to kick on from an impressive 9-1 win over Nobles in the park. They are not out of the race for second and one thing is for sure they will fight to the last bowl of the season and nobody should ever bet against them causing an upset.
North Ramsey will be glad to be back to winning ways after a tricky run of fixtures with an 8-2 showing against Ballaugh A at the Mooragh. They have the all Ramsey derby next time out and will hope to cause a few surprises.
Douglas B are looking like the cream of the crop in Division Two and their very impressive 10-0 demolition of Casteltown C cements this status.
They have a seven point buffer over nearest rivals South Ramsey B and will be hoping to build on this in coming weeks. It has been a very good start to the season for Andy Cannell’s charges and their strength in depth has been the key to their success so far.
South B had to scrap for every point in the local derby over North and showed good fighting qualities to come out with a hard fought 6-4 win.
It was a similar story at Port St Mary where the B team had to use all of the weapons in their arsenal to just eclipse their C team 6-4 by just ten points.
Onchan C still look like the team to beat in Division Three and have managed to stay on top thanks to a 6-4 win away at North Ramsey C.
Ladies’ league Friday 26 June
Only four matches took place in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 26 June. The men’s Super 16 was taking place at South Ramsey and I believe Noble’s went to watch. Could I please ask captains to keep me informed of changes and let me know, as soon as possible, the dates that the matches are going to be played.
Of the four matches that were played Port St Mary won by the biggest margin, 6-3 on games with three wins to single figures. The three winners for Marown were Rosie Winckle, to single figures, Pat Withers and Mary Black. Despite winning 5-4 on games, Castletown found themselves seven points adrift of Purt le Moirrey. The closest game of the night saw Roma Ware just lose out 20-21 to Joy Stephens. Port Erin had the edge 5-4 on games with Voirrey Curphy and Kay Primrose-Smih winning to single figures. With all their players reaching double figures they came away with a comfortable points win. It was close at Onchan the result showing the value of fighting for every point. Although only winning four games the Peel Sunset girls all reached double figures giving them victory by a mere five points.
South Ramsey Super 16
If John Kennish didn’t have enough on his plate winning the Festival he also found time to arrange the Super 16, which was a sublime finale to a brilliant festival week.
In its inaugural running sixteen of the UK’s top bowlers lined up at South Ramsey bowling club to play for £500 in an invitation competition, which was an exhibition and master class of crown green bowling.
The final was contested between two former festival winners with Matthew Gilmore ending the run of Andy Farmer with a 21-14 win.
Gilmore was on fire all night and nobody really got close to knocking him out. In the Semi-Finals he eliminated another former festival champion Robbie Fitzpatrick 21-15 after getting out 21-12 against Shropshire’s Ben Harris in the quarters.
Farmer was in brilliant form himself and ended the challenge of tourism winner Callum Wraight 21-15 in the semis after stopping Richie Goddard 21-13 the round before.
Other fallers at the quarter finals stage were Wayne (the Beast) Ditchfield and one of the true characters of the game Barry Booth.
Prise must go to Kennish and South Ramsey for running the competition which is a fantastic addition to the festival calendar, and long may it continue. There are too many people to thank but I must thank Everest and the DED for their support of the competition and of course green keeper George Brew for an immaculate playing surface.
Ken Williamson Trophy
John Kennish ended a great week with another win this time lifting the Ken Williamson Trophy at former club Onchan with a 21-14 over Manx Championship finalist Trevor Quayle.
In the Semi-finals Kennish ended the challenge of home greener Kevin Quirk 21-16, whilst Quayle ended the run of another Kennish knocking out Andy 21-18, to ruin the final showdown that many would have paid to see.
Fallers at the quarter finals stage were Mike Hargraves, Stefan Kelly, Jordan Cain and Bernie Durcan.
Castletown Ladies’ Doubles
Their was an entry of 21 pairs for the ladies’ doubles, sponsored by Microgaming, played at Castletown on Saturday 20 June. Despite entrants from other parts of the island expecting phone calls to say the event had been cancelled because of rain, the weather in Castletown had remained good and the competition went ahead. The green was, as usual, a little tricky and took some getting used to but once mastered was running well and allowed for some good bowls.
