Marown Suffer Setback
In division one second placed Marown A suffered a setback in their bid to close the gap on the leaders despite winning 7-3 with their visit to Breagle Glen to take on Port Erin A on a green that is still heavy despite the fine weather that we are experiencing. Winning for the home team were Dave McCabe who beat Matthew Keggen 21-11, Derek Allen who held on to win 21-19 against John Gelling, and Ken Horsley who stepped up from the B Team to record a memorable 21-18 win over five time Manx Champion Colin Kelly. Responding for the visitors Bob Clark, Neil Withers and Phil Kelly all won to single figures, whilst Dean Kipling and Paul Kelly had comfortable wins over Steve Durcan and Derek Cadamy.
Champions South Ramsey A made the trip to the capital to take on Douglas A turning in a good team performance to win 9-1, which exteneded their lead to 11 points over Marown. The green despite not having been cut for almost a month due to the hot and dry conditions was still tricky. The lone winner for the home team was Stuart Garrett who beat Stefan Kelly 21-17. Garrett held a 10-3 lead, before Kelly chipped away at the lead to pull the score back to 16-16. Garrett kicked backed into gear to see the game out. Next closest for Douglas was captain Andy Kennish who fought well against David Bradford. In the second half of the game neither player managed to lead well to their own jack to put together a run of ends, which led to a close game throughout. Bradford got over the line 21-18. Winning to single figures were captain Glynn Hargraves and Peter Collister. Also winning were John Kennish, Alan Moore, Dido Kelly and James Teare against Keith Rise, Jimmy Sansom, Ian Moore and Gary Conwell respectively.
With the A Teams taking on each other at the Villa the B Teams faced off at South Ramsey, with the home team beating Douglas 8-2. Winning for the visitors were Grahem Moore who beat Austin Hart 21-20, whilst Mark Corrin beat Christian Caley 21-8. Tony Dugdale had a fine 21-6 win over Douglas captain Andy Cannell, with Steven Waters also winning to single figures against Gordon Wynne-Smythe. Home captain Ben Dugdale beat Pat O’Donohue 21-12. In what could be decisive at the end of the season the home team won three close games with Steve Moore beating Ray Osborne 21-19, along with Roger Thomas and Chris Penketh both stepping in to beat Geoff Mayles and Bob Callow 21-20.
Peel A came away from their visit south to take on Port St Mary A with a 6-4 win, with three single figure wins from Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, Ste Kelly and Tommy McMeiken enough to secure the two points for the aggregate. David Proctor was the other Peel winner beating Thomas Keggen 21-19. For the home team Ewan Cooil won a close match 21-20 against Frank Watson, Derek Kneen stepped in to beat Tom Kelly 21-17, with Tim Williams also filling in to beat Jerome Surridge 21-16. Port St Mary captain Trevor Quayle led the way with a 21-10 win over Gary Smith.
North Ramsey A hosted Onchan A, with the visitors taking the spoils 7-3. Visiting captain Peter Slinger and nephew Rob Monk led the way, with both players winning to single figures. Kevin Quirk beat Steve Parker 21-14, whilst Matthew Quirk had a tougher time beating Jimmy Moffatt 21-18. Edward Carlyle stepped up from the B Team to beat Ray Skelly 21-15. For the home team Allan Callow was the standout performer winning 21-4, with Gary Merrill beating Adrian Skinner 21-13. North Ramsey captain Tony Smart performed well winning 21-13 to inflict only a second league defeat of the season on Jordan Cain.
Marown B bounced back from last week’s whitewash to defeat visitors Castletown A 6-4 in a high scoring contest and in doing so leap frogged them in the process to sit one point ahead of Castletown. Winners for the home team were the less experienced pair of Bobby Thorne and James Kelly, who continue to perform well, whilst seasoned campaigners Arnie Withers and Peter Kelly also won. The team has a good mix of youth and experience which bodes well for bringing on their younger players. Sixteen year old Sam Clague made the most of his opportunity to play for the A Team, which proved to be a good choice with Clague showing recently that he plays a fast green well defeating Marown Over 60’s captain Steve Bridson 21-19. Ian Watson beat Juan Killip 21-19, Derek Lewney won 21-13 against Brian Kelly and David Quayle beat John Kelly 21-14.
In division two Noble’s A maintained their six point lead at the top with a 10-0 home win over Port St Mary C, with Steve Cook, Tommy Collister and merit leader David Pease all winning to single figures. For Port St Mary Colin Leece came closest to grabbing a point losing 19-21 against Glenn Boland.
