Monthly Archives: September 2018
Peel Sunset Capitalise To Close In On Over 60s Ladies Title
Peel Over 60s Ladies Team 2018
Back: Pat Robertson, Mary Moffatt, Lynda Wilson, Shirley Corrin, Cath Parker Front: Joyce Kelly, Heather Horsburgh, Mona KerruishThe last two matches in the Ladies Over 60s League have been played with Peel Sunset capitalising on two low scores by title rivals, and current champions, Port St Mary A.
On Thursday 13th September Port St Mary A lost ground at the top of the league against their B team. Restricted to under 100 chalks with the B team picking up two big wins to single figures, the A team won the match 96-78 (4-2).
Peel Sunset travelled away to South Ramsey and edged a close encounter winning 96-109 (3-3). The 13 chalk margin over Port St Mary A increased their advantage on Thursday to 93 chalks.
Marown sat out from Thursday allowing Onchan and Nobles to catch up and hunt down third position. Onchan defeated Ballaugh 111-77 (4-2) whilst Nobles beat Mooragh Park A 102-97 (3-3). The result left Marown over 100 chalks clear and ties up third position for the Crosby outfit. Nobles and Onchan remain separated by 7 chalks with Tuesdays matches crucial to finalising their positions.
In the other results on Thursday Mooragh Park B lost to Castletown 101-109 (3-3); Breagle lost to Villa 88-92 (3-3) and Douglas A won 115-90 (4-2) against Port Erin.
Onto Tuesday 18th September and the final matches for nearly all of the league teams with the exception of Port St Mary A and Douglas who play their re-arranged match later in the week.
Marown who had already secured third beat Breagle 112-80 (4-2). In the race for fourth Onchan put in a fine away performance to defeat Villa 74-122 (1-5). Nobles weren’t to be outdone and in their match away to Ballaugh won 62-121 (2-4). The result places Nobles in fourth 6 chalks ahead of Onchan. Castletown finish sixth after beating South Ramsey 103-85 (4-2) and Port St Mary B finish seventh after their win against Mooragh Park B 105-73 (5-1).
Back to the race for the title. Mooragh Park A took on Port St Mary A with the away side needing to keep up the pace set by Peel. In a low scoring match, which saw two games won to nil, Port St Mary were restricted to scoring 89 chalks with the match ending 84-89 (3-3).
Peel Sunset did all that they could to take the title down to the wire and put in another strong home performance defeating Douglas 116-89 (5-1).
An incredible season, which has seen Peel and Port St Mary swap and change at the top, will go down to the very last match of the year. Peel have built a 120 chalk lead and have one hand firmly on the title.
Port St Mary are still Champions however and will not give up without a fight. Thursdays match at home to Douglas will see 126 points up for grabs and a chance to win the league for a fifth consecutive year.
Janet Monk has won the individual merit in her first over 60s season. Elaine Moore and Mary Moffatt currently sit second and third with Margaret Tasker able to claim either of those positions depending on her final game.
Top Four, All To Play For
Friday 14th September saw the penultimate games take place in the Ladies Bowling Night League.
Port St Mary remain on course for their fifth title in succession, and eight overall, following their full house win over Douglas. Douglas unfortunately were a player short and were unable to push close in any of the games with Chris Price and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures. The match ended 189-84 (9-0).
Castletown A nearly matched their rivals but dropped one game in their 184-86 (8-1) win over Ballaugh. Hilary Kermode, Kim Foy, Heike Perry, Anne Oates and Sue Peach turned in fine home performances to win to single figures. Ballaugh avoided a whitewash with Gill Dixon defeating Hannah Drewett 21-16.
The battle for third position continues into the final week of the season with South Ramsey heading Nobles for the position. South Ramsey defeated Port Erin with Elaine Moore and Jenny Moore both playing well winning 21-0 and 21-4 respectively. Port Erin did pick up two wins from Caroline Whitehead and Lynda Cadamy but South won the match 182-122 (8-2).
