Yearly Archives: 2019
Junior members shine
The final four teams made their first appearance of the campaign in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League on Saturday, with three of them notching up a win, whilst one leapt straight into second spot in the table.
Both sides in the opening clash had new faces in their ranks, however it was last season’s runners-up, Mooragh Lakers, who were triumphant over Castletown Cannons.
Some new members also took part in the next fixture, with one of them helping his new team, Bowl Rollers, to a five games to one victory over Erin Porters.
After missing out on the title last season by just 13 points, Lakers will aim to go one better this time around and they began their challenge with an average of 119.5 after their second success of the day, when they beat Bowl Rollers.
Erin Porters recovered well from their earlier defeat to go within two chalks of a full-house in an outing against Cannons who themselves averaged 98 points for the session.
It was a good afternoon for the junior members in attendance, with all three of them recording a victory – Charlotte Peach (Cannons), Dylan Marsh (Porters) and Shannon McMullan (Lakers) all performed brilliantly.
Results for Saturday, October 12: Castletown Cannons 90 (2), Mooragh Lakers 117 (4); Bowl Rollers 115 (5), Erin Porters 92 (1); Mooragh Lakers 122 (5), Bowl Rollers 102 (1); Erin Porters 124 (4), Castletown Cannons 106 (2).
Sunday’s programme only went ahead after a discussion between the captains and officials, unfortunately the constant rain made for some tricky conditions, which obviously suited some players, but not others.
Louie’s Angels took to the conditions like a duck to water and opened their session with a five games to one success over Parkers, dropping just six points along the way.
Next up were Castletown Corkers and they will have been pleased to have taken one game off opponents Seven-Up who added 116 points to their overall tally.
Fixture 15 on the list should have been a close battle between two teams capable of challenging at the top; however the Angels romped to victory over Seven-Up by a margin of 39 points.
This result saw the winners leap from eighth to third, whilst the losers went in the opposite direction and slipped down to seventh position.
The defeated sides in the first two fixtures then went head to head to complete the afternoon and it was Parkers who emerged as clear winners to leave their southern opponents at the foot of the table.
There was only one junior competing on Sunday and Aalish Moore can be very proud of her contribution to the final totals for Castletown Corkers on a very wet green.
Results for Sunday, October 13: Louie’s Angels 120 (5), Parkers 82 (1); Castletown Corkers 89 (1), Seven-Up 116 (5); Seven-Up 81 (1), Louie’s Angels 120 (5); Parkers 121 (5), Castletown Corkers 79 (1).
The midweek round robin was played with an entry of 40 and they were split into three groups, two of which were triples, the other doubles.
Sid McKnight and Lil Smith won their group ahead of Gill Jopson and Bryan Corner; whilst Peter Kelly, Alan Moore and Margaret Tasker triumphed by just one chalk; with their closest challengers being David Clucas, Bernie McPhee and Andy Sykes.
The other victorious trio were Elaine Moore, Shirley Whelan and George Brew, who pipped second placed Sue Gawne, Kevin Firth and Tricia Bull.
Bits end losing streak
Without a victory during the previous two seasons, Bits n Bobs made up for that in great style when they kicked off their campaign in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League with a maximum score to add to the 100 points recorded earlier in the afternoon.
They took full advantage of the fact that players can compete up to three times for any team, before choosing who they play for in their remaining 19 fixtures. A number of sides had to call upon reserves due to some members missing – either playing bowls at a competition in England or perhaps on holiday.
Game number one saw Bits n Bobs put up a good fight against Louie’s Angels, before going down by five games to one, with a score of 100-121; this while former champions Guns For Hire cruised to the first maximum win of the season against Castletown Corkers.
The two winners then went head to head with Guns For Hire almost having a perfect start after they recorded a five games to one success over the Angels and dropped just one point in the process.
Last outing of the afternoon saw Bits n Bobs halt a losing run of 55 fixtures, which spanned over four seasons and they did so in great style with a full-house of wins in their clash with Corkers.
