The top two clashed in Canada Life International League Division One at Crosby on Monday evening, as Marown A hosted South Ramsey A on a fascinating evening of bowls, despite the heavy rain earlier in the day the Marown green was running well.

First game off the green was a home win, as Colin Kelly gave little room for James Teare with a 21-7 win. Neil Withers made it 2-0, as he recovered from a 1-5 deficit against Peter Collister to go 15-5 ahead, as he eventually went on to close the game out 21-14. A third win arrived for the Crosby men as Phil Kelly performed well to see off Stefan Kelly 21-15. The last game off proved to be pivotal to the match as a 4-0 lead at half time would have been difficult for the visitors to come back from. Marown captain Paul Dunn trailed Bob Clark 3-11 and 13-18, only to go ahead 20-19 on the 29^th end. Clark had to dig deep to claim two singles to see the game out 21-20 to pick up the Ramsey men’s first win of the night to put the score at 3-1 at the halfway stage.

In the second half the visitors would have fancied their chances of picking up some points, they got off to a good start as David Bradford beat Paul Kelly 21-9, as he kept his opponent down to just one double. Dido Kelly then sealed their third point as he beat Glenn Boland with a comfortable 21-14 win. The penultimate game on the green was between Peter Jones and Jordan Cain, with the latter going three chalks ahead at 13-10, only to trail 13-18 on the 27th end. A stirring fightback from the Ramsey man followed to go 20-18 ahead, with Cain lying game twice only for Jones to hang in the game with a good saving bowl. Two singles followed for Jones, then on the deciding end the Marown man trailed the jack to get over the line 21-20. The final game of the night saw South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves storm into an 18-7 lead against John Gelling, with a huge comeback from the Marown man who dragged the score back to 19-20 on the 30^th end only for Hargraves to secure the single chalk needed to win 21-19.

With the match ending 4-4 on games, there were just six chalks (146-140) separating the sides, with Marown picking up the aggregate to secure a 6-4 win and with it condemn South Ramsey to their first league defeat of the season. South Ramsey won’t be too disappointed with the result as they are eight points ahead of Marown with just three fixtures left to play.

Onchan A won 8-2 at home to Castletown A, as they missed out on an extra point as Phil Kerruish lost 20-21 to Dave Quayle, with the latter bouncing back from last weeks defeat to the same score. The second winner for Town was Aaron Richardson as he beat Mike Thomas 21-15. Winning big for the home team were captain Peter Slinger who beat Chris Lever 21-2, Matthew Quirk won 21-5 against Ian Watson, whilst Neil Dunwell managed to hold off Nathan Hamilton 21-17.

Peel A are firmly in the hunt for third place as they beat Port St Mary A 9-1 at home to go level on points with Onchan A. With no other games being close, the lone winner for the visitors was Paul Skelly who beat David Proctor 21-15. Three single figure wins for the home team were claimed by Peter Greenlees, Stevie Kelly and Tommy McMeiken over Tim Williams, Dave Saxon, and Wayne Roberts respectively. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly claimed a good 21-14 victory over Trevor Quayle.

North Ramsey A recorded their first 10-0 win of the season as they beat Peel B at Mooragh Park. John Cannan was the only single figure winner as he beat Gordon Corrin 21-9. Paul Allison won 21-17 against Alan Cromwell, Gary Merrill beat Peel captain Paul Quirk 21-18, whilst Andy Mackie was the highest scorer for the visitors as he lost out 19-21 to Kimmy Moffatt.

South Ramsey B gave themselves a glimmer of hope of staying up, with an 8-2 home win over Marown B, missing out on a full house by just five chalks. Matthew Keggen led 18-10 against Christian Caley, with the latter nearly completing another comeback for a second week running only to lose out this time 18-21. Harry Barton was the second winner for Marown as he beat Tony Dugdale 21-19. For the home team Eddie Carlyle beat James Kelly 21-9, with George Brew stepping in to beat Brian Kelly 21-19, whilst Toby Hart won to the same score against John Kelly.

Marown C hosted Douglas A at Crosby on Tuesday evening with the home team going home the happier of the two teams with a 6-4 win. Marown captain Stevie Rundle led the way with a 21-7 win over Gordy Wynne-Smythe, with Peter Kelly not far behind with a 21-9 victory over Andy Foster. Andy Kennish stepped into help the team out as he beat former teammate Gary Conwell 21-15. Rounding off the home wins was Tom Kelly as he beat Villa captain Merv Sayle 21-16. Just losing out for Marown was Kevin Kelly who lost out 20-21 to Kevin Firth. Winning for the visitors were Jimmy Sansom, Keith Rise and Shaun Seal.

In Division Two league leaders Finch Hill A kept the momentum going with a 3-7 away win over Noble’s A, as they just got the aggregate for the chalks (134-136). Mark Bradshaw won 21-5 for Noble’s, with Dave Naughton and Stephen Hampson the other winners. For the visitors Pat Maher beat John Andrew 21-17, whilst Les Brookes got the better of Juan Qualtrough 21-19.

Castletown B had two players making debuts as Paddy Cooper had a tough start to league bowls, as he lost 12-21 to Steve Parker, whilst Kiron Kryptor impressed with a 21-4 win over Paul Callister. Winning close games for Town were Peter Oates who won 21-17 against Mark Kelly, whilst Alan Phair beat Mike Kelly 21-19.

