In the Canada Life International Sponsored Division One this week South Ramsey A hosted Marown B on a tricky green. Whilst the home team won 7-3 on the night, they will have been hoping for a bigger home win to keep the chasing pack at arm’s length. For the home team captain Glynn Hargraves was the best winner with a 21-9 victory over Karl Parker, with the four wins for the home team being to 10, 11, 12 and 13 proving these were comfortable. For the Crosby men John Gelling got the first of their three wins, with a solid performance over Bob Clark as he won 21-16, with Jerome Surridge securing the best win of the night with a 21-8 win over Jordan Cain, whilst Glenn Boland had enough in the locker to edge out Stefan Kelly 21-20. Marown B are proving to be a formidable outfit; they are in my eyes the best B Team that I have come up against in my 30 years of bowls.

Marown A snatched the opportunity to claw some points back on South Ramsey A as they seen off Onchan B 9-1 at Crosby. Colin Kelly was their best winner as he beat Mark Kelly 21-3, with Harry Barton also winning to single figures as he beat Mike Alexander 21-9. The lone winner for Onchan was Jamie Clague with a resounding 21-13 win over Phil Kelly, whilst Steve Parker just lost out 19-21 to Sam Clague.

Douglas A performed well on their travels this week as they beat Port Erin A 2-8 at Breagle Glen. Captain Merv Sayle was their best winner with a 21-11 victory over Seamus Whelan, with Gordon Wynne- Smythe managing to hold off David Cain 21-19. ‘Deadly’ Derek Allen lived up to his name as he won 21-5 against Alistair Lothian for the home team.

Onchan A will feel they slipped up at home to Castletown A as they only won 6-4 on the night. Peter Slinger and Matthew Quirk both won 21-9 against Ian Watson and Mark Moorley respectively. For the visitors four points would have been a bonus on the night as Nathan Cooil won 21-13 against Will Penhallurick, a result matched by Derek Lewney who rolled back the years with his win over Phil Kerruish. Their other two wins were hard fought with George Foy beating Neil Dunwell 21-18, whilst Peter Oates won 21-19 against Mike Thomas.

Peel A took on Peel B, with the higher ranked team winning 7-3. The three winners for the B team were Robert Middleton who beat Tom Kelly 21-11, Andy Mackie won 21-14 against Dean Kelly, with Dougie Allan getting the third win as he beat George Gadsby 21-19. Brian Lindsay just missed out on gaining an extra point for his team as he lost 20-21 to Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly.

North Ramsey A couldn’t make home advantage count as they lost 4-6 at Mooragh Park to Port St Mary A, with the aggregate going in favour of the visitors by seven chalks (131-138). Paul Skelly and Wayne Roberts both won 21-9, with Trevor Quayle having to battle all the way for his 21-19 win over Steve Walmsley. The home team did get some big wins, with Paul Allison winning 21-8 against Nathan Hamilton, Rob Monk beat Jordan Drewett 21-9. Allan Callow and Gary Merrill both had to dig in to pick up their wins.

In Division Two South Ramsey B still head the table, however the teams below them continue to close the gap, following their 4-6 away win over Peel C. Edward Carlyle was the best winner on the night with a 21-5 win over Bob Berry, with Steven Waters seeing off Harry Kelly with relative ease thanks to a 21-9 win. All four losses for the visitors could have gone the other way with Austin Hart and Tony Dugdale both losing out 18-21 to Jeff Wilson and Jimmy Corlett respectively, with Chas Grills losing out 19-21 to Tony Carroon, as did Alan Moore to Phil Clarke.

Marown C now occupy second place thanks to their 9-1 home win over Onchan C. Kevin Kelly, Walter McCarthy and captain Stephen Rundle led the way for the Crosby men with single figure wins. For Onchan Roger Payne made sure it wasn’t a whitewash with his 21-12 victory over Stephen Storey.

