Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The Rayner Shield has a new sponsor onboard this year with Plumbmaster taking over sponsorship of the Rayner Shield and Rayner Plate competitions. The Rayner Shield gives teams from the lower divisions the opportunity to test themselves against stronger teams, depending on how kind the draw was to them, however all the top teams went into the draw for the next round.

Early Division One league leaders and current Rayner Shield holders South Ramsey A won 8-0 at home to Finch Hill A. Just one of the visiting players got into double figures with Brian Murphy just losing 20-21 to Alan Moore.

The following evening Marown A had their second game of the season away to South Ramsey B, this time they went one better with an 0-8 away win. For the home team Austin Hart was the only man who failed to get into double figures as he had tough opposition in the form of Colin Kelly, whilst Bryan Corner was the highest scoring loser as he got to 17 against Glenn Boland.

Peel A made light work of second division team North Ramsey B in the Sunset City as they won 7-1 with the visitors scoring just 76 chalks. Ray Skelly caused an upset with his 21-16 win over George Gadsby to prevent the whitewash.

There were three close ties with the first being a 4-4 at Breagle Glen as Port Erin B lost by just three chalks (135-138) at home to Douglas B. The home teams cause was not helped by once again being a man short.

The second was between Marown B and Onchan A at Crosby with another 4-4 being settled on chalks (145-148) as Onchan edged it on the night. Home captain Darren Kerruish edged his game 21-20 against his Uncle Phil Kerruish, whilst John Kelly beat Mike Thomas 21-19.

The final close encounter was between third division teams Douglas C and Finch Hill B at the Villa, as the home team drew 4-4 and went into the draw for the next round as they won by five chalks (136-131).

Douglas A progressed to the next round courtesy of a 6-2 home win over Noble’s A with Merv Sayle winning 21-1 against John Andrew. For the visitors Alex Yates beat Ian Moore 21-19, whilst Dave Naughton won 21-14 against Mark Kneen.

Castletown A beat fellow first division team Peel B 7-1 at the Crofts, with three single figure wins for Ron Williams, Nathan Cooil and Nathan Hamilton. The Town also had a rare guest appearance from 81-year-old Mike Hargraves who beat Dave Smith 21-18. Preventing the whitewash was Paul Quirk who beat David Quayle 21-19.

Marown D welcomed Noble’s B to Crosby, with the visitors (pictured) coming away with a solid 2-6 victory. For Noble’s Junior bowler Alex Hampson won 21-16 against Eddie Rough, Stephen Corkill won 21-7 against Andy Sykes, whilst James Kelly stormed home 21-4 against Barry Salmon for the Crosby men.

First division side Port St Mary A came away from Ballaugh B who ply their trade in Division Three with a 3-5 win, helped by single figure wins from Wayne Roberts, Dan McCabe, and Trevor Quayle.

North Ramsey A came away from their game with a hard earned 3-5 away win over Onchan B, helped by Paul Allison who beat Mike Kelly 21-19 and John Cannan who won 21-20 against Paul Clinton. Impressing for the home team were Sid McKnight, Mike Alexander and Colin Spence who beat Gary Merrill, Rob Monk, and Allan Callow respectively.

Peel C made home advantage count as they played out a 4-4 draw with Onchan C, as they won by 17 chalks (146-129).

Castletown B keep visitors Ballaugh C under 100 chalks with their 6-2 home win (131-91), with single figure wins from Ross Moore, Derek Lewney, and Junior Sam Quayle with the latter winning 21-2 to take the team ‘kitty’ home.

On Wednesday night South Ramsey C came away from their visit to Peel as they took on the D Team, with a 3-5 victory. For the Peel men James Lee and Andy Jackson bot won 21-8 against Ian Moore and Anthony Kelly respectively.

Third division side South Ramsey D hosted first division side Marown C, with the home team performing well as they reached over 100 chalks in their 1-7 home defeat (102-166). Greg Barlow was the lone winner for South Ramsey beating Jamie Joughin 21-19 as he continues to impress having only taken up the game late last season.

Losers in the preliminary round and first round go into the Rayner Plate competition with handicaps awarded based on league position.

Just one Canada Life International league tie took place this week with the postponed South Ramsey C v Ballaugh A fixture taking place. The visitors will have been delighted with their 2-8 away win but will have left with regrets over not picking up a 0-10 win as they hit top spot by two points. Anthony Kelly held off Mike Spooner 21-18, whilst Ian Moore won to the same score against John Keenan. The battle of the captains was won by Phil Quayle who beat David Corkill 21-13, Steve Grant won 21-11 against Jay Moore, whilst Steve’s son Patrick beat Andy Morgan 21-12.