In Division One last week South Ramsey A kept in touch with league leaders Peel A after a successful trip south coming away with a hard fought 1-9 win. Preventing the whitewash for the Town men was Bob Clark, who got over the line 21-17 against James Teare, a score matched by the visitors with Steven Waters beating Dean Kinley. Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly held off Sam Clague 21-18, whilst Peter Collister inflicted a second league defeat of the season on Nathan Hamilton, whilst Glynn Hargraves was pushed all the way winning 21-20 against Jordan Drewett.

League leaders Peel A kept the pressure on following their 9-1 home win over Ballaugh A with Philip Quayle the lone winner for Ballaugh with a fantastic 21-13 victory over Andy Kennish, whilst teammate John Keenan just lost 20-21 to the unbeaten Peter Greenlees. The Peel men visit second placed South Ramsey on Monday (28th) in what could prove a pivotal game.

Marown A had a tricky looking game against their B team, however the higher ranked side came out 8-2 winners on the night with Bobby Thorne beating John Gelling 21-17, whilst Brian Kelly beat Juan Killip 21-16. Winning for the A side captain Paul Dunn led the way with a 21-6 win over Darren Kerruish, closely followed by Matthew Keggen who beat Peter Kelly 21-8.

Port St Mary A continue to impress, this week overturning Onchan A with a 7-3 home victory. Wayne Roberts performed brilliantly to inflict yet another defeat on Jordan Cain 21-20, whilst Trevor Quayle recovered from a 8-17 deficit to win 21-19 against Reg Temporaza. Tom Collins recorded a stunning 21-7 win over Peter Slinger, Dan McCabe beat Colin Spence 21-8, with Rob Cooil seeing off Phil Kerruish 21-16.

Noble’s A hosted Peel B with the visitors taking a 3-7 win on the night. David Proctor won 21-5 against captain Juan Qualtrough. For the home team Mark Kneen got on the right side of a 21-20 this week with his win over the ‘real’ Paul Quirk, Mark Quinn beat Dougie Allan 21-16, whilst Dave Naughton beat Michael Kavanagh 21-15.

North Ramsey A are fourth from bottom, but only three points ahead of Ballaugh A who currently occupy one of the relegation spots after slipping to a 3-7 home defeat to Douglas A. For the Mooragh men Rob Monk, Allan Callow and Steve Walmsley all had comfortable wins, whilst for the visitors Keith Rise beat John Cannan 21-4.

In Division Two Finch Hill A hit joint top spot on 45 points from seven games, following their 9-1 home win over South Ramsey C winning four close games with Tony Epifani beating Anthony Kelly 21-18, Arthur Halsall and Dave McCabe beat Dave Corkill and Lee Dawson 21-19 respectively, whilst Paddy Murphy just got home with a 21-20 win over Andy Morgan. The sole winner for South Ramsey was James Evans who beat Paul Dougherty 21-13.

South Ramsey B had a tough home match against Castletown B with Franz ‘Fonzie’ ten Donkelaarstepping up from the D team who excelled to beat Ross Moore 21-8 to help the team to a 7-3 home win. The loss resulted in Castletown dropping from top spot to third place, just two points off the top two.

Port Erin A are still in the mix on 41 points following their 3-7 away win over Douglas B at the Villa, which could have been 9-1 with Steve Durcan losing out 19-21 to Bob Banning and Seamus Whelan was defeated20-21 by Willie Cowley.

In Division Three Ballaugh B are well placed to return to top spot once all teams have played an even number of games following their 9-1 home win over Douglas C, whilst their C Team overcame Douglas 3-7 away from home to stay in top spot.

South Ramsey D beat Peel D 7-3 at home with Richie Davies making his first appearance of the season winning 21-4 against Andy Morrison. Castletown C beat Marown D 9-1 at the Crofts winning two games 21-20 with John Matheson beating Rob Bell and Junior player Dylan Marsh beating Alan Gault. Steve Cain who has only taken up the game this year prevented a 10-0 whitewash with his 21-17 victory over Dave Hill.

Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Ballacashtal Cup on Sunday, attracting an entry of 48 on a good smooth and running surface it was a pleasure to play on throughout a fine day.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel), who lost out 16-21 to team mate Andy Kennish. Marown’s Brian Kelly just lost out 19-21 after a tough battle with South Ramsey’s David Bradford. Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) gained revenge for his defeat to Bob Clark (Castletown) the previous day to win 21-15, whilst Steven Waters (South Ramsey) just edged home 21-20 against Phil Kerruish (Onchan).

In the semi-finals Kennish held a 11-8 lead after five ends over Bradford, before the latter opted for a longer length to see the game out 21-14, whilst Hargraves built an 18-11 lead over Waters, who fought back to 15-18, with Waters lying one before Hargraves played a reaching bowl to flick the jack to count one and went on to win the next two ends to take his place in the final courtesy of a 21-15 win.

The final started between the South Ramsey men with the score tied at 9-9 after the first five ends, with Hargraves opting for a shorter length over the crown, whilst Bradford preferred a longer length which had served him well. Bradford performed well to win 10 of the last 12 ends to run out with a deserved 21-12 win to take first Ballacashtal Cup win, which is staggering to think this was his first singles title success on Castletown with all the titles Bradford has won over the years.

The presentation was made by club chairman Phil Taubman who thanked everyone who had helped with the running of the competition throughout the day with thanks also given to ABS Solutions for sponsoring the competition. In his speech Bradford commented on the great condition of the bowling green.

South Ramsey hosted the Jim Kernan Cup on Saturday, in what would normally be the first of the pre-festival opens with a good entry of 52, despite a number of bowlers missing due to their involvement in the Parish Walk.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Adrian Skinner (Onchan), who lost out 15-21 to Jimmy Sansom (Douglas). Marown man Neil Withers ended the run of Jordan Cain (Onchan) with a hard fought 21-18 win, whilst Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) lost out 14-21 to Paul Dunn (Marown). David Bradford had his work cut out against South Ramsey team mate James Teare, after falling 7-15 behind, Bradford hit back with a break of 14 points to run out with a 21-15 victory.

In the semi-finals Withers ended the good run of Sansom with a 21-9 win, whilst the other semi-final between Dunn and Bradford was well contested throughout in a good quality game with Bradford just losing out 19-21 for Dunn to progress to the final. 

The final started between the Marown team mates with Withers playing a shorter length on a round peg to take a 11-7 lead, with Dunn then going on a run of four consecutive ends preferring a longer length to lead 12-11. Withers responded to take the next two ends to lead 14-12, then Dunn took three consecutive singles after playing a great bowl to get back in on a tough mark to once again take the lead at 15-14. On the following end Withers played a good reaching bowl to count for two to lead 16-15, then played a poor two bowls on the following end which Dunn took full advantage of to score two, which he followed up on the next two ends with two more doubles to run out with a 21-16 victory to claim his first Jim Kernan Cup win and the £240 first prize, whilst Withers could console himself with his £120 winnings.

The presentation was made by South Ramsey chairman Steve Moore who thanked George Brew for once again sponsoring the competition, along with everyone who had helped with the running of the competition throughout the day. George Brew and his grandson were then introduced to present the prizes. During his speech Dunn thanked the ladies for the brilliant refreshments provided, congratulated South Ramsey on a brilliant green and a well-run competition. Spot prizes were also awarded for highest break to Stevie Kelly (Peel), furthest Over 60 Jimmy Sansom, furthest second division player Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) and furthest third division player Steve Kelly (South Ramsey) along with paying out to those who reached the last 16 stage.

All three divisions held the first ‘double’ week of the season with a couple of shock results in division one, with a shock result going against Marown A on Monday night and the other that went in favour of the Crosby men on Wednesday evening. 

On Monday evening Marown A made the short trip West to take on Peel A, with the home team making the most of home green advantage to win 8-2 taking out Marown’s ‘big three’ in the process, with Tommy McMeiken beating fellow left hander Colin Kelly 21-20, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly beating Paul Dunn 21-19 and George Gadsby defeating Neil Withers 21-17. Winning for the visitors were Juan Killip who performed well to beat Andy Kennish 21-17 and Phil Kelly who won 21-14 against Gary Smith. 

