The Over 60s league returned after a week off for the Festival with a double week of fixtures.

Tuesday saw league leaders Peel Sunset home to Port Erin with the home side dominating to win 119-80 (5-1).  Mary Moffatt had the best result on the day winning 21-6 whilst away player Carole Kaye managed to prevent a whitewash winning 21-14 against Cath Parker.

In a low scoring game Onchan snatched victory from Marown by a single chalk winning 92-91 (3-3).  Both teams exchanged big wins with Maureen Payne and Dee Lewis winning 21-9 and 21-5 respectively for Onchan.  For Marown Philippa Taylor won 21-6 and Shirley Whelan won 21-8.  Crucially in the other games for Onchan Marilyn Ellison won 21-14 and Marown’s Mary Alderson won 21-15.  With Marown conceding that extra chalk Onchan took the win.

South Ramsey welcomed Port St Mary B who could only manage to take two games off their opponents with South Ramsey winning the match 107-92 (4-2).  Elaine Moore top scored in the match with a fine 21-9 win over Edwina Reid.

Nobles played Villa and in another low scoring game lost only by four chalks despite giving a game away.  Lin Ruscoe (Nobles) and Pat Kelly (Villa) both won to single figures with the match ending 88-92 (3-3).

Port St Mary A collected a full house beating Ballaugh 126-62 (6-0).  Wendy Kennuagh, Val Macfarlane and Margaret Tasker all won to single figures with the result allowing PSM to close the gap on Peel.

Douglas produced a fine home performance to defeat Castletown 106-95 (4-2).  Patsy Rush top scored for the home side winning 21-7 with Sue Peach winning 21-8 for the away team.

In the final match from Tuesday League newcomers Mooragh Park B faced their A team with the A team coming out on top 59-112 (2-4).  Mooragh Park B will have been pleased to have picked up two wins with Peggy Freeman and Frances Radcliffe both winning.

Thursday saw a rush of full houses with four results ending with 126 maximum scores.

League leaders Peel Sunset had their sit out and could only watch as Port St Mary A notched up their second full house of the week and sixth overall by beating Villa away 57-126 (0-6).  Val Macfarlane, Win Collister, Trish Bull and Rita Callister all put in fine individual performances to win to single figures.  The result means Port St Mary go top by 124 points having played a game extra.

Marown’s green is very fast and they used all their home advantage to defeat Nobles 126-83 (6-0).  Mary Alderson and Philippa Taylor won 21-9 and 21-5 respectively to top score for the home team.

Breagle were home to Onchan and were unfortunately a player short.  Onchan won all five playable games with the final score 42-126 (0-6).

Port St Mary is another green which following this fine spell of weather is fast and tricky.  Port St Mary B took full advantage winning 126-84 against Douglas with Roma Ware top scoring to win 21-7.  Douglas were unlucky not to pick up a game with Kath King narrowly missing out losing 21-20 to Mavis Franks.

Further North a local derby took place as Mooragh Park A took on rivals South Ramsey.  Janet Monk won 21-2 to give Mooragh a great advantage and despite Elaine Moore winning 21-9 for the away side the home team managed to win four games overall giving them a 18 point victory 108-90 (4-2)

Ballaugh played Mooragh Park B at home and bounced back from earlier in the week to win 118-60 (5-1).  Jane Teare, Voirrey Oates and Mary Simmonds all won to single figures for the home side.  Mooraghs lone winner was Gillian Malpass who defeated Elizabeth Morrison 21-13.

In the final match held on Thursday Castletown faced Port Erin.  Both teams won three games each and in five of the matches the losing player reached double figures.  One game stood out and Marie Ashurst top scoring win of 21-6 gave Castletown the edge they needed to win 112-96 (3-3)

Next week sees another break from the League as the Quarter Finals of the JMS Shield are held.

The Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s League returned from the break for TT with the teams reaching the halfway point in the season.

Before Thursdays fixtures South Ramsey welcomed Villa in a re-arranged match from earlier in the season.  Villa won the match by 10 chalks with away player Muriel Cain ending Elaine Moores 100% record winning 21-17.  The final score 85-95 (2-4)

Champions Port St Mary A were visited by Mooragh Park A who managed to take two wins from the home side with Ann Chapman and Julie Reiley winning for the away team.  Val Mcfarlane, Win Collister and Trish Bull all won to single figures whilst Margaret Tasker ended Janet Monks 100% record winning 21-11.  Final score 116-70 (4-2)

Peel Sunset have averaged 120 in their last three matches and improved this further by picking up their 5^th maximum of the season defeating Douglas A away 48-126 (0-6).  The result also means Peel Sunset take the top spot at the halfway stage nine points ahead of Port St Mary.