Results for Saturday, October 5: Bits n Bobs 100 (1) Louie’s Angels 121 (5), Guns For Hire 126 (6) Castletown Corkers 67 (0), Louie’s Angels 95 (1) Guns For Hire 125 (5), Castletown Corkers 96 (0) Bits n Bobs 126 (6).
Sunday’s gang had two of last season’s top three competing, with third placed Seven-Up leaving with the best points tally, which was helped by a six chalks victory over champions Outsiders.
Outsiders began the defence of their title with a win over Parkers; whilst Seven-Up drafted in three replacement players, who helped them hit a good total of 124 points against Govags.
The two successful teams then battled out a three-all draw on games, with Seven-Up taking the vital chalks win to leave them with a 12 points advantage on the day over rivals Outsiders.
To complete the session Parkers and Govags fought hard in the closest fixture of the weekend, which ended in a share of the games and a win for Parkers, by a margin of only three points.
Results for Sunday, October 6: Outsiders 119 (5) Parkers 82 (1), Govags 86 (2) Seven-Up 124 (4), Seven-Up 113 (3) Outsiders 107 (3), Parkers 109 (3) Govags 106 (3).
A round robin took place on the Wednesday prior to the league commencing and 21 players competed in one group of triples.
Allan Kennaugh, Bernard Thackrah and Caroline Corlett emerged as winners, ahead of Gill Jopson, Terry Bates and Sue Gawne in second, with Andy Sykes, Ken Karran and Bryan Corner in third.
Colin Kelly Wins Top UK Title
Champion of Champions Winner 2019 - Colin Kelly
Photo: Lyn BoltonMarown favourite Colin Kelly put the icing on the cake of a great season on Saturday winning the Champion of Champions at the Waterloo Hotel in Blackpool to write his name into Manx and UK bowls history.
This season Kelly has won five singles titles, the Manx Championship, Association Cup, Manx Masters, Peel Town Cup and the opening competition of the season the Marown Floodlit, not forgetting winning the individual merit in division one.
Kelly was representing the Isle of Man and qualified for the Champion of Champions courtesy of his Manx Championship win in May when he defeated Onchan man Jordan Cain in the final 21-11. He was in the mix with 15 other County Merit winners, whilst the rest of the field was made up by those who had won some of the games biggest competitions that are played throughout the season or through winning the Junior or Senior BCGBA merit.
At the start of play in a field of 32 players Kelly was priced at 40-1 by the bookies and was by no means the favourite with some of the games biggest names taking part in Callum Wraight, Graeme Wilson, Ryan Prosser and John Bailey to name a few.
In the first round Colin was drawn against Lancashire merit winner Damian Morrison and managed to build up a comfortable lead early on playing a fairly long straight peg around the crown. Kelly led 13-3 and managed to maintain his lead after Morrison started to work his way back into the game before Kelly finished the game off to win 21-13.
In the second round Kelly faced the Greater Manchester Merit winner Jack Hargreaves, who had disposed of Craig Gant, a player well known on the Island. Kelly went for a longer length mark in this game, with Hargreaves preferring to play the edges and short round pegs and playing them really well. Kelly led well on the longer marks in difficult conditions. Kelly battled well to take a hard earned 21-17 victory.
In the quarter finals Kelly was up against South Yorkshire merit winner James Higgins with Kelly trailing 6-13, Higgins was leading well over 35 yards playing sweeping round pegs across the crown. Once again this forced Kelly to go for a longer length and in doing so not giving his opponent much room with Higgins generally short or pushing too far through as the heavy rain started in the latter stages. Higgins had previously put out the 2018 winner John Bailey with a convincing win, however Kelly claimed a 21-19 win to progress.