Nobles kept up with South by winning their match against Mooragh Park 179-98 (7-2). Debbie Leece, Alison Keggen, Paula Firth and Clare Cooper all won to single figures. Mooragh’s wins came from Helen Martin and Caroline Parker.
Peel Sunset suffered a home defeat to Purt Le Moirrey despite winning more games on the night. Shirley Corrin, Heather Horsburgh, Louise Horsfall, Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt won for the home side. Purt Le Moirrey pulled off a six chalk win with wins from Sandra Lowe, Dot Mylchreest, Wyn Collister and Linda Dawson. Final score 154-162 (5-4).
In the final match from Friday, Onchan defeated Castletown B 176-74 (8-1) with the visiting team managing to avoid a full house defeat with Barbara Young winning 21-8.
Heading into the final game of the season Port St Mary hold a strong 81 chalk advantage over Castletown A. On paper Castletown A’s final game against their B team could result in another maximum 189 score. That would mean Port St Mary would have to score a minimum of 108 chalks to retain the league, but face a strong Nobles side who are themselves chasing South Ramsey for third position.
South Ramsey will only play their final match against Douglas on Thursday 27th and will look to turn over whatever advantage Nobles have built.
In the race for the individual merit Chris Price leads on 482 chalks followed by Amanda Lawler 478, Jayne Kneen 476 and Jenny Moore 469. All four ladies are in contention for the top spots with the last game of the season the crucial deciding game.
Millennium Fours
Millennium Fours Winners 2018
Rebecca Teare, Paula Firth, Maureen Payne, Lin RuscoeA good turnout of 32 ladies split into eight teams took part in the Millennium Fours competition held at Marown.
The competition see’s teams of four play two singles and a doubles match with total chalks determining the winner.
In the first semi final Margaret Tasker, Trish Bull, Mavis Franks and Chris Price booked their spot in the final with a 34-29 victory over Jenny Moore, Kim Hargraves, Bethany Kennish and Fiona Kennish.
In the other semi, Maureen Payne, Rebecca Teare, Lin Ruscoe and Paula Firth advanced following their 45-31 win over Alison Keggen, Debbie Leece, Lil Smith and Lyn Bolton.
In the final, Maureen Payne defeated Mavis Franks 15-5 whilst Trish Bull responded for her team winning 15-4 against Lin Ruscoe.
With the match evenly balanced at 20-19 the doubles would settle the contest.
After some brilliant ends Rebecca Teare and Paula Firth edged past Margaret Tasker and Chris Price 15-13 giving their team an overall 34-33 victory.
Thanks to Marown for hosting the competition, Heather Horsburgh and Elaine Moore for running the competition and all those who helped on the day.
Maddrell & Kennish Triumph
The Friends Provident Mens doubles drawn partners was played on Sunday 16th September at Port St Mary. An entry of 38 players were split into group A and group B, with group A being mainly division one players. One player from each group were drawn out to make up what should be 19 fairly evenly matched pairs.
Three preliminary matches were needed to get down to the last 16. Tim Williams & Bernard Thackrah beat Bernie Durcan & Derek Cain 21-17. Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil defeated Derek Allen & Ray Watterson 21-15, whilst Lee Dawson & Karl Parker won 21-16 against Glynn Hargraves & Tony Hart.
Round one had several close games, with the closest being John Kennish & Ray Maddrell squeezing past Dave McCabe & Walter McCarthy 21-20.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were Lee Dawson & Karl Parker, Mike Hargraves & Austin Hart, Matthew Keggen & Paul Quirk along with Edward Carlyle & Ryan Hargraves.
The first semi-final saw Sid Bolton & Nathan Cooil (South Ramsey/Castletown) take on John Kennish & Ray Maddrell (South Ramsey/Port St Mary), with the latter pair going through quite comfortably 21-10. In the second semi-final, Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett (Port St Mary/Castletown) went through almost as comfortably 21-13 against Wayne Roberts & Dave Saxon (both Port St Mary).