Ballaugh A will have been pleased to come away from the Villa with a 2-8 win over Douglas B. John Maddrell was their best winner as he beat Les Quayle 21-7, whilst John Keenan got over the line 21-20 against Keith Fearnley. For the home team Mark Kneen won 21-8 against Barry McDonald.

Noble’s A look to be consolidating their place in Division Two as they beat Port St Mary B 8-2 at home. All wins for the home team were in double figures, with a 21-17 victory for Martyn Hobson over Ray Maddrell and Mark Quinns’ 21-19 win over Rod Swift proving less comfortable. For the Port men Bernard Thackrah was their best winner as he beat John Andrew 21-10, whilst Peter Collins won 21-18 against Dave Naughton.

Castletown B are 10 points off third placed Ballaugh A, following their 8-2 home win over Finch Hill A. John Matheson won 21-8 against Paddy Murphy, with Collin Holland performing well to beat Dave McCabe 21-14. For Finch Tony Epifani brushed aside Dave Faragher with a 21-6 win.

North Ramsey B gave a glimmer of hope to second placed Noble’s B in Division Three, after they could only muster a 6-4 home win over Finch Hill B. Stephen Oates was the surprise package of the night as he beat Ray Skelly 21-8. Two single figure wins from Mike Skelly and Andrew Honour ensured the aggregate went in favour of the home team.

Noble’s B capitalised on the points dropped by North Ramsey B as they swept aside Douglas D 0-10 on a tricky Villa green. Michael Johnson beat Clark Kelly 21-4, whilst Young Player of the month Alex Hampson continued his good form as he beat bob Banning 21-19. Greg Brew was the closest to picking up a win for Douglas, only to lose out 20-21 to Phil Salmon.

Marown D certainly can’t be written off just yet as they sit in third place, nine points behind Noble’s B after a 3-7 away win over Ballaugh C. Winning big for the visitors were Keith Watterson and Rob Bell, while Steve Cain and captain Steve Rough had to work hard to secure their wins. For the home team Paul Cubbon was the best winner as he beat Richard Bregazzi 21-7.

Port Erin B managed to field a full team this week as they beat Peel D 8-2 at home, with Trevor Barker the only single figure winner on the night as he beat George Gosden 21-9. For Peel Kevin Murray won 21-16 against Alan Crebbin, whilst Andy Jackson beat Robert Woodford 21-13.

South Ramsey D won 8-2 at home to Castletown C, with the battle of the juniors going in favour of the more experienced Ryan Hargraves as he beat Sam Quayle, with the latter getting off to a great start as he performed admirably only to lose out 21-17. Four single figures victories for the home team demonstrated their dominance on the night. For the Town men Thomas Keggen won 21-20 against James Moore, whilst David Quayle won 21-13 against Jay Moore.

In Bingo parlance ‘Kelly’s Eye’ is number one and that was certainly the case at Ballaugh in the Men’s Over 60’s Championship as Dave (Barney) Kelly stormed to a third successive Championship win.

With the Ballaugh Green looking extremely good on Tuesday the last eight in the Competition saw Alec Taylor (Peel) beat Mike Alexander (Onchan) 21-16,while Bryan Corner (South Ramsey) beat his clubmate Lee Dawson 21-10. An epic battle between Steve Parker (Onchan) and Dave McCabe (Finch Hill) ended in a 21-19 win for the latter player. This left the much talked about match between Kevin Quirk (Onchan) and Dave Kelly (Peel) with both playing some great bowls but eventually the Peel man was just too strong as he took a 21-11 win.

In the semi-finals we saw an intriguing battle between Bryan Corner and Alec Taylor with Bryan doing well on longer marks and Alec preferring the shorter ones. This match ended with Alec keeping his calm under pressure to win 21-19.

The other semi-final saw Dave McCabe valiantly attempting to ‘split the green’ and prevent his opponent getting into the corners but Barney was able to take control and win 21-11.