Port Erin A beat North Ramsey B 8-2 at Breagle Glen with single figure wins from Ed Benson, David Cain, and Bernie Durcan against Tony Smart, Joe Kneale, and Lee Christian respectively. Brian Colquitt was the best winner for the Mooragh men as he beat Trevor Barker 21-3.

Douglas B won 7-3 at home to Noble’s B. Winning for the visitors were Alex Hampson, with an impressive 21-11 win over Geoff Mayles. Stephen Corkill beat Dave Corkish 21-7, whilst Ciaran Broad won 21-17 against Paddy Murphy. Comfortable wins to single figures for the home team arrived from David Pease who won 21-9 against Grahem Moore, with Steve Cook beating Michael Cooper 21-4.

Ballaugh A lie in second place, following their 3-7 victory away victory over Onchan C, as the visitors were no doubt still celebrating Friday evening’s Rayner Plate win. John Maddrell was made to work for his 21-18 win over Kelvin McNicholl, Tony Quine was the best winner as he beat Brian Aspden 21-8, whilst Nigel Tebay beat Bernard Galka 21-9.

Peel C got the better of South Ramsey C with a 6-4 home win by just two chalks (143-141). Andrew Cover was the best winner on the night as he beat Richie Davies 21-7, Eddie Convery won 21-19 against Paul Routledge, whilst Harry Kelly just missed out 20-21 to Anthony Kelly.

In Division Three Port St Mary B stayed top of the table despite a 5-5 home draw to Marown D. Winning for the home team were Nicholas Peterson, Pete Collins, and Mike Keggen. The three Port players who lost to 18-21 were Colin Leece, Ken Karran, and Ray Maddrell, as these high scoring defeats helped secure the aggregate by five chalks (142-137).

Ballaugh B are hot on the heels of Port St Mary after their 7-3 home win over their lower ranked C team as they hit 125 points for the season. The Port men stay top thanks to a better games of 97 to Ballaugh’s 95.

Noble’s C took on Noble’s D, with the D Team taking the spoils 8-2. Five single figure wins for the D shown the gap between the teams. Winning for the C team were Mike Caley, who beat Charlie Bell 21-16, Lee Greggor who won 21-15 against Alex Colquitt, with Nigel Hinds losing out 18-21 to Andrew Bell. Noble’s D aren’t to be written off as they are six points off the top as they wait for a slip up from the teams above them.

Elsewhere Douglas C won 7-3 at home to Port Erin B, Finch Hill B beat Douglas D 8-2 at home, with South Ramsey D seeing off Peel D (pictured), with the visitors having some players gaining experience. For Peel William Quirk and Mike Ashmole beat Hakim Thomas and Billy Blair 21-18 respectively, with Joshua Trickett winning 21-18 against Chris Brown. For the home team Geoff Collier won 21-3 against Kevin Murray, with Ryan Hargraves beating debutant John Sayle 21-6.

The Islands premier doubles competition the Plumbmaster Doubles Championship was hosted by Noble’s Bowling Club on Sunday. The competition was played 21up off a handicap of +3 for all competitors. The event was well supported with 31 pairs entering in a bid to win the coveted title.

At the quarter final stage the holders Neil Withers and Paul Dunn (Marown) had a tough battle against Neil Dunwell (Onchan) and Lee Dawson (South Ramsey) as the Crosby men prevailed 21-18. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly and Stevie Kelly (Peel) just crept home 21-20 against Rob Monk (North Ramsey) and Matthew Quirk (Onchan).

In the other half of the draw both games were also close as South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves and Stefan Kelly beat the Onchan pairing of Kevin Quirk and Steve Parker 21-19, whilst Jordan Drewett (Castletown) and Dean Kinley (Peel) lost out 17-21 to Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly (Marown).

In the semi-finals Dunn and Withers were up against the father and son Barney and Stevie Kelly, with only singles scored in the first nine ends the score was 9-6 to the Marown pair. The Peel men briefly took with the lead on the 10th end, with a four scored only to concede a two and a three to trail 10-14. Just seven more ends were needed for Withers and Dunn to reach the final despite only winning three of the ends, they scored a single, a four and a double to secure a 21-14 win.

The other semi-final saw Glynn Hargraves and Stefan Kelly take on Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly, this was more straightforward as the Marown pairing were kept down to five singles as the South Ramsey men progressed to the final with a 21-8 victory.

On the first end in the final, this ended up a dead end with the jack being taken off the green by Kelly. On the next end a three was scored by the South Ramsey pair, this prompted an immediate response from the Crosby men with two singles, two doubles and three three’s in between conceding just two singles to take a commanding 18-8 lead, with the Marown pair playing good bowls along with the ability to take out their opponents counting bowls. A three from Hargraves and Kelly, prompted a double for Withers and Dunn to put the score at 20-11 to the Marown men.

Withers headed for an edge putting up a good lead bowl to count one for game. With nothing to lose Hargraves came close to taking out the counting bowl only to take out his nearest bowl. Lying three down Kelly used a side bowl to come in off which Kelly did to perfection, with a good bit of fortune they counted for two to put the score at 13-20. Heading for the corners a good lead bowl from Hargraves was beaten by Withers with a front ‘toucher’, which gave Kelly two goes to kill the end, with the second attempt just missing this sealed a fully deserved 21-13 victory to win the title for a fourth successive year, following their wins at Port St Mary in 2020, Peel in 2021, and South Ramsey last year.

The presentation was made by Association President Phil Kelly, who thanked Noble’s Bowling Club and their members for providing helpers throughout the day, along with the competition team for the smooth running of the competition.