Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Peel A hosted Marown A in the sunset city in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one with the match turning out to be a thriller. Last season the Crosby men suffered an 2-8 loss in this fixture.

Peel made a good start in the match to go 3-1 up at the half way point with a 21 chalk lead. Tom Kelly was up against his Dad Colin Kelly for the first time in a league fixture and probably won’t be welcome round for a Sunday roast dinner anytime soon after pulling off a stunning 21-13 win. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly won 21-9 against Dean Kipling, whilst Jerome Surridge got home with a 21-18 victory over Phil Kelly. Picking up a valuable win for Marown was Paul Kelly who did enough to win 21-19 against Gary Smith.

Andy Kennish was Peel’s only winner in the second half of the match edging out Matthew Keggen, with Kennish having trailed 13-17 he had to dig deep to take a 21-19 win. Marown’s fight back started with Neil Withers winning 21-10 against David Proctor, whilst Paul Dunn left the match finely poised at 4-3 (124-122) to Peel with his 21-11 victory to inflict a first league defeat on Tommy McMeiken. Home captain Stevie Kelly was 15-4 and 17-7 up on John Gelling and looked on course to seal a 7-3 win, however Gelling had other ideas rolling back the years to score 14 consecutive points to pull off a stunning comeback and in doing so the Crosby men went home delighted with their 4-6 win by just two chalks (141-143).

Peel can take heart from having pushed Marown so hard, however it is hard to argue with Marown being the team to beat this season having played three fixtures in which they picked up just 10 points from last season (South Ramsey A, Marown B and Peel A) yet this season they have picked up 22 points from the same fixtures.

Onchan A have crept along quietly this season and find themselves top on 48 points after seeing off Castletown B with a 9-1 home win. Rob Monk sits in first place in the merit table closely followed by team mate Matthew Quirk. Jordan Cain inflicted a first league defeat of the season on former doubles partner Bob Clark, whilst the sole winner for Town was George Foy who beat Mark Kelly 21-8. Onchan’s next five games see them face tough tests with away games against Douglas, North Ramsey and Port St Mary, whilst hosting close rivals Marown A and South Ramsey A to reach the half way point of the season.

Castletown A hosted South Ramsey A with the same fixture in 2018 resulting in a 10-0 win for the visitors. This time round the Town men took three games off the visitors with Sam Clague keeping his composure to record an assured 21-11 win over Stefan Kelly. Jordan Drewett dug in for his team to claw his way back from 11-19 down against Peter Collister to run out with a 21-19 win, whilst David Quayle recovered from 15-20 down to beat Alan Moore 21-20. For the visitors David Bradford beat Peter Oates 21-7, with James Teare not far behind defeating George Peach 21-9. South Ramsey sit in third place on 44 points, with tough away games against Onchan A & Peel A still to come in the first half of the season, which will give them a better idea of where they will finish this season, however the title looks to be too far away on current form.

Port St Mary A got back to winning ways after three consecutive defeats with a 4-6 away win over Noble’s A who are now bottom of the table with 18 points after six games. For the Port men Wayne Roberts & Paul Skelly won to single figures, whilst Trevor Quayle was also back in business with a 21-13 victory over David Pease with Bernard Thackrah holding off Steve Cook to win 21-18. For the home team Glenn Boland, Kevin Firth and Tommy Collister won fairly comfortably, whilst Steve Hall marked his first match against his former club with a 21-20 victory over Dave McCabe.

South Ramsey B won’t be too unhappy with their 4-6 home defeat to Douglas A, with Tony Dugdale making it five wins from six games holding off Ian Moore to win 21-19, with Edward Carlyle also pushed hard by Keith Rise before getting over the line 21-18. Steven Waters made light work of Shaun Seal to win 21-8, whilst Christian Caley will have been pleased to see off Gary Conwell 21-15. Winners for the villa men were Mervin Sayle, Jimmy Sansom, Stuart Garrett and captain Andy Cannell who got home 21-19 against George Brew.

Marown B sit comfortably in mid table following an assured 7-3 home win over North Ramsey A. The three winners for the Mooragh men were Steve Walmsley, Gary Merrill and Bryan Corner. Home captain Harry Barton led the way for his team, backed up by Luke Hyland and the experienced trio of Arnie Withers, Peter Kelly and Juan Killip.

In division two league leaders Ballaugh A put some distance between their nearest placed rivals Finch Hill A with a fine 9-1 home win over the Finch men. Young Patrick Grant stepped up into the A team and recorded his first league win of the season with a 21-19 victory over Sefton Dent. Peter Hughes prevented the whitewash thanks to a 21-19 win over Barry McDonald.

Marown C headed south to take on Port St Mary B, putting up a good fight before losing 7-3, taking three games off a team who will be looking to challenge at the top of the league. Winners for the Crosby men were Walter McCarthy, Jamie Joughin and Darren Kerruish.

In division three South Ramsey C really have the bit between their teeth following their 10-0 demolition of Noble’s B to extend their lead over second placed Ballaugh C to 13 points. The Ballaugh outfit could only draw 5-5 at home thanks in part to Port Erin B being a player short.