The Final between Peel Sunset clubmates Dave Kelly and Alec Taylor saw Dave put on a master class in bowling to take a 21-3 win despite Alec playing some great bowls.

The Presentation was introduced by Over 60’s Bowling Chairman Norman Kneen who thanked Ballaugh for being wonderful hosts of the Competition and he thanked Ballaugh members for measuring and their Ladies for the wonderful catering provided. He also thanked Andy Kennish and John Ryder for their help and Competition Secretary Mark Kelly for his hard work. The trophies were then presented by Mark Kelly and on receiving his trophy Dave Kelly also thanked Ballaugh for their hospitality and great condition of the Green.

Over 60’s Manx Championship Preview
The final stages of this years’ Over 60’s Manx Championship will be played to a conclusion at Ballaugh Bowling Club on Tuesday afternoon with action getting underway from 1pm. BCGBA dress code applies. Get yourself there for what promises to be a good afternoon of bowls. Think I will be taking a half day to watch things unfold.

Alec Taylor vs Mike Alexander

Alec was a good footballer in his younger days, who like his opponent has been on the bowls scene for quite some time now with Mike plying his trade in Division One in the night league for Onchan B, whilst Alec turns out for Peel C in Division Two having previously been an Onchan man.

In terms of head to head between this pair it is 2-1 to Alec, however Mike just pips it on chalks scored over the three games played. In terms of ranking position Mike edges it overall, is currently six places above his opponent in the Over 60’s merit.

Alec just can’t seem to let go of his football days, as he is often spotted kicking bowls that are half way across the green with the shout of ‘feet’ either encouraging him to give the bowl a good old welly or dummy the bowl completely and carry on walking as though nothing has happened.

Mike is a gentle giant behind closed doors with a passion unknown to many – that he holds the biggest collection of Care Bears on the Island, with his favourite being Grumpy Bear after a heavy defeat, with Good Luck Bear often not spoken to after a bad day on the green.

Bryan Corner vs Lee Dawson

Bryan is as keen as they come as he took up the game just five years ago having risen to 38th place in the Men’s rankings, he made the decision to cross over the Bridge from North Ramsey to South Ramsey a few years ago. Bryan loves nothing more than joining the ‘boys’ in Alan’s Café for a cup of tea in the morning as they put the world to rights with bowls being the hot topic of the day. His day will often consist of playing Over 60’s bowls, night league bowls, with lots of green time in between. It is very rare that I am up Ramsey and Bryan is not up having a roll. You can almost set your clock by him!

Bryan has an unknown number of vehicles, as I am sure he has a vehicle for every day of the week, instead of underpants of the day Bryan prefers a car of the day.

His opponent Lee or ‘Dawsy’ to most is a fellow club mate who has been around the block more than once, having started at Ballaugh, played for Peel for a good few years and more recently with South Ramsey C he appears to have got his mojo back having missed out on bowls for a good number of years due to family and work commitments. Dawsy has on the quiet won an open competition and was the ‘Collie slayer’ in qualifying, seeing off his much fancied club mate to reach finals day.

Dawsy for his sins is a die-hard Everton fan, has somewhat controversially decided to sport the official South Ramsey blue club shirt for Finals day rather than the hideous lime green shirt that his fellow C Team mates can still be seen in from Ramsey, when on the top of Snaefell in dense fog with a visibility range of two metres.

Steve Parker vs Dave McCabe

This is an interesting encounter with just four places separating these two in the Men’s rankings, with ‘Hooky’ Parker being the lower ranked of the two but interestingly with a 100%-win record over McCabe, with the pair having faced off three times. Both have been close in opens with McCabe losing out in the final of the Ken Williamson in 2019 and Parker reaching the final of the Over 60’s Manx Championship in 2018.

Steve can often be seen meditating around a bowling green in an attempt to keep his cool. Failing that Hooky will be creating a cloud of smoke, giving off a somewhat earthy smell as he frantically puffs on his shisha pipe throughout the day.

