There was a fascinating encounter on Monday evening in Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One with 22- time league champions Onchan A visiting Marown A at Crosby, who themselves have 13 league title wins in the bag. Whilst Onchan A have not challenged for the title in recent years, they do still have the players who can damage anyone on their day as they took five points off Marown in a 5-5 draw.

Onchan only had three winners, however they all won convincingly as visiting captain Peter Slinger stormed home 21-3 against Matthew Keggen, while Reg Temporaza won 21-11 against Phil Kelly, with Kevin Quirk also beating Juan Killip to the same score with the game finely balanced at 11-11 Quirk took 10 consecutive points to see the game out.

For the Crosby men they had three 21-18 winners with Neil Withers fighting back from a 11-17 deficit to beat Matthew Quirk. Dean Kipling has returned full time to the team and was in good form as he beat Jordan Cain with the latter battling back from a 0-9 deficit with Paul Kelly the last of the 21-18 wins with his victory over Steve Parker as he was trailing 5-13 before kicking into gear. Captain Paul Dunn won 21-13 against Mark Kelly, while Colin Kelly romped home 21-5 against Frank Watson. 

Onchan secured an impressive draw as they took the two-point aggregate by five chalks (130-135) thanks in part to the high scoring from three of their losers to inflict a potentially damaging result to Marown as they look to retain the league.

Douglas A made the most of an extremely tricky home green as they beat Marown B 9-1 with the whitewash prevented by Bobby Thorne as he fought back from an 8-19 deficit taking 13 consecutive chalks to beat Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-19. The next closest to picking up an extra point for the Crosby men was Glenn Boland who lost out 17-21 to Mervin Sayle. Kevin Firth stepped in for the home team once again and he was the biggest winner as he beat Darren Kerruish 21-6.

Castletown A had their star man Bob Clark missing from their home game with Noble’s A with Clark extending his trip off island, however this didn’t stop the home team from recording a 9-1 win on the night. Winning to single figures for the Town men were captain Ian Watson who beat Stephen Hampson 21-4, while Nathan Cooil picked up his second successive win as he beat Martyn Hobson 21-7. For Noble’s Steve Cook was the only winner as he beat stand in Jeff Kinley 21-17 with the latter making his first night league appearance of the season.

Ballaugh A closed the gap on nearest rivals Peel B to eight points with a game in hand as they faced off at the Ballaugh green, with the home team taking a 6-4 win thanks to winning the aggregate by six chalks (136-130). Edgar Cowin beat the ‘real’ Paul Quirk 21-9, with team mate Richard Hainge mastering his home green with a 21-5 win over David Proctor. Young Patrick Grant got home with a 21-18 win after a tough battle with Brian Lindsay. Visiting captain Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk won 21-7 against Tony Quine, while Robert Middleton just edged out Barry McDonald 21-18.

Peel A hit top spot with South Ramsey’s postponed fixture thanks to their 10-0 home win over North Ramsey A. Winning to single figures for the home team were Peter Greenlees, Tommy McMeiken, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly and Gary Smith. The closest visitor to picking up a point was Paul Cannan who lost 18-21 to Tom Kelly.

South Ramsey A had their home fixture with Port St Mary A moved to Tuesday 3rd August.

Ballaugh A and Marown A caught up on a previously postponed fixture with the Ballaugh men losing out 4-6 and the aggregate by just three chalks (136-139). Glenn Boland’s 21-2 win over Barry McDonald was the most damaging to the Ballaugh men for the chalks.

In Division Two Port Erin A were the latest team to hit top spot as they won 2-8 away to Finch Hill B, with Seamus Whelan just missing out on adding an extra point for the Breagle Glen men as he lost 19-21 to Peter Woods, while Frank Christian beat Derek Cadamy 21-11. The biggest winner for the visitors was Bernie Durcan as he beat Chris Thompson 21-9.

The closest match of the night was between rivals Onchan B and Castletown B as the visitors won 4-6 and just claiming the aggregate by a solitary chalk (141-142). For Onchan Neil Dunwell beat Ron Williams 21-19, while Mike Thomas was the biggest winner as he beat Dave Hollingworth 21-11. Paul Clinton just lost 19-21 to George Foy while Will Penhallurick cruelly lost 20-21 to Peter Oates. Collin Holland helped the visitors cause as he beat Mike Kelly 21-8.

