The Ladies Association Non Winners competition (The Hands Trophy) was held at South Ramsey Bowling Club on Sunday 6 April attracting an entry of 18. Weather was warm and sunny, and some excellent bowling was played and enjoyed by all.

Progressing to the first of the quarter finals were Gill Dixon (South Ramsey) who played Sue Wilshaw (Castletown). Although Sue played some good bowls, Gill had the bit between her teeth winning 21-11. Second quarter final saw Jane Lothian (Douglas) against Pauline Cowley (Onchan). This was a good game to watch and it was nip and tuck between the two of them with Jane crossing the line 21-20.

In the third quarter final, Norma Cowell (Onchan) came up against Karen Young (Ballaugh). Again this was a close match but Karen just had the edge winning 21-15. Fourth quarter final was between Rose Waterworth (Ballaugh) and Sue McCourt (Onchan). Despite Sue’s best efforts, Rose was on fine form winning 21-10.

First semi-final saw Gill play Jane with stablemates Rose and Karen in the other semi. Despite some good bowling by all four, Gill and Rose were a little too strong winning to 10 and 12 respectively.

With both Gill and Rose playing exceptionally well, the spectators were expecting a great final and were not disappointed. The final was nip and tuck all the way with Gill eventually crossing the line 21-19. Congratulations to all ladies, especially to Gill on her win and to Rose for giving Gill a ‘run for her money’.

The presentation was made by Chris Holland, Ladies Association Competition Secretary, who thanked all those for taking part, those who helped in any way with the running of the competition and South Ramsey for their hospitality which was reiterated by Gill when presented with the trophy.

The top two teams from last season’s open-age ladies league travelled to the Fylde Coast at the weekend to represent the Island in the BCGBA Club Championship where four groups each of four teams played their initial games on a round robin basis.

IOM runners-up Marown were drawn in Group A on the Belmont green at Fleetwood and got off to a flyer against the Welsh club Vardre Deganwy winning by 100 chalks to 75 with five winners in their ranks – captain Jayne Smith and then came Lynda Cadamy and Lyn Bolton who each recorded wins to 3 though this was bettered by Debbie Leece who won to 2 before Clare Cooper (15-11) rounded off a great team win.  

Next up for the Crosby girls was Springbank BC from Greater Manchester but it proved to be a hard task as it ended with a 77-114 loss with only Jayne and Helen Withers being victorious.

In their third game though they fired back with an excellent win over the Staffordshire side, Dilhorne BC, by 95-90 with the five tail-end players of Lynda, Lyn, Helen, Debbie and Clare gaining superb wins.

However, clawing back from losing one of the qualifying rounds is never easy and so it proved as Springbank qualified for the semi-finals with Marown just behind in a meritorious 2^nd place in their group.

2024 League Champions Castletown played at Cavendish Park in Bispham and started their games with a resounding 120-60 win over Bowling Green from the local North Lancs & Fylde league. The full-house was achieved by Anne Oates, Tracy Moore, Kath Kinley (with a 15-0 win), Chris Price, Hilary Kermode, Kim Foy, Stella Watterson and captain Hannah Drewett. 

Game two against Southport Town was slightly more difficult but wins from Anne, Kath, Hilary, Kim and Stella helped secure a 99-92 victory.

Knowing a win in their third game against the mid-Cheshire side of Winnington Park would secure a semi-final spot the team played arguably their best game of the day with only a 14-15 loss by Kim preventing a maximum chalks win.

So, it was on to Cleveleys WMC for the Town side who were buoyed to see the full Marown squad already at the green to give their support.

What a close semi-final it turned out to be against Springbank BC! 

Anne Oates came off with a win to 9 to keep up her 100% win record for the day but though the next games were close the Town did not have another victory until game 6 when Kim Foy won to 10. 

Hannah Drewett then pulled her team right back into contention with a resounding 15-3 win so suddenly it meant that Stella Watterson had to get to 12 for the team to be victorious.

However, despite a great attempt she ended one chalk short losing 11-15 so with the game drawn on chalks Springbank were deemed the winners having won 5-3 on games and after this narrow scrape they then went on to beat New Mill from Yorkshire in the final.

Congratulations to Nobles ladies’ on winning the Over 60’s League.

Nobles had been at the top of the table for most of the season. However with two tough matches to end the season it wasn’t a sure thing that they would take the title for the first time.

Going into their last match they had 15 points over second placed Castletown A, but Port Erin A proved to be tough opponents, and it looked like the title was slipping away. Nobles eventually won the title by just 3 points.

The Noble’s ladies won 21 of their 28 league games, suffering seven defeats. Castletown tasted defeat on just three occasions, however Noble’s scored slightly better on the all-important chalks throughout the season to secure the Manx Paving & Slate Over 60’s Ladies League Title.

Castletown A secured their fourth straight league title ahead of Marown A on Wednesday evening, scoring 177 chalks away to Ballaugh B, as the Town ladies won the league by just 64 chalks, bettering Marown by less than three chalks per game over the 24 game season as they averaged 178 chalks each game.

With 189 chalks available each game this is an incredible achievement to drop less than 12 chalks on average, whilst improving on their average of just under 175 chalks in 2023.

Marown A will be disappointed having averaged just over 175 this season, to show their improvement since 2023.

Report on Posh Paws of Peel Ladies Singles Open Competition held at Peel Sunset BC on Saturday 31^stAugust  2024.

