Port St Mary Take The Wind Out Of Nobles Sail

Another double week of Ladies League Bowls has given the league a shake-up with Castletown benefiting from their rivals dropping points.

Castletown visited Onchan who won the match dropping only 13 chalks. Marie Ashurst was Castletown’s top scorer beating Joanne Kelly 21-9 with wins also coming from Anne Oates, Kim Foy, Hannah Drewett, Ann Hollingworth and Kath Kinley. Onchan picked up three wins from Caroline Corlett, Dee Lewis and Libby Andrade with the final score 140-176 (3-6).

Port St Mary A made the short trip to play Port Erin at Breagle Glen. Port Erin picked up four wins from Caroline Whitehead, Jean Thackrah, Jacqui Elliott and Lynda Cadamy who won 21-3. Despite losing four games, PSM won the match comfortably by 30 chalks helped by wins to single figures from Jayne Kneen, Ann Maddrell and Chris Price. Mavis Franks and Margaret Tasker also won for PSM with the match ending 123-153 (4-5).

Marown had a home tie against Mooragh Park and won by 59 chalks. Joyce Ogden, Margaret Scarffe and Lil Smith all won to single figures for Marown. Shannon McMullan and Helen Martin won for Mooragh with the final score 175-116 (7-2).

Port St Mary B collected their second win of the season beating Ballaugh by 17 chalks. A tight match saw PSM pick up five wins including Dot Mylchreest and Brenda Hawkard who won to single figures. Gill Dixon top-scored for Ballaugh 21-9 with the away side slipping to defeat 165-148 (5-4).

Rounding up the final matches from Wednesday. South Ramsey produced a solid home performance to beat Douglas 187-87 (8-1) and Castletown B lost at home to Peel Sunset 107-183 (1-8).

Friday saw Nobles, who sat out on Wednesday, return to action away against champions Port St Mary A. PSM showed their quality with a fine performance winning seven games from players Ann Maddrell, Jayne Kneen, Trish Bull, Mavis Franks, Kellie Maddrell-Reeve, Margaret Tasker and Chris Price. Rebecca Teare and Clare Cooper won for Nobles with Jayne Smith just losing 21-20. Result 165-127 (7-2).

Peel Sunset narrowly defeated Mooragh Park by eight chalks. Winners for the home side were Heather Horsburgh, Mona Kerruish, Mary Moffatt, Cath Parker and Lynda Wilson. Helen Martin, Vicky Lloyd-West, Janet Monk and Caroline Parker collected wins for the away side but just lost the match 151-143 (5-4).

Onchan against Marown produced a low-scoring match with the teams separated by only two chalks. Home side Onchan won four games including two single figure wins from Maureen Payne and Sue Gawne. Marown crucially won five games with three wins to single figures from Lil Smith, Philippa Taylor and Rosie Winckle. The final score ended 139-141 (4-5).

Port Erin fell to a second defeat of the week losing at home to South Ramsey. Port Erin restricted South Ramseys overall tally picking up four wins including Caroline Whitehead who won 21-6. Kim Hargraves, Jenny Moore and Lyn Bolton all won to single figures as South came through to win 135-156 (4-5).

The final two matches on Friday saw two whitewashes. Castletown A defeated Douglas 189-96 (9-0) and Ballaugh beat Castletown B 189-75 (9-0).

After round nine South Ramsey sit on top of the league, however, have played a game more than Castletown A who is second. With the teams uneven on matches played, the overall average may show a truer picture of the league. Castletown A leads the averages with 171 followed by Nobles 165, Port St Mary A 163 and South Ramsey 161. There is a long way to go and these four teams will undoubtedly continue to swap positions as they race for the title.

Individually, only two players remain undefeated who have played in all available matches; Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Cath Harvey (Ballaugh).

Next week is the final set of matches before the two-week break for the TT Races.