Unfortunately both Peel Sunset and Purt le Moirrey were a player short on Friday 19 May. Peel travelled to Castletown where a good win by Shirley Corrin saved their blushes while Purt le Moirrey did a little better on their visit to Mooragh Park, coming away with three winners in Tracy Moore, Chris Holland and Lesley Coker. South Ramsey were ruthless against Onchan, winning all nine games, six of them to single figures. The best result for Onchan was Wendy McDowell’s 14 against Kim Hargraves. Port St Mary had a strong result against Nobles, winning 6-3 with all nine players reaching double figures. The three winners for Nobles were Sylvia Kennaugh. Rebecca Teare and Paula Firth. It was hard fought at Marown where all but one player reached double figures, the home side taking the match 5-4, defeating Port Erin by just eight points, Barbara Graham won to single figures at Douglas, but it was not enough as Ballaugh lost 4-5 on games with two of the Douglas players also winning to single figures.

There were no very high scores in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league on Wednesday 17 May. In the top of the table clash at Castletown, the tricky green caught several of the Port St Mary players out, the home side winning 6-3 on games, although Ann Maddrell and Margaret Tasker almost added to the visitors’ games tally, reaching 19 and 20 points against Marie Ashurst and Ann Hollingworth respectively. Top scorers of the night were Mooragh Park on their visit to Onchan. The two winners for the home side were Marilyn Ellison and Sue Gawne, while five of the visiting side won to single figures.South Ramsey were successful on their journey south, winning 5-4 on games, but with four wins to single figures they had a good points advantage. Nobles also won 5-4 and despite Rosie Winckle’s win to single figures for Marown, the home side’s three wins to single figures gave them the match .The star game saw Shirley Whelan edge out Alison Keggen 21-20. Purt le Moirrey had the better of Douglas 6-3 with three wins to single figures. Two of Douglas’s wins, by Brenda Williams and Jan Osborne were also to single figures, but it was not enough. Ballaugh showed the advantage of fighting for every point as, despite losing 4-5 on games, they came through to win by 5 points.

Peel Sunset struggled to pass the 100 point mark when they visited Port St Mary in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 12 May. Joyce Kelly was the lone winner for the visitors, although Mary Moffatt and Shirley Corrin both came close reaching 19 against Kellie Maddrell-Reeve and Ann Maddrell respectively. Castletown won 9-1 on games when they visited Marown, Philippa Taylor being the home sides’ only winner, taking her game to single figures as did Ann Hollingworth for Castletown. Shirley Whelan and Lil Smith both reached 19 points against Hilary Kermode and Heike Perry. Debbie Leece and Rebecca both won to single figures when they visited South Ramsey, but were the only winners for Nobles, although Paula Firth came close to giving them a third game, losing out 20-21 to Kim Hargraves. Ballaugh also won eight games as they took on visitors, Purt le Moirrey, Tracy Moore and Edwina Reid taking two games for the visiting side.Douglas had the advantage 5-4 on games, and winning three games to single figure against Onchan’s one ended with a good points difference. At Mooragh Park all eighteen players reached double figures, with two games going all the way, Mavis Franks and Voirrey Curphey being edged out 21-20 by Julie Reilly and Maureen Lacey.

The quarter finals of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap competition took place on Thursday 11 May. Nobles played host to Mooragh Park, whose 35 point handicap advantage could not stop the progress of their opponents who were on brilliant form, dropping just one point thanks to Rosemary Quirk coming through 21-20 against Alison Keggen. Having recently had a close battle against Marown, where they won by just two points, Peel Sunset did not feel confident about facing them again, particularly as they started with a 25 point advantage. The visiting players struggled to come to terms with the Peel green, only Mary Alderson and Shirley Whelan winning their games, although Lil Smith came close reaching 20 against Joyce Kelly. Port Erin were very much in the ascendancy against Purt Le Moirrey, winning six games,four of them to single figures. The three winners for the visitors were Roma Ware, Linda Dawson and Tracy Moore who just edged Lynda Cadamy 21-20. Rita Callister almost gave her side a fourth game reaching 20 against Voirrey Curphey. The fourth match looked very tasty as last year’s winners faced the reigning league champions with a 10 point start on handicap. Port St Mary took five games to Castletown’s four, but with three of their players winning to single figures they had a big enough points lead to make the handicap irrelevant.

With the match between Castletown and South Ramsey being held over until Tuesday 9 May, there were only five matches played in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league on Friday 5 May.

Three teams passed the 170 point mark with Nobles falling just short on 169. Top scorers were Port St Mary with 178, as only Celia Joughin from the Marown team managed to take a game off them.

