Peel A had the toughest match of the top three teams in Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One this week as they hosted Onchan A with the home team taking a reasonable 7-3 win, however they did lose some ground on the league leaders. The game was close with just three chalks separating the teams (143-140). For the visitors Matthew Quirk returned to winning ways with a 21-8 win over Tom Kelly, a result matched by the home team as Andy Kennish beat Mark Kelly. Also winning for Onchan were Reginald Temporaza who beat Gary Smith 21-15, with Phil Kerruish beating Peter Greenlees to the same score. For the home team winning four high scoring games were Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly who beat Peter Slinger 21-16, Tommy McMeiken beat Kevin Quirk 21-17, while Ste Kelly and George Gadsby both won 21-18 against Frank Watson and Jordan Cain respectively.

Marown A had a tough looking away fixture to Castletown A at the Crofts, however they got through the fixture relatively unscathed matching the 1-9 win that league leaders South Ramsey A picked up in June. The only winner for the Town men was Aaron Richardson with an impressive 21-13 win over John Gelling, while Bob Clark was next highest scorer for the home team losing 18-21 after going into a 17-13 lead only for Colin Kelly to see the game out for the Crosby men. There were two single figure wins for Marown with Neil Withers winning 21-2 against Ian Watson, while Paul Kelly beat Dean Kinley 21-5.

League leaders South Ramsey A had a solid 10-0 home win over near rivals North Ramsey A, with the result never in doubt as visiting captain Gary Merrill was the highest scorer losing 15-21 to Alan Moore, while David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves both won to single figures.

Noble’s A won’t have been too disheartened to lose 3-7 away to Ballaugh A as just four chalks separated the teams in favour of the Ballaugh men (145-141) with their wins coming from Mark Kneen, Sam Stannard-Duke and Les Brookes.

Port St Mary A could start to slide down the league now, as they have just one home league fixture remaining this season, as they lost 3-7 away to Douglas A. Winning for the home team were Andy Cannell, who won 21-3 against Tom Collins, Shaun Seal who is performing well this season beat Dan McCabe 21-15, while Jimmy Sansom won 21-13 against Robbie Cooil. Ian Moore had a good 21-10 win against Wayne Roberts and Keith Rise had an impressive 21-11 win over Paul Skelly. For Port Trevor Quayle just crept home 21-20 against Villa captain Merv Sayle, while Paul Russell and Tim Williams both won their second successive away game in a week.

Marown B hosted Peel B with the home team improving on the 7-3 win their higher ranked A team recorded last month as they won 8-2, with Jamie Joughin stepping up from the C team as he did his case for full time promotion to the B team absolutely no harm at all winning 21-6 against Dave Smith, with that win also matched by Brian Kelly who beat Rob Middleton and Peter Kelly showing his class to beat Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk. Karl Parker edged a tough game with Brian Lindsay to win 21-17, with John Kelly also having to battle hard to beat the ‘real’ Paul Quirk 21-19. Winning for the visitors were Mick Kavanagh as he beat James Kelly 21-10, while David Proctor won comfortably 21-11 against Darren Kerruish.

In Division Two Finch Hill A came unstuck away to Onchan B as they lost 8-2, while South Ramsey B bounced back to hit top spot this week with two wins as they won 3-7 away to Peel C. On Wednesday they played their rearranged fixture at home to Port St Mary B, winning 9-1 with Austin Hart losing out 17-21 to Derek Cain.

Marown C picked up a brilliant 2-8 away win over Port St Mary B, whilst Douglas B won 2-8 away from home against Finch Hill B.

Castletown B sit in fourth place with a game in hand, stay firmly in the mix following their 4-6 away win over South Ramsey C.

In Division Three league leaders Onchan C won 7-3 at home to South Ramsey D with the visitors just missing out on the aggregate by just one chalk (132-131). Junior Ryan Hargraves got back to winning ways as he beat Brian Aspden 21-12.

Peel D took a good 3-7 away win over Marown D, just winning out on two extra points with Andrew Cover losing 20-21 to fellow new bowler Steve Cain, while Owen Crompton lost 18-21 to Alan Gault.

