The games were more evenly matched on Friday night with two of the contests ending with nine points between the two teams. At Douglas the home team were 6-3 ahead on games but wins to single figures by the three Purt le Moirrey winners gave the visitors the nine point advantage. League leaders Port St Mary had the better of South Ramsey 5-4, in a low scoring match, with two wins, and two losses, to single figures. Marown were successful on their travels winning 7-2 against Onchan. However Eileen Thomas and Libby Andrade with good single figure wins kept their visitors’ score down. Peel Sunset completed a successful week with a 6-3 win at Noble’s Mixed, the three winners for the home side being Sylvia Kennaugh, Josie Harding and Paula Firth who won to single figures. Port Erin were the night’s top scorers, winning seven of their nine games. The two winners for Ballaugh were Jenny Maddrell and Jane Teare who came through 21-19 against Sylvia Maddrell, while Christine Macdonald almost gave them a third game, reaching 20 against Phil Dobson.

Wednesday 6 August saw the Ramsey “Derby Match” taking place in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored ladies’ league. South Ramsey made the most of home advantage to win 5-4 on games, Gill Dixon nearly making it six games as she lost out 20-21 to Chris Price. Another close game saw Kellie Maddrell-Reeve reach 19 points against Jenny Moore. Purt le Moirrey won 6-3 at Ballaugh, but with the home players all reaching double figures, in particular Christine Macdonald just losing out 20-21 to Tracey Moore, and Mary Simmonds and Ann Gale winning to single figures, the home side took the match by six points. Peel had a convincing 7-2 victory over Onchan, Jo Smith and Eileen Thomas being the two winners for the visitors, while it was a similar story at Marown where Mavis Franks and Lynda Cadamy won for Port Erin. Castletown won 5 games against Noble’s Mixed, but with Hannah Kermode and Marie Ashurst winning to single figures they had a comfortable points advantage. Port St Mary won 6-3 against Douglas, with three players winning to single figures, the three winners for the visitors were Paula Garrett, Lynne Mansley and Wendy Cowin while Patsy Rush reached 20 against Tricia Bull.

Second placed Mooragh park were top scorers in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd ladies league on Friday 1 August, with only Shirley Whelan from Marown winning her game to deny them a full house. Leaders Port St Mary weren’t far behind winning seven games, five of them to single figures, although Peel did have two winners in Joyce Kelly and Pat Robertson. Castletown did not enjoy their journey north to meet South Ramsey where the home side won 6-3 on games. However there were some very close matches with Fiona Kennish’s 21-19 against Ann Hollingworth was matched by Kath Kinley’s win over Gill Dixon by the same score. The closest game of the match saw Jenny Moore edge out Hannah Kermode 21-20. Douglas with five wins, two to single figures, and every player reaching double figures, had a comfortable win on points against Port Erin while Purt le Moirrey with five wins, three to single figures, had a clear win over Onchan. The closest match of the night was at Noble’s Mixed, the home side winning 5-4 on games with a margin of 13 points.

Things are getting tense at the top of the table with the two main contenders both recording scores in the 180’s. Shirley Whelan was Marown’s only winner against Port St Mary, although Lil Smith came close reaching 19 against Win Collister, the visitors winning eight games, four of them to single figures. Ballaugh won three tight games against Mooragh park, Brenda Bowyer and Christine Macdonald both won to 19 against Ellie Cowell and Jean Radcliffe respectively while Jenny Maddrell was taken all the way by Rosemary Quirk before coming through 21-20. Douglas had a tough time on their travels south, Castletown winning seven games, four of them to single figures, although the visitors did have two winners in Kay McKiernan and Wendy Cowin. It was a good night for Port Erin, assisted by Onchan being a player short, winning 7-2 on games with Voirrey Curphey and Kay Primrose-Smith both winning to single figures. Lynda Clarke and Viv Rush were the two winners for Onchan. Noble’s Mixed had a comfortable win at Purt le Moirrey, Tracey Moore and Amanda Lawler being the two winners for the home side, while things were much closer at Peel where Sunset lost 4-5 on games to South Ramsey and by a margin of just 9 points.

Friday night was notable for the number of very one-sided matches the exception being at Noble’s Mixed where the home side won 5-4 on games and a margin of 11 points. Clare Cooper had a win to single figures while Sylvia Kennaugh just pipped Jean Thackrah 21-19.Castletown had the better of Peel Sunset 6-3 with four wins to single figures, while in reply Peel won two games to single figures. In contrast was the tussle between Sue Peach and Philippa Taylor with the Peel player coming through 21-20.Onchan were a player short against Douglas but with wins by Jo Smith and Dee Lewis together with Viv Rush reaching 20 against Kath King they managed a score of over 100.Jenny Maddrell was the lone winner for Ballaugh at Port St Mary who had four wins to single figures, South Ramsey scored a maximum against Marown with six of their players winning to single figures, while Purt le Moirrey faced up to moorage Park with only seven players. Tracey Moore was the only winner for the visitors, winning to single figures to keep the home side’s total down.