South Ramsey B had their hopes of being promoted damaged following their 3-7 away defeat at the hands of Marown C as they had father and son Tony and Ben Dugdale unavailable. For the visitors Steven Waters beat Keith Watterson 21-2, Bryan Corner won 21-5 against Gary Cooper, while Austin Hart beat Carey Dewhirst 21-12. For the Crosby men Walter McCarthy stepped back down to the C team after last week turning out for the B Team as he beat Toby Hart 21-8, while Jamie Joughin beat George Brew 21-7. The winners for Marown were to low double figures to ensure the chalks went in favour of the home team (124-115).

Port St Mary B couldn’t make home advantage count on an extremely tricky green as they lost 3-7 against visitors Douglas B. Visiting captain Andy Foster had his first win on Port St Mary as he beat Andy Sykes 21-18, while Pat O’Donohue was the biggest winner of the night with his 21-9 win over Bernard Thackrah. Home captain Ken Karran just got over the line 21-20 against Bob Callow, while Peter Collins took the kitty home thanks to his 21-11 win over Geoff Mayles. Derek Cain had a tough encounter with Rob Matthews with the former winning 21-17.

Peel C hosted Finch Hill A in the Sunset City, however the home team lost 4-6 on the night with the worst loser for Finch scoring 15, whilst the Finch Hill winners all won comfortably with Paul Dougherty and Peter Hughes both winning 21-11 against Ian Pendlebury and Kevin Mort respectively, while Dave McCabe won 21-14 against Harry Kelly, with Arthur Halsall beating Jeff Wilson 21-14. For Peel Mike Ashmole battled well to win 21-19 against Tony Epifani, while Phillip Clarke beat Paddy Murphy 21-18.

In Division Three South Ramsey D won five games away to Douglas D but just missed out on the aggregate by a solitary chalk (137-136) resulting in a 5-5 draw with Douglas D. Nick Firth continues to impress with a 21-4 win over Jay Moore, with Juan Readshaw beating Ryan Hargraves 21-7, while David Cowley just got the win 21-20 against Matthew Corkill. For the visitors Richard Davies beat John Ferguson 21-9, with Steve Kelly beating Trevor Latus 21-11.

Ballaugh C won 8-2 at home to Douglas C with three single figure wins from the home team from Nigel Tebay, Gordie Moore and Richard Green. For the visitors Junior bowler Clark Kelly won 21-13 against Brian Lace while Michael Knowles won 21-16 against Mark Dimsdale.

Noble’s B picked up their fifth win of the season following their 6-4 home victory over Marown D. For the home team Phil Salmon beat Rob Hammond 21-6 with Stephen Corkill winning 21-3 against Alex Colquitt. For the visitors captain Phil Dunn beat Terry Bates.

Onchan C won 7-3 at home to Peel D with three big wins from Sid McKnight, Lawrence McMullen and Jamie Clague, while Roger Payne inflicted a second league defeat of the season on Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton.

Castletown B and Ballaugh B was another fixture that was postponed with a new date to be set.
The first semi-final of the Rayner Shield took place on Wednesday evening with Peel A sweeping aside Castletown B 7-1 in the Sunset City. The only winner for Town was Peter Oates with a 21-20 victory over Darren Young. All the home wins were comfortable with three 21-12 wins and four 21-15 wins as the holders Peel A took their place in the final for a second successive season.

In the Rayner Plate quarter final Marown C (+27) put Port St Mary B (+54) to the sword with a 38 point victory 194-156 as they won 7-1 on games despite the visitors having a 27 point start.
A round ahead of them Port St Mary A (scr) hosted Marown B (+24) with the home team winning all eight games and securing the win by 45 chalks (168-123) as they secured their second successive appearance in the Plate final.

There was an excellent entry of 57 who took part in the last Dreswick Cup at Port St Mary’s current bowling green. The competition was once again sponsored by The Albert Hotel – Port St Mary. The hottest day of the year and an extremely tricky green led to an excellent afternoon of bowling.

In the quarter finals the current holder and home favourite Trevor Quayle lost out 12-21 to Bob Clark (Castletown), with another home greener Wayne Robert’s also losing 12-21 to Colin Kelly (Marown). In an all Peel tie Gary Smith got the better of teammate Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-16, while Karl Parker (Marown) performed well before losing out 18-21 to Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey).

In the first semi-final Clark got the better of Kelly with a 21-15 win to take his place in the final, while in the second semi Hargraves looked dead and buried trailing 9-17 to Smith, however and not for the first time that day Hargraves fought back to run out with a 21-18 win.

In the final Clark started off the quicker of the two as he took a 10-6 lead with two doubles. With excellent bowling from both players, Hargraves responded to take the lead 13-10 playing a tricky mark over the crown. A double for Clark had the match finely poised at 12-13 before Hargraves moved up another gear to take firm control of the match to lead 20-14 and within touching distance of the win, however two quick fire doubles then three singles over the next five ends from Clark, who never played the same mark twice was enough to complete a remarkable comeback to win The Dreswick Cup for the first time in what was an entertaining final. This was Clark’s first singles title this season having come close on a number of occasions this season.