With Kelly having reached the semi-finals he had now matched the best performance by a Manxman achieved by John Kennish in 2015. This time he was up against the Shropshire Merit winner Spencer Clarke, who was in truth the best player on the green up until this point having taken three good scalps to reach the semi-finals including a 21-6 win over 2019 BCGBA Senior merit winner Ryan Prosser. With conditions worsening the green started to puddle and ‘cobbing’ was required to be able to reach, which is an art in itself in being able to control your bowls. Kelly took full advantage of the conditions to take a 21-11 win with the result more comfortable than expected.
Having reached the final Kelly was not letting a once in a lifetime opportunity pass him by and was simply brilliant. Kelly was up against Scott Simpson (Wrockwardine Wood winner) who had earlier in the day disposed of one of the games greatest ever players in Graeme Wilson, therefore Kelly knew he what he was up against and recognised that Simpson had no trouble reaching the longer marks, the game plan changed to shorter marks over the crown which he executed brilliantly to take a 8-3 lead, building on this further still to lead 16-7. Kelly then conceded his only double of the game before responding with two quick fire doubles to lead 20-9 with his ability to make two making a big difference having scored seven doubles throughout the game. Simpson then scored a single, only to throw the jack off when heading into the corner. Kelly set the mark and made his first bowl count forcing Simpson to reach with his second bowl, however he missed resulting in Kelly taking a superb 21-10 victory to claim a first ever win for a Manxman in the games biggest competition.
This is a popular win amongst the bowling community with Colin putting the time in for a number of years now to give something back to the game having become involved in the Manx Youth Games as a coach in 2013, whilst also coaching Juniors on a weekly basis at his club. In addition to this Colin also helps with the maintenance of the Marown bowling green and you couldn’t meet a nicer guy, who has now fulfilled a lifelong dream of winning a top UK competition. All that is left to say is what a bowler, what a season, what a man!
Ladies Raise £700 for Local Charity
Helen Martin Chairman of HDAIOM receiving a cheque from Fiona Kennish - Ladies Association Secretary
Photo: Helen MartinThe Isle of Man Ladies Crown Green Bowling Association ran a Tombola over the summer season, raising funds to help assist with travel and accommodation for IOM Ladies players attending qualifying competitions in England.
The Association agreed to donate one third of the amount raised towards Huntington’s Disease (IOM), a support group and charity that was started in 2017 by Helen Martin, a crown green bowler who has been bowling for 38 years on the Island. This charity is very close to her heart, as her husband has Huntington’s, he also used to play crown green bowls.
All the clubs on the Island were given Tombola tickets to sell plus more were sold during the IOM September Bowls Festival. The amount raised was a massive £2,037.95, with £700 being donated to HDAIOM.
The Ladies Association would like to thank all those who sold tickets, along with the companies, individuals and clubs who donated raffle prizes and to everyone who bought tickets to support them. Helen Martin, Chairman of Huntington’s Disease (IOM) stated “Thank you to the Ladies Association for choosing our Charity, this amount will help us to meet our objectives of raising awareness, continue to provide a support group for patients, carers and professionals resident on the Island, along with providing financial assistance to patients and carers to enable them to attend seminars, workshops and other educational events organised by the HDA UK and finally to promote research into finding a cure”.
Bradford & Kennish Win Final Open of Season
Juan Kelly Cup Winners 2019 - David Bradford & John Kennish pictured with sponsor Juan Kelly
Marown Bowling Club held the Juan Kelly Cup with the competition now in its third year it still proved popular with 44 teams taking part. Once again there were some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system played over two qualifying nights, with four pairs qualifying from each night for the quarter finals.
The format was any combination doubles, played over 15 ends with ends 5, 10 and 15 played as ‘power’ ends with the points scored counting double. The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the Men’s and Ladies game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one bowl shootout would take place to decide the winner.
On Monday evening 20 pairs played their qualifying night, whilst Tuesday evening had 24 pairs taking part. The finals night was held on Wednesday evening, with a re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night.
