All Change At The Top

There was movement at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels division one this week with Marown A reclaiming top spot, South Ramsey A climbed one place to second whilst Onchan A fell from first to third place.

Marown A hosted South Ramsey B at Crosby, with the home team winning 9-1. Home team captain Paul Dunn, newly crowned Manx Champion Colin Kelly and Matthew Keggen all won to single figures whilst both sides had a 21-20 winner and loser. Dean Kipling just got home against George Brew, whilst for the visitors Tony Dugdale prevented the whitewash with his 21-20 win over Paul Kelly.

To return the compliment South Ramsey A hosted Marown B on an improved green, with the home team enjoying a 10-0 win and the visitors just failing to score 100 chalks (168-99). Chas Grills was pleased to take the kitty home with his 21-5 win, whilst Alan Moore won 21-8. Two of the visitors came closing to taking points off the Ramsey men with Peter Kelly and Luke Hyland both losing out 18-21 to Peter Collister and James Teare respectively.

Onchan A lost ground on their rivals following a tough away fixture against Douglas A with the visitors winning 4-6. There were first league defeats of the season for Matthew Quirk and Rob Monk, whilst Kevin Quirk and Frank Watson also suffered at the hands of the Villa men. Steve Parker recorded the biggest win of the night against William Crowley who was brought up from the B team, with this win making the difference towards the aggregate with the Onchan men winning by just six chalks (137-143). Also winning for the visitors were Peter Slinger & Jordan Cain, whilst Phil Kerruish just crept home with a vital 21-20 win.

North Ramsey A pulled off the shock of the week with a 6-4 home win over Peel A in another close game, taking the two points for aggregate by just six chalks (141-135). Winning for the home team were John Cannan, Allan Callow, Geoff Porter and Bryan Corner. For the visitors Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly got over the line 21-19 against Gary Merrill, Andy Kennish and Tommy McMeiken carried on their good form, whilst Stevie Kelly won 21-9 against Steve Walmsley.

Castletown B didn’t have their cause helped for their home fixture against Noble’s A with the town men having to sacrifice two players to their A team resulting in a 3-7 home loss (133-140). With Bob Clark having to step up into the A team and in good form this could have been a different result for the home team. Home winners were the experienced trio of Dave Faragher, Juan Kermode and George Foy with all three being part of the team that won back to back league titles for Castletown in 1995 and 1996. Winners for Noble’s were Glenn Boland, Steve Hall, Kevin Firth, Tommy Collister and David Pease with Pease winning 21-3 on the night.

Port St Mary A hosted Castletown A with the home team recording a 7-3 win to help pull away from the teams in the bottom half of the table. Dan McCabe led the way for the Port men with a 21-8 win over George Peach, with fairly comfortable wins from Trevor Quayle, Tim Williams and Dave McCabe. Wayne Roberts had to work hard for his 21-20 win over Derek Lewney. Winning for the visitors were captain Ian Watson, Peter Oates and Bob Clark.

In division two Ballaugh A sit eight points ahead of their rivals despite only winning 6-4 away to Peel C. Finch Hill A in second place had a hard fought 7-3 home win over Port St Mary B with both sides winning and losing two games 21-20 each. Onchan B had the biggest win in the division with their 8-2 home win over Port Erin A, whilst Marown C were delighted with their 7-3 home win over Douglas C.

Ballaugh B had a tough home game against Port St Mary C, however the home team won 6-4 taking the aggregate by seven chalks (141-134), whilst Peel B took a good 3-7 away win against North Ramsey B to show their A Team how it is done.

In division three South Ramsey C extended their lead to a huge 20 points without sending a bowl due to Castletown C being in the unfortunate position of being unable to field a team led to a 10-0 win being awarded to the home team. Second placed Ballaugh C lost more ground on the Ramsey men after suffering a 3-7 away defeat to Noble’s B. Port Erin B somehow managed to win 6-4 at Breagle Glen against Noble’s C despite being two players short thanks to their four winners all winning to 21-4 or less to pull off a great result.

Peel D hosted South Ramsey D with the home team recording a 7-3 home win over the visitors with the leagues two youngest players facing off against each other with Ryan Tate playing Ryan Hargraves, with the latter celebrating his 11th birthday. It was a happy birthday indeed with Hargraves picking up his first league win of the season.

Full reports for division two and three to follow…

Douglas A who took Four Points off Onchan A