Marown remain third following their victory away to Breagle 91-116 (3-3).  There were wins for home players Steph Swift, Gwen Tuck and Kay Primrose-Smith.  For the away side Margaret Scarffe, Ceila Joughin and Philippa Taylor all won.

Nobles faced Ballaugh at home with the home side putting in a strong performance to win 112-74 (5-1).  Flo Price and Joyce Ogden both won to single figures with Voirrey Oates picking up Ballaughs only win to prevent a whitewash.

Onchan had a comfortable 15 chalk victory over Villa winning four of the six games.  Home player Maureen Payne top scored winning 21-8 with Villa player Joan Murphy winning 21-9.  Final score 108-93 (4-2).

In the final match on Thursday South Ramsey were beaten at home by Castletown 85-104 (2-4)

The league takes another week off due to the June Bowling Festival but returns the following week with a double week of fixtures.

Wolverhampton is still recovering from the first half of this week when it was invaded by a group of Manx ladies, of a certain age, who were there to play in the Veterans County Championship.
The event was staged in a round-robin format on four greens, two at Woodfield Social BC and two at Pennfields BC, the final stages then moving to a third venue at Penn BC.
In the early stages each green had four teams playing a round-robin, the winner of each group moving to Penn BC to play in the semi-finals.
The Manx team were in a group with Shropshire, Lancashire and North Midlands and started their campaign against Shropshire, on a green which was tricky and very speedy, getting faster as the day progressed in the very warm, sunny conditions. Many struggled to find a length, although we did have two winners in Joyce Kelly and Mavis Franks with Margaret Tasker just losing out 14-15.
In the second match Lancashire were in fine form winning all eight games, with the two best Manx players being Mavis Franks with 13 points and Joyce Kelly scoring 12 against Manx Festival regular Joyce Jones.
Margaret Tasker was the lone winner in the final game against North Midlands, with Ann Holllingworth and Maureen Payne both reaching 12points.
Lancashire won the group, and moved to Penn BC to play Yorkshire in the semi-final. Yorkshire were beaten by Warwick and Worcestershire in a final that eventually finished under floodlights at 10.30pm.

There was a top of the table clash in the Trend Ladies Over 60s league this week as league leaders Port St Mary, who hold a four point lead, visited Peel Sunset.  Last season Port St Mary suffered a heavy 54 point defeat away to Peel and would be looking to avoid the same upset.

Peel bowlers Cath Parker won 21-14 against Trish Bull, Pat Robertson 21-17 against Margaret Tasker and Joyce Kelly 21-12 against Wendy Kennuagh gave Peel a healthy 20 point lead.  For the away side Val Macfarlane won 21-13 against Lynda Wilson and Ann Maddrell won 21-9 against Heather Horsburgh which brought the game level.  The last result of the match saw Mary Moffatt just hold on to defeat Rita Callister 21-20 and give Peel an overall victory by one chalk 106-105 (4-2).  Port St Mary will have left the happier side knowing they have not lost ground on their nearest rivals and will look to use their own home advantage to good effect later in the season.

Castletown welcomed Nobles who produced a great performance to win the match 92-110 (2-4).  Paula Firth won 21-4 for the away side which setup the win for Nobles with Joyce Ogden, Viv Cook, Pat Dacre also winning for Nobles.  Castletown did manage two wins with Marie Ashurst and Sue Peach both winning 21-13.

Port St Mary B faced Onchan and the away side managed to collect four wins but it was the home side who managed to win the match.  For Onchan Maureen Payne and Libby Andrade both won 21-19, Lesley Nicholl 21-18 and Wendy McDowell 21-14.  With Port St Mary pushing close in three of the four losses their winners could make the impact as Pauline Whorrall 21-10 and Edwina Reid 21-12 won for the home side to give them an overall 112-106 (2-4) victory.

Marown travelled to Ballaugh and kept up the pace at the top by winning 93-115 (1-5).  Marown’s winners were Philippa Taylor 21-10, Margaret Scarffe 21-12, Ceila Joughin 21-16 and Mary Alderson 21-20.  Ballaugh player Mary Simmonds made sure there was no whitewash by winning her game 21-10.

