Castletown Bowling Club hosted the Charity Cringle Fours men’s open competition on Sunday attracting 18 pairs to compete for the trophy on a green that was running well on the day.

The quarter finals were well contested with the lowest losing score being 16-21 with Shaun Seal (Douglas) and Collin Holland (Castletown) losing out to the South Ramsey pairing of James Teare and Steven Waters, while home greeners Alan Phair and Cliff Clague were beaten by the Marown/Peel combination of Sam Clague and Dean Kinley 19-21. In the bottom half of the draw Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) and Alan Moore (South Ramsey) ended the challenge of Jimmy Sansom (Douglas) and Andy Kennish (Peel) 21-16, with Nathan Hamilton (Port St Mary) and Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) just edging home 21-20 against South Ramsey pair David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves.

The high scoring games continued into the semi-final as Teare and Waters put paid to the challenge of former home greeners Clague and Kinley 21-17, with their score helped with a three and a four early on in the game. In the other semi-final Roberts and Moore looked favourites to progress to the final as they were ahead 13-8 and 18-15, also led 20-18 only for a single and a double from Hamilton and Kelly being enough to progress through to the final with a 21-20 win.

The final started with it tough to call who would be favourites, however the younger pairing of Hamilton and Kelly took control of the game with eight ends played to lead 16-10 thanks to a full house scoring four. Teare and Waters got back into the game taking five consecutive singles to sit just one chalk behind at 15-16 only for Hamilton and Kelly to find another gear despite winning one end fewer throughout the match than their opponents as they took a deserved 21-17 win and with it Hamilton’s first open win.

At the conclusion of the competition the presentation was made by Phil Taubman, who thanked Kath Kinley and the club members for the smooth running of the competition & announced that £232 had been raised for Manx Blind Welfare Society. Presenting the prizes was Murray Cringle, son of long term sponsor Noel Cringle who passed away last year.

Port Erin Bowling Club hosted the Association Singles on Sunday with the competition attracting a perfect 32 entries on a much improved green, which was running well.

The first two quarter finals were well contested with Neil Withers (Marown) losing out 18-21 to South Ramsey’s David Bradford, whilst Matthew Keggen (Marown) just lost 19-21 to Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary). In the bottom half of the draw it was a lot more straightforward with Colin Kelly (Marown) seeing off Peter Greenlees (Peel) with a 21-11 win, whilst Marown captain Paul Dunn had his challenge ended by South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves with the latter taking a 21-9 victory.

In the semi-finals Bradford took on Roberts with the game well contested throughout, the scores were tied at 15-15 after 14 ends, with Bradford going on to take four of the last six ends to secure his place in the final with a 21-17 win. In the other semi-final between Kelly and Hargraves it was the latter who was the quickest out of the blocks taking a 11-6 lead early on only for Kelly to draw level at 13-13 after 11 ends. From there Hargraves took control of the game to win the next five ends scoring seven chalks in the process to lead 20-13. Kelly threatened a comeback with four successive singles, however Hargraves got the single point needed to win 21-17.

The final got underway between the two long time team mates, with Hargraves settling into the game well to hold a three chalk lead over Bradford after eight ends with the score at 11-8. From there Hargraves never fell behind in the game, playing good length bowls to build a 16-12 lead, only to concede a double to leave the game finely poised at 16-14. Hargraves immediately bounced back with a double after a poor end from Bradford. Three good leads over the next three ends were enough for Hargraves to secure a 21-14 win and with it the first Men’s singles competition title of the 2022 season.

The presentation was made by competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Port Erin for the use of the green, the club members for providing helpers and refreshments throughout the day and the competition committee for the smooth running of the competition.

With the first round of fixtures for the 2022 Canada Life International season getting underway this week all three divisions started with the a double week to get into the swing of things.

Peel A who finished third last year got off to a flier this week with a 2-8 away win on Monday over Castletown A. The Western team followed this up with a storming 10-0 win over Douglas A, with four single figure wins from Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, George Gadsby, Tommy McMeiken and Gary Smith. Dean Kinley who was rumoured to be going into Peel’s B Team this season, has played both games for the A Team so far, could well remain there having won both of his games, this included a return to his old stomping ground for the first game of the season. The highest scoring visiting player was Jimmy Sansom as he lost 14-21 to Peter Greenlees.