A very good final followed between the top two teams of the day, there were many tight ends, but in the end John Kennish & Ray Maddrell were just too strong for Paul Skelly & Jordan Drewett winning 21-14.
The presentation was made by Ann Maddrell, who thanked the sponsors Friends Provident, everyone at Port St Mary bowling club that helped with the running of the competition and to everyone that took part. Ann then introduced Katy Williams of Friends Provident to present the prizes.
A Great Day For Manx Bowls
Junior Manx Masters Competitors
South Ramsey held the Manx Masters on Saturday with four separate competitions taking place.
Winner of the Young Manx Masters was Sam Colquitt (Marown Juniors) defeating Emily Cooper (also Marown Juniors) in the final. This competition was played in a round robin format over seven ends with both Sam and Emily winning their respective groups to reach the final.
The Junior Manx Masters was played as a straight knockout for the older and more experienced player and the title was retained by Glenn Boland (Noble’s) who beat Austin Hart (South Ramsey) 21-18 in the final, with Boland beating 10 year old Ryan Hargraves to reach the final, whilst Hart beat his younger brother Toby Hart in a close game (21-18) to book his spot in the final.
The standard of play in both events was brilliant and it was great to have over 50 people around the green watching the future of the game with the numbers steadily increasing throughout the morning, making for a great atmosphere on and around the green.
The junior competitions were sponsored by Stonemasons IOM Limited for a second successive year with the presentation made by Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly. All those who took part received a prize, with the younger players also receiving a certificate.
Huge thanks must go to the five coaches (Sonya Mercer, Clare Cooper, Phil Kelly, Colin Kelly and Neil Withers) who helped the younger players with their games throughout the morning, with their guidance being invaluable to those taking part.
Once the Junior competitions came to a conclusion the men’s and ladies events got underway with the ladies event being an invitation of 16 players, whilst the men’s event had 32 taking part.
In the ladies losing out at the quarter final stages were Mary Moffatt (Peel), Gill Dixon (Ballaugh), Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Philippa Taylor (Marown).
In the semi-finals Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) was too strong for Chris Price (Port St Mary) taking a 21-14 win, whilst Clare Cooper (Noble’s) ended the challenge of home greener Lyn Bolton with a 21-16 win to book her place in the final.
In the final Moore was quickest out of the blocks under the floodlights with Cooper being kept down to winning five ends throughout the game with Moore scoring six two’s on the way to securing a well deserved 21-9 win to pick up the title.
In the men’s event 12 of the 16 first round games were well contested with the player losing out scoring 15 or more to show there were some good games taking place. This continued in the second round with five of the eight games being played going to 15 and above.
Losing out at the quarter final stage was multi time Manx Masters champion and recent festival winner John Kennish (South Ramsey), who lost out 18-21 to his nephew Alan Moore (South Ramsey). Another home greener who fell at this stage was Chas Grills losing out 15-21 to Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel). In another all home green encounter David Bradford lost out 13-21 to Glynn Hargraves, whilst Dean Kipling (Marown) ended the hopes of Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly with his own 21-13 win.
In the semi-final Alan Moore took on Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly with Moore fighting back from well behind to get back to 19-19 before Kelly picked up a two to secure a 21-19 win. In the second semi-final Glynn Hargraves took on Dean Kipling with Hargraves taking a 17-8 lead with Kipling coming back to 15-17 before Hargraves went on another run to finish the game off to win 21-15.
In the final Kelly made a strong start on the long lengths with Hargraves chipping in with the odd point to trail 7-11. Kelly then took the next four ends with two singles and two doubles to take a huge step towards winning taking a 17-7 lead. Hargraves dug in to take the next seven ends on a short round peg that he had played well in three of his previous games to take four singles and three doubles to drag himself back into the game to sit level at 17-17. Kelly picked the perfect time to stop the rot playing a good first bowl which wasn’t beaten to get back in to go 18-17 ahead. A double and a single on the next two ends was enough to secure a well deserved victory for Kelly, who had performed well all day.