Mooragh Park A defeated Breagle 109-63 (4-2) with Breagle fielding only five players.  Janet Monk and Vicky Lloyd-West were on top form for Mooragh winning 21-5 and 21-4 respectively.  Joyce Henry and Gwen Tuck won for the away side.

Douglas played South Ramsey at the Villa.  Douglas were one short and giving away 21 points was the difference in the match as Douglas lost by only eight chalks.  Patsy Rush top scored for the home side 21-4 along with wins from Kath King and Elaine Vincent.  The final score was 86-94 (3-3)

In the final game held on Tuesday Port Erin scored a full house against Mooragh Park B 126-37.

The Trend Sponsored Ladies Over 60s Bowling League entered May with a rush of full houses as three teams turned in a maximum on Tuesday.

Port St Mary B put in a fine performance to win their match against Ballaugh 126-59 (6-0) with Dot Mylchreest, Port St Marys best lady, winning her game 21-5.

Mooragh Park B played their first game on home soil following the work that has been ongoing on their green.  Port St Mary A were the visitors and won all six games with the final score 36-126.

Castletown were the final team to record a maximum on Tuesday defeating Villa.  Anne Oates 21-2, Barbara Young 21-9 and Marie Ashhurst 21-9 were Castletown’s best winners as they won the match 126-59.

Peel Sunset put a stop to Marown’s unbeaten run defeating them by 11 chalks 108-97 (4-2).  Philippa Taylor inflicted Joyce Kelly’s first defeat of the season with a 21-15 victory.

Douglas won the battle but lost the war in their match against Onchan.  Douglas won four games including two 21-20 wins from Moire Tuner and Wendy Cowin with their other two wins 21-11 and 21-17.  Onchan’s two winners proved to be the difference with Libby Andrade winning 21-8 and Lynda Clarke 21-6.  Onchan won the match 98-110 (4-2).

South Ramsey lost at home to Nobles 84-107 (2-4).  Elaine Moore and Ann Gale won for the home side.  Lin Ruscoe was the best winner for Nobles beating Gillian Jopson 21-9.

In the final game from Tuesday Port Erin faced homegreen rivals Breagle.  A strong showing from Port Erin gave them the victory 120-70 (4-2).  For Breagle Gwen Tuck and Joyce Henry picked up individual wins.

On Thursday Port St Mary A welcomed South Ramsey and won four of the six games with two scores 21-7 and two 21-8.  Elaine Moore beat Margaret Tasker 21-14 and Ann Gale maintained her unbeaten status in the league defeating Wyn Collister 21-12.  Port St Mary A won the match 110-72 (6-0).

Peel Sunset closed the gap on rivals Port St Mary to seven points by whitewashing Breagle away form home 53-126 (0-6).

Marown bounced straight back from their defeat earlier in the week with a convincing 108-73 (4-2) win over Castletown.  Philippa Taylor and Mary Alderson were in fine form winning their games 21-2, 21-3 respectively.

Port St Mary B made it two wins in the week with an away win against Villa.  Margaret Corlett and Pat Kelly won for the home side but with Port St Mary B winning four games, including Mavis Franks 21-9 win, they were too strong and the match finished 91-115 (2-4)

Nobles were visited by Douglas.  Paula Firth set the platform for Nobles winning her game 21-1.  In the other five games there were good battles with Nobles just edging the games.  Douglas player Jan Osborne her 100% record losing 21-20 to Lin Ruscoe.

Ballaugh were beaten at home by Mooragh Park A who won five out of the six games.  Mooragh’s best winners were Janet Monk 21-4 and Julie Reilly 21-9 whilst Peggy Griffin made sure there was no whitewash beating Anne Kean 21-18.  Final score and a win for Mooragh 84-123 (1-5)

In the final game Onchan put in another fine home performance to beat Port Erin 122-75 (5-1).  Marilyn Ellison had the best score for Onchan winning 21-2 whilst Jacqui Elliott for Port Erin prevented a full house winning her game 21-17.

Next week Peel will look to further close the gap to Port St Mary with a home match against Onchan before a tricky away game to Nobles.  Port St Mary A are away to Douglas A before playing local rivals Port Erin at home.

In the Trend sponsored Over 60s League on Tuesday Peel Sunset were two points from a maximum beating Ballaugh 124-64 (5-1).  Mary Moffatt 21-5 and Pat Robertson 21-9 were Peels best performers whilst Brenda Bowyer prevented the whitewash by beating Lynda Wilson 21-19.