The eventual winners were the South Ramsey pairing of John Kennish and David Bradford who were playing off a scratch handicap seeing off the current holders Bernie Durcan and Steve Durcan (Port Erin), who were playing off a handicap of +5. The final started with the Durcan’s taking four of the first five ends to take an 11-1 lead, before the top pairing hit back with some good lead bowls from Kennish, backed up by Bradford to take a three, then a double -thanks to vital hit from Bradford, which was swiftly followed up by another three. The Durcan’s took a single before Kennish and Bradford scored a two on the power end after a great strike from Bradford, which doubled up to four, to then score another four to turn the game on its head 17-12. The Port Erin pairing got back in with a three to bring the deficit down to just two chalks at 15-17, however the South Ramsey duo managed to take the last three ends to secure a 22-15 victory to complete a great comeback.
Losing out in the semi-finals were Marown captain Paul Dunn and his Dad Phil Dunn (+5) with the latter playing in his first competition and performing brilliantly, they tied (19-19) with the Durcan’s resulting in a one bowl shootout between Paul and Steve with the latter holding his nerve to beat an 18 inch bowl to claim a spot in the final. Also losing out in the semi-final were Frank Watson (Onchan) and Andy Kennish (Peel), who were well beaten 9-20 by the eventual winners.
Losing quarter finalists were Debbie Leece and Clare Cooper (Noble’s) who were the furthest ladies, Peel pair Gordon Corrin and Dougie Allan, Onchan duo Steve Parker and Kevin Quirk along with Jordan Drewett (Castletown) and Tom Kelly (Peel).
At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the Ladies for the refreshments, the players for entering, and all those who stayed to support.
Peel B Crowned Division Two Champions
Peel B sealed their promotion to division one for the 2020 season in style with a 9-1 away win over Finch Hill A on Monday evening with the Finch men finishing in fourth place – the same position as Peel B finished in 2018. It has been a fine season for the Peel men who will next season compete in the same league as their A Team. It has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the club from 2015 when their A team were relegated from the top tier. Since then Peel have seen the return of several players along with recruiting players from other clubs and have also had a number of new bowlers take up the game to go from strength to strength.
Ballaugh A finished in second spot and should the league structure remain the same in division one next season, they will make a return to the top tier having been relegated in 2017. The Ballaugh team will need to be at their best next season as they readjust to the top league, however they have a mixture of youth with Patrick Grant, new players in Richard Hainge and Paul Cubbon, along with their ‘old guard’ who need no introduction.
At the other end of the table North Ramsey B finished rock bottom, whilst Ballaugh B made an immediate return to division three having been promoted last season.
The team that came up with Ballaugh were league winners Marown C who finished in a very respectable sixth position with captain Stephen Rundle having also led his team to the Rayner Plate pulling off the shock of the season to put in a superb performance to see off first division team Port St Mary A. After a seasons experience in division two the Crosby men should be looking to challenge the top four next season if they carry on improving as they have each season since the club introduced an extra team. Marown are also looking to introduce a fourth men’s night league team next season, with the club working hard to fund their new clubhouse, whilst their junior set up is second to none not just on the Island but in the UK with a number of visiting bowlers expressing their admiration for the work put in to introduce the next generation of players to the game.
In division three South Ramsey C won the league by a huge 28 points, however there is a good argument that four or five of the C team players should be playing for their B team next season to give their B Team the best chance possible of making an immediate return to division one. South Ramsey C finished their season with an 8-2 home win over Finch Hill B, who finish in second place after finishing second from bottom only two seasons ago to complete a remarkable turnaround.
In division one all matters were settled at the top of the table with Marown A having sealed the league the week before, they ended their season with an 8-2 home victory over Noble’s A, who avoided a whitewash to help their cause to stay up. The two Noble’s winners were Glenn Boland who beat Dean Kipling 21-8, whilst Dave Pease won 21-19 against Matthew Keggen.
