In Canada Life International Division One this week Marown A took on their C Team, who are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, with the A team winning 10-0. In an eight man team Walter McCarthy came closest to picking up a point as he lost out 18-21 to Paul Kelly, with his 18 chalks making up 25% of the chalks scored by the C Team. This result sent Marown back to the top of the league by a solitary point.

Peel A made light work of Marown B, winning 10-0 at home. Peel captain George Gadsby was the best winner 21-7 against Sam Clague, whilst Kevin Kelly came closest to preventing the whitewash as he lost 18-21 to Gary Smith.

Castletown A hosted Port St Mary A at the Crofts, with the home team claiming a vital 6-4 win, with the aggregate won comfortably by 29 chalks (151-122). Town Captain Jordan Drewett just missed out on securing an extra point for his side, as he lost 20-21 to Chris Lever, who returned to his old stomping ground. Recording single figure wins were Nathan Cooil, who beat Robbie Cooil 21-7, whilst Dean Kinley won 21-1 against Tom Collins.

Douglas A went home happy with an 8-2 home win over North Ramsey A, with the Villa men winning two games 21-20, whilst Merv Sayle beat John Cannan 21-18. For the visitors Rob Monk won 21-10 against Shaun Seal, whilst Steve Walmsley held off Andy Cannell 21-19.

Fixture of the week was between Onchan A and South Ramsey A, with the visitors having to match or better last week’s 9-1 win by Marown A at Onchan Park to stay in touch with the league leaders. The first four games the visitors could have been 3-1 down on games, however Dido Kelly won 21-13 against Neil Dunwell, having trailed 2-10, James Teare was in a tough game with last week’s lone winner Peter Slinger, with the former ending the game strongly to win 21-14. Kevin Quirk made light work of Peter Collister, with a 21-3 victory, whilst a win from John Kennish was never in doubt with a 21-7 victory over Gary Conwell.

In the second half David Bradford was in a tough game early on with Will Penhallurick, with Bradford going on to win 21-10. Jordan Cain built up a 17-7 lead with Reg Temporaza, with the Ramsey man taking a 21-17 win. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves was up against Onchan captain Matthew Quirk, with Hargraves never relinquishing the lead in the game, leading 12-2, 15-9 and 18-11, with the South captain getting over the line 21-16. The last game on the green was between Stefan Kelly and Jamie Clague, with Kelly leading 20-10 a spirited fightback from the Onchan man saw the deficit close to just two chalks at 20-18, with Kelly getting the vital chalk needed to win 21-18 and help his side secure a 9-1 away victory.

Castletown A played their rearranged fixture (Game 10) with Onchan A on Tuesday evening, following the Southern 100. The home team manage to race to a 5-3 win, however two heavy defeats for the Town men ensured Onchan came away with a 5-5 draw as they won the aggregate by nine chalks (128-137). Winning for the visitors Peter Slinger won 21-5 against Jordan Drewett, Kevin Quirk beat David Quayle 21-6, whilst Matthew Quirk won 21-12 against George Foy. Just missing out 20-21 was Jamie Clague to Nathan Cooil with a measure going in favour of the Town man.

In Division Two South Ramsey B sit in top spot following a solid 9-1 home win over Castletown B, who are in danger of being relegated to Division Three. The home team did manage to sneak two 21-20 wins, with George Brew beating Phil Cannon, with Christian Caley holding off a strong challenge from Peter Oates. Lone winner for the Town men was Willie Corkill who beat South Ramsey captain Ben Dugdale 21-15.

Ballaugh A are joint top, continue to apply the pressure with a 10-0 home win over Douglas B, with the Villa men now cut adrift from a challenge for promotion. Richard Hainge won 21-1 against Andy Foster, whilst Tony Quine was pushed all the way by Bob Callow before prevailing 21-20 to seal the whitewash.

Peel B had a tricky away fixture to North Ramsey B at Mooragh Park, as they looked to avoid a third consecutive defeat, however the home team won 7-3 to lift themselves off the bottom of the table, with the Peel men dropping to third place, five points off the top two.

