The ladies section kick started the 2023 season by holding the Hands Trophy Non-Winners competition at Port Erin. With a good entry of 24 the format decided upon was a straight knockout. The standard of bowls was really high even after the six month break. The diversity in ages was also good to see with the oldest player, Rita Callister, playing the youngest player, Grayse Blencoe, proving this sport is for everyone.
Quarter-finals saw Jayne Smith beat Tina Hampson 21-9, Lynda Wilson beat Libby Andrade 21-11, Jo Corkill beat Tracy Moore 21-10 and Sylvia Kennaugh beat Marilyn Ellison 21-16. In the semi-finals Jayne put an end Lynda’s winning streak 21-18 and Sylvia to Jo’s 21-18.
The final was a game of two halves with Jayne running away with it to be 19-9 in front. Sylvia then regained the jack to come back to only two points behind at 19-17. The last end was a show piece with Sylvia lying on for one Jayne took the jack with the last bowl of the end to secure the elusive two points required to take the title and her first open competition win. The irony of this is she is no longer a Non-Winner. Congratulations Jayne. The presentation was made by the competition secretary and a very proud mum, Chris Holland, who thanked those who stayed until the end, Port Erin for the use of the green and the catering. Great start to the year. Good luck to all.

Over 60s League: Castletown A ladies retained the ladies Over 60s league title last Thursday morning with a good 4-2 away win at Onchan A. Two winners for Onchan were Dee Lewis and Marilyn Ellison who won to 15 and 6 respectively. Marown A finished with a strong performance getting a full house at home against Port Erin B. Lynda Cadamy and Joyce Ogden both winning their games to single figures. Peel travelled to Port Erin A coming away with a 4-2 win and by 40 points. Kay Primrose-Smith (Port Erin) and Val Allwood had a tough game with Kay eventually crossing the line 21-20. Onchan B visited Castletown B winning five of the six games. Lone winner for Castletown B was Pauline Moore who won to 10 against Jane Robinson. Mooragh Park A hosted neighbours South Ramsey with South winning 4-2. Three of South’s plus one of Mooragh’s games were won to single figures with Lynn Mayers for Mooragh winning 21-13 against Moira Anderson. Finch Hill hosted Port St Mary A winning the match 4-2 and by 62 points with Lil Smith (Finch Hill) winning her game to single figures. On Friday morning Ballaugh were away to Port St Mary B. Match finished 4-2 in favour of Ballaugh and by 55 points. Two winners for PSM were Edwina Reid and Elaine Hawkins who won their games to 14 and 12. Many congratulations to Castletown A who led much of the way this season being pushed all the way by second placed Onchan A, third placed Marown and fourth placed South Ramsey. Also many congratulations to Elaine Moore (South Ramsey) and Janet Monk (Mooragh Park) who completed the season without losing a game.

Open age league: The penultimate matches in the Ladies Open Age League were played last Wednesday evening. Current leaders, Castletown A, had a good 8-1 win at home against Marown B. Lone winner for Marown was Clare Cooper winning to 11 against Anne Oates. Marown just missed out on another win when Deborah Leece lost to 20 against Rachel Palmer. Current second place South Ramsey also had a good 7-2 win away with four of the games being won to single figures. In third place Marown A had a comfortable 6-3 win at home against Castletown B. Closest game saw Castletown’s Susan Kerruish just pipping Jo Corkill 21-20. In fourth place Ballaugh suffered a heavy 7-2 defeat away to Onchan with  Onchan’s Sue Gawne and Marilyn Ellison winning their games to single figures. Two winners for Ballaugh were Pat Mason and Elaine Fenton who won to 14 and 13. Mooragh Park travelled to Douglas coming away with a 5-4 win and by 39 points. Two junior lady bowlers Katie Jacobs (Douglas) and Lacey McMullan had a good battle with Katie getting the point needed to win 21-20. Peel hosted Port St Mary winning 6-3 on games and by 11 points. All games bar two went into double figures with Joyce Kelly (Peel) pipping Margie Tasker 21-19. With only one fixture remaining Castletown A are 225 points ahead so cannot be caught but second and third places are still up for grabs as Marown A are only 42 points behind South Ramsey so it is still all to play for.

