Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The first double week of fixture took place across all three divisions this week in the Canada Life International sponsored bowling leagues.

In Division One Marown A kept in touch with early pacesetters South Ramsey A, as they came away from South Ramsey B with a 1-9 victory, with Tony Dugdale preventing the whitewash for the home team with a 21-13 win over Phil Kelly. Winning to single figures for the visitors were Paul Kelly, Colin Kelly, and Neil Withers.

On Wednesday evening Marown A hosted Onchan A at Crosby, with the home team claiming a solid 8-2 home win. Two single figures win arrived from Paul Kelly and Neil Withers, with a further three home victories being comfortable. Glenn Boland got win number six for Marown as he fought back from a 5-14 deficit to edge home 21-20 against Mike Thomas. For the visitors it was father and son who got the two wins as Kevin Quirk beat Phil Kelly 21-15, whilst his son Matthew turned his game around from a 9-16 deficit against Peter Jones to see the game out 21-18.

South Ramsey A made the trip to Breagle Glen as they took on Port St Mary A on Monday night. Winning for the home team were Wayne Roberts who beat Peter Collister 21-14, and Trevor Quayle who won 21-12 against James Teare. For the visitors Stefan Kelly got home 21-18 against Tim Williams, Glynn Hargraves won 21-17 against Dan McCabe with the latter battling back well from a 0-10 deficit. The last game on the green between David Bradford and Robbie Cooil was also 10-0 to the latter, with Bradford turning the game around to also win 21-17.

Match number four for South Ramsey A, who were at home to North Ramsey A was brought forward to the previous Friday due to Chas Grills’ funeral on the Wednesday. The home team claimed the first 10-0 win of the season in Division One. Single figures wins arrived from Stefan Kelly, Bob Clark, Peter Collister, and Glynn Hargraves. The highest scoring player for the visitors was Steve Walmsley who lost out 16-21 to Tony Dugdale.

Marown B slumped to a disappointing 3-7 home defeat against Castletown A on Monday, but bounced back two days later with a 3-7 away win over Peel B.

South Ramsey B had a better week as they had a tough looking trip to take on Onchan A, however they managed to take three games off the home team in their 3-7 defeat.

On Thursday evening South Ramsey B took on Marown C at Crosby, winning 5-3 on games in a battling performance with all five wins being close. Ben Dugdale ended up with the best win for the visitors with a 21-17 victory over Sam Clague, Bryan Corner beat James Kelly 21-18, Eddie Carlyle won 21-19 against Jamie Joughin, with the last two wins going to the wire 21-20 as Tony Hart and Toby Hart beat Steve Rough and Stephen Rundle respectively. For the home team Tom Kelly won 21-7 against Frank Watson, with the other two wins from Stuart Clague and Kevin Kelly ensuring the two-point aggregate went comfortably in the home teams’ favour (157-135).

Douglas A performed better on their travels this week, than they did at home as they had a comfortable 3-7 away win over North Ramsey A.

On Wednesday evening the Villa men hosted Peel A in a high scoring game on chalks (143-148). The visitors came away with a hard earned 4-6 victory.

Port Mary A made the short trip to the Crofts to take on Castletown A, with the visitors outperforming the home team to claim a 2-8 victory, as they bounced back from their defeat on Monday.

In Division Two Ballaugh A are well placed for a title charge, as they sit six points off top spot with a game in hand following their 9-1 home win against Onchan B, followed by a 3-7 away win against Noble’s B, as the visitors claimed two 21-20 wins from Steve Grant and Patrick Grant. Ballaugh will need to ensure they perform on their travels with their home form never in doubt, their away form will make or break their season.

Castletown B are the early frontrunners as they are top by five points, as they won both of their fixtures. The town men hosted Noble’s B on Monday evening winning 8-2, then came away from Peel C with the same result.

Leading the way are Finch Hill A who hosted South Ramsey C on Monday evening as the home team won 7-3. The match score was reversed on Wednesday as Finch Hill A took on Onchan B at the Park with the home team winning 7-3. For Finch Dave McCabe kept up his 100% winning record, as he is just one of seven men to win all their games this season.

Newly promoted North Ramsey B ended their run of three successive 1-9 away defeats, as they played their first home fixture of the season. The Mooragh men edged home 6-4 against Noble’s A. Just four chalks separated the teams (140-136) as the aggregate went in favour of the home team.

South Ramsey C made home advantage count on Thursday evening as they also picked up their first win of the season with a 7-3 home win over Douglas B. The two captains were drawn against each other as David Corkill took on Andy Foster with the former winning 21-8, which went a long way towards ensuring the home team won the aggregate (150-138).

In Division Three Ballaugh B lead the way as they are top by seven points with three of their players in the top four of the individual merit. The Ballaugh men started their week with a 2-8 away win over South Ramsey D, then won 9-1 at home to Noble’s C. Steve Cain prevented the whitewash as he kept up his 100% winning record with a 21-12 win over Stephen Swift.

Noble’s C picked up their first ever win on Tuesday evening as they welcomed Port Erin B. The visitors were once again unable to field a full team as they had to gift two walkovers to the home team who then had wins from Steve Brennan, Dean Sowerby and captain Steve Cain.

Noble’s D continue to be the surprise package as they sit in second place, following their 6-4 away defeat to Peel D. Interestingly a few players who were at Marown last season, and have since moved to Noble’s were part of the team that beat the Crosby men 6-4, with Junior bowlers and brothers Alex Colquitt and Sam Colquitt impressing with wins over Alan Gault and Stephen Storey respectively.