As You Were At The Top
In the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored division one this week reigning champions South Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Port St Mary A who were missing two of their experienced players. The conditions on the night around the Islands greens were tough with swirling winds. Despite this the home team managed to take three games off the visitors and on another night could have taken two more. The winners for Port St Mary were Trevor Quayle, Dan McCabe and Wayne Roberts, with Steve Franks and Rob Cooil going close before losing out to Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves. Manx Champion John Kennish carried on where he left off from Sunday winning 21-1, with Dido Kelly winning 21-7.
Second placed Peel A made the trip to the capital to take on bottom of the table Douglas B. The home side fared better than they could have hoped taking three points from the visitors losing 3-7. Captain Andy Cannell had an outstanding 21-9 win over opposition captain Ste Kelly, whilst Pat O’Donohue rolled back the years to inflict a 21-4 defeat on Jerome Surridge. Mark Corrin was the third winner defeating David Proctor 21-15. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was pushed all the way by Roy Williams before winning 21-19, with Tom Kelly back to winning ways holding off Bob Banning 21-18. Tommy McMeiken kept up his 100% league record with a 21-4 win with Gary Smith also winning to single figures.
Marown B took on their A team with the B team players looking to prove they can mix it with the A team and continue their climb up the table. The B team will have pleased to secure three points following their 3-7 loss. For the B team Peter Kelly rolled back the years to defeat his Nephew Neil Withers 21-14, whilst his son John got over the line 21-19 against Ian Kissack. Bobby Thorne proved his worth beating John Gelling 21-18. For the A team Dean Kipling beat Juan Killip 21-4, whilst Colin Kelly, Paul Kelly and Matthew Keggen had comfortable wins. Captain Paul Dunn was pushed a lot harder winning 21-18 over Brian Kelly.
North Ramsey A hosted South Ramsey B with the home team securing a 6-4 victory thanks to two single figure wins by Allan Callow and John Cannan. The other two winners were Steve Parker 21-17 over Ben Dugdale and Gary Merrill edging it 21-19 against Austin Hart. For the visitors Tony Dugdale and Sid Bolton had comfortable wins, with James Teare (21-18) and Steven Waters (21-19) having enough in the tank to hold off Ray Skelly and Steve Walmsley.
Port Erin A hosted Douglas A at Breagle Glen with the home team suffering an 8-2 defeat, the southerners will have felt hard done by as Derek Allen & Bernie Durcan both lost 18-21 to Ian Moore and Mervin Sayle respectively. Steve Durcan lost 17-21 against Gary Conwell, whilst Peter Addision also fell at the last hurdle losing 20-21 to Stuart Garrett. Despite the home defeat there were only 12 chalks separating the teams to show how close the game really was.
Onchan A bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Castletown A 9-1. For the home team Matthew Quirk, Kevin Quirk, Steve Crampton and Jordan Cain all won to single figures, whilst for the visitors the only winner was Juan Kermode over the experienced Phil Kerruish who is notoriously difficult to beat on Onchan.
In division two, top of the table Noble’s A had a tough away game with a visit to Peel B, managed to maintain their unbeaten record despite being beaten 5-3 on games, they took the aggregate two points for the chalks edging it by a solitary chalk (146-145). Noble’s missed out taking extra points off Peel with Steve Cook and Tommy Collister losing 20-21 to Alec Taylor and Gordon Corrin, whilst Bod Boland lost 18-21 to Dougie Allan. For Peel, Harry Kelly and Mike Ashmole won comfortably.
Castletown B missed an opportunity to close the gap further on Noble’s A with a 6-4 home victory over strugglers Port St Mary C who performed well to take four points away from home. Dave Faragher kept up his place at the top of the individual merit table with a 21-7 win over Nathan Hamilton. John Alderson lost out 20-21 to Tom Wilson, whilst Alan Phair & Aaron Richardson lost out 17-21 to Louis Callister and Chris Oates.
Ballaugh A came away from Finch Hill A with a 6-4 win with Edgar Cowin winning 21-8 for the visitors. John Keenan, Richard Fisher and Steve Grant were the other winners for the visiting team. Winners for Finch Hill were Tony Epifani, Sefton Denton, Paul Dougherty and Billy Long.
North Ramsey B had a good 8-2 home win over Port St Mary B, with Barry Teare getting over the line 21-19 against Peter Collins, whilst Rheuben Thomas held his nerve to beat Paul Russell 21-20. Winners for Port St Mary were Brian Corrin and Dave Saxon.
Peel C hosted Onchan B with Onchan taking a 6-4 win. For the home team Paul Quirk and Kevin Mort helped secured two extra points for their team winning 21-19 and 21-20 over Mike Thomas and Paul Bailey respectively. Edward Carlyle, Les McLellan, Mike Alexander and Bernie McPhee were the winners for the visitors.
In division three, Peel D took the pressure off with a 9-1 away win to Douglas D. For Peel Ryan Tate got a walkover, Steve Tate won 21-4 and Leslie Halsall also won to single figures. For Douglas Tony King prevented the whitewash with a 21-8 win.
South Ramsey D welcomed Douglas C in a tight contest, recording a 6-4 win. Home Captain James Moore and his eldest son Ian won to single figures, whilst youngest son Jay had to battle to win 21-18. Richard Davies was the other winner. For Douglas Juan Readshaw marked his first appearance of the season with a win, backed up by William Cowley, Andy Foster and Mike Cain.
Marown C just missed out on a 10-0 win over Onchan C with Darren Kerruish losing 20-21 to Gary Lee to record a 9-1 win to extend their lead at the top of the table. Paul Clinton came close to securing another point for the visitors before losing 19-21 to Karl Parker. For the home team Stephen Rundle and Jamie Joughin won to single figures, with Walter McCarthy, Steve Wilson, Kevin Kelly and Carey Dewhirst also having comfortable wins.
Ballaugh C took on their B Team with the match ending 6-4 to the B Team to show how little difference there is between the two teams. For the C Team Bert Quayle got home with a 21-20 win over John Kneen, with Paul Bradford the biggest winner 21-11 over Percy Faragher. Maurice O’Reilly just lost out 19-21 to Fred Waggett. For the B Team Tony Quine won to single figures, whilst John Bolton and Philip Quayle had comfortable wins.
South Ramsey C managed to record a 6-4 victory over Finch Hill B despite suffering two heavy defeats, they responded with three big wins over the visitors. For the home team Anthony Kelly, Tony Marler and Tony Hart all won to single figures, whilst Kevin Anderson and Sam Stannard also won to single figures for Finch Hill. Toby Hart kept his cool to beat Pat Maher 21-20, whilst Kevin Stannard did the same for Finch Hill with his own 21-20 win. Just three chalks separated the teams to show how close a contest it was.