The Crosby men bounced back brilliantly on Wednesday evening with their second away fixture of the week against the teams above by them, with a 3-7 away win over South Ramsey A on a superb green with the visitors just edging the aggregate by a solitary chalk (148-149). Winning for the home team were Tony Dugdale who beat Paul Kelly 21-14, Chas Grills who recovered from a 1-11 deficit to run out with a 21-15 victory over Matthew Keggen, whilst Stefan Kelly beat Phil Kelly 21-15. The vastly experienced Crosby men won the big games with Paul Dunn playing a brilliant last bowl to win 21-19 against Peter Collister, Juan Killip did likewise against James Teare to win 21-19 with Teare counting two for game, whilst Neil Withers held off Glynn Hargraves to win 21-18. Colin Kelly ensured Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly couldn’t get the two chalks the home team needed for the aggregate running out from 13-16 behind to win 21-16 to seal a great result and performance for the current league champions. The result leaves Marown still very much in the mix having played most of their tough fixtures away from home in the first half of the season, they are well placed to go on a good run.

Peel A hit the top once again, however they will have been disappointed to win 4-6 on Wednesday evening against Douglas A at the Villa with the home team wins coming from Andy Cannell who beat Gary Smith 21-16, Gordon Wynne-Smythe who won 21-17 against George Gadsby, Keith Rise seen off Darren Young 21-19, whilst Merv Sayle inflicted a third league defeat of the season on Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-20.

Noble’s A had another tough week, but continue to battle on and conduct themselves in an exemplary manner despite losing 9-1 away to South Ramsey A on Monday, with Steve Cook losing 19-21 to Glynn Hargraves and Mark Kneen losing 20-21 to Peter Collister. The lone winner on the night was Sam Stannard-Duke who beat Alan Moore 21-19. On Wednesday evening Noble’s A visited Port St Mary A and managed to get two wins in their 8-2 defeat with Steve Cook and Mark Quinn beating Tim Williams and Paul Russell respectively.

Castletown A had a poor 7-3 away defeat on Monday evening against Douglas A, followed up by a 4-6 away win over Ballaugh A on Wednesday evening. Nathan Hamilton and Bob Clark continue to fly high in the league merit with six wins from seven games. Ballaugh A won’t be disheartened by their weeks work despite also losing 3-7 at home on Monday.

Port St Mary A currently sit in third place tied on points with Marown A, they seem to ticking over nicely despite the uncertainty over their future, they recorded a ruthless 10-0 win over Peel B on Monday evening, then followed this up with an 8-2 home win over bottom of the table Noble’s A.

In Division Two South Ramsey B dropped from top spot to sit in second this week following a somewhat disastrous 5-5 away draw against Finch Hill B who prior to this fixture had only taken six points all season. Whilst the visitors only won three games on the night, they took the aggregate by 14 chalks (124-138) to snatch a draw. 

Castletown B had a solid week hitting the top of the league after two 8-2 home victories over Port Erin A and Douglas B opening up a two-point lead at the top, whilst Marown C had a poor week losing 6-4 away to Peel C on Tuesday night and then 8-2 away to Onchan B the following evening, however Walter McCarthy kept his 100% record for the season with two comfortable wins.

In Division Three Ballaugh C are top of the league after a 7-3 home win over South Ramsey D, which was followed up with another 7-3 home victory over Castletown C.

Marown D had an up and down week, with Jay Waters leading the way in the individual merit with seven wins from his first seven games, helping his team to 6-4 home win over Port Erin B on Tuesday, which was followed up by a 2-8 defeat on Thursday evening against Ballaugh B with Waters just winning 21-20. The visitors are only four points off top spot having played a game less than their C Team.

Onchan C sit in second place, they hosted Ballaugh B on Tuesday evening with the home team winning five games, however the visitors had bigger wins from their three winners to take the aggregate by four chalks (139-143) to secure a 5-5 draw. Onchan C would have been hoping for a better result on Thursday, when they took on bottom of the table Douglas D at the Park, with the away team picking up three victories in their 7-3 defeat with Juan Readshaw, Nick Firth & John Ferguson all winning to boost their points total for the season and ensure there were some good after match talking points in the Woodbourne Pub, with a number of the team having took up the game having previously socialised together and deciding to take up the game.