Mooragh Park’s long journey south proved fruitful, on Wednesday 16 July in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored league, as they dropped just 2 points to Port Erin with six wins to single figures, Phil Dobson being the lone winner for the home side. It was a similar story at Purt le Moirrey as Tracey Moore was their sole winner against Port St Mary who also had six wins to single figures. Douglas were unfortunately a player short on their trip to Peel who won 6-3 on games with two wins to single figures. Jean Quine had a close match with Harley Garrett, just losing out 20-21.Although Ballaugh had the better of South Ramsey 6-3 on games, wins to single figures by Elaine Moore and Lyn Bolton more than off-set Brenda Bowyer’s, keeping the home side’s advantage down to 8 points. Noble’s Mixed won 5-4 against Onchan with Rebecca Teare winning to single figures while Marown took four games off Castletown. However with three of their players winning to single figures the visitors had a comfortable points advantage.

There were only four matches played in the C tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored league on Friday 11 July as Marown and South Ramsey each had a player away representing the island. The two missing matches will be played on Wednesday 30 July.

Douglas had the better of Noble’s Mixed 6-3 on games with Lynne Mansley winning to single figures for the home side as did Lin Ruscoe for the visitors. Other games were closer with three going to 19 and Rhona Argallon reaching 20 against Brenda Williams. The other three matches were very one sided with two sides being a player short. Onchan could only field eight players against Mooragh Park, but managed to win two games courtesy of Eileen Thomas and Viv Rush while Dee Lewis took Kim Hargraves all the way before going down 20-21 to take their score over the 100points mark. Castletown also benefited from their opponents being a player short. With four of ther players winning to single figures wins by Ann Gale and Jane Teare were not enough to take Ballaugh’s score into three figures. Port Erin also failed to reach three figures against Port St Mary who were in imperious form with four of their players winning to single figures. Sylvia Maddrell saved a whitewash for the visitors with a 21-19 win over Tricia Bull.

Match postponed from Friday 4 July

The match between Marown and Douglas postponed from 4 July and played on Thursday 10 July was a close encounter with the home side winning by 5 games to 4 and a margin of just 7 points. The feature game of the match saw Margaret Scarffe pipping Muriel Cain 21-20, while Marcia Pearson had a win to single figures.

Heavy rain on Friday 4 July meant that only two games were able to take place in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd ladies’ league.

Peel Sunset travelled to Ballaugh where, although winning 5-4 on games they scraped victory by just 5 points. Philippa Taylor won to single figures as did Barbara Graham and Mary Simmonds for the home side. Two matches went all the way with Jenny Maddrell losing out 20-21 to Joyce Kelly in what was definitely “a game of two halves” while Jayne Smith went down to Brenda Bowyer by the same score. Noble’s Mixed, like so many teams, struggled on their visit to Mooragh Park, the home side taking the match 6-3 on games with three of their players winning to single figures. The three winners for the visitors were Rebecca Teare, Sylvia Kennaugh and Lin Ruscoe.

Castletown had a 15 point advantage on handicap when they visited Port St Mary in the semi-final of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap competition on Thursday 26 June. Despite an advantage of 6-3 on games with Val Macfarlane winning to single figures, wins to single figures by Sue Peach and Hannah Kermode together with a win for Marie Ashurst and losing scores in the high teens gave Castletown a win by 1 point before the handicap kicking in increased their lead to 16 points.

Again the result was not dependant on the handicap when Peel Sunset visited South Ramsey. The home side had the better of it in terms of games won, but wins to single figures by Philippa Taylor and Heather Horsburgh, backed by wins from Joyce Kelly and Jean Quine together with solid scores from those who didn’t win their games gave them an eight point advantage on the green.

PORT ST MARY (scr) 151, CASTLETOWN (+15) 167:

SOUTH RAMSEY (+10) 156, PEEL SUNSET (+30) 184

Mooragh Park closed in on league leaders, Port St Mary, as they scored a maximum against Douglas in the C Tarleton Hodgson and Son Ltd sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 27 June. Douglas put up some spirited performances with Kath King reaching 20 against Kim Hargraves and Jan Osborne and Harley Garrett both scoring 19. Port St Mary could not match the maximum but won 5 games against Noble’s Mixed, four of them to single figures, while all their players reached double figures to give them a comfortable points victory. Things were close at Marown where the visitors won 5-4 on games. Wins to single figures by Mary Alderson and Shirley Whelan, together with Lil Smith’s 20 against Ann Gale gave Marown a 2 point advantage. Castletown took 7 games in their match against Port Erin, the two winners for the visitors being Voirrey Curphey and Sylvia Shelbourne, while Onchan had a tough battle when they entertained South Ramsey, going down 3-6 with Elaine Moore and Lyn Bolton winning to single figures for the visitors. The scoreline was very similar at Peel, although it was the home team who had the advantage on games and points with Joyce Kelly and Sue Jones winning to single figures.