Port Erin A were on the receiving end of a 3-7 home defeat to Finch Hill A. Winning for the home team were Derek Allen, David Cain, and Christopher Dent.

Noble’s A were also suffered a home defeat with Onchan B winning 2-8. Just missing out on picking up points for the home team were Juan Qualtrough 19-21 against Neil Richmond, whilst Mark Bradshaw was on the wrong end of a 21-20 scoreline against Mike Kelly.

 In Division Three Noble’s C hosted South Ramsey C on Monday evening, with the home team winning 7-3, the result helped Noble’s leapfrog the Ramsey men to sit in second place.

League leaders Noble’s B took home a 3-7 away win over South Ramsey D, with Grahem Moore the only single figure winner on the night.

Marown D had a positive 7-3 home win over Onchan C, to lift themselves clear of the bottom two, with the Crosby men winning three games to single figures, whilst the visitors could only win two games to single figures with 13 chalks separating the teams (133-120).

Ballaugh B won 8-2 at home to Port St Mary B to go into joint third place on 71 points with South Ramsey C, whilst Peel C hosted Noble’s D with the Peel men having the opportunity to close the 11 point gap on their opponents, which they managed to do clawing back six points thanks to an 8-2 victory.

In Division Four Ballaugh C came away from the Villa with a 3-7 win over Douglas C to sit eight points clear of North Ramsey C who came away from Finch Hill B with a 4-6 win, thanks to taking the aggregate by 13 chalks (123-136), with Paul Arthur and Bryan Corner winning to single figures.

Mixed Team Championship Fixtures

Ballaugh won 5-4 on games in their home game against Port St Mary A, however the visitors won the all important chalks to get the two points for the win by eight chalks (141-149).

Marown A won 9-0 at home to Nobles A, with the Crosby side keeping their opponents under 100 chalks (189-94), as they look to win the group with a 100% record.

Group B is still all to play for the top two as North Ramsey A hosted Nobles B at Mooragh Park with the home team winning all their games to take a 189-86 victory and boost their chalks for to a superior 194.

South Ramsey A were at home to Douglas A, with the visitors giving a good account of themselves despite losing 7-2 on games, they lost out by 21 chalks (173-152). South Ramsey are level on points with North Ramsey, however their chalks is 141, trailing North Ramsey by 53 chalks.

Mixed Team Plate

Group A

Peel Sunset are the first team to get their place as they hit the 10 point mark in the group following their 30 chalk victory over Marown B (165-135).

Douglas B won by 18 chalks at home to Castletown A (153-135) winning 5-4 on games.

Group B

Port Erin prevented South Ramsey B from winning the group with a comfortable win by 28 chalks (175-147). South Ramsey will be keeping a keen eye on the last fixture of the season with Port Erin only needing to win to seal their place in the final with having a superior chalks for difference over South Ramsey B

Peel Sunset Bowling club hosted the popular Peel Town Cup on Saturday afternoon. The competition attracted 75 entries, despite the poor weather. With handicaps ranging from +3 to +9, it certainly made for an interesting day with some shock results. There were a number of high profile casualties early on.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Stevie Rundle (+7) 13-21 to Marown clubmate Tom Kelly (+4), home greener Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (+3) lost out 18-21 to Peter Jones (Marown)(+3). In the other half of the draw David Bradford (+3) got the better of teammate Glynn Hargraves (+3) 21-11, whilst Stevie Kelly (Peel)(+3) held off a strong challenge from Toby Hart (+7) to win 21-18.

Both first semi-finals resulted in the favourites advancing to the final with relative ease as Jones won 21-12 against Tom Kelly, whilst Bradford won 21-13 against Stevie Kelly.

With Bradford fresh from his win on Thursday in the Dreswick Cup, the rain had stopped in time for the final, however the wind picked up to throw a different challenge to the two finalists.

Bradford conceded two singles on the first two ends, then got a foothold in the game getting a run on the wall edge, that he had played in earlier rounds to take a 10-5 lead, then led 12-7 over Jones. The Marown man managed to claw his way back into the game winning six out of eight ends to level the game at 15-15. The South Ramsey man responded to ensure Jones didn’t take the lead, with three singles scored over four ends. Jones gratefully took up a good chance to make two to level the game up once more at 18-18.