British Crown Green Ladies Junior Individual Merit: On Saturday 3 September, the British Crown Green Ladies Junior individual merit was held at Heswall Bowling Club, Merseyside. Representing the IOM at this event was current IOM Junior Ladies Champion Grace Gawne (Onchan) along with sisters Madison and Shannon McMullan (Mooragh Park). Competition was a round robin played in four groups of 4 with the winner from each group progressing to the semi-finals. In group A, Grace and Shannon were with Aimee Garside (Yorkshire) and Cerys Parry from Wales. Madison was in group 3 along with Paige Hall (Warwick and Worcester), Amelia Northop (Wales) and Megan Hulme (Cheshire). Although Shannon and Grace bowled well, it was Cerys Parry who progressed from group 1 to the semis, along with Holly Jenkins from group 2 and Rebecca Sheriff (Burton and District) from group 4. Madison also progressed through to the semis having played exceptionally well not losing a game in her group. In the semi-finals, Madison played Rebecca and holding her nerve won 15-12 to reach the final against Cerys who put in a good performance winning 15-6 against Holly Jenkins.

With both Cerys and Madison playing well the final was a nail biter with Madison coming back from 11-4 down to level it at 11 across. Unfortunately Madison scored one more point before her opponent scored the four points she needed to win 15-12 for a hard fought victory. All three IOM junior ladies should be commended on their performance, especially Madison for reaching the final and proving that our junior ladies are a force to be reckoned with.  

In last Friday night’s open age league ladies crown green bowls, all matches were relatively close as no team scored over 160 points. Closest match of the night saw Mooragh Park travel to Port st Mary coming away with a 5-4 win but losing the match by only one point. Dot Mylchreest and junior bowler Grayse Blencoe had a tussle with Grayse eventually winning to 19 whilst Nicola Cain (PSM) and Janet Monk (Mooragh) both won to single figures. Another close match was Marown B at home to Ballaugh with Ballaugh winning 5-4 and by 7 points. Game of the match saw Christine McDonald winning to 20 against home bowler Deborah Leece. Douglas hosted Port Erin winning 5-4 on games and by 9 points with six of the nine games being won to single figures.   The three games that went into double figures were Sue Caley and Emma Sayle (Douglas) plus Jenny Cain for PE winning to 18,10 and 11 respectively. Peel visited Castletown B coming away with a 6-3 win and by 24 points. Mary Moffatt (Peel) had a good battle with Joy Stephens with Mary crossing the line to win 21-19. South Ramsey hosted Castletown A winning the match 6-3 on games and by 7 points. Two games of the match saw Gillian Dixon and Kim Hargraves for South pipping Hannah Drewett and Barbara Young 21-20. Marown A visited Onchan winning the match 5-4 and by 21 points with four games being won to single figures. Marown Captain Lil Smith just got the better of Sylvia Kennaugh to win 21-19. With two fixtures  remaining, Castletown are currently on top 218 points clear of second place South Ramsey, therefore given this I don’t think they can be caught, but as we all know anything can happen in bowls!

In the Over 60’s league on Tuesday morning, both South Ramsey and Marown scored maximums. South were at home to Castletown B with four of South’s wins being won to single figures. Marown were away to Mooragh Park B, unfortunately no individual scores are on website at time of report. Elsewhere, Finch Hill had a good 5-1 win away to Onchan B with Libbi Andrade being the lone winner for Onchan winning to 10. Peel won 5-1 at home to Mooragh Park A with the closest game being between Shirley Corrin (Peel) and Maureen Hamilton with Shirley crossing the line 21-18. Onchan A travelled to Ballaugh coming away with a solid 5-1 win. Lone winner for Ballaugh was Rose Waterworth who won to 10. Derby between Port Erin A and B resulted in a 4-2 win for the A team and by 15 points. Alison Stockham (B) and Caroline Whitehead (A) both won to single figures with Voirrey Curphey (A) just getting the better of Kay Primrose-Smith to win 21-18.

In the ladies Open Age crown green bowling league last Wednesday evening, rearranged matches took place between South Ramsey who were at home to Onchan and Marown B home to Douglas. South Ramsey won 7-2 on games, although Onchan nearly took another game when Lily Gawne lost to 20 against South’s Lauren Groen. In the Marown B versus Douglas match, the Crosby ladies won 5-4 on games and by three points.  Again, scoreline could have been reversed as Douglas’s Emma Sayle lost to 20 against Lisa Pugh.