There were 21 entrants. There was glorious wall to wall sunshine and deep blue skies and a lovely atmosphere around the green. Joyce Kelly was running the sheet and called 5 prelims to the jacks. Last year’s winner, Gill Dixon, and Louise Tebay were first off leaving Gill going forwards, Lynda Wilson and Pauline Cowley battled it out with a final score of 21-19 to Pauline. Helen Cowley and Margie Tasker score 21-14 to Margie. Lynda Cadamy and Caroline Whitehead with a final score of 21-20 to Caroline. The final pre-lim Gill Clarke and Elaine Hawkins final score 21-19 with Gill making it to the next round. Some really tough games on a green that was running superbly.

The third round did not disappoint, Dixon v Cowley 21-18, Whitehead v Tasker 21-13, Clarke v Joyce Kelly 20-21. Jo Corkill v Diane Fleming 17-21, Tricia Bull v Nicola Gilmore 21-16. Our only junior competitor, Martha Butler v Karen Young 21-18. Zoe Bolton v Kay McKiernan 21-17 and Lyn Bolton v Sherry Pedley 21-16

At the quarter final stage Dixon’s quest to retain the trophy stopped when Whitehead pipped her at the post 20-21 Kelly v Fleming 21-10. Bull finished off Butler with a creditable score of 21-16 and keep it in the family, Zoe Bolton v Lyn Bolton with Lyn storming through to the final. Kelly was on fine form and Whitehead was defeated with a score of 21-16.

The final was a fine display of precise bowling, Lyn found her favourite part of the green and whilst home greener, Joyce was on the defence for most of the game with most ends being remarkably close finally Lyn became the outright winner. The President of Peel Sunset BC, Lynda Wilson presented the prizes and thanked Posh Paws of Peel for their continued support over the last five years.

The final of the Jean Kelly Memorial Shield – the Ladies Premier Team knockout competition was held at Onchan Bowling Club on Thursday evening. With heavy rain throughout the day, this took away any prospect of a tricky green, however the rain had cleared by the time the final got underway with a dry green with ideal bowling conditions. There was a good crowd in attendance with fantastic support for both teams, which resulted in a good atmosphere around the green. With a neutral venue the handicaps were South Ramsey (+14) and Marown A (+18) with the Crosby team having a four chalk start on their opponents. A tough one to call who would emerge as the winner with Marown second in the league and South Ramsey in third place, there is little to choose between the teams.

From the first five games on the green, Marown struck the first blow and built a sizeable lead with Rebecca Teare beating Sue Collier 21-3 in the corners. Lauren Groen pulled some chalks back for South Ramsey with a 21-9 win over Junior bowler Martha Butler, with the latter making her first appearance in a team final. Debbie Leece performed well to beat Elaine Moore 21-16, whilst South Ramsey captain Fiona Kennish put in a top performance to hold off former teammate Lyn Bolton with a 21-16 win. Rounding off the game in the first half of the match Marown captain Helen Withers put in a solid display to comfortably beat Kim Hargraves 21-12. At the halfway stage of the match Marown were 3-2 up on games, crucially led on the all-important chalks (102-87).

The atmosphere and tension started to build around the green in the second half of the match, whilst it looked a long way back for South Ramsey, they had a couple of big hitters to come, along with two very determined individuals who never give up, which proved to be the difference on the night as Judy Kelly put in a superb performance against Jayne Smith to win 21-14, clawing back seven chalks from the lead held by Marown. Another six chalks were picked up by South as two of the top lady bowlers Jenny Moore and Clare Cooper were up against each other, with the latter taking the early initiative Moore battled back to win 21-15.

With Marown now just two chalks ahead, the final two games on the green saw huge leads for South Ramsey. The next game off proved to be the final nail in the coffin as former Marown player Joyce Ogden, who looked as determined as anyone on the green beat Rebekah Kelly 21-6 to put South Ramsey into the lead for the first time in the match by 13 chalks. The final game on the green between Gill Dixon and Lynda Cadamy then turned into a formality, with Dixon having built up a huge lead in the first half of her game, was then on the receiving end of a fightback from Cadamy, however the South player got over the line with a 21-15 victory.

South Ramsey regained the Jean Kelly Memorial Shield by 19 chalks with the scores 171-152 in their favour, whilst also winning 6-3 on games. This was the fifth time that South Ramsey have won the competition.

The presentation was made by Moore Kelly’s daughter in law Carolyn Kelly, who called up the captains to present the prizes to their teams. South Ramsey captain Fiona Kennish was then presented with the Shield. Kennish thanked the Kelly family for their continued support of the competition, which included the prizes and the refreshments, Onchan Bowling Club for hosting and congratulated her team on their performance whilst offering her commiserations to Marown A.

South Ramsey	H/C +14	H/C +18	Marown A
Sue Collier	3	21	Rebecca Teare
Lauren Groen	21	9	Martha Butler
Kim Hargraves	12	21	Helen Withers
Elaine Moore	16	21	Debbie Leece
Fiona Kennish	21	12	Lyn Bolton
Judy Kelly	21	14	Jayne Smith
Jenny Moore	21	15	Clare Cooper
Gill Dixon	21	15	Lynda Cadamy
Joyce Ogden	21	6	Rebekah Kelly
6 Games Won	171	152	3 Games Won