There was an entry of 25 pairs for the ladies’ doubles competition played at Noble’s mixed on Saturday 21 June. The weather was fine and the green was running well allowing for some good bowling and close games played in a friendly spirit.

Semi-finals: Kath Kinley and Marie Ashurst 21, Viv Rush and Hazel Hughes 8; Doris Cargill and Val Young 21, Lyn Bolton and Paula Garrett 15

This set up a repeat of the final at Castletown the previous week. An opening 2 from Kath and Marie was answered by two singles from Doris and Val to level the score, but from that point on the visiting pair were always on the back foot with Kath and Marie coming through to win 21-12.

The presentation was made by John Ruscoe who thanked all those who had entered the competition and everyone who had helped during the afternoon.

There was an entry of 25 for the Onchan ladies’ singles played at Noble’s 2 on Sunday 25 May. After a chilly start the weather brightened up to give a warm sunny afternoon conducive to good bowls played in a friendly atmosphere.

Quarter-finals: Rosie Winckle 21, Mary Alderson 14; Janet Monk 21, Lilian Slinger 19; Philippa Taylor 21, Chris Price 19; Lin Ruscoe 21, Sylvia Kennaugh 11

Semi-finals: Janet Monk 21, Rosie Winckle 15; Philippa Taylor 21, Lin Ruscoe 17

In a very close and exciting final Philippa raced to an early lead at 14-8. Janet then got the jack and won seven ends in a rowto have the advantage 19-14. It was Philippa’s turn to make a come-back, levelling at 19-19, before Janet scored two singles to run out the winner 21-19.

The presentation was made by Lynda Clarke who thanked all those who had stayed to watch the final. She also thanked Noble’s Mixed for the use of their green and facilities, the ladies for their work in the kitchen, those who ran the sheet or helped in any way with the successful running of the event.

There was an entry of 13 pairs for the Ladies’ doubles open at South Ramsey on Wednesday 14th May, which was played in a round-robin format. One group of 6 pairs played 10 ends per game while the group of 7 pairs played 8.

The winners of the first group were Lilian Slinger and Jean Radcliffe with 63 points, runners up Philippa Taylor and Shirley Corrin scoring 56 points. The other group were led by Viv Grills and Heather Horsburgh with 60 points with Elaine Moore and Mary Alderson in second place with 53.

The two group winners then played each other in the final, a game to 21 off 6. Viv and Heather started well with a three the first end then it was downhill all the way as Lilian played a longer length and led well, supported by Jean at the back. Although they did win another two ends Viv and Heather had to hand it to Lilian and Jean as they ran out winners 21-11.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Gill Dixon who thanked all those who had stayed to the end, the ladies in the kitchen and all those who had helped in the smooth running of the afternoon.

The weather was not kind for the ladies’ invitational “Top Lady” competition which took place at Port St Mary on Sunday 11th May, although it did improve as the afternoon progressed. The green was running well and there was some excellent bowling on display

Quarter-finals: Jenny Moore 21, Lin Ruscoe 11; Viv Grills 21, Gill Dixon 18; Shirley Whelan 21, Ann Maddrell 18; Janet Monk 21, Philippa Taylor 19.

As is often the case after three rounds of close matches, the semi-finals were both a little one-sided as the wheels fell off for Viv and Shirley who had both played so well all afternoon, leaving Jenny and Janet to contest the final.

Semi-finals: Jenny Moore 21, Viv Grills 8; Janet Monk 21, Shirley Whelan 5.

Janet was always on the back foot in the final as Jenny played some great bowls coming through to take the title 21-9.

The presentation was made by Association president Pat Robertson who commented on the superb bowling throughout the afternoon, before thanking Port St Mary Bowling Club for the use of their premises and their help during the afternoon, also for the refreshments and the lovely condition of the green. Thanks also went to the organisers for the smooth running of the event.

MAROWN LADIES DOUBLES OPEN 

There was an entry of 23 pairs for the ladies’ doubles open played at Marown, for the Greeba Cup, on Saturday 10 May.

 Although the competition started in showery weather, it soon cleared to give a pleasant afternoon until the rain reappeared for the final. 

Semi-finals: Lin Ruscoe and Paula Firth 21, Chris Price and Janet Monk 19; Marie Ashurst and Kathryn Kinley 18, Shirley Whelan and Rosie Winckle 21. 

The final was evenly matched to start off, although winning more ends Lin and Paula were scoring singles while Rosie and Shirley had two three’s to make the mid-way score 12-11 in favour of the Marown pair, who then took off. Although Lin and Paula won two more ends they could not halt Rosie and Shirley‘s march to victory with a final score-line 21-14. 

The presentation was made by Pat Withers who thanked everyone who had helped in any way with the smooth running of the afternoon.

The re-organised British Merit Qualifier took place on Monday 5 May at Noble’s 3 with an entry of 11 ladies.

Semi-finals: Elaine Moore 21, Helen Martin 16; Rosie Winckle 21, Lil Smith 20

Final: Elaine Moore 21, Rosie Winckle 16.

