Although there was a strong wind the weather stayed dry and sunny for the W. A. Roberts ladies’ singles, sponsored by Celtic Associates Ltd, played at Port St Mary on Wednesday 9 August. Once again this year the entry was disappointing with 26 players, although what the field lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality.
Quarter-finals: Margaret Tasker 21, Philippa Taylor 14; Katy Williams 21, Caroline Whitehead 15; Kath Kinley 21, Paula Firth 10; Paula Garrett 21, Lin Ruscoe 13
The first semi-final saw two home players facing each other, and early exchanges were evenly matched with the score standing at 11 across after nine ends. However Margaret then powered ahead, with Katy not able to keep hold of the jack on the two occasions she won it, to reach the final 21-13.
In the second semi-final Paula had no answer to Kath’s play despite her valiant efforts, Kath coming through 21-11.
The two players were evenly matched in the final, the score standing at 13-13 after nine ends at which point Kath won the next three ends, giving her a three point lead. A two from Margaret followed by a single from Kath Made the score 17-15 to the Castletown player. After regaining the jack with a two at the next end Margaret refused to relinquish it again, taking the next three ends to win 21-17.
Vice-president, Chris Holland, thanked everyone who had helped during the afternoon particularly Sean on the sheet and the ladies in the kitchen, before introducing Iain Wood, from sponsors Celtic Associates Ltd., to present the prizes.
Iain was pleased to see so many people there and hoped everyone had enjoyed their afternoon. He also said that Celtic Associates Ltd. would be happy to continue to sponsor the event next year.

The weather was not kind for the Barbara Lee IOM Ladies’ Merit which was played on Sunday 6 August at Ballaugh. There was an entry of 21 players of all ages, with several juniors taking part, many from Mooragh Park which had been Barbara’s last club.
In the preliminary round the toughest match saw Madison McMullen come through 21-20 against Tricia Bull, while in the first round Fiona Kennish edged out Lil Smith 21-19.
Three of the quarter-finals were relatively one-sided but the other saw a mother-daughter battle going all the way with Elaine Moore having the better of Jenny Moore 21-20.
Quarter-finals: Elaine Moore 21, Jenny Moore 20; Janet Monk 21, Kim Hargraves 12; Helen Martin 21, Caroline Whitehead 2; Fiona Kennish 21, Lin Ruscoe 5.
In the first semi-final Elaine made the better start, leading 12-2 after twelve ends before Janet started to slowly reel in the deficit pulling back to 15-16 after 26 ends, then levelling at 17’s..Two singles from Janet followed by a two from Elaine left them 19-19, a further two singles giving Janet the game 21-19.
If possible the second semi-final was even more tense. After eight ends Fiona had a 7-1 advantage while Helen had the better of the next few ends levelling at 10-10. Again Fiona forged ahead, leading 19-12 after 24 ends, before Helen took the next five ends and a 20-19 lead. Fiona won the next end, but could not take another, Helen going through to the final 21-20.
The outcome of the final was in doubt to the very end, with both players having winning streaks throughout. Janet started with 5 singles before Helen got on the scoreboard. She then won eleven of the next twelve ends to lead 15-7. Then it was Janet’s turn as she won the next seven ends to just edge a lead of 16-15.The ends were then shared with Janet taking the trophy 21-19, the first person to win it twice as she had been the first winner in 2009.
Association president, Rosie Winckle, thanked the Ballaugh club for the use of their facilities and their help during the afternoon.