Second placed South Ramsey A suffered a mini disaster with a 5-5 draw away to Castletown B after having to give a walkover to the town men which ultimately cost them the aggregate. David Bradford capped off a fine season in the league with 19 wins from 20 games played, with his only loss coming against Andy Kennish 20-21 away to Peel as far back as May, after Bradford led 20-15 and was lying game Kennish played superbly to see the game out. Bradford has had only 170 chalks scored against him throughout the season to average 8.5 chalks scored against per game, bettered only by John Kennish in 2015 who averaged 7.7 chalks against per game.
Onchan A will be glad to see the back of 2019 having suffered a disastrous end to the season losing their last three games, this time losing 2-8 at home to Port St Mary A. This didn’t stop a left handed Jordan Cain from seeing off Glenn Hargraves 21-9, whilst Kevin Quirk returned to see off Rob Cooil 21-7. For Port St Mary Dave McCabe won 21-12 against Peter Slinger, Wayne Roberts beat Matthew Quirk 21-16, Trevor Quayle beat Rob Monk 21-11, whilst Paul Skelly beat Steve Parker to the same score. Tim Williams won 21-13 against Mark Kelly and Dan McCabe edged his game 21-20 against Frank Watson.
At the bottom of the table Castletown B were too far behind the teams above them to have any chance of staying up, whilst Noble’s A taking two points off the champions Marown meant South Ramsey B would have to win 10-0 in their last match of the season. South Ramsey B postponed their match with Castletown A due to a flooded green on Monday night, with the fixture rearranged for Wednesday evening they knew only a whitewash would do, however Castletown A put paid to any faint hope of that with three wins coming from David Quayle, Dean Kinley and Sam Clague. South Ramsey claimed a 7-3 home win however it wasn’t enough, they will be playing their bowls in division two next season.
Payback for Port St Mary
EVF Mixed Team Winners 2019 - Port St Mary
The final of the Ellan Vannin Fuels mixed team competition took place at Castletown on Wednesday evening with the Crosby outfit starting the match as favourites, however the draw would be crucial to both teams. The Castletown green was in superb condition and a good crowd came along to support on the night.
From the first five games on the green Neil Withers was first off for Marown with a big 21-6 win over Dave McCabe, despite losing two doubles early on McCabe could only take two more singles. Second game off on the night was Dan McCabe who recorded a 21-5 win over Mary Alderson to cancel the damage from the first game off. Next off were Paul Dunn & Paul Skelly with Dunn performing well to win 21-16. Fourth game off was Colin Kelly who claimed a 21-5 victory over Trish Bull. The last game off in the first half of the match was Chris Price who ensured Port St Mary were only trailing by four chalks (69-73) to keep themselves in the match.
During the second half the momentum swung in favour of Port St Mary, with Wayne Roberts winning 21-11 against Rosie Winckle, this result was swiftly followed by Trevor Quayle putting in a good performance against Paul Kelly to win 21-10 to put the chalks at 111-94 in favour of Port St Mary. By this point the match had got away from Marown with Jayne Kneen 20-8 up on Lil Smith and Margaret Tasker trailing 10-17 on Matthew Keggen there was no way back for the Crosby team. Smith fought back well against Kneen before losing out 16-21, whilst Tasker turned the game around brilliantly to take a single and five consecutive doubles on a short length to run out with a 21-17 victory to cap a fine team performance in sealing their fourth Mixed title by 26 chalks (153-127) winning 6-3 on games and gaining revenge for their 2017 defeat to the same opponents.
The presentation was made by Association Press Officer Glynn Hargraves who thanked Castletown for the use of the green, providing measurers and refreshments, along with Juan Kermode. Winning captain Margaret Tasker thanked her team and everyone who had turned up to support.
Cooper & Hargraves Win Douglas Town Cup
Douglas Town Cup Winners 2019 - Ladies Winner Clare Cooper & Men’s Winner Glynn Hargraves pictured with sponsor Rob Matthews of 3R’s Limited
The 3R’s Limited Douglas Town Cup staged by Douglas Bowling Club at the ‘Villa’ on Saturday 21st September saw some great bowls in both the Ladies and Men’s competitions.