Elaine will represent the island at the Pennfields Bowling and Social club, Wolverhampton, on Saturday 12 July.

There was an entry of 14 pairs for the IOM Ladies’ Pairs played at Noble’s Mixed on Saturday 3 May. There were some excellent bowls and close games throughout the afternoon.

The semi-finals were a little disappointing as Joyce Ogden and Sonja Lees never got going against Lilian Slinger and Helen Martin, while Shirley Whelan and Rosie Winckle threatened an upset as they stayed level with Janet Monk and Chris Price to 13-13. However at this point the Mooragh Park pair switched up a gear and the Marown pair were unable to put another point on the card.

Semi-finals: Lilian Slinger and Helen Martin 21, Joyce Ogden and Sonja Lees 6; Janet Monk and Chris Price 21, Shirley Whelan and Rosie Winckle 13

Janet and Chris had the lead in the final from the start, although their opponents did pull up to 12-13 at one point. The sisters then won the next three ends to 17-12, and although Lilian and Helen managed a 3 and a 2 to threaten a come-back Chris and Janet held on to win 21-17.

The presentation was made by Association vice-president, Rosie Winckle who thanked Noble’s Mixed for their hospitality, all the players for entering, the ladies’ for doing the refreshments and anyone who had helped in any way during the afternoon.

The weather cleared during the afternoon for the Sylvia Cashen Charity ladies’ doubles played at Port St Mary with the entry of 23 pairs staying dry despite a threat of rain at the semi-final stage. The money raised during the afternoon, just over £300, will be donated to the new Dedicated Breast Care Centre.

At the semi-final stage we had two pairs from Mooragh Park and two from Port St Mary. Ann Maddrell and her daughter Katy faced Jean Radcliffe and Chris Price while Lilian Slinger and her daughter Janet played Margaret Tasker and Tricia Bull.

Semi-finals: Margaret and Tricia 21, Janet and Lilian 19; Ann and Katy 21, Jean and Chris 12

This set up an all Port St Mary final, where the early stages were evenly matched the score at one point being 10-10. Tricia and Margaret only won one more end as good leads from Katy followed by Ann’s destructive work at the back gave the game to the mother and daughter combination 21-12.

The presentation was made by president Ann Maddrell, who thanked everyone for entering and for their generosity. She also thanked Andy for his work on the sheet, the ladies for their work in the kitchen, Ray for the green and Doug for his work on the surroundings.

There was an entry of 31 for the Pearl Kaighin ladies’ singles open played in the sunshine at Ballaugh on Saturday 26 April. Despite some tricky marks the green was running well giving excellent bowls and some very close matches.

Quarter-finals: Rita Callan 21, Sylvia Kennaugh 19; Rita Callister 10, Maureen Payne 21; Gill Dixon 21, Chris Price 16; Janet Monk 21, Tricia Bull 13

In the first semi-final Rita got off to the better start at one point leading 18-14 before Maureen fought back to come through and win 21-19.In the other the scores were level at 10-10 when Gill won seven of the next nine ends to lead 19-12. Janet won the next three ends before Gill got the jack back and ran out 21-16.

Semi-finals: Maureen Payne 21, Rita Callan 19; Gill Dixon 21, Janet Monk 16.

Despite Maureen’s best efforts Gill was in control for most of the final winning 21-13

The presentation was made by Bernard Kaighin who thanked everyone for coming. He gave special thanks to Jenny for running the sheet, the ladies for their work in the kitchen and to the green keepers for the condition of the green.

Raymotors Mooragh Park Ladies travelled to Todmorden at the weekend to play in the British Crown Green Ladies Bowling Association Club Championships (qualifying is through winning the leagues per County), 16 Counties were entered in the Competition.  Mooragh Park were drawn in Group 1 against Bolsover Castle – North Derbyshire, Hatton – Burton & District and Dilhorne – Staffordshire.  In extremely cold and windy conditions the Mooragh Park Team started positively with a very good win over Bolsover Castle 103-70.  Second game saw a strong opposition of Hatton who they played last year, this was a closer game with a winning outcome of 102-91.  Third game was Dilhorne a team who qualify on a regular basis and look to be the strongest opposition, this was proved in the result and after a very hard fought contest MooraghPark just lost by 10 points, score 106-96.  But to the delight of the Isle of Man team, even with the loss against Dilhorne, they had the best aggregate which meant they went through to the Semi-Finals.  After waiting half an hour for the other groups to finish their qualifying rounds, Mooragh Park knew they had a tough game against previous winners St. Oswalds who had players in their team of a very high standard.  Now feeling very cold and tired the IOM team gave it their best, but unfortunately were beaten by a very strong opposition 115-69.

Helen Martin – Captain said “I am very pleased of my team’s achievements to get to the semi-finals of this prestigious event, they all proved that even though we are a small Island, we have some very good players who can compete with the best in England, we flew the Manx flag with pride, well done to all the Mooragh Park Ladies, for getting to the semi-finals for the second year”.  Final result – New Mill (Yorkshire) 103 v St.Oswalds (Cheshire) 92.

Full Results