Port Erin took on Villa with home greener Carol Kaye using all her knowledge and experience winning 21-1.  Teammates Jean Thackrah 21-8 and Jacqui Elliott 21-7 also won well however, Port Erin were pegged back in two games as Pat Kelly and Muriel Cain won for the visitors restricting Port Erin’s win to 108-74 (4-2).

Port St Mary welcomed Nobles and the visitors would have been pleased to win three games as Sylvia Kennuagh 21-15, Viv Cook 21-12 and Joyce Ogden 21-15 all won for the away team.  The difference on the final result is Port St Marys strength as their winners won 14, 6 and 2 with Val Macfarlane and Margaret Tasker winning to single figures.  The final result was a home win 105-85 (3-3).

Marown made the short Journey to face Douglas and remained the only unbeaten side in the league winning the match 67-110 (1-5).  Mary Alderson won 21-5 for the away team and Jan Osborne prevented the home side losing to a maximum by winning 21-5.

In the remaining games on Tuesday South Ramsey beat Breagle 111-72 (4-2), Castletown defeated Mooragh Park A 108-86 (5-1) and Mooragh Park B lost 61-105 (1-5) to Onchan.

As Thursday’s matches kicked off Port St Mary who sit out this round of matches would have been keeping a close eye on Peel’s result to see how much advantage they would keep at the top of the league.

Peel Sunset closed the gap to five points after collecting their second maximum of the season away to Villa.  Joyce Kelly won 21-1 to remain undefeated this season and the final score was 85-126 (0-6)

Marown who sit in third position hosted Port Erin.  Fine individual performances from Ceila Joughin and Mary Alderson setup the win with the home side keeping their 100% record the final score being 120-81 (4-2).

Onchan performed well at home defeating South Ramsey 108-89 (4-2) with standout home performances from Maureen Payne and Dee Lewis.  Elaine Moore and Ann Gale won for the away side.

In other matches played on Thursday Breagle lost at home to Douglas 78-109 (2-4).  Mooragh Park A were defeated by Port St Mary B 91-98 (2-4).  Nobles beat Mooragh Park B 122-53 (5-1) and Castletown won away at Balalugh 80-106 (2-4).

After round 7 Port St Mary sit at the top averaging 113.83 however, Peel Sunset are right on their tails averaging 113.  Marown sit third with Nobles fourth.

Looking ahead Mooragh Park A & B will now move back to their home green.  Round 8 see’s Peel and Marown go head-to-head.

In this weeks Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s League Tuesday saw three matches end as whitewashes.  Port St Mary bounced back from their loss to Marown last week with an emphatic 126-45 (6-0) victory over Breagle who were a player short.  Margaret Tasker and Wyn Collister both won to single figures.

Marown kept up the pace by picking up their first full house of the season winning away to Mooragh Park B 54-126.  Philippa Taylor, Margaret Scarffe and Marcia Pearson winning well for the away side.

Peel Sunset also collected their first full house beating Port St Mary B 126-69 with Mary Moffatt, Heather Horsburgh and Lynda Wilson all winning 21-8.

Douglas faced Ballaugh who were a player short and lost the match 75-98 (3-3) with Peggy Griffin and Brenda Bowyer putting in fine performances both winning 21-6.

The closest game on Tuesday saw Port Erin take on Mooragh Park A.  Home players Carol Kaye, Jenny Cain won 21-7 and 21-6 respectively and despite Janet Monk winning for the away team 21-4 the home side held on to win 99-80 (4-2)

Nobles sit out from Thursdays matches and welcomed Onchan to Nobles Park.  Slyvia Kennuagh, Viv Cook and Flo Price all won to single figures for the home side to give them a comfortable 107-81 (4-2) victory.  Onchan players Maureen Payne won 21-3 and Dee Lewis held on to beat Josie Harding 21-20.

Thursdays match of the day came between Mooragh Park A and Peel Sunset.  Mooragh Park won the match by six chalks 107-101.  Both teams won three games each to underline how tight the match was.

Marown won four games in their match against South Ramsey but crucially lost two to single figures making their overall total against South Ramsey well below their league average.  They won the match 90-74.

Villa locked horns with fellow club members Douglas.  Douglas were two players short and won all the other four games including Moire Turner and Jan Osborne winning to 9 and 6 respectively.  Despite the result in the four games the 42 chalks given away was too much to claw back and Villa won the match 87-84.

Onchan hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors winning 5-1 on games.  Maureen Payne won 21-2 against Wyn Collister to prevent a full house and Port St Mary won the match 95-107.