On 174 were two teams, Port Erin and Peel Sunset. Douglas had two winners in Paula Garrett an Jan Osborne, with Mary Black almost adding a third as she reached 19 against Caroline Whitehead, but with three games won to single figures Port Erin finished with a healthy points margin.

It was a similar tale at Peel with Edwina Reid and Tracy Moore being the two winners for Purt le Moirrey. The game of the match saw Sarah Quirk come back from 17-6 down to just edge out Lesley Coker 21-20.Onchan had three winners against Ballaugh but with each of their other players being unable to reach double figures their opponents ended with a big points difference.

For Onchan the only way is up, and with a lot of new talent on show it will be interesting to see their results this time next year.

Mooragh Park are another club who have had to rebuild, and already they are beginning to be a force to be reckoned with. Although well beaten on points by Nobles, they did win four of the nine games.

It was tense for two of the top teams in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league, on Friday 28 April, when Port St Mary made the long journey up to South Ramsey. The home team had the better on games, 5-4, in match where all players reached double figures and two games went all the way with Kellie Maddrell-Reeve edging out Gill Dixon 21-20 while in reply Shelley Kennish had a similar result against Ann Maddrell. South Ramsey ended with a win by just three points.

It was even closer at Marown where, despite the home team winning 5 games with Rosie Winckle winning to single figures, Peel Sunset came through by 2 points with Sue Jones and Shirley Corrin both winning to single figures.

Top scorers of the night were Nobles with six wins, two of them to single figures, at Douglas. They also had a 20 as Rebecca Teare just lost out to Paula Garrett.

Mooragh Park’s four wins, one to single figures, kept Castletown’s score down when they travelled North, although the Southern team had three wins to single figures to give them a healthy points margin.

Purt le Moirrey also had a wide points margin against Onchan, although only winning 5-4 on games, with all players reaching double figures and three wins to single figures.

Finally a 6-3 win for Port Erin at Ballaugh gave them the advantage in a low-scoring match.

After four games in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies’ league, Castletown are leading the way followed by South Ramsey and Port St Mary. They were top scorers in the matches played on Friday 21 April, dropping just nine points against Douglas. The two winners for the visitors were Mary Black and Jan Osborne who came through 21-20 against Barbara Young.

The improvement in the Mooragh Park side was shown in their performance at Port St Mary where they won four games with Vicky Lloyd-West nearly making it five as she lost out 21-20 to Katy Williams.

Second placed South Ramsey had a successful trip to Marown, winning 5-4 with three wins to single figures, although there were some close games, with Fiona Kennish reaching 20 against Irene Corlett and Jill Quayle 19 against Philippa Taylor.

Nobles have made a strong start, currently lying in fourth place, and proved too much for Ballaugh winning 6-3, with Viv Cooke reaching 19 and Lin Ruscoe scoring 20 against Alison Millard.

Peel Sunset had a good night at Onchan where they were made to work for their win. The home side had three winners and it was nice to see them with a full side, and spares! Purt le Moirrey could only muster two wins, courtesy of Tracy Moore and Edwina Reid against a rampant Port Erin who won seven games, four of them to single figures.

The weather was not kind for the preliminary round of the Jean Kelly Memorial team handicap knock-out competition played on Wednesday 19 April.

Nobles and Castletown were both in devastating form, and won all nine games with six of them to single figures. At Nobles Marilyn Ellison put up the greatest resistance, reaching 16 against Lin Ruscoe, and at Castletown Jan Osborne reached 16 against Heike Perry while Pat Kelly almost denied the hosts a full house as she just lost out 20-21 to Anne Oates.

Mooragh Park showed that as a team things are looking up – they had a good win at Ballaugh, and would have been victorious even without their handicap. Although it was close on games, the visitors having the advantage 5-4, the fact that all their players reached double figures gave them a big points advantage.

The final preliminary round match, between two teams who will be fighting over the summer for the league title, looked tasty on paper and did not disappoint in fact as they produced a nail-biting encounter. Port St Mary won 6-3 on games with three wins to single figures, with the three winners for South Ramsey being Lyn Bolton, Elaine Moore and Jenny Moore who also won to single figures. Despite Jenny’s result and their 10 point handicap the visitors fell just 6 points short.

Going through to the next round will be Nobles, who play Mooragh Park, Port St Mary who play Castletown. Having had byes in the preliminary round Peel Sunset will now play host to Marown, while Purt le Moirrey visit Port Erin.

PRELIMINARY ROUND: BALLAUGH 162, MOORAGH PARK 218; CASTLETOWN 194, DOUGLAS 133: NOBLE’S 204, ONCHAN 119: PORT ST MARY 147, SOUTH RAMSEY 141