The following end Jones played a short round peg with Bradford beating a two foot bowl to go within touching distance of the win to lead 19-18. In a change of tactics Bradford played his jack over the crown, with his lead just over two foot wide, with Jones being caught out with both bowls being left short for Bradford to score two to win 21-19 and secure the title for a second time.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by competition organiser Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, who thanked the sponsors Central Bar & Bistro for their support, and the club members for assisting throughout the day. Paul Gelling from The Central then presented the prizes.

The Dreswick men’s singles took place on Thursday afternoon at Breagle Glen, this is Port St Mary’s longest running ‘Open’ competition, first played back in 1947. A good entry of 44 players took part, including 14 visiting bowlers on tour from the Owd Nell’s pub in Preston. A damp start didn’t dampen the atmosphere around the green and conditions improved throughout the day.

The fallers at the quarter final stage were Ben Mowle (Port Erin) to Paul Dunn ( Marown), Andy Tiffin (Owd Nell’s) to Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) to David Bradford (South Ramsey). The closest quarter final match was between Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) and Chris Dransfield (Owd Nells), with the game at 20-20 and a front toucher for Quayle, Dransfield managed to play into the touching wood and leave himself on to win the match 21-20.

The first semi-final was between Dunn and Hargraves, the latter started with three singles before Dunn won nine ends in a row to take an 18-9 lead. Hargraves got it back to 18-14 before Dunn finished it off to win 21-14.

The other semi-final between Bradford and Dransfield was a more one sided match, Bradford kept Dransfield down to scoring four singles to win 21-10.

The final between Dunn and Bradford was always going to be a close match, after 16 ends the score was 15-15, Bradford finished the stronger to win The Dreswick for the third time, adding to his wins from 2005 and 2022.

The prize presentation was made by Wayne Roberts thanking Port St Mary competition secretary Christine Holland for running the comp, and everyone else at Port St Mary bowling club that helped make the day a success.

In Canada Life International Division One this week Marown A travelled to the park to take on Onchan A, who sat in third place at the start of play, it looked to be a tough fixture however the visitors pulled off their best performance of the season to win 9-1. The lone winner for Onchan was Peter Slinger, who won 21-14 against Glenn Boland, whilst Gary Conwell lost 19-21 to Phil Kelly. Next closest to winning was Reg Temporaza, with Tom Kelly prevailing 21-17. A notable result was Peter Jones inflicting a rare home league defeat on Matthew Quirk 21-8, in one of three single figure wins for the visitors.

South Ramsey A hosted Castletown A, with the home team winning 10-0 for the first time this season, however the Town men could well have snatched two points on the night. George Foy trailed Glynn Hargraves 1-10, before scoring 10 chalks on the bounce to lead 11-10, then went on to lead 17-12. A spirited fightback from the South Ramsey captain ensured there was no upset as Hargraves won 21-17. This comeback was surpassed in the second half of the match as James Teare was on course for a defeat to single figures at home, trailing 8-18 to Nathan Hamilton, however a superb display from Teare saw him score 13 chalks on the bounce to win 21-18.

Peel A came away from Breagle Glen with a 4-6 win over Port St Mary A, however they could have snatched two extra points as Tony Carroon lost out 20-21 to Robbie Cooil, whilst Peel captain George Gadsby lost 19-21 to Chris Lever. The result was good enough to take Peel above Onchan to occupy third place, whilst Port St Mary got out of the bottom two, leapfrogging Castletown.

North Ramsey A played Marown C at Mooragh Park, with the home team winning 9-1. John Kelly ensured it wasn’t 10-0 as he beat Gary Merrill 21-19, whilst Sid Bolton just lost out 20-21 to Steven Waters.

Marown B beat Douglas A 7-3 at Crosby in a keenly contested match, as just two chalks separated the teams (146-144). Steve Wilson just lost out 20-21 to Kevin Firth, however the home team had the same score go in their favour as Matthew Keggen held off Shaun Seal. For the Villa men Paddy Murphy was the best winner on the night as he stepped up from the B team to win 21-8 against Brian Kelly.