At the presentation Club President Peter Collins thanked the Port St Mary ladies for their usual excellent catering, Wayne Robert’s for preparing the green and running the competition along with anyone else that helped on the day. Long standing sponsor of the competition Pat O’Meara from the Albert Hotel was then introduced to present the prizes.

Peel Sunset Bowling club hosted the popular Peel Town Cup, attracting a perfect entry of 64 men. The green was in fantastic condition with a smooth and tricky surface to add to the hottest day of the year. With handicaps ranging from +3 to +9 it made for an interesting day with some shock results. There were a number of high profile casualties early on with some excellent ties.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), who lost out 18-21 to Nathan Hamilton (Castletown), home greener Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was heavily defeated 8-21 by Dean Kinley (Castletown, while Allan Kennaugh (Onchan) fought back from a 15-20 deficit before losing out 20-21 to Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey). Tommy McMeiken (Peel) performed well to end the challenge of Neil Withers (Marown) to book his place in the semi-final.

Incredibly by the semi-final there was not just going to be a new name on the trophy, but also a first time men’s singles open winner with Stefan Kelly’s previous success a few years ago being a mixed singles in the Thurlwell Bowl. Kelly had a tough battle with McMeiken before eventually getting over the line 21-18. In the other semi the two Castletown men also had a close game with Kinley building up a good lead before eventually winning 21-17 against team mate Hamilton to reach his first final.

The final was both players sixth game of the day, with Kinley (+6) only having a slight start on Kelly (+5) it was Kelly who made a good start to lead 9-6 after three ends, before Kinley took four of the next five ends to lead 12-10. Kelly responded with three singles to lead 13-12. Kinley was playing well as he took three ends in a row to once again take the lead at 16-13.

The rest of the game was tense with both players scoring singles all the way as Kinley took three of the next four ends to lead 19-17 he was just one end away from his first open title and was lying game only for Kelly to bowl a winner.

On the next end Kelly forfeited the jack due to not playing his jack far enough, despite this Kelly won the end on a measure along the seaside edge with a good second bowl. Kelly headed for the crown, as he had enjoyed good success playing these marks throughout the day. Once again a great second bowl won the end for Kelly to go 20-19 ahead.

On the final end Kelly put up a superb lead, which Kinley attacked with his first bowl and just missed. Kelly played his second bowl short and in the way to protect his bowl. Kinley once again played a reaching bowl this time on the round peg and took the bowl out cleanly, however with both his own bowl and Kelly’s bowl going off the green it meant Kelly’s short bowl was the one that counted to secure his first men’s singles competition title and the £160 first prize.

Kelly only scored one double throughout the final, with Kinley scoring three doubles proving how well contested the game was. Kelly proved to be a popular winner and showed great composure and maturity all day.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition secretary Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, who thanked the sponsors IOM Seafoods for their support, Club Chairman Dougie Allan was then introduced to present the prizes, he thanked the team who work on the green for what made an interesting day of bowling, the club members for assisting throughout the day.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One this week vital points were dropped by the top three teams as we reached the halfway point of the season.

League leaders South Ramsey A recorded an 8-2 home win over Douglas A, with the home team missing out on a maximum by just four chalks with Andy Cannell recovering from a 13-18 deficit to run out with a 21-18 win, whilst Shaun Seal trumped that result coming back from 15-20 behind to beat Alan Moore 21-20. For South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves led the way with a 21-3 win over Kevin Firth, whilst Peter Collister had to work hard for his 21-17 win over Keith Rise. Despite dropping two points South extended their lead to nine points over the chasing teams.

Second placed Peel A had a tough night down south against Port St Mary A on a green that is proving tough for visiting teams, however the visitors took a 4-6 win. Winning for the visitors were Tom Kelly, who beat Robbie Cooil 21-17, Ste Kelly won 21-13 against Paul Skelly, Gary Smith seems to be finding some form winning 21-10 against Paul Russell, while Tommy McMeiken beat Tom Collins 21-7. For the home team Trevor Quayle beat George Gadsby 21-9, Tim Williams inflicted a third straight league defeat on Peter Greenlees with his 21-10 win, while Wayne Roberts beat Darren Young 21-18, a score matched by Dan McCabe who beat Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly who suffered his fifth league defeat of the season. Peel took the aggregate by eight chalks (131-139).