On Friday evening, current third placed Marown A scored a maximum away at Peel closing the gap to only 18 points on second placed South Ramsey who lost to Ballaugh.   Three of Marown’s wins were to single figures with the two closest games being Elaine Dewhirst and Rosemary Winckle both winning to 16. South Ramsey lost 4-5 on games and by eight points away to an improving Ballaugh team. Like Marown, three games were won to single figures with Elaine Moore (South) and Christine McDonald having a real tussle with Elaine eventually winning to 18. Current leaders, Castletown A, had a comfortable 7-2 win at home against Douglas. Two winners for Douglas were Sue McCourt and Harley Garrett who won to 15 and 19 against Sue Peach and Stella Watterson respectively. Mooragh Park hosted Castletown B winning 5-4 on games and by 17 points. Shirley Corteen (Mooragh) and Aalish Moore had a nip and tuck game before Aalish ran out 21-18. Match between Port Erin and Port St Mary was played on Monday evening. Port St Mary won 5-4 on games and by 22 points with Trish Bull and Lorna Brady (PSM) plus Jean Thackrah (PE) all winning to single figures. The match between Marown B and Onchan has been postponed to Friday 23 September due to players being off-Island representing the IOM in England.

Marown A and Onchan both scored maximums at home to Mooragh Park and Peel in the ladies Open Age league last Wednesday night. Three of Marown’s games were won to single figures, whilst Onchan had two single figure wins. The two closest games of the Marown/Mooragh match were Lynda Cadamy and Jayne Smith both winning to 16 against Bailey McMullan and Janet Monk. In the Onchan/Peel match, both Terri Berry and Mary Moffatt nearly made the scoreline 7-2 when they both lost to 20 against Jo Smith and Libbi Andrade. Castletown A won 5-4 away to Port St Mary with Hannah Drewett and Anne Oates for Castletown winning to single figures. Mavis Franks, Lorna Brady-Glover and Margaret Tasker for PSM, plus Tracy Moore for Castletown all won to 17 against Hilary Kermode, Kim Foy, Sue Peach and Trish Bull respectively. Port Erin visited Castletown B coming away with a 5-4 win and by 28 points. The game of the match saw Susan Inch (Port Erin) just crossing the line 21-20 against Pat Rigby, with Linda Dawson and Ann Hollingworth (Castletown) winning their games to single figures. South Ramsey had a close match at home against Marown B winning 5-4 and by 31 points with three of South’s games being won to single figures. Fiona Kennish (South) and Clare Cooper had a nip and tuck game with Clare eventually winning to 19. Ballaugh had a solid 6-3 away win at Douglas with Pat Mason, Rose Waterworth and Maria Dimsdale for Ballaugh plus Paula Garrett for Douglas all winning to single figures. Jan West (Douglas) and Cath Harvey had the closest game of the night when Jan won to 18. Two rearranged matches between Marown B/Douglas and South Ramsey/Onchan are scheduled for 31 August.

Missing result from last Wednesday morning’s match between Port St Mary A and Onchan B in the ladies Over 60’s league, resulted in a 5-1 win to Port St Mary A with as they dropped only one chalk. Stopping the maximum was Lesley Nicholl who just pipped Chris Holland 21-20. LAs the Over 60’s league is nearing a conclusion Castletown A are currently top with 3117 points, Onchan A second with 2984, Marown third with 2888, South Ramsey fourth with 2884 and Peel fifth with 2831. With Castletown only having one match to play whilst the following group have two it is going to be very close and I am sure results from the remaining fixtures will be eagerly awaited. Game on ladies!