Semi-finals: Mary Alderson and Karen Hill (Ossett Flying Horse ) 21, Kath Kinley and Mary Kinrade 11; Paula Firth and Lin Ruscoe 21, Ann Gale and Jenny Maddrell 18.
In the final Lin and Paula had the better of the early exchanges winning 3 of the first 4 ends to lead 10-9 at which point their mojo deserted them and Mary and Karen took control winning eight ends in a row to come out 21-10 winners.
The presentation was made by Hilary Kermode who thanked Microgaming for their continuing sponsorship, and also for their corporate gifts for all the participants.
Thanks went to the faithful few who had stayed to the end of the competition, and special thanks to Linda for her efforts in running the competition.
Jean Kelly Semi-finals
Port St Mary were too strong, and determined, for their fellow club colleagues in the first semi-final of the Jean Kelly memorial team handicap competition. Purt le Moirrey had two winners in Chris Price and Pauline Worrall but Port St Mary won the other seven games with ease three of them to single figures, so that even a healthy handicap of 40 points was not enough to rescue their hapless opponents.
It was a similar tale at South Ramsey with the home side winning seven of the nine games. The two winners for Onchan were Rita Callan and Maureen Payne, Rita having a tough tussle with Bethany Kennish before coming through 21-18.With South Ramsey winning two games to single figures and the highest losing score for Onchan being 13 an advantage of 40 points on handicap was not enough to affect the result.
The Final, between Port St Mary and South Ramsey will be played on Thursday 9 July, venue to be announced.
Ladies’ league Friday 19 June
There were only two high scores in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 19 June, but one of the two was a maximum by Port St Mary against Port Erin. With the visitors winning all nine games, four of them to single figures, only Voirrey Curphey threatened to spoil the party reaching 18 against Alison Keggen. Castletown dropped just 10 points as they won 6-3 on games at Onchan with Kim Foy and Anne Oates winning to single figures. Rita Callan put up a good fight against Hannah Kermode, reaching 19 while Joy Stephens just lost out 20-21 to Wendy McDowell.It was a close fought thing at Marown where Peel Sunset, winning 5-4 on games scraped victory by 2 points. Two games went all the way, Heather Horsburgh edging out Elaine Dewhirst 21-20 while Mary Black came through against Cath Parker by the same score. Ballaugh lost on games, 4-5, to Douglas but triumphed by 5 points. The highlight of the evening was a “ding-dong” battle between Christine MacDonald and Kath King, Kath taking it 21-20.Despite having six wins, one to single figures for Lin Ruscoe, and a 19 by Paula Firth against Janet Monk, good wins to single figures by Lilian Slinger and Kim Hargraves kept Noble’s total down while two wins to single figures for each side meant that the Purt le Moirrey match against South Ramsey was also a low scoring affair.
Ladies’ over 60’s Thursday 18 June
It could not have been much closer at Ballaugh in the Trend sponsored ladies’ over 60’s league on Thursday 18 June. Ending level on games the home team ended with a one point advantage. Jenny Maddrell won to single figures for the home side whileRita Callister and Tricia Bull did the same for the visitors. Noble’s were the highest scorers of the morning on 113 and although ending all square on games with Pat Robertson winning to single figures and no player scoring less than 16 points they ended up with a 20 point advantage. Unfortunately Villa were a player short, giving Mooragh Park a 4-2 advantage on games and the second highest total of the morning. Marown had a healthy win over Onchan B on points, although the match ended level on games, while at Onchan A the home side won 4 games with Hazel Hughes winning to single figures as did Sylvia Maddrell for Breagle. Kay Primrose-Smith was the other winner for the visitors.. Port Erin and Castletown had a close encounter with Castletown coming through by just 6 points despite winning 4 games. The two winners for Port Erin were Carol Kaye, to single figures, and Voirrey Curphey. Jean Thackrah almost levelled the game score reaching 20 against Barbara Young. Douglas and Peel Sunset also had a good battle, the match ending level on games with the westerners coming through by 6 points.