North Ramsey A welcomed Marown A to Mooragh Park with the visitors taking a 3-7 away win, for a second week running they will have been disappointed not to get a couple more points in the bag with captain Paul Dunn losing out 20-21 to Robert Monk, while Neil Withers lost 19-21 to Allan Callow. John Cannan had a comfortable 21-10 win against Matthew Keggen, whilst Dean Kipling’s return continues to add value to the Crosby men on the green with a 21-4 victory over Lee Christian, also Kipling’s support around the green will no doubt prove crucial in the second half of the season.

Onchan A continue to work their way up the table after a poor start to the season, they won 9-1 at home to bottom team Noble’s A, with Mark Quinn preventing the whitewash with his 21-17 win over Mark Kelly. Stephen Hampson came closest to picking up another point for Noble’s as he scored 17 against Frank Watson. Four of the home wins were to single figures from Jordan Cain, Matthew Quirk, Phil Kerruish and Jamie Clague who was stepping up from the C Team and jumped at the chance to impress.

Peel B pulled off a mini upset with their 7-3 home win over Castletown A as they reminded everyone what they are capable of doing to teams. The ‘real’ Paul Quirk had a fine 21-9 win over Ian Watson, Gordon Corrin recorded a 21-16 victory against Sam Clague and Michael Kavanagh just scraped home 21-20 against Aaron Richardson. Winning for the Town men were the youthful trio of Jordan Drewett who beat Robert Middleton 21-11, Bob Clark who beat Brian Lindsay to single figures, while Nathan Hamilton battled to a 21-18 win against Dougie Allan. The home team took the win by just seven chalks (142-135) with a result that is a massive boost for their survival hopes.

In Division Two South Ramsey B similar to the Ballaugh Teams in Division three, are another team who need to look at their B and C teams to put out a side that is not just capable of going up to division one, but able to stay there comfortably as they suffered a 4-6 away loss to Douglas B, losing the aggregate by just one chalk (133-132). To put the result into context South Ramsey’s lower ranked C Team visited the same team last week and came away with a 2-8 win. Whilst it is a different night and the pace of the green may be different, however the merit table should give an indication as to who should be playing their bowls for the higher ranked side next season. Tony Dugdale leads the individual merit with a perfect 10 games played and won at the half way point.

Onchan B hit top spot despite a tough looking home fixture against South Ramsey C as they managed to take a solid 8-2 victory, thanks to two 21-20 wins from Mike Kelly and Paul Clinton who edged home against Tony Hart and his son Toby Hart respectively.

Port Erin A made the short trip to take on Port St Mary B on a tricky green, with the hosts used to a fast green they would have been hoping to catch the Breagle Glen men out, however the visitors took a hard earned 4-6 win with Derek Allen’s 21-4 victory over Derek Cain helping his team to take the aggregate by 12 chalks (136-148).

Castletown B didn’t have the best of results with their 6-4 home win over Peel C. For the visitors Ian Pendlebury and Jeff Wilson both won 21-19 against Derek Lewney and Ron Williams respectively, whilst Collin Holland made the difference for the Town men with a ruthless 21-3 win over Kevin Mort, as the home team took the aggregate by 13 chalks (148-135).

Finch Hill A slumped to a second successive 3-7 defeat, this time at home to the impressive Marown C, who I am sure will have a few players knocking on the door to get into the B Team next season, which would involve taking the next step up to the first division. Jamie Joughin is performing particularly well with nine wins from 10 games played, while team mate Walter McCarthy is hot on his heels with eight wins from nine games played. Marown sit in a comfortable seventh place, will no doubt be looking at the teams above them rather than below them as they head into the second half of the season.

In Division Three Onchan C recorded a 0-10 away win over Marown D, with the result putting them into top spot on 71 points. A point further back on Onchan are Ballaugh B who had a good 3-7 away win over South Ramsey D.

In third place with 64 points Port Erin B had a tough home game against Castletown C with the Breagle Glen men taking a 6-4 win, while Ballaugh C also have 64 points at the half way point after their 7-3 home win over Noble’s B.

Peel D rounded off the fixtures with a 7-3 home win over Douglas D. For the home team Andrew Cover and Andy Jackson both won 21-4 against John Harrison and Ashley Halsall respectively, while the visitors recorded two impressive wins of their own with John Ferguson beating Charlie McMeiken 21-3, while Nick Firth won 21-5 against Owen Crompton.