Castletown B ladies recorded their first Over 60’s win of the season last Tuesday (9^th) at home against Mooragh Park B. The result was a three all draw, but the Town ladies won the match by 20 points – result was awaited when reporting on last week’s fixtures. On Thursday morning last week, Port Erin B and Castletown A both recorded maximums at home against Castletown B and Port Erin A respectively. Two of Castletown A games and one in the Port Erin game were won to single figures. Castletown B just missed out on winning a game when Susan Kerruish lost to 20 against Sue Ricketts. Elsewhere, Onchan A had a convincing 5-1 win at home against Port St Mary A. Lone winner for Port St Mary A was Chris Holland who won to 16 against Caroline Corlett.  The home derby between the Mooragh Park teams resulted in a 5-1 win for the ‘A’ team with Gail Corrin and Joy Morris (A team) winning their games to single figures. South Ramsey also had a good 5-1 win at home to Onchan B. The lone winner for Onchan was Sue McCourt who won to 19 against Gillian Jopson. Marown travelled to Ballaugh coming away with a good 4-2 win.  The two winners for Ballaugh were Barbara Graham and Carol Holt who both won to 17. Peel hosted Finch Hill with Peel winning 4-2 on games and by six points. The closest game saw Mary Moffatt (Peel) winning to 20 against Sue Caley. Tuesday morning’s fixtures resulted in Peel getting a maximum away to Castletown B and Onchan A scoring a maximum at home to Port St Mary B with two games in each match being won to single figures. Port Erin A just missed out on a maximum at home by one point against Mooragh Park when Mary Bruce (Mooragh) just pipped Voirrey Curphey to 20. Mooragh Park A hosted Port Erin B winning 4-2 on games. The two winners for Port were Steph Swift and Alison Stockham who both won to 16. Finch Hill had a very good 5-1 home win against South Ramsey. Lone winner for South was Elaine Moore who won to single figures. Marown A were at home to Castletown A and although the match finished three all, Marown won by 20 points with all games bar one going into double figures. On Wednesday morning, the rearranged match between Marown A and South Ramsey resulted in a 5-1 win for the Crosby ladies and by 28 points with Joyce Ogden (Marown) and lone winner for South, Elaine Moore, both winning to single figures. Result of rearranged match between Port St Mary A and Onchan B awaited at time of report.

In the Open Age league on Friday evening, Marown A won 7-2 away at Port Erin and by 82 points with six of the Crosby ladies winning to single figures. Two winners for Port (so I am reliably informed) were the oldest, Rita Callister, and the youngest Caroline Whitehead, who won to 18 and 13 respectively. The home derby between the Castletown teams resulted in a 7-2 win for the A ladies and by 51 points. The two closest games saw Rachel Palmer (B) and Hannah Drewett (A) both winning to 17. Ballaugh were at home to Port St Mary winning the match 6-3 and by 39 points. Christine McDonald and Elaine Fenton (Ballaugh) both won to single figures as did Margaret Tasker for PSM. Peel visited Mooragh Park coming away with a 5-4 win and by 16 points. Closest games saw Madison McMullan and Katie Johnson (Mooragh) and Val Allwood for Peel all winning their games to 19. The matches between Marown B/Douglas and South Ramsey/Onchan have been postponed to Wednesday 31 August due to ladies representing the IOM in competitions off-Island. The rearranged match between Marown B at home to Castletown A took place on Monday evening with the game finishing 6-3 to Castletown with three games being won to single figures. Helen Withers (Marown) nearly made another win for Marown when losing to 20 against Stella Watterson.

BCGBA Dorothy Piearce Pairs Competition: On Saturday, Rebecca Teare and Debbie Leece (Marown) plus Elaine Moore and Gill Morgan (South Ramsey) represented the IOM in the British Crown Green’s Dorothy Piearce Memorial Pairs at Fox Lane Sports & Social Club in England. Rebecca and Deborah were drawn on green 1 against Tasmin Birkett and Rose Walker from Mid-Cheshire with Elaine and Gill on the smaller No.2 green against Mo Corley and Tina Ralphs from North Shropshire. Despite the Island ladies trying their best on tricky greens, they lost to 15 and 12 respectively. The eventual winners of the competition were Belinda Lloyd and Linda Williams from Wales who beat Fay Carson and Janet Hargreaves from Staffordshire 21-13.

Barbara Lee Trophy (IOM Merit): On Sunday afternoon the Barbara Lee Trophy (IOM Merit) was held at Douglas Bowling Club attracting an entry of 16 ladies. The competition was played in glorious weather on an extremely fast green. Getting through to the semi-final stage was Sue Gawne (Onchan) against Fiona Kennish (South Ramsey) and Jenny Moore (South Ramsey) against Tracy Moore (Castletown). Both Sue and Jenny were in fine form winning their respective games to 9 and 11. In the final, and in slightly cooler conditions, Sue started off the stronger leading 14-10 on the 21^st end. Jenny then scored two on the next end and with a final flourish didn’t look back running out to win 21-14. The presentation was made by Chris Holland from the Ladies Association who thanked Douglas for hosting and providing much needed refreshments and all those who stayed to watch and support, but most of all congratulated all the ladies on their performances throughout the day, especially Jenny and Sue for an excellent final.