Occupying second place are South Ramsey A, having a solid week with a 2-8 away win over Douglas A who were unlucky not to take two points more off the visitors as Bob Clark battled back from a huge deficit to get over the line 21-20 against Shaun Seal, whilst fellow new signing Jordan Cain also got home with a 21-20 win over Ian Moore. Winning for Douglas were Andy Cannell with a 21-20 win over Glynn Hargraves, with Jimmy Sansom taking a 21-18 win over Peter Collister.

On Wednesday South Ramsey A were at home to Peel B, with the weather changing swiftly as they started in sun, with heavy hailstone and then rain arriving, with the weather clearing just as quickly again. The wins for the home team were comfortable, with stand-in Andy Mackie stepping up from the D Team and proving his appearance in the final at the Marown Floodlit competition recently was no fluke as he beat Stefan Kelly 21-19 to save the whitewash as he won 18 ends to his opponents 12 ends.

In third place are Marown A as they too started the season strongly with a 9-1 home win over Port St Mary A, with Port’s new signing Nathan Hamilton taking a brilliant 21-14 win over Manx Champion Colin Kelly. For the home team Harry Barton has made the step up from the B Team and he won 21-15 against Tim Williams, with Sam Clague who has joined from Castletown inflicting a 21-14 defeat on Trevor Quayle.

On Wednesday Marown A had a tough away trip to Onchan A, would have been happy to come away with a 3-7 win, with Colin Kelly returning to winning ways, Marown captain Paul Dunn showing a return to form with a 21-9 win over Matthew Quirk, which was matched by Neil Withers beating Mike Thomas. Will Penhallurick has stepped up from the B Team and he made it two wins from two games with a 21-14 win over Paul Kelly, with Phil Kerruish and Reg Temporaza both winning 21-11 against Sam Clague and Phil Kelly respectively.

Elsewhere Castletown A have had to move a number of players up from the B Team following the exodus of five of their younger players of the winter, they bounced back from their opening fixture defeat to Peel A by beating Port Erin A 3-7 at Breagle Glen on Wednesday evening.

North Ramsey A start the season with a run of away fixtures due to not having floodlights, their form will no doubt pick up once they get a run of home fixtures, as they suffered back to back 3-7 defeats at the hands of a strong looking Marown B and Peel B.

Newly promoted Onchan B currently sit in mid table on eight points as they lost 2-8 at home to Marown B, they quickly picked up their first win of the season on Wednesday, 6-4 at home to Port St Mary A, whilst Port Erin A weren’t able to capitalise on home advantage as they lost both of their opening fixtures.

In Division Two Finch Hill A are the early leaders with 15 points after two games, with South Ramsey B hot on their heels just one point off top spot following a good 8-2 home win over Douglas B on Monday, and a 4-6 away win over a strong looking Marown C who themselves will be looking for promotion.

Last year’s relegated teams Ballaugh A beat South Ramsey C 7-3 at home, only to suffer a 6-4 loss away to Castletown B, whilst Noble’s A are finding their feet with a 7-3 win at home and a 7-3 defeat away to Ballaugh B who were promoted from Division Three over the winter. The Noble’s members have recruited a number of signings over the winter as they look to take a step forward and rebuild the club, with some great effort and enthusiasm I would like to wish them all the best.

In Division Three Douglas C are the early pacesetters following two 8-2 victories at the expense of Noble’s B and Port Erin B as they hold a four-point lead over North Ramsey B and Ballaugh C.

It was great to see Noble’s field a second team once again this season after a winter of doubt, with the B team fielding a full team in both fixtures.

Ballaugh C will once again look to be in the mix for promotion, having finished last season in third place.

Elsewhere Castletown’s C team survived, despite the exodus from their A Team over the winter, whilst Peel D will look to continue their improvement with a full seasons experience now under their belt.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One it was a rare double week with the top teams once again clashing as we get to the business end of the season.

Marown A will reflect on a poor week as whilst they won both games it was a chance missed to apply some pressure at the top as they dropped two points in their 8-2 win against their B Team at Crosby on Monday night with Karl Parker beating Juan Killip 21-14, while Peter Kelly beat Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-20.