Matching Noble’s blow for blow, are Castletown B who also recorded a 10-0 home win over Port Erin B to keep the pressure on. Winning to single figures for the home team were George Foy, Peter Curtis, Ron Williams and Aaron Richardson. The top two are pulling away from the teams below them with Castletown B now 12 points ahead of third placed Onchan B.
Onchan B travelled to Mooragh Park to take on North Ramsey B coming away with a 7-3 win. Mike Alexander won 21-6, with Peter Wallis and Bernie McPhee both winning 21-17 and Mike Thomas beating Bryan Corner 21-19. Onchan just missed out on an extra point with Colin Spencer losing 20-21 against John Breen. For the home team Barry Teare beat Roger Payne 21-13 and Alex Yates won 21-12 against Paul Bailey.
Fourth placed Peel B hosted Finch Hill A with the home team winning 8-2. Winning comfortably for Peel were David Smith, Gordon Corrin, Harry Kelly and Paul Quirk. Winners for the visitors were Paul Dougherty who beat Dougie Allan 21-16, whilst Arthur Halsall beat Mike Ashmole 21-17.
Port St Mary B travelled north to take on Ballaugh A and disappointingly gave a walkover due to being a player short despite their C team fielding a full team in their fixture. The visitors lost 7-3 with the winners being Paul Russell, Dave Saxon and Brian Corrin. Winners for Ballaugh were John Keenan, Peter Graham, Richard Fisher and Steve Grant.
Peel C hosted Noble’s B on Tuesday evening with the home team winning 8-2. Two games went to the wire with each team taking a 21-20 win. Peel’s 20-20 winner was Ian Pendlebury against Juan Qualtrough, for Noble’s John Singleton beat Paul Baker. Martyn Hobson was the other winner for Noble’s beating Jimmy Corlett 21-16. For the home team Jeff Wilson won 21-5 against Stewart Cubbon, with Peter Kelly beating Les Brookes 21-8.
In division three Onchan C were this week’s biggest winners with a 9-1 away win against Douglas D. Recording big wins for the visitors were Derek Anscomb, Erwin Gelling and Brian Woodall. Sparing the whitewash for the home team was the ever reliable Roy Williams who beat Dennis Maxwell 21-6.
Upset of the week was at South Ramsey with the C team and D team taking each other on, with the D team recording a memorable 7-3 win over the C team. For the C Team David Corkill won 21-16 against James Moore, whilst Tony Hart beat Ryan Surridge 21-7, with son Toby Hart winning 21-6 against Ryan Hargraves. Hitting back for the D team Richard Davies won 21-0, with undefeated merit leader Ian Moore winning 21-3, and Franz Ten Donkelaar won 21-9. Jay Moore and Matthew Corkill beat Tony Marler and Anthony Kelly respectively.
Ballaugh B continue to set the pace at the top of the table, with a 7-3 home win over Douglas C. Mike Buckeridge inflicted a second defeat of the season on Mike Cain winning 21-20, with John Kneen recording the second 21-0 win of the night, with Philip Quayle winning 21-4 against Les Quayle. For Douglas captain Andy Foster beat Percy Faragher 21-11, William Cowley beat John Bolton 21-10 and Keith Fearnley beat Paul Cubbon 21-15.
Castletown C hosted Ballaugh C, also recorded a 7-3 home win to remain in second place despite giving another walkover to the opposing team. For Castletown Juan Drinkwater won 21-6, Clifford Clague will no doubt be feeling confident with a second consecutive league win, with John Matheson, Philip Smith and John Kinley also winning. For Ballaugh Charlie Howland beat James Drinkwater 21-9 and Phil Faragher got over the line 21-19 against Byron Mercer.
Marown C continue their poor run of form, having lost four of their last five league games, with a 6-4 away loss to Finch Hill B, which could have been worse had Dan Smith lost his game with Frank Christian with Smith edging it 21-20. Stephen Rundle had a fine 21-6 win over Stephen Oates, with Steve Wilson beating Kevin ‘Chico’ Anderson 21-13. For Finch Hill Kevin Stannard won 21-7, with son Sam not far behind beating Walter McCarthy 21-10. Newcomer Guy Smith recorded his second league win of the season beating Karl Parker 21-12, with captain Pat Maher beating Steve Gregg 21-10.