McCabe on the other hand will often be giving out dodgy tips to fellow bowlers on the horses ahead of a big race. I was struggling to put something in for Dave, but after a quick phone call we ironed things out with Dave giving me free rein to put whatever I wanted about him, however after hearing a story that went like this, I thought better of it… Dave was recently playing bowls at Fleetwood and there were a group of blokes sat behind Gill, who unknown to them was with Dave saying ‘That’s Dave McCabe from the Isle of Man, he’s not a bad player him’ as they went on to say ‘if he doesn’t beat you on the green, he will beat you off the green’. Gill held off asking Dave if he knew these guys at the time and only told Dave what had been said once they were well clear of the green. Given I actually like the ability to walk I will refrain on this one!

Kevin Quirk vs Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly

Never heard of these two before, but both have the potential to make good bowlers if they stick at the game. They are both new to the Over 60’s scene.

Joking aside this is a match-up between two of the games most successful players on the Isle of Man, with Barney’s success stretching back to the 1980’s, with five decades of winning pretty much everything there is to win in the game. Barney is the current holder of this title being undefeated in the Over 60’s Manx Championship to date, winning the title back to back in 2020 and 2021.

Kevin’s success has spanned four decades, no mean feat in itself, with two Manx Championships under his belt, one of which was won at Ronairco against Barney in the final in 2005. On his day Quirk is still one of the best perfect length bowlers on the Island, with the ability to pull out what can only be referred to as a ‘Kevin Quirk bowl’ – which to those who don’t know is to play the perfect bowl to beat what most would deem to be an unbeatable bowl.

Quirk or ‘Mad Dog’ as he is often referred to by his team mates is the ‘new born’ of the Over 60’s so to speak. This is Kevin’s first ‘bite’ at the Over 60’s Championship and he will be hoping that he does not bite off more than he can chew on Tuesday afternoon. Kevin has suddenly found himself with a lot more time on his hands having recently retired from the Post Office, so no doubt Rosemary has a list of things for Kevin to be getting on with at home. Speaking of the Post I am only mentioning this so you know who to blame if your Post is either turning up earlier or later than ever.

If Kevin is the new born then this would make Barney the toddler, which is a fitting description given his stature, even with his infamous Air Force 1’s being sported at greens all over the Island, they are now well travelled with trips abroad becoming a more common occurrence. I gave Barney a lot of stick in the last preview, so won’t go over old ground on this occasion.

Undoubtedly this is the tie of the round, with Kevin edging the head to head 2-1 in team competitions, although they will certainly have played each other a lot more in open competitions over the years, with the Manx Championship semi-final at Onchan in 2020 standing out, which Barney managed to get through 21-17. Whoever comes through this tie will certainly fancy their chances of going on to win the trophy.

An entry of 32 took part in the Ken Williamson Memorial Cup. Ken was a popular player amongst the bowling community. The Onchan green was in superb condition on a fine day for crown green bowls.

Losing out at the quarter-final stage were Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey), who was just edged out 20-21 by home greener Kevin Quirk, Rob Monk (North Ramsey) lost out 18-21 to Marown favourite Colin Kelly. South Ramsey’s David Bradford made light work of Bernie McPhee (Onchan) who failed to score and was beaten 21-6, whilst Neil Withers (Marown) ended the hopes of Steve Walmsley (North Ramsey) with a 21-15 win.

In the semi-finals Bradford had a good battle with Withers, with the South Ramsey man winning 21-16, whilst Kelly had to battle back from a 11-16 deficit against Quirk, with the former going on to win 21-19 to take his place in the final.

The final was both players fifth game of the day, with this the third weekend in a row that these two have played each other with Kelly winning their duel in the Ramsey Town Cup last weekend and Bradford having arguably the bigger bragging rights having beaten Kelly in the Manx Championship at Ballaugh on his way to victory two weeks ago.