Third placed Ballaugh C won 7-3 at home to their nearest rivals Port Erin B, who sit in fourth spot, while Noble’s B won 6-4 at home to Douglas C with 13 chalks separating the teams (137-124).

Douglas D have their new bowlers continuing to impress as won 7-3 at home to Castletown C, with wins from Ashley Halsall, Greg Tomlinson, John Ferguson, Nick Firth and David Cowley with the new guys no doubt competing to outdo each other, it forms healthy competition within the team.

Rayner Shield

On Wednesday night current league champions Marown A hosted South Ramsey A in the second semi-final of the Rayner Shield with the Crosby men beating the same opponents 6-2 at the same stage at home last season they started as clear favourites.

It was Neil Withers who got the Crosby men off to a fine start with a 21-8 win over Stefan Kelly. South Ramsey hit back with captain Glynn Hargraves beating Matthew Keggen 21-12, while James Teare fought back from a 16-19 deficit to beat Dean Kipling 21-19. David Bradford came close to winning to single figures against Manx Champion Colin Kelly before a comeback from Kelly as he reached 14-20 only for Bradford to play a great last bowl to seal a 21-14 win and a 3-1 lead at the half way stage.

In the second half Paul Kelly gave the Crosby men some hope with a resounding 21-5 win over Chas Grills, with the chalks still in play if Marown could win two more games on the night as Kelly put the match score to 2-3 with Marown holding an 11 chalk advantage (87-76). Hope started to fizzle out for Marown as Peter Collister was quickly off the green with a 21-10 win over Phil Kelly, with Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly also holding a big lead over Juan Killip as he went on to win 21-6 to seal the win for South. Last game off was Alan Moore who took on home captain Paul Dunn, with only personal pride to play for, however Moore played brilliantly as he won 21-15 to seal a 6-2 win for the visitors and in doing so put the icing on the cake on a fine night of bowls played in front of a good crowd with a great atmosphere.

South Ramsey A now go on to play Peel A in the final, which is due to be held on Thursday 26^th August with the venue to be confirmed.

The Islands premier doubles competition was hosted by Peel Bowling Club on Sunday on a much slower green than that enjoyed for the recent Peel Town Cup. The competition was played 21 up off a handicap of +3 for all competitors. The event was well supported with 32 pairs entering in a bid to win the coveted title.

An all South Ramsey affair had Lee Dawson and Tony Hart lose 9-21 to Glynn Hargraves and David Bradford, while Port St Mary duo Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle were 14-14 against Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly and son Stevie Kelly (Peel) before losing 14-21. An all Marown tie was won 21-15 by Neil Withers and Paul Dunn against Colin Kelly and Juan Killip, while South Ramsey’s Tony Dugdale and James Teare lost 12-21 to Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly (Marown).

In the semi-finals Hargraves and Bradford got off to a good start taking an 8-3 lead over Barney & Stevie Kelly with the latter pairing getting a run of ends playing along the edge in front of the clubhouse to turn the game around to lead 16-8. Hargraves and Bradford dug in to recover the score to just one point behind at 16-17, only to concede a double and a single, then picked up a single themselves and were lying one only for Stevie to play a great reaching bowl to win the game 21-17. The other semi-final was much more straightforward with Withers and Dunn winning comfortably 21-8 against Keggen and Kelly.

In a repeat of the 2020 final Withers and Dunn won six of the first seven ends to lead 10-4, with Withers playing over the middle of the green. The Peel pair responded with two doubles to sit just two points behind at 8-10, this kicked the Marown men into gear as they scored a three, two doubles and a single to take control of the game 18-8. A huge comeback appeared to be on the card as a single allowed Barney to get into the corners with two successive ends scoring three pulled the score back to 15-18, however Withers and Dunn dug deep to take a double and a single to win 21-18 as they retained the title they won at Port St Mary last year in another entertaining final.

The presentation was made by Association Competition Secretary Steve Moore, who thanked Peel Bowling Club for the use of the green and its members for providing helpers throughout the day. Upon accepting the prizes Paul Dunn thanked everyone involved in the running of the competition, their opponents and also his playing partner.