At the end of the competition the prizes were presented by Cleveland Perry of behalf of the sponsors Feltons who have supported this event for the past few years.
Competition secretary John Kennish gave thanks to those who had helped prepare the green, along with those who had helped in any way towards the smooth running of the competitions throughout the whole day. A special mention to the ladies who once again put on a superb selection of pasties, sandwiches, cakes etc along with hot and cold refreshments throughout the entire day.
Also a special mention must go to John Kennish and Alan Moore who put in considerable time and effort to invite the players that took part and did brilliantly to get 21 juniors playing competitive bowls that was enjoyed by all.
Marown & South Ramsey Set to Clash In Final
The mixed team semi-finals were played on Thursday evening with the matches played at neutral venues.
Marown A took on Port St Mary at Finch Hill in a match that went to the wire (145-139), however it was Marown who booked their place in the final despite suffering two heavy defeats. Lil Smith lost 2-21 to Trevor Quayle, whilst Shirley Whelan lost 5-21 to Wayne Roberts. The other winner for Port St Mary was Margaret Tasker who beat Mary Alderson 21-12. Marown’s five wins were enough to see them over the line with Dean Kipling the only single figure winner for Marown beating Ray Watterson 21-8. Paul Dunn beat Tim Williams 21-10, Neil Withers won 21-11 against Dan McCabe, with Colin Kelly beating Mavis Franks 21-13 whilst Paul Kelly won 21-14 against Jayne Kneen. The closest match of the night was between Philippa Taylor and Chris Price with Taylor edging it 21-20.
South Ramsey A took on Noble’s A at Onchan on Thursday evening with the match expected to be close. South Ramsey wasted no time in the first five games to all but secure their place in the final winning all the games to comfortable score lines to build up a 59 point lead. James Teare performed well to record a 21-5 win over Alison Keggen, Stefan Kelly beat Clare Cooper 21-13, whilst Glynn Hargraves defeated Paula Firth 21-8. The next two games off were 21-10 wins for Ben Dugdale & Elaine Moore against John Ruscoe and Reginald Temporaza respectively. In the second half of the match Lyn Bolton beat Sylvia Kennaugh 21-8, with Jenny Moore seeing off Glenn Boland 21-13. Noble’s two wins were well deserved with David Pease beating Alan Moore 21-10, whilst Rebecca Teare played well to beat Gill Dixon 21-15. South Ramsey won the match 7-2 on games and taking the victory by 63 chalks (172-109).
The mixed team final between Marown and South Ramsey takes place on Thursday 20th September with the venue still to be confirmed. Marown will start the match as favourites on the night.
Marown Book Final Spot
Marown Club Team who took on Peel at Crosby
Photo: Arnie WithersIn Group A Marown secured their spot in the final with a game to spare despite suffering losses in all of their doubles games at home to Peel. Jerome Surridge & Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly beat Neil Withers & Paul Kelly 21-18, Gary Smith & Gordon Corrin defeated Phil Kelly and Juan Killip 21-14, with Stevie Kelly and David Proctor seeing off Paul Dunn & Peter Kelly 21-16. In the singles Frank Watson was the only Peel winner defeating Matthew Keggen 21-17. Marown’s victory ended up being comfortable (149-112) thanks to wins in the singles from Dean Kipling, Brian Kelly and John Gelling all winning to single figures against Dave Smith, Mike Ashmole and Tommy McMeiken respectively, whilst Colin Kelly showed no mercy against his eldest son Tom Kelly with a 21-13 win.
In Group B it is set up nicely for the last group match at Onchan against South Ramsey who sit top by two points holding an 18 chalk advantage. For Onchan to progress to the final they need to win the match by 19 chalks to reach the final.