Bradford took the early initiative in the game to lead 13-11 after nine ends. Kelly responded taking four of the next five ends to creep ahead 15-14. This kicked Bradford into gear as he grabbed the opportunity to score a double, a trick that he repeated on the next end playing along the shelter edge of the green with two great bowls. From there Bradford stuck to the clubhouse edge as his second bowl came to his rescue on the last three ends as he picked up three singles to win 21-15.

The presentation was made by Mike Thomas with special thanks given to Neil Dunwell who had stepped in to run the competition and to the ladies for putting on the refreshments. Ken Williamson’s niece Diane Crossley was then introduced to present the prizes. In his speech Bradford referred to a photo that had been taken of him bowling with Ken at Marown, which he believed was taken in 1994. This was the third time that Bradford has won the trophy having won the title in 2013 and 2017.

With no league fixtures this week it was the latter stages of the 3R’s Limited sponsored Rayner Shield with South Ramsey A playing host to Port St Mary A on Monday evening.

The visitors were well beaten 8-0 with David Bradford performing to his absolute best as he ruthlessly took apart a fellow Top 10 ranked player Trevor Quayle, who won’t have taken a beating like this in a long time with the latter losing 21-1. A rare sight was spotted on Monday evening with John Kennish stepping in for his first team game since 2018, he wasn’t far behind Bradford as he won 21-2 against Nathan Hamilton to prove his time out of the game has not affected him. Peter Collister won 21-5 against Tim Williams and didn’t get a sniff of the team kitty. For Port Jordan Drewett fought back from a 10-19 deficit against Glynn Hargraves only to lose out 21-18, whilst the best comeback of the night – putting a bit of drama into the match was from James Teare who trailed 5-19 to Tom Collins, only to get in and miraculously run out with a 21-19 victory, scoring six consecutive doubles on the way.

The other semi-final, played on Thursday evening at Crosby between Marown A and Peel A was a bit less straightforward, but still comfortable for the home team who won 5-3. Neil Withers put a marker down for the home team as he romped home 21-1 against Dean Kinley, whilst Dean Kipling beat Peel captain Gary Smith 21-13. Peel hit back with two hard fought wins from Tom Kelly who got the better of his father Colin Kelly with a 21-18 win, as he put in a good performance throughout the game. Tommy McMeiken recovered from a 7-16 deficit to win 21-20 against Paul Kelly. With the score tied at 2-2 the chalks were heavily in favour of the home team ultimately meaning unless Peel could get some big wins themselves then they would need to win three of the four games in the second half of the match. Peter Greenlees gave them a glimmer of hope with his 21-16 win over Phil Kelly, however Harry Barton caused a mini upset as he beat Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-19, Peter Jones won 21-7 against Dave Smith, whilst home captain Paul Dunn beat George Gadsby 21-11.

Marown A now face South Ramsey A on Friday 5^th August with the venue to be confirmed.

3R’s Limited Rayner Plate

Division One outfit North Ramsey A (SCR) took on Division Three Marown D (+65) at Mooragh Park with the 65 chalk head start not enough for the visitors to cling on to, despite picking up two wins from Jay Waters 21-19 against Gary Merrill, whilst teammate James Kelly beat Jimmy Moffatt 21-20. Three single figure wins for the home team from Rob Monk, Adrian Skinner and Paul Allison pulled back 50 chalks, whilst their other three wins were also comfortable to ensure the Mooragh Men won by eight chalks (165-157) to reach the final.

Noble’s A (+30) took on Finch Hill A (+35) at the park with the home advantage paying off as they won 5-3 on games with the two single figure wins helping their cause on the all-important chalks as they won by 29 chalks (178-149). Mark Quinn was their best winner as he beat Dave Jones 21-5, whilst Jim Collister wasn’t too shabby either with his 21-7 win. Both of the points gained in these two wins alone were the difference with 30 chalks gained from these victories. Noble’s now go on to contest the Rayner Plate final against North Ramsey A (venue TBC), with the club in good spirits as they continue to rebuild.