To round up the remaining matches Mooragh Park B picked up their second win of the season away to Breagle 100-107 (4-2).  Ballaugh lost at home to Port Erin 77-114 (2-4) and Port St Mary B were pipped by nine chalks losing to Castletown 94-103 (3-3)

Looking at the league table after round 5 it is starting to take shape.  As there is an odd number of teams I am looking at the average score of each team and Port St Mary lead the way averaging 115 followed by Nobles 111 and Marown 109.  Next week the current top two face each other at Port St Mary.

The Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s League headed into its first double week and saw Marown and Douglas the only teams to win both their games.

On Tuesday newcomers Mooragh Park B collected their first win by defeating Ballaugh who were one player short 91-88 (3-3).

South Ramsey hosted Mooragh Park A in the Ramsey Derby and it didn’t disappoint.  Both teams won three games each but crucially it was Mooragh who won their games more convincingly and won the match 112-98 (3-3).  Two of the islands top lady bowlers faced each other as Elaine Moore took on Janet Monk.  Janet just having the upper hand to win 21-17.

Onchan used their home advantage to good effect brushing aside Breagle 125-76 (5-1).  Kay Primrose Smith beat Jean Quine 21-20 to ensure Onchan didn’t walk away with a maximum.

Champions Port St Mary won all six games as they defeated Villa 126-46.

Douglas won the first of their two matches with a narrow three point win over Port St Mary B and Castletown travelled to Port Erin and won 106-94 (4-2).  Nobles hosted Marown with both teams sharing three wins each, Marown just had the edge on the day winning by three points 113-110.

Thursdays game of the day saw Marown host Champions Port St Mary who Marown have not beaten at home in the last seven years.  The match was finely balanced with Mary Alderson and Marcia Pearson winning to 19 and 18 respectively for the home team whilst Rita Callister and Margaret Tasker winning 15 and 8 respectively.  Marown won the last two games impressively with Philipa Taylor defeating last years merit winner Val McFarlane 21-4 and Shirley Whelan beating Wyn Collister 21-10 to give Marown an overall 107-93 (4-2) victory.  I have previously stated Marown are one of the most improved teams in the league and I can only see them causing a few more upsets as the season unfolds.

Villa recorded a maximum score beating Mooragh Park B 126-62 with good individual performances from Margaret Corlett and Pat Kelly.

South Ramsey travelled one short to Ballaugh which gave the home side the advantage from the outset.  South Ramsey players Elaine Moore and Helen Caley won to single figures which would have overturned the deficit but home player Voirrey Oates won 21-1 to ensure there was no upset on the cards and Ballaugh won 89-76.

Castletown and Peel Sunset ended being a low scoring game with both teams winning two games to single figures.  Peel came out on top winning the match 91-87 (3-3)

In the other games Breagle lost at home to Nobles 76-111 (1-5).  Port St Mary B lost 101-115 to Port Erin and Mooragh Park A lost to Douglas by three points 95-98 with both teams winning three games.

The Trend sponsored Ladies Over 60s Bowling League returned this week with reigning champions Port St Mary A making a blistering start by beating Ballaugh 126-56 (6-0). Port St Mary A have won the league the last four seasons and on this early performance they will be hard to stop again this season.

Second placed team last year Peel Sunset will be looking to push Port St Mary and underlined their title credentials with a strong showing down south beating Port Erin 110-66 (5-1) with Jacqui Elliott winning 21-5 to prevent a whitewash.

Castletown faced Douglas at home and edged the match 114-101 with both teams winning three games each.

Villa were home to Nobles and unfortunately were one player short as they went down 40-114 (1-5) with home player Pat Kelly winning to save their blushes.

Mooragh Park A are playing their home matches in April at South Ramsey and first up were league newcomers Mooragh Park B. The A team won 126-48 (6-0) and whilst that is not the start the B team will have wanted I can only see these ladies improving as the season progresses and it is great to see another club being able to field a second team.

Port St Mary B faced the other new team in the League South Ramsey who return to the over 60s league for the first time since 2007. Port came out on top winning 101-85 (4-2) with good individual performances from Edwina Reid, Pauline Whorrall and Elaine Moore who all won to single figures in the match.

Marown who have been the most improved team over the last few seasons beat Onchan 111-98 (5-1) with Margret Scarffe the best winner for the home side 21-7 whilst Marilyn Ellison won 21-6 for the away side to prevent a full house.

Looking ahead to next week sees a double week with a Northern derby between South Ramsey and Mooragh Park A. Port St Mary face Villa at home and a tough away encounter at Marown later in the week.