South Ramsey picked up two points this week with a victory over Douglas (150-124) with the floodlights now coming into play early on in matches due to the nights closing in. In the singles matches Steven Waters and Chas Grills both recorded 21-18 wins over Gary Conwell and Shaun Seal respectively, whilst Stefan Kelly beat Willie Cowley to single figures. Austin Hart lost out 15-21 to Ian Moore, whilst Sid Bolton lost 19-21 to Andy Cannell. In the doubles matches Ben Dugdale & James Teare were well beaten 11-21 against Mervin Sayle and Keith Rise, with Alan Moore & Peter Collister cancelling this defeat out with a 21-10 win. Glynn Hargraves & Dido Kelly won 21-7 against Jimmy Sansom & Gordon Wynne-Smythe.
South Ramsey Retain Title
League Champions 2018
South Ramsey A confirmed their dominance of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored division one with their third straight league title following a 10-0 home win over Port St Mary A on a particularly wet Monday evening.
Five of the home team wins were to single figures with the most notable being David Bradford defeating Paul Skelly 21-4. Three of the visiting players made it into double figures with Wayne Roberts losing out 15-21 against Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly and Steve Franks losing 13-21 to Peter Collister. There was also a first league defeat of the season for Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle losing out 12-21 against South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves to shake things up at the top of the individual merit.
At the start of the season I stated that Marown A were favourites for the league with the squad they had, and I am surprised that a stronger challenge did not come from the Crosby men, however I am sure that they will be back next year.
Marown A took on their B Team and without taking too much away from the B team the weather did play a part in levelling things up, with the B team securing a 7-3 win over the higher ranked team to officially secure their place in division one for next season after gaining promotion last year. The three winners for the A team were Paul Kelly who won a close game against Brian Kelly 21-19, with Colin Kelly and Neil Withers both winning to single figures. For the B Team captain Harry Barton led the way with a 21-17 win over opposition captain Paul Dunn, Steve Bridson recorded a memorable win to the same score over Dean Kipling, John Kelly beat Phil Kelly 21-19, with James Kelly beating Matthew Keggen 21-10 and Arnie Withers defeating Peter Kelly 21-9.
At the other end of the table South Ramsey B have all but secured their top flight status for another year with a 7-3 home win over near neighbours North Ramsey A. Austin Hart having waited most the season for a league win has now won three of his last four games with a 21-20 victory over Allan Callow with his confidence soaring on the back of picking up his first win. Home team captain Ben Dugdale recorded a 21-18 win over Steve Parker, with the other three wins from Steven Waters, James Teare and Sid Bolton all being fairly comfortable. For the visitors Ray Skelly and Geoff Porter defeated George Brew and Christian Caley respectively, whilst Tony Smart won to single figures.
Port Erin A made the trip to ‘The Villa’ to take on Douglas A, with the Breagle Glen men taking three games off the home team with Dave McCabe beating Mervin Sayle 21-20, Derek Cadamy won 21-18 against Shaun Seal and captain Bernie Durcan won 21-8 against Gary Conwell.
Douglas B are officially relegated, however they did pick up one of their best results of the season taking four games off Peel A away from home with Pat O’ Donohue, Andy Cannell, Andy Foster and Gordon Wynne-Smythe the winners.
In division two Noble’s A edged closer to winning the league following a 9-1 home win against Peel B. For the home team John Ruscoe and Reginald Temporaza won to single figures, whilst for the visitors Harry Kelly prevented a whitewash with a 21-11 win over David Quayle. Noble’s have two fairly straightforward fixtures left to play against their B Team and away to Finch Hill A.
Castletown B sit just four points behind Noble’s following their 8-2 away win against Port St Mary C, helped by Ross Moore and Aaron Richardson both sneaking 21-20 wins against Derek Cain and Louis Callister respectively, however they still face a tough away game against Port St Mary B, finishing up with a home game against Peel C.
In the individual merit stakes Dave Faragher (Castletown B) suffered a hammer blow to his hopes following a 4-21 defeat against Bernard Thackrah (Port St Mary C), which has allowed David Pease (Noble’s) and John Keenan (Ballaugh) to leapfrog Faragher at the top.
At the other end of the table Port Erin B have been relegated to the third division, following a 3-7 home loss to Noble’s B who themselves are all but relegated with just two games left and sit 17 points from safety.