On a green that was running really well we saw a few of the bowlers taking a few ends to adjust to the green and then they soon settled down to produce some excellent bowls and a lot of close games.
In the quarter finals of the Ladies Competition we saw Margie Tasker (Port St Mary) beat Amanda Lawler (Castletown) 21-18, Sylvia Kennaugh (Noble’s) had a 21-15 win over Caroline Whitehead (Port Erin), Clare Cooper (Noble’s) beat Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) 21-17 and Paula Garrett (Douglas) took a 21-11 win over Kim Hargraves (South Ramsey).
The semi-finals saw both the ‘Nobles’ players on great form with Sylvia Kennuagh beating Margie Tasker 21-16 and Clare Cooper beating Paula Garrett, also 21-16.
In the final we saw Clare Cooper who had played well all day despite suffering with back pain again play well and prove to be too strong for Sylvia and it was Clare that ran out the 21-13 winner.
In the Men’s Competition at the quarter final stage we saw Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) beat team mate Stefan Kelly 21-18, Stuey Garrett (Douglas) lost 20-21 to Steve Waters (South Ramsey), home greener Merv Sayle beat team mate Andy Cannell 21-13 and Paul Dunn (Marown) also beat team mate Neil Withers 21-13.
The first semi-final saw Glynn beat Steve Waters 21-18 while Paul Dunn beat Merv Sayle 21-15.
The final was a great battle between two top bowlers with both Glynn and Paul playing some exceptionally good bowls which provided great entertainment for the watching spectators. It was evident from the start that this was going to be a battle that would go down to the very last bowl and this was proved to be true with Glynn just snatching the honours at the end to win an epic battle 21-20.
The trophies were presented by Rob Mathews of 3R’s Limited who said how impressed he had been with the afternoons bowling. In their speeches both the winners thanked the sponsors and Douglas Bowling Club for putting on the competition and they also praised the condition of the green.
EVF Mixed Final
The Ellan Vannin Fuels mixed team final takes place at Castletown on Wednesday evening with Port St Mary A looking to add to their three wins in this competition, whilst Marown A will be looking to claim their second win with their only victory in this competition arriving in 2017.
Port St Mary reached the final coming through the group stages with five wins and one defeat to top a group that included Onchan A, Douglas A and Finch Hill. In the semi-final they came up against Peel, reaching the final thanks to winning by a huge margin of 63 chalks (183-120) on Noble’s 1. Peel’s only two wins came from Mike Ashmole and Shirley Corrin with both players winning 21-18. Port St Mary did the damage to their opponents with three wins to single figures coming from Chris Price, Wayne Roberts and Dave McCabe.
Marown A came through a group that included Port Erin A, Marown B and Castletown A with six wins from six games played. In the semi-finals they had the formidable task of defeating the current holders South Ramsey A. The match was well competed with South Ramsey holding an 11 chalks lead after five games completed, thanks to single figure wins from Gill Dixon and Dido Kelly, however Neil Withers had the biggest win of the night with a 21-6 win over Elaine Moore to keep the northern teams lead down. In the second half of the match the Ladies Manx Champion Jenny Moore faced the Men’s Manx Champion Colin Kelly with Colin taking a 21-13 victory. Tony Dugdale claimed a 21-17 win over Lil Smith who battled well, whilst the turning point in the match came with Matthew Keggen performing well to see off James Teare 21-12. With the chalks now favouring the Crosby outfit by just two chalks and the games tied at 4-4 it left one game on the green between Lyn Bolton and Paul Kelly with Lyn performing brilliantly to recover from a 5-18 deficit to level the match at 19-19 playing a short mark under the floodlights on Nobles 2 green. Unfortunately Lyn didn’t send her block far enough to set a legal mark which allowed Paul to set the length of the jack and score the all important chalk needed to win the match and reach the final. Paul just got over the line 21-20 to seal the victory by three chalks 152-149 and the team winning 5-4.