There was a fascinating encounter on Monday evening in Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One with 22- time league champions Onchan A visiting Marown A at Crosby, who themselves have 13 league title wins in the bag. Whilst Onchan A have not challenged for the title in recent years, they do still have the players who can damage anyone on their day as they took five points off Marown in a 5-5 draw.

Onchan only had three winners, however they all won convincingly as visiting captain Peter Slinger stormed home 21-3 against Matthew Keggen, while Reg Temporaza won 21-11 against Phil Kelly, with Kevin Quirk also beating Juan Killip to the same score with the game finely balanced at 11-11 Quirk took 10 consecutive points to see the game out.

For the Crosby men they had three 21-18 winners with Neil Withers fighting back from a 11-17 deficit to beat Matthew Quirk. Dean Kipling has returned full time to the team and was in good form as he beat Jordan Cain with the latter battling back from a 0-9 deficit with Paul Kelly the last of the 21-18 wins with his victory over Steve Parker as he was trailing 5-13 before kicking into gear. Captain Paul Dunn won 21-13 against Mark Kelly, while Colin Kelly romped home 21-5 against Frank Watson. 

Onchan secured an impressive draw as they took the two-point aggregate by five chalks (130-135) thanks in part to the high scoring from three of their losers to inflict a potentially damaging result to Marown as they look to retain the league.

Douglas A made the most of an extremely tricky home green as they beat Marown B 9-1 with the whitewash prevented by Bobby Thorne as he fought back from an 8-19 deficit taking 13 consecutive chalks to beat Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-19. The next closest to picking up an extra point for the Crosby men was Glenn Boland who lost out 17-21 to Mervin Sayle. Kevin Firth stepped in for the home team once again and he was the biggest winner as he beat Darren Kerruish 21-6.

Castletown A had their star man Bob Clark missing from their home game with Noble’s A with Clark extending his trip off island, however this didn’t stop the home team from recording a 9-1 win on the night. Winning to single figures for the Town men were captain Ian Watson who beat Stephen Hampson 21-4, while Nathan Cooil picked up his second successive win as he beat Martyn Hobson 21-7. For Noble’s Steve Cook was the only winner as he beat stand in Jeff Kinley 21-17 with the latter making his first night league appearance of the season.

Ballaugh A closed the gap on nearest rivals Peel B to eight points with a game in hand as they faced off at the Ballaugh green, with the home team taking a 6-4 win thanks to winning the aggregate by six chalks (136-130). Edgar Cowin beat the ‘real’ Paul Quirk 21-9, with team mate Richard Hainge mastering his home green with a 21-5 win over David Proctor. Young Patrick Grant got home with a 21-18 win after a tough battle with Brian Lindsay. Visiting captain Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk won 21-7 against Tony Quine, while Robert Middleton just edged out Barry McDonald 21-18.

Peel A hit top spot with South Ramsey’s postponed fixture thanks to their 10-0 home win over North Ramsey A. Winning to single figures for the home team were Peter Greenlees, Tommy McMeiken, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly and Gary Smith. The closest visitor to picking up a point was Paul Cannan who lost 18-21 to Tom Kelly.

South Ramsey A had their home fixture with Port St Mary A moved to Tuesday 3rd August.

Ballaugh A and Marown A caught up on a previously postponed fixture with the Ballaugh men losing out 4-6 and the aggregate by just three chalks (136-139). Glenn Boland’s 21-2 win over Barry McDonald was the most damaging to the Ballaugh men for the chalks.

In Division Two Port Erin A were the latest team to hit top spot as they won 2-8 away to Finch Hill B, with Seamus Whelan just missing out on adding an extra point for the Breagle Glen men as he lost 19-21 to Peter Woods, while Frank Christian beat Derek Cadamy 21-11. The biggest winner for the visitors was Bernie Durcan as he beat Chris Thompson 21-9.

