Rayner Shield Continues – Mixed Commences
The Rayner Shield continued last week with the first round being played to decide which teams reached the quarter final stage.
The biggest shock of the week had to be division two team Finch Hill A seeing off Post St Mary A with a fine 5-3 home victory to progress to the next round. Home winners were Paul Dougherty, Dave McCabe and Pat Maher, whilst Tony Epifani got home 21-18 against Paul Russell, with Kevin Anderson holding his nerve to record the biggest shock of the night with a fine victory to the same score over Paul Skelly.
Marown B proved they are a force to reckoned with after their visit to Noble’s A, taking a 5-3 victory. Winning big to single figures for the Crosby men were Harry Barton & Peter Kelly.
North Ramsey A made sure it was a long journey home for Port St Mary B, with a 5-3 home win at Mooragh Park. Allan Callow, Gary Merrill & Ray Skelly all won to single figures against Peter Collins, Steve Stringer & Ray Maddrell respectively. Winning for the Port men were Rod Swift, Derek Kneen and Tom Collins.
Peel A hosted Castletown A, with the home team claiming an assured 6-2 victory. Preventing the whitewash on the night were Dean Kinley who held off Gary Smith to win 21-18, whilst Jordan Drewett claimed a fine 21-19 win over Andy Kennish.
South Ramsey B hosted Marown A, with the visitors enjoying the fine surface to take a 2-6 away victory on the night. Home team winners were Tony Hart, who beat Arnie Withers 21-14, whilst Chas Grills proved he still has what it takes with a 21-15 victory over Paul Kelly. James Moore performed well against Marown captain Paul Dunn before losing out 16-21.
On Tuesday night Peel C hosted Onchan A, with the visitors making no mistake with a 1-7 away win. Phillip Clarke put in a fantastic performance to see off Jordan Cain with a 21-17 win to prevent the whitewash.
South Ramsey A took on Finch Hill B at home with the Ramsey men claiming a 7-1 victory. Kevin Stannard was the only Finch winner on the night defeating Ryan Hargraves 21-16, with Stannard playing some great bowls towards the end of the game to swing the game. Austin Hart claimed his first win for the A Team with a 21-12 win over John Harris, as did Steven Waters with a 21-9 victory over Chris Duggan.
Completing the first round fixtures on Thursday evening Douglas A made the trip West to take on Peel D, with the Villa men making no mistake taking an 0-8 victory. Only two of the Peel men made it into double figures, with Leslie Halsall losing out 10-21 to Andy Cannell, whilst Steve Tate lost 14-21 to Shaun Seal. Mark Kneen having now returned to the island, has rejoined Douglas took an assured 21-5 victory over Ian Gray.
The mixed team group stages started on Wednesday evening with Marown A winning by 85 chalks (188-103), whilst North Ramsey lost out to Noble’s by 52 chalks (114-166). Castletown A made no mistake against Marown B winning by 52 chalks (171-119).
It was also great to see Finch Hill playing in the mixed team competition having gained enough ladies to field a team this year, they performed brilliantly before losing out by just 18 chalks (145-163) to Onchan A in the closest match of the night. Douglas A hosted Port St Mary A, with the home team losing out by 27 chalks (134-161) to the current holders of the mixed title.
South Ramsey became the first club to field a C Team in the mixed competition, giving an opportunity to three juniors and a further three relatively new bowlers to gain some experience. The A Team shown no mercy to the C Team winning by 88 chalks (189-101). Highest scores on the night for the C Team were James Moore who lost out 15-21 to Stefan Kelly, whilst Kim Hargraves lost out to Husband Glynn to the same score.