Perfect Run In Seals League For Port St Mary A
Ladies League Winners 2019
Port St Mary APort St Mary A overturned a 25 chalk deficit, held by Castletown A, heading into the final round of matches to claim their ninth league title and in doing so retained the title for a sixth consecutive year.
Castletown A started the evening as favourites and knew they needed to score 165 chalks to become champions even if PSM scored a maximum.
Castletown A travelled away to face Marown with the sides producing only the second drawn game since 2017. Marown stunned the leaders by winning five games on the night including Rosie Winckle and Celia Joughin who both won 21-10 against Marie Ashurst and Hilary Kermode respectively. Shirley Whelan defeated Kim Foy 21-13, Joyce Ogden won 21-15 against Anne Oates and Margaret Scarffe beat Hanna Drewett 21-18. For Castletown Kath Kinley won 21-7 against Elaine Dewhurst, Tracy Moore beat Mary Alderson 21-17, Amanda Lawler won 21-9 against Lil Smith and Heike Perry beat Helen Withers 21-12. Both sides finished level on 150 chalks but the 39 points dropped by Castletown meant Port St Mary only needed to score 175 to win the league.
Port St Mary A have been ruthless in the run-up scoring 177, 187 and 189 in their last three matches. In their final match at home to Ballaugh they dominated winning 8-1 on games. Ballaugh were one short, handing Chris Price a 21-0 walkover but Ann Maddrell, Mavis Franks, Kellie Maddrell, Jayne Kneen, Trish Bull and Margaret Tasker all won to single figures whilst Katy Williams held on to win her game 21-18. Those eight wins gave PSM 168 chalks and despite Val Macfarlane losing 15-21 those points gave PSM the chalks they needed to make a remarkable turnaround and win the league by eight chalks. Castletown ladies will be disappointed to finish second but have had a fantastic season, giving the tightest finish for several years.
Nobles finished third 52 chalks behind PSM having been in title contention for much of the season. They rounded their season off with a comfortable 168-103 (7-2) victory over Mooragh Park. Clare Cooper, Rebecca Teare, Alison Keggen, Debbie Leece, Sylvia Kennaugh, Jan West and Jayne Smith won for the home team. Aalish Haworth and Janet Monk were MP only winners. It has been great to see Mooragh’s junior players flourish this season. Shannon & Madison McMullan, Victoria Johnson and Aalish Haworth have all improved and produced some fantastic results during the season. I do not doubt that they will continue to improve and cause some upsets in the coming seasons.
South Ramsey completed their final match with a home tie against Peel Sunset. SR won seven games from Ann Gale, Bethany Kennish, Jill Quayle, Jenny Moore, Kim Hargraves, Sue Collier and Elaine Moore. Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt were winners for Peel with the match ending 177-103 (7-2).
Onchan ended their season defeating Port Erin by seven chalks despite losing 4-5 on games. Dee Lewis, Libby Andrade, Sue Gawne and Tina Hampson won for the home team. Port Erin’s winners were Alison Stockham, Caroline Whitehead, Jenny Cain, Di Benson and Lynda Cadamy.
Douglas against Port St Mary B is the final match to report on with the home side slipping to an eight chalk defeat despite winning 5-4 on games. Paula Garrett, Harley Garrett, Michelle Cowley, Kay McKiernan and Wendy Cowin won for the home team with PSM wins coming from Chris Holland, Rita Callister, Linda Dawson and Sandi Lowe. The match finished 149-157 (5-4).
Individually Elaine Moore topped the ladies merit, having lost only a single game during the campaign, adding to the over 60s merit she had already won. Rebecca Teare, Jenny Moore, Jayne Kneen and Janet Monk completed the top five.
Although the season is over players can look forward to the annual presentation evening being held on Friday 18th October at Douglas Legion Club. Please contact your club reps to book your ticket. Finally, I would like to wish all bowlers a good winter and a reminder to all clubs that any motions for the AGM must be returned by Wednesday 16th October.