Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

There were a number of close fixtures in division one this week with league leaders South Ramsey A visiting Onchan A in a high quality match with close scores in all but one game. For Onchan Kevin Quirk seen off Chas Grills 21-16, Peter Slinger managed to get over the line 21-19, whilst Matthew Quirk played well to beat Stefan Kelly 21-8. For the visitors Alan Moore beat Frank Watson 21-15, Glynn Hargraves recovered from a 14-18 deficit to run out with a 21-18 win after a tough battle. Second half winners for South Ramsey were David Bradford who beat Phil Kerruish 21-15, Dido Kelly won 21-17 against Jordan Cain in a great game to watch, whilst James Teare beat Mark Kelly 21-15 to seal a 3-7 win with the northern team taking the aggregate by just five chalks (143-148).

The closest match of the night was between Castletown A & Peel A at the Crofts, with Peel taking the win 6-4, winning 5-3 on games, but tying on chalks (133-133) after suffering two heavy defeats. For the home team Nathan Hamilton continued his solid start to the season and in doing so inflicted a first league defeat of the season on Tommy McMeiken 21-6, Jordan Drewett beat George Gadsby 21-9, whilst Aaron Richardson did well to beat Ste Kelly 21-13. For the visitors Peter Greenlees beat Ian Watson 21-18, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly got back to winning ways defeating Bob Clark 21-19, with wins from Tom Kelly & Gary Smith being comfortable, whilst Darren Young recorded the biggest win of the night with a 21-4 victory over Nathan Cooil.

North Ramsey A hosted Port St Mary A at Mooragh Park with the home team taking a 7-3 win in another close encounter on chalks (133-132), with Rob Monk somewhat surprisingly turning out for his former club having plied his trade at Onchan for three seasons. Monk made his return after nearly two years out of the game and recorded a fine 21-13 win over Trevor Quayle.

Marown A hosted Ballaugh A at Crosby with the home team recording an 8-2 victory, will have been disappointed to lose two close games with John Gelling losing 18-21 to Richard Hainge, whilst Phil Kelly lost 19-21 to John Keenan. All of Marown’s wins were never in doubt with six single figure victories. Marown remain in third place, closing the gap to the top to just three points.

Noble’s A were well beaten 1-9 at home with Mark Kneen preventing the whitewash with his 21-11 win over John Kelly. For the visitors James Kelly just edged out Steve Cook 21-20. Douglas A got their first win of the season with a 2-8 away win over Peel B. Ian Moore just missed out on an extra point for his team losing 20-21 against Dave Smith, whilst Keith Rise and Shaun Seal both won 21-19 against Dougie Allan and Michael Kavanagh respectively.

In division two Finch Hill A used home advantage to beat Castletown B 6-4, taking the aggregate by nine chalks (139-130). South Ramsey C pulled off a surprise 3-7 away win over Port Erin A, which could have ended up 9-1 to the visitors who lost two games 19-21 with Seamus Whelan and Bernie Durcan both getting over the line against David Corkill and James Evans. Port St Mary B won 7-3 at home to Peel C with Derek Cain winning 21-10 against Paul Baker, whilst Derek’s son Will held his nerve to win 21-20 against Kevin Mort. For the visitors Mike Ashmole beat Rod Swift 21-9.

South Ramsey B hosted Onchan B on a tricky green with the home team maintaining their recent good form with an 8-2 home win. Tony Dugdale was ruthless with his 21-3 win over Paul Clinton, whilst Ben Dugdale went right to the wire with his 21-20 win over Bernie McPhee. For the visitors Mike Kelly continues to perform well in division two with a 21-7 win over Austin Hart, whilst Mike Thomas beat Ian Moore 21-8.

On Tuesday evening Marown C hosted Finch Hill B with the home team winning 7-3 thanks to good single figure wins from Walter McCarthy, Stewart Clague and Kevin Kelly for the Crosby team.

In division three Ballaugh B played their lower ranked C Team with the B taking a solid 7-3 win to ensure they stayed top. South Ramsey D had a tough home fixture against Marown D with the match finishing 5-5 with the visitors winning five games, however the home team won two games to single figures to ensure they took the aggregate on chalks. Steve Cain won his first game with a good 21-16 win over Ryan Hargraves.

Port Erin B hosted Douglas C at Breagle Glen with the home team crushing the visitors 10-0. Castletown C recorded a solid 8-2 home win over Onchan C, however only six chalks separated the teams (133-127) to show it was a closely contested match. 

Peel D slipped to a 2-8 home defeat against Noble’s B. For Peel Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton was ruthless with a 21-0 win over Stan Cooper, whilst team mate Andrew Cover beat Terry Bates 21-16 with both players showing they are ones to watch out for. For the visitors’ Junior player Alex Hampson picked up another win getting over the line 21-20 against Richard Callister.