Onchan Sink South up North
Isle of Man Bank men’s division 1 leaders Onchan A turned on the style last week as they put a serious dent in the title challenge of highly fancied South Ramsey A, sinking them 9-1 on their own patch.
John Kennish, who was just back from a hugely successful campaign in the UK with 8 straight wins meaning he has qualified for 3 major finals days, was the only winner for the Northerners on a tricky green which really suited the visitors. With the Manx Championship scheduled to be on the same green at the weekend it would be hard to rule out one of them, or Kennish himself, going all the way and securing top honours.
Title holders Marown A, who themselves have some major players for the weekends championship, had to work hard to secure a 7-3 win just down the road at the Mooragh as they edged past a battling North Ramsey A team.
In reality the Crosby outfit would have been hoping to make up some ground on Onchan in this set of fixtures, and not drop a further 2 points behind. It’s difficult to see where they will make up the ground on their rivals which will put a lot of emphasis on the two head to head match ups with the first scheduled for June 9th at Onchan Park.
Port St Mary A are still in third despite going down 7-3 away to Castletown A. Town are still trying to recover from an early heavy defeat and this win seems like business returning to usual, as they close the gap on 3rd place, which is probably a realistic aim for 3 or 4 teams this season.
Douglas A travelled to a new look Ballaugh A where they picked some magnificent away points with an 8-2 victory. Whilst it is Douglas whose season is now really off and running its great to see a mix of old and new faces at forward thinking Ballaugh A who are really looking beyond this season, as they build for the future by bedding new blood into their top team.
Port Erin have started their campaign in the top tier admirably and a good 7-3 home win over highflying Castletown B will do their chances of survival or even a mid table finish no harm at all.
Peel A picked up their first win this terms as they beat Castletown C 8-2 to get some much needed points on the board and leapfrog their opponents in the league.
Division 2 leaders Finch Hill A picked up another strong win to keep their aspirations of silverware alive as they beat Nobles Park A 8-2 at Kensington Road.
Onchan B keep the pressure on in second place as they had to use all of the ammunition in their arsenal to win the war against Nobles Mixed A 6-4, after tying on games. Only two points separated the teams on aggregate as well so this really was a close encounter between 2 teams who should be in the shake up for promotion at the end.
Douglas B are now starting to fire and an 8-2 win moves them into 3rd place in the table. They have some strong dependable players in their stellar line up and if they can get their best team on the green will be difficult to shift and have a real shout at top honours.
Castletown D will be delighted to chalk up their first win, but more so in the manner it was achieved. Trailing 4-3 on games, and behind on aggregate, a transformed Matthew Shanahan held his nerve and played magnificently to win 21-12 and seal the points for his side, and his place in the divisions team of the week.
It’s tight at the top in division 3 with all of the top 3 putting in strong performances to all keep their title hopes alive. South Ramsey B are back on top thanks to a superb 9-1 win away at Douglas C, whilst Port Erin B are only one point adrift thanks to their own strong away win, beating Peel D 7-3 in the sunset city. Hotly fancied Marown B come next only 2 points behind after they too picked up a great 7-3 away win, this time over Nobles Park B.