Wednesday night had the quarter final stages of the Rayner Shield take place with South Ramsey B hosting fellow division two team Castletown B on an extremely tricky green. The match was high scoring with the worst losses being to 16 by both teams. The Castletown team is packed with unbelievable experience and managed to draw 4-4 to ensure the result went down to chalks, with the Town men nicking the win by five chalks (152-157) to progress to the semi-finals. For the visitors Mike Hargraves and Derek Lewney both won 21-18, with George Peach and Ron Williams winning slightly more comfortably with 21-16 wins. For the home team Tony Dugdale and Ian Moore scraped home 21-20 against Juan Kermode and Peter Oates respectively, while Ben Dugdale beat Collin Holland 21-17 with Austin Hart taking the kitty after his 21-16 win over George Foy.

Marown A had their second visit of the week to Mooragh Park to take on North Ramsey A, this time taking a 2-6 away win with four of the wins to single figures from Juan Killip, Neil Withers, Paul Dunn and Matthew Keggen. Robert Monk and Allan Callow both won their second game of the week against the Marown men, this time more comfortably with Monk beating Phil Kelly 21-6 and Callow inflicting a 21-12 defeat on Dean Kipling.

South Ramsey A had what looked to be a comfortable 2-6 away win over Castletown A, however this was anything but the case after the first four games. For Castletown Aaron Richardson beat Chas Grills 21-7, with Nathan Hamilton seeing off James Teare 21-8. David Bradford responded with a good performance to win 21-14 against Bob Clark, while Stefan Kelly had to dig in at 18-20 behind against Dean Kinley to win 21-20, with the result taking the wind out of the Town men’s sails. In the second half South Ramsey won all four games, with two single figure wins of their own from Peter Collister who beat Ian Watson 21-6 and Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly who beat Sam Clague 21-8.  

Peel A despite missing two regulars managed to progress to the next round with a solid 5-3 home win over Douglas A with none of the games looking like they could have gone the other way. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly suffered a second defeat of the week this time at the hands of Jimmy Sansom who won 21-18. One of the men to step in for the A Team was Tony Carroon who beat Andy Cannell 21-15 with Cannell being in fine form so far this season.

In the Rayner Plate three quarter final fixtures were played on Wednesday evening with Noble’s B (+70) well beaten at home to Ballaugh C (+66) by 43 chalks (186-229).

Third division side Onchan C (+48) were at home and they couldn’t hold on to their 33 start against first division side Port St Mary A (+15) as they lost by 26 chalks, however Kelvin McNicholl was their only winner with his 21-14 victory over Paul Russell.

The closest match of the night was between Marown B (+9) who hosted Ballaugh B (+60) with the Crosby men having to give a 51 start to the visitors on the handicap, they managed to do this by just two chalks (168-166) thanks in part to three single figure wins from John Kelly, Brian Kelly and Glenn Boland to make sure they progressed to the next round. Winning for the third division team were Mike Buckeridge who beat Karl Parker 21-20, while John Bolton performed impressively to see off Bobby Thorne 21-13.

The remaining fixture between Marown C (+27) and Port St Mary B (+54) will be held on Wednesday 28th July at Crosby.

Marown Bowling Club hosted the Henry Kissack Memorial Trophy on Sunday attracting an entry of 45 with an early start to ensure the competition would be finished in time to allow everyone to watch the football.

Losing out in the quarter finals were Reg Temporaza (Onchan) who had his challenge ended by home greener Colin Kelly 19-21, whilst fellow Marown man Paul Dunn beat team mate Neil Withers 21-13. South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves was well beaten 10-21 by Andy Kennish (Peel), whilst Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel) beat Brian Kelly (Marown) 21-13.

The semi-finals had team mates from Peel and Marown taking each other on with Andy Kennish and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly playing each other, with Kennish the current holder just edging home after battling back from a 6-18 deficit to win 21-20. Colin Kelly had things a bit more his own way with a 21-15 win over his captain Paul Dunn.

The final started with ten Manx Championship titles between the pair, with seven time Champion Kelly taking on three time winner Kennish. The latter got off to a flying start to go 17-7 up with 11 ends played. Kelly responded to pull the deficit back to 13-17 over the next five ends with Kelly having to strike to kill an end. Kennish got back in with a good bowl to score a single to take Kelly out of the corners and back on his favoured length. Two singles took Kennish to 20-13. Kelly fought back again with three doubles and a single to make the score 20-20. On what everyone thought was the last end Kelly killed the end once again to save the game. Kelly played a good lead only for Kennish to pull out another great bowl to see the game out to take a deserved win to retain the trophy and win it for a fifth time overall with a 21-20 victory.

The presentation was made by Neil Withers who thanked the Marown members for assisting throughout the day, the team in the kitchen for the refreshments and the green keepers for the preparing the green.