It was all go at Onchan Park on Saturday 15 July, with Onchan fair, and the ladies’ Millennium Fours event, taking place. The entry was ten teams of four and in each match players were drawn, two to play singles, the other two making a doubles combination. The three games were played to 15 off scratch, the team with the greatest total over the three games progressing to the next round.
Between the fine weather and the background music from the fair, which had spectators dancing round the green, there was some fine bowling played in a carnival atmosphere.
In the first semi-final a South Ramsey team consisting of Fiona Kennish, Kim Hargraves, Bethany Kennish and Jenny Moore took on a Mixed team of Mary Alderson, Lynda Cadamy, Philippa Taylor and Ann Gale. Fiona and Kim were drawn to play the doubles against the Mary and Lynda combo, the Mixed team pair having the advantage 12-15.In the singles Philippa beat Bethany 15-5 while Jenny beat Ann 15-7, giving South Ramsey a total of 32 points and the Mixed team, who went through to the final, a total of 37 points.
In the second semi-final Noblesconsisting of Clare Cooper, Paula Firth, Rebecca Teare and Lin Ruscoe, played a combined South Ramsey and Marown team made up of Elaine Moore, Jill Quayle, Lil Smith and Rosie Winckle. Clare and Paula came through 15-12 in the doubles against Rosie Winckle and Jill Quayle while the singles were shared, Rebecca Teare beating Lil Smith 15-1 and in reply Elaine Moore beat Lin Ruscoe 15-7, giving Nobles 37 points and South Ramsey / Marown 28.
This set up a Nobles v Mixed team final. The three games were on the green at the same time and the singles finished with Philippa Taylor winning 15-4 against Paula Firth, while Lin Ruscoe replied with 15-6 against Mary Alderson, leaving the final result in the hands of the doubles pairings. With Clare Cooper and Rebecca Teare coming through 15-9 against Lynda Cadamy and Ann Gale, Nobles took the title once again with a final score of 34 points to 30.
Association president, Rosie Winckle thanked Onchan for the use of their green and their ladies for helping, and providing refreshments during the afternoon. She also thanked Elaine and Heather for organising the event and running the sheet.

This year the South Ramsey ladies tried a new format for the competition for the Omega Cup. It was decided to do it as a round-robin doubles with partners being drawn.
The twenty ladies who entered were drawn to make ten pairs who were then split into two groups of five pairs, who played everyone else in the group in games of ten ends. The winners of each group then played each other to get the winner and runner-up.
With the weather behaving, to give a glorious warm afternoon, the players enjoyed their afternoon, with a lot of laughter throughout the competition.
In the first group Tricia Bull and Helen Martin came top with a total of 43 points, just one point ahead of Moira Anderson and Philippa Taylor on 42 points.
The other group was even closer with two teams drawn on 41 points. The winner of the group was decided by a roll to the jack. which was beautifully delivered into a tricky position by Heather Horsburgh, and a representative of each pair then delivered a wood. Jenny Moore won that to ensure that she and Fiona Kennish topped the group, while Lynda Cadamy and Caroline Whitehead had to settle for second place.
Then final saw Tricia and Helen face Fiona and Jenny in a match of ten ends.
The ten ends were split with each team winning five ends, but with Helen and Tricia scoring a single at each end and Jenny and Fiona getting three 2’s the cup stayed in South Ramsey.
The presentation was made by Gill Dixon who thanked all those who had supported the event, and praised the cracking bowling throughout the afternoon.
Thanks also went to those who had helped in the kitchen.

Another Festival week has come and gone with Manx ladies putting up good performances throughout the week, having representatives in the latter stages of most events.
The Ladies’ Tourism competition finished on Thursday morning, starting with the quarter-finals with Lil Smith, Janet Monk and Jenny Moore still in contention. Unfortunately Lil and Jenny were playing each other, while Janet faced Diane Harrison. Jenny and Janet faced each other in the semi-final with Jenny going through to meet Alexis Lunn-Gadd in the final. Despite winning the first three ends Alexis struggled to match Jenny who came through to win 21-11.
In the main event Helen Martin and Philippa Taylor both made it to finals day. It is fair to say that Helen was not at her best against Karen Galvin (the eventual winner) in the quarter-finals, while Philippa met Karen in the semi-final where she went out after a strong performance, reaching 17 against Karen and taking the trophy for the best performance by a Manx player.
Lyn Bolton lost in the semi-finals of the ladies consolation to eventual winner Veronica Lyon, while our ladies were well represented in the doubles events. In the semi-finals of the ladies’ doubles Chris Price and Julie Johnson (Stavely) put out Tricia Bull and Gill Simm (Kings Arms Hale) while Elaine Moore and Alexis Lunn-Gadd (OFH) came through against Paula Gamon and Charlotte Buckley. In the final it was Elaine and Alexis who came through to win 11-6. In the Mixed doubles the winning pair contained another Manx player as Janet Monk won with her partner, Kevin Shaw (Westhoughton).