It would appear that this Season is going to see a close battle for the League Champions go right to the end as we have regular changes in the lead.

On Tuesday Castletown A hosted North Ramsey A and this was a 6-2 victory for Castletown with only Mike Skelly and Geoff Porter managing wins for the Northerners. The Castletown B side travelled even further South to play Port St Mary A and this time it was a 6-2 defeat for the Castletown side with wins for them coming from Alan Phair and Terry Jackson.

Onchan A welcomed Port Erin to the ‘Park’ and the Southerners came away with a hard earned draw while the Onchan B men travelled to North Ramsey B where they were beaten 6-2.

Ballaugh B hosted Nobles A and this resulted in a 5-3 win for the strong Nobles side while the Ballaugh A side travelled to Crosby where they lost 5-3 to Marown.

Douglas B lost 6-2 to South Ramsey at the Villa with Malcolm Black and Arthur Ashcroft getting wins for the Douglas men while the Douglas A lads played Peel Sunset B in sunny Peel and came back to Douglas with a 5-3 victory.

Peel Sunset A travelled to play Nobles B and they brought an 8-0 win back to the West while Peel C lost 6-2 to Finch Hill.

Game 16.

Onchan A travelled South to play Port St Mary B and like many other Clubs this season they found the Southerners hard to beat with the match resulting in a 4-4 draw. The Onchan B side hosted Ballaugh B and the home side eaned a 5-3 win at a sunny Onchan Park.

Castletown A travelled to the ‘Villa’ to play Douglas A in a tight match which saw some close games but in the end resulted in a 5-3 win for the Castletown men. Castletown B hosted Peel Sunset C and the home side won 6-2 with the two wins for the Westerners coming from Michael Callin and Terry Crutchley.

At the Mooragh Park  North Ramsey A beat a strong Marown side 5-3 while the North Ramsey B lads packed their mules for the journey to South Ramsey in a match that resulted in a 5-3 win for the South Ramsey side.

Peel Sunset A had a good 6-2 victory over Port St Mary A and Peel Sunset B also had a 6-2 win, this time away at Finch Hill with Bill Cairns and Eric Stanley being the two winners for Finch Hill.

Port Erin beat Nobles B 6-2 on the Southerners Home Green and Douglas B travelled to play Ballaugh A where the away side lost 8-0.

So after a week which saw two good wins for Castletown A and two draws for Onchan A we see the Southerners just edging back into the lead with Onchan A in second place although they are equal on points with a points total of twenty six.

In third place are Nobles A with twenty four points and they are then followed by Peel Sunset A, Marown and Port St Mary A all on twenty two points.

Although there is still a long way to go yet if this trend id followed throughout the Season it really is going to be ‘tough at the top’ this Year.

As we came to Game 12 of the 2017 Men’s Over 60’s Season it is becoming apparent that this will be an exciting year with a number of teams in contention for the League Title.

Ballaugh A hosted Peel Sunset A and it was the home team who took the honours although a hard fought game between Barry McDonald and Peel’s Leslie Halsall which ended 21-19 to Barry could quite easily have gone either way.

Castletown A beat Nobles B 7-1 at Castletown with the only winner for Nobles being Brian Atherton who beat Dave Hollingworth 21-18. Castletown’s B Team travelled to Nobles Park A and this time the honours went to the Douglas club who won 6-2.

Douglas A travelled to the Mooragh Park to play North Ramsey A and in a match played in a really friendly atmosphere with lots of banter it was the Ramsey side who ran out 5-3 winners. After the match it was not the bowls that was the talking point but it was had Stuey Garrett eaten Norman Radcliffe’s scone with Mr Radcliffe feeling that Stuey was the prime suspect.

Douglas B hosted the North Ramsey B Team and this time the result was a 4-4 draw in a close match at the Villa.

Onchan B played against the Onchan A Team at the ‘Park’ and this although the A Team won 5-3 this could so easily have ended in a shock result as the B Teams Peter Wallis and Gary Lee both lost 21-19 to Mike Alexander and Bernie McPhee respectively.

Peel Sunset B took a 5-3 win from Ballaugh B in a match that had some very close games and the the Peel Sunset C men played a strong Marown side with the latter taking an 8-0 win with Bert Quayle and Phil Clarke getting the nearest to 21 for the Peel side.

Port St Mary B took their passports for the long journey to South Ramsey but the travel was not in vain as they came away with a 6-2 win with the winners for South Ramsey being Bill Callow and Chas Grills.

Finch Hill hosted Port Erin in a match  that ended in a 5-3 win for the Douglas side although there were a couple of close games.

So after the completion of Game 12 we now have three teams level at the top on points, these being Castletown A, Nobles A and Onchan A who are all on 20 points and they are closely followed by Marown on 18 points in fourth place.

Game 13.

Castletown A travelled to a ‘hard to beat’ Marown and the home side took a 5-3 victory from the southsiders with the Castletown B Team having a better day at home to Finch Hill in a game that saw the Castletown men running out as 5-3 winners.

Port St Mary B hosted high flying Nobles A and again one of the top teams found the going tough as they were held to a draw by the home side and the Port St Mary A Team made the reverse journey to Nobles Park where they came away with a 5-3 victory.

Douglas B made the journey to Ballaugh B and were beaten 5-3 by the home side in a match that saw a number of close matches and could have gone either way. The Ballaugh A side held Douglas A to  a draw at the ‘Villa’, again in a match with close finishes.

At the Mooragh Park North Ramsey B were beaten 7-1 by Onchan A with Bryan Corner being the only winner for the northern side and North Ramsey A travelled to Onchan Park where they came away with a 5-3 victory.

In the ‘Sunset City’ Peel Sunset A beat South Ramsey 6-2 while the Peel Sunset C Team played their Game 13 match the following day at home to Port Erin with the southerners emerging as 5-3 victors.

Game 14.

Top team Onchan A hosted Ballaugh B and despite a spirited effort by the boys from Ballaugh it was the Onchan team who eventually ran out 5-3 winners but it was not all joy for Onchan as Ballaugh A inflicted a similar 5-3 defeat on the Onchan B team back at Ballaugh.

After a ‘blip’ last week when they lost to Marown the Castletown A side had an emphatic 8-0 win against Peel Sunset C while Castletown B travelled further south where they were held to a 4-4 draw at Port Erin.

The forward surge of Marown was slowed a little as they were beaten 5-3 by Port St Mary A and the Port St Mary B men travelled to Finch Hill with the southerners getting a 5-3 win.

Nobles A and Peel Sunset A battled to a draw at Nobles Park whilst back in the west Peel Sunset B and Nobles B also recorded a draw.

In the north of the Island North Ramsey A played their B Team and this resulted in a 7-1 win for North Ramsey A with their only loser being Norman Radcliffe who lost 21-10 to his fellow ex South Ramsey player Brian Stewart.

South Ramsey hosted Douglas A and this match became the fourth draw of the day with a 4-4 scoreline.

So after fourteen games have been played we have Onchan A clear at the top of the League with 22 points and they are closely followed by Castletown A and Nobles A both with 20 points.