In the third division Marown C sit on the brink of winning the title and gaining promotion to the second division following a fantastic 10-0 away win against Onchan C. Marown have done some fantastic work as five years ago their B Team pulled out of the league as they couldn’t field a team that season. Since then the club led by Neil Withers have done some fantastic work to recruit new players into the game which culminated in Marown introducing a C Team into the league in 2016 and got them to where they are now, with players who have stuck together and improved each year, with some of their players enjoying some success in open competitions with Steve Wilson winning a men’s doubles at Castletown last year and Walter McCarthy performing brilliantly to win the men’s doubles in the September festival.
Ballaugh B are by no means down and out from taking the title themselves, and sit 10 points behind the league leaders with a game in hand. Their cause wasn’t helped by dropping four games against their C Team with a 6-4 win.
Sitting just three points further back on Ballaugh B in third place are Castletown C who took their turn to sit out the fixtures last week.
South Ramsey D Team player Ian Moore looks to have secured the individual merit title following another comfortable win away from home winning 21-11 against Tommy Rougvie (Douglas C). Moore has lost just one league game all season losing 20-21 at home to Trevor Jones.
Cooper and Dawson Take First Mixed Doubles Title
Wilfred Quayle Winners 2018
Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Wilfred Quayle mixed doubles on Sunday with the competition attracting 37 pairs on a fine day.
The eventual winners were Clare Cooper (Noble’s) and Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) who overcame the strong challenge of Chrissy McManus (Ainsdale) and Steve McManus (Mere Brow) in a high quality final to secure their first mixed doubles win. After six ends the score was 13-12 to Cooper and Dawson with the McManus Husband and Wife partnership having only won two ends but scoring two three’s. From there the latter were kept down to four singles with Cooper and Dawson complimenting each other well with Cooper leading brilliantly at the front and Dawson doing the business at the back when needed to take three singles, a three and a double to take the title with a 21-16 win.
Losing out to the winners at the semi-final stage were Alison Keggen (Noble’s) and Neil Withers (Marown) 13-21, whilst the South Ramsey pairing of Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves lost out 12-21.
Falling at the quarter final stage were the Port St Mary pairings of Pauline Worrall and Paul Russell, Katy Williams and Tim Williams, home greeners Marie Ashurst and Dave Faragher, along with Paula Firth (Noble’s) and Sid Bolton (South Ramsey).
The presentation was made by Phil Taubman who thanked everyone who had entered and all the club members who had helped with the smooth running of the competition throughout the day. It was great to see some visitors extend their stay on the Island to enter the competition with the losing finalists playing on the green for the first time, showing how quickly they had adapted to a new green, with the visitors thanking everyone for such a warm welcome.
Monk Wins Thurlwell Bowl
Thurlwell Bowl Winner 2018
Noble’s Bowling Club hosted the Thurlwell Bowl on Saturday with the rain mostly holding off throughout the day.
The eventual winner was Rob Monk (Onchan) who defeated Paul Skelly (Port St Mary) 21-19 in a hard fought final. Both players performed well making good two’s throughout the game despite their opponent having good bowls. The game changer was at 18-18 with Monk playing a short round peg and Skelly was lying one on and looking to make two resulted in Skelly flicking his own bowl out to leave Monk on to go 19-18 ahead. Skelly got back in next again, however very nearly turned his counting bowl out again. At 19-19 Skelly headed for the corner and couldn’t have had a worse time to play his poorest end of the game to allow Monk to pick up an easy two for game in an otherwise entertaining and high quality game.
In the semi-final Monk ended the challenge of Paul Dunn (Marown) with a good display to book his place in the final, whilst Skelly was pushed all the way by team mate Trevor Quayle with the latter losing out 20-21.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greener Alison Keggen, Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey), Harry Barton (Marown) and Mike Hargraves (Castletown).
The presentation was made by Wendy Leece who thanked Clare Cooper for running the sheet throughout the day, the club members who had helped with the running of the competition and for providing refreshments to those taking part.