On Wednesday evening Marown A were once again at home this time to Port St Mary A who stunned the Crosby men as they took four vital points off the visitors, with Trevor Quayle beating Paul Dunn 21-10, Tom Collins won 21-15 against Matthew Keggen, while Paul Russell stunned John Gelling 21-12. The shock of the night was Wayne Roberts beating Colin Kelly 21-19, with Kelly suffering a second home league defeat of the season. To put this into context prior to this season Kelly’s last home league loss was in 2011 to a certain John Kennish.

Peel A made the short journey north to take on Ballaugh A on Monday, the visitors came away with a 1-9 win. Patrick Grant was the star of the night as he beat Peter Greenlees 21-3, whilst South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against Castletown A on a heavy green due to rain throughout the day localised to Ramsey, with the visitors losing 7-3 but good value for their three wins with Bob Clark beating James Teare 21-2, Jordan Drewett won 21-8 against Chas Grills, while Sam Clague beat Alan Moore 21-12, with the scores tied at 12-12 the former took six consecutive ends to seal his win.

On Wednesday night Peel A hosted league leaders South Ramsey A in the Sunset City, with the home team starting the match having won every home game so far this season, for a time it looked like the match would go 4-0 in their favour with George Gadsby storming home 21-4 against Chas Grills, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly got over the line 21-17 against Stefan Kelly having led 18-5 at one point, while Tom Kelly crept home with a 21-19 win over Peter Collister. Peel captain Gary Smith had a five-point advantage at 19-14 over Alan Moore with the latter finishing the game strongly to run out with a 21-19 victory.

In the second half of the match South Ramsey hit back with captain Glynn Hargraves pulling the chalks level (82-82) with a superb 21-0 win over recent Autumn Shield winner Peter Greenlees. Next off was Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly who was always in control with his 21-13 win over Tommy McMeiken, whilst James Teare bounced back from his heavy defeat on Monday evening to put Andy Kennish to the sword 21-13. David Bradford rounded off the night and a remarkable comeback as he beat Darren Young 21-14 to seal a 3-7 victory for the visitors. The result leaves South Ramsey in a strong position barring a huge disaster, as they are 11 points ahead of Marown A and 14 points ahead of Peel A with just two games to play.

At the bottom of the table Noble’s A are officially relegated to Division Two, where they will look to regroup over the winter as they find their level, however they can leave with their heads held high as despite two defeats this week, they performed well as they lost 4-6 away to Peel B, followed up by a 3-7 home loss to North Ramsey A.

Ballaugh A are all but relegated as they look to be making an immediate return to Division Two after a tough week losing 1-9 at home to Peel A on Monday evening. On Wednesday evening they fared a bit better losing 3-7 at home to Douglas A.

In Division Two Onchan B moved to the top of the table following a 9-1 home win over Port St Mary B, then hit top spot despite only drawing 5-5 at home to Peel C in what could prove to be a costly result as the home team lost five games.

In joint second place just one-point back on the league leaders are Port Erin A and Castletown B with the latter recording two solid 9-1 wins this week, as they turned over South Ramsey B at the Crofts on Monday evening, then finished the week strongly as they beat Marown C at Crosby.

Port Erin A had a good start to the week and a bad finish as they seen off Douglas B 9-1 at home, while their visit north to take on South Ramsey B didn’t end so well as they were defeated 8-2. South Ramsey B remain in the mix in fourth place just four points off top spot with two games to play.

Finch Hill B have been relegated to Division Three as they are over 40 points away from safety with only 20 points available, while Port St Mary B are 14 points from safety and look to be dropping into Division Three.

In Division Three Ballaugh B look to be in control at the top of the league as they used their game in hand to go eight points clear of Onchan C following their 2-8 away win over Douglas C, which was followed up by a 9-1 home win over Peel D.

Onchan C also look assured of finishing no worse than second place as they won 8-2 in their only game this week, they are 15 points clear of Ballaugh C with just two games to be played.

Douglas C sit rock bottom as they are 26 points adrift of their lower ranked D Team who have outperformed them, and will no doubt need to have a reshuffle of players should they look to push for a higher finish next season.

On Saturday Ballaugh Bowling Club held the 32nd Keenan 4’s which was first played for in 1989. There were 35 pairs entered, the weather being fine starting cloudy but improved throughout the day.

In the top half of the draw the first quarter final was an all South Ramsey affair with Alan Moore and Glynn Hargraves taking on Stefan Kelly and Stuart Marshall. A tight game at 17 across after 13 ends Alan and Glynn sealed the win 21-18. The second quarter final was between Bob Clark (Castletown) and David Bradford (South Ramsey) versus Marown stalwarts Paul Dunn and Neil Withers 16 across after 17 ends, then Clark and Bradford won the game 21-16.

