Top Teams Safely Through in Rayner Shield
Photo: Phil Cain
The early rounds of the Canada Life International Rayner Shield took place this week with teams from the lower divisions getting the opportunity to play first division teams, depending on how kind the draw was to them, as all the top teams safely went into the draw for the next round.
On Monday night third division Onchan C (pictured) travelled north to take on the current holders of the Rayner Shield South Ramsey A on a fine evening. Despite not winning a game the visitors enjoyed their evening and now go into the Rayner Plate having lost in the first round. The home team did not take their opponents lightly as they conceded just 48 chalks on the night.
Tie of the round was without doubt the game between second division Ballaugh A and Peel A, with the former having home advantage they managed to secure a 4-4 draw on the night resulting in the visitors progressing to the next round thanks to scoring 14 chalks more than the home team (134-148). For Peel David Smith stepped up to the A Team and did his credentials no harm with a superb 21-9 win over Patrick Grant, while captain Gary Smith beat Barry McDonald 21-12, George Gadsby won 21-13 against Gordie Moore, with Peter Greenlees being the fourth winner with his 21-16 win over Nigel Tebay. For the home team Richard Hainge beat Rob Middleton 21-15, John Maddrell won 21-16 against Tommy McMeiken, Edgar Cowin was the home team’s best winner as he won 21-13 against Dean Kinley, while Phil Quayle edged it 21-20 against Tom Kelly.
North Ramsey A go into the Rayner Plate after putting up a good fight at home to Marown A as they took three wins in their 3-5 defeat. Gary Merrill won 21-17 against Neil Withers, Brian Colquitt just got home with a 21-20 victory over Phil Kelly, while Paul Allison romped home with a stunning 21-3 win over Harry Barton. Three of the wins for the visitors were to single figures from Paul Dunn, Colin Kelly and Sam Clague, while Paul Kelly beat Tony Smart 21-10 and Dean Kipling had a tough battle with Steve Walmsley before winning 21-17.
Douglas A progressed to the next round with a 7-1 home win over South Ramsey D with Richie Davies preventing the whitewash as he beat Jimmy Sansom 21-18.
Marown C faced off against their D Team with the higher ranked side taking a 7-1 victory, while Peel B took on their C Team with the higher ranked side progressing to the next round with a hard fought 5-3 win. Port Erin B who were due to play their A Team pulled out of the Rayner Shield due to being unable to field a team.
South Ramsey B won 8-0 at home to Castletown C with the visitors’ junior players performing well with Sam Quayle losing out 10-21 to Bryan Corner, Dylan Marsh lost 21-9 against George Brew, while the youngest player in the league Freddie Palmer performed brilliantly as he scored 15 against Austin Hart.
Douglas B went into the next round following a convincing 6-2 victory over Castletown B with Mark Kneen turning out for the first time this season at the Villa.
Peel D also go into the Rayner Plate following their first round defeat 1-7 at home to Marown B, with the only winner for the home team Andrew Cover performing well to win 21-16 against Karl Parker.
Port St Mary safely navigated their away fixture with Noble’s B, coming away with a 1-7 win with Stephen Corkill the lone winner for the home team with a 21-4 win over Nicholas Peterson.
Finch Hill B went into the hat for the second round of the Rayner Plate after they seen off Noble’s A with a 5-3 home win.
Port St Mary A won 6-2 at home to Finch Hill A, with three of the home team wins to single figures from Nathan Hamilton, Trevor Quayle and Wayne Roberts, while Tony Epifani beat Glenn Hargraves 21-8. Dave McCabe upon his return to his old stomping ground at Breagle Glen won 21-11 against Steve Franks.
Castletown A kept visitors Ballaugh C down to just 66 chalks with their 8-0 home win as three of the visitors reached double figures.
South Ramsey C beat Ballaugh B 7-1 with the score not reflecting the performance of the visitors with all Ballaugh players reaching double figures.
Rounding of the fixtures for the week were Douglas C who hosted Onchan B at the Villa with the visitors taking a 1-7 win.
This week sees a return to league action and the group stages of the Mixed League which has been split into two separate competitions with the higher ranked teams in the Mixed Team Championship. South Ramsey A are the current holders.
The Mixed Team Plate for the lower ranked teams is being played for the first time in the same format as the Championship.
For both competitions the teams are split into two groups of four playing six games each, with the winners from each group playing off in their respective finals on Saturday 27th August. Matches are played for on chalks with two points being awarded for a win, one point being shared in the unlikely event of a draw.