In Division Two Peel B suffered a second successive defeat, as they lost 4-6 at home to Port Erin A, losing the aggregate by nine chalks (141-150) to seal their fate. The result could have been worse but for Jimmy Corlett beating Steve Durcan 21-20.

Despite the defeat Peel B didn’t sacrifice top spot, as Finch Hill A made the most of South Ramsey B missing two players to win 7-3 with 11 chalks separating the sides (140-129).

Ballaugh A are in third place, were the biggest winners in Division Two this week in more ways than one as they beat Noble’s A 8-2 in third place and close the gap on South Ramsey B to one point, with Peel B top two points ahead of the Ballaugh men.

Castletown B continue to struggle as they suffered a 3-7 defeat at home to Onchan B, with Phil Cannon just missing out 20-21 for the Town men, as Paul Dougherty got over the line.

 In Division Three Noble’s B remain five points clear at the top following their 8-2 won win over Peel C, with all games reaching double figures.

South Ramsey C moved up to second place following their 9-1 win over their lower ranked D Team, as Greg Barlow continues to lead the way at the top of the individual merit in Division Three.

Noble’s D won 8-2 at home to Port St Mary B to remain five points off top spot, whilst Noble’s C are just one point behind their D Team on 67 points, following an impressive 2-8 win away to Onchan C

Ballaugh B are 10 points adrift of the league leaders, following their 3-7 away win over Marown D.

In Division Four Ballaugh C remain 12 points clear at the top despite their 5-5 draw at home to Finch Hill B. Crucially the home team lost five home games to the Finch men, with four games finishing to close scores that didn’t go in their favour (17, 19, 20, 20) which ultimately cost them as they won the chalks comfortably (153-119), with all three home wins to single figures (3, 5, 6).

Douglas C beat their D Team 8-2, with four single wins keeping their lower ranked team to under 100 chalks (155-92).

Peel D brushed aside Noble’s E 8-2 in the Sunset City, with three single figure winners on the night.

North Ramsey C are well placed for a title charge following their fixture against Castletown C on Friday evening, as the Mooragh men won 8-2, have a game in hand on the top two.

Plumbmaster Rayner Shield

The second semi-final of the Rayner Shield took place between Castletown A and Marown C at the Crofts on Tuesday evening with both teams suffering heavy defeats the night before, this was always going to be a close encounter despite the Town men brushing aside Marown C 10-0 earlier in the season.

With both teams winning one game to single figures, there were four games which were keenly contested. Walter McCarthy held off George Foy 21-18, whilst the other three games went in favour of the Town men as Nathan Hamilton beat Peter Kelly 21-17, Andy Clark won 21-18 against Sid Bolton, whilst the battle of the captains was won by Jordan Drewett 21-20 against Stephen Rundle. Castletown sealed the win 5-3 to book their place in the final, with a nervy finish to the match with just eight chalks in it (146-138). Castletown A will face South Ramsey A on Friday 9^th August, with the venue to be announced shortly.

Douglas Bowling Club hosted the Association Singles on Saturday with the competition attracting 45 entries on a wet afternoon.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Neil Dunwell (Onchan) 14-21 to home greener Andy Cannell, Trevor Quayle (Port St Mary) lost out 10-21 to Peter Jones (Marown). In the other half of the draw Marown’s Neil Withers beat David Bradford (South Ramsey) 21-16, whilst Paul Dunn won 21-10 against Marown clubmate James Kelly.

Both semi-finals were well contested, with Withers having a tough battle with Marown teammate Paul Dunn, with the former winning 21-18. The second semi-final was won to the same score, with Cannell leading 13-5 and 17-11 against Jones, with the Villa man going on to book his place in the final.

Withers made the better start to lead 12-6 playing his customary length. A fightback from Cannell saw the deficit close to just one chalk at 13-14, with Withers finishing the game strongly to run out with a 21-14 win to take the title.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Officer Wayne Roberts, who thanked the host club for the use of the green, providing measurers and the refreshments throughout the day.