Mixed Team Championship

In Canada Life International South Ramsey A can’t be caught in Group A as they beat Castletown A at the Crofts on Wednesday evening to reach the final. The visitors won 2-7 on games and by 48 chalks (122-170).

Onchan A hosted North Ramsey A with the home team winning by a huge 73 chalks (175-102) and 7-2 on games with five single figure wins from the home team showing their dominance on the night.

In Group B Marown A also took their spot in the final, with both South Ramsey and Marown now poised to face off in both the Mixed League and Rayner Shield finals. This time out they beat Port St Mary A, the team who did the double over them last season lost out by 71 chalks (183-112) at Crosby with Trevor Quayle the lone winner as he bounced back from Monday’s heavy defeat.

Port Erin A and Douglas A had a good battle at Breagle Glen with the visitors winning 4-5 on games and edging the chalks (151-157).

Mixed Team Plate

In Group A Noble’s stayed on course to reach the final of the Plate – barring a disaster with their last match away to Peel, who would need to inflict a heavy defeat on Noble’s. Noble’s came away from Mooragh Park with a 45 chalk victory (121-166) over North Ramsey B. Peel welcomed Castletown B to the Sunset City with the host winning by 55 chalks as they game themselves a chance of winning the group.

In Group B Ballaugh booked their place in the final as they can’t be caught having won all five games in their group, following their win away to Douglas B by 24 chalks (136-160), whilst South Ramsey B picked up a good win against Marown B by 69 chalks (172-103).

There were 58 entrants at the Mooragh Park in Ramsey for the Centennial Ramsey Town Cup competition hosted by North Ramsey Bowling Club on Saturday. With the green looking better than it has in years and with it running well the scene was set for some good bowling. 

There was a good quality field with many of the islands top players entered. All games were 15 up off scratch. Some early round close games saw home greeners Geoff Porter & Robert Monk losing out by the odd chalk to Edward Carlyle (South Ramsey) & Tony Smart (North Ramsey) respectively. Steve Parker (Onchan) also beat Rob Middleton (Peel) by a single point. Last years winner Steven ’Geordie’ Waters dreams of retaining the cup evaporated with 10–15 defeat to South Ramsey club mate and Island Champion David Bradford.

In round three Bryan Corner (South Ramsey) played well to see off club mate Stefan Kelly 15-10, Peel man Peter Greeenlees was also playing well, putting an end to Edward Carlyle’s day. Former home greener Steve Parker inched past Brian Kelly from Marown 15-13 to make it to the quarter final stages.

In the quarter finals Bryan Corner quickly saw off Adrian Skinner (North Ramsey) 15-5. Paul Quirk (Peel) came back from 6-11 & 9-12 down to run out 15-12 to beat Peter Greenlees. Steve Parker’s 15 single points were enough to get him past Port St Mary’s Trevor Quayle 15-10. The last quarter final saw David Bradford & Colin Kelly (Marown) battling out a close encounter with Kelly eventually edging it 15-13.

In the first semi-final between Bryan Corner & Paul Quirk it was even at 6-6 until Paul put a run of seven together to eventually win 15-7. The second semi-final saw Parker with a 7-2 lead, however with Kelly getting six doubles, this was enough to end Parker’s run in the competition.

In the final Kelly got off to a good start with three doubles, before Quirk pulled it back to 7-6 by playing along the bottom edge in front of the pavilion. However it was the Marown man who won six of the next seven ends, eventually winning 15-8 to claim his first Ramsey Town Cup title in the centennial year.

The presentation was made by North Ramsey Club President & Competition Secretary Gary Merrill who thanked the competition sponsors Corkhill & Callow Ltd and Strix Ltd for supporting the competition. As well as thanking all who had entered and made the Centennial Town Cup such a special day.

Following the presentation Colin thanked all who helped in the running of the competition on the day and his opponents.