The closest match of the night was between rivals Onchan B and Castletown B as the visitors won 4-6 and just claiming the aggregate by a solitary chalk (141-142). For Onchan Neil Dunwell beat Ron Williams 21-19, while Mike Thomas was the biggest winner as he beat Dave Hollingworth 21-11. Paul Clinton just lost 19-21 to George Foy while Will Penhallurick cruelly lost 20-21 to Peter Oates. Collin Holland helped the visitors cause as he beat Mike Kelly 21-8.

South Ramsey B had their hopes of being promoted damaged following their 3-7 away defeat at the hands of Marown C as they had father and son Tony and Ben Dugdale unavailable. For the visitors Steven Waters beat Keith Watterson 21-2, Bryan Corner won 21-5 against Gary Cooper, while Austin Hart beat Carey Dewhirst 21-12. For the Crosby men Walter McCarthy stepped back down to the C team after last week turning out for the B Team as he beat Toby Hart 21-8, while Jamie Joughin beat George Brew 21-7. The winners for Marown were to low double figures to ensure the chalks went in favour of the home team (124-115).

Port St Mary B couldn’t make home advantage count on an extremely tricky green as they lost 3-7 against visitors Douglas B. Visiting captain Andy Foster had his first win on Port St Mary as he beat Andy Sykes 21-18, while Pat O’Donohue was the biggest winner of the night with his 21-9 win over Bernard Thackrah. Home captain Ken Karran just got over the line 21-20 against Bob Callow, while Peter Collins took the kitty home thanks to his 21-11 win over Geoff Mayles. Derek Cain had a tough encounter with Rob Matthews with the former winning 21-17.

Peel C hosted Finch Hill A in the Sunset City, however the home team lost 4-6 on the night with the worst loser for Finch scoring 15, whilst the Finch Hill winners all won comfortably with Paul Dougherty and Peter Hughes both winning 21-11 against Ian Pendlebury and Kevin Mort respectively, while Dave McCabe won 21-14 against Harry Kelly, with Arthur Halsall beating Jeff Wilson 21-14. For Peel Mike Ashmole battled well to win 21-19 against Tony Epifani, while Phillip Clarke beat Paddy Murphy 21-18.

In Division Three South Ramsey D won five games away to Douglas D but just missed out on the aggregate by a solitary chalk (137-136) resulting in a 5-5 draw with Douglas D. Nick Firth continues to impress with a 21-4 win over Jay Moore, with Juan Readshaw beating Ryan Hargraves 21-7, while David Cowley just got the win 21-20 against Matthew Corkill. For the visitors Richard Davies beat John Ferguson 21-9, with Steve Kelly beating Trevor Latus 21-11.

Ballaugh C won 8-2 at home to Douglas C with three single figure wins from the home team from Nigel Tebay, Gordie Moore and Richard Green. For the visitors Junior bowler Clark Kelly won 21-13 against Brian Lace while Michael Knowles won 21-16 against Mark Dimsdale.

Noble’s B picked up their fifth win of the season following their 6-4 home victory over Marown D. For the home team Phil Salmon beat Rob Hammond 21-6 with Stephen Corkill winning 21-3 against Alex Colquitt. For the visitors captain Phil Dunn beat Terry Bates.

Onchan C won 7-3 at home to Peel D with three big wins from Sid McKnight, Lawrence McMullen and Jamie Clague, while Roger Payne inflicted a second league defeat of the season on Philip ‘Pip’ Pemberton.

Castletown B and Ballaugh B was another fixture that was postponed with a new date to be set.
The first semi-final of the Rayner Shield took place on Wednesday evening with Peel A sweeping aside Castletown B 7-1 in the Sunset City. The only winner for Town was Peter Oates with a 21-20 victory over Darren Young. All the home wins were comfortable with three 21-12 wins and four 21-15 wins as the holders Peel A took their place in the final for a second successive season.

In the Rayner Plate quarter final Marown C (+27) put Port St Mary B (+54) to the sword with a 38 point victory 194-156 as they won 7-1 on games despite the visitors having a 27 point start.
A round ahead of them Port St Mary A (scr) hosted Marown B (+24) with the home team winning all eight games and securing the win by 45 chalks (168-123) as they secured their second successive appearance in the Plate final.