In the bottom half of the draw the third quarter final was between visitors Andrew White and Colin Crawford (Two Gates) and Glenn Moore and Tony Smart (North Ramsey). White and Crawford showed their class with a 21-10 win. The final quarter final was between home greeners John Keenan and John Maddrell against Andy Kennish (Peel Sunset) and Reg Temporaza (Onchan). Kennish and Temporaza were always ahead winning 21-12.

In the semi-finals Moore and Hargraves beat Clark and Bradford 21-15, whilst Kennish and Temporaza beat White and Clark 21-16.

In the final Kennish and Temporaza took the first four ends without reply from Moore and Hargraves giving them a buffer to win 21-13.

At the conclusion Club Captain John Maddrell thanked John Keenan for sponsoring the event for the 32nd year, Matt Moffat, the green keeper for preparing the green, Pat Mason and her team of ladies for the catering. John also thanked Richard Faragher, Maurice O’Reilly & Trevor Jones for running the competition so efficiently.

The highlight of the men’s team calendar, the Rayner Shield final sponsored by Canada Life International was held at the Villa (Douglas Bowling Club) on Thursday evening between Peel A and South Ramsey A on a superb playing surface. The northern men who are currently top of the league started as favourites, with Peel being the current holders of the Shield. For the third year running both captains agreed to do the draw ahead of the night, this once again generated considerable interest with a fantastic crowd in attendance on a fine evening for bowls.

First off the green with a win for South Ramsey was David Bradford, who is enjoying a fine season built up a 12-4 lead over Tommy McMeiken. Bradford maintained the lead to win 21-12. Next off was veteran Chas Grills who caused a mini upset with his game finely poised at 17-17 against Peel captain Gary Smith, with Grills running out to record a 21-17 win to put South Ramsey 2-0 ahead on games.

The last two games from the first half went to the wire and gave Peel some real hope with Dave ‘Barney’ getting over the line against South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves, with Kelly recovering from falling behind several times in the game with the latter playing crucial reaching bowls throughout to stay in the game and to eventually win 21-20.

Within 15 seconds of the third game finishing the match was level at 2-2 on games with George Gadsby playing an unbelievable last bowl against James Teare with the latter fighting back from a 15-19 deficit and counting for two at 20-20. Gadsby played a perfect bowl to count for game and snatch a crucial 21-20 win.

The match appeared to be finely balanced, however hope soon faded for the western men with South Ramsey taking big leads in the final four games as Dave’ Dido’ Kelly took a 15-7 lead over Andy Kennish, whilst Dido’s son Stefan Kelly stormed into a 15-3 lead against Peter Greenlees with both father and son playing their renowned corner to crown and back marks brilliantly. Alan Moore and Stevie Kelly was the last match on with Moore quick out of the blocks taking a 9-0 lead.

With three games falling heavily in the Ramsey men’s favour there was a sense of lost hope for Peel, with the fifth game on the green between Peter Collister and Tom Kelly coming to a conclusion with the score at 20-18 to Collister who finished the game off by playing a brilliant length bowl for South Ramsey to lead 3-2.

With enough points on the board for South Ramsey it was a case of when the win would be officially secured, this came fairly quickly with Dido Kelly capping off a fine performance as he beat Andy Kennish 21-7 to secure the Rayner Shield win on the night and the clubs fifth win overall.

Dido’s son Stefan ensured the outright win on games as he kept his focus to see the game out with a superb 21-9 win over Greenlees to put the match score at 5-2.

The last game on the green between Alan Moore and Stevie Kelly became difficult, with both players knowing the match was over, however this didn’t stop the game from going to the wire with Kelly recovering from a 0-9 deficit to lead 17-12 and then 20-14, only for Moore to respond with three quick-fire doubles and was counting one for game only for Kelly to play a good last bowl to secure Peel’s third 21-20 win of the night.

The result cannot be argued with South Ramsey winning three games comfortably, whilst winning the other two games to 17 and 18, with all three of South Ramsey’s defeats being to 20 the northern men also won by 39 chalks (165-126).

The presentation was made by competition committee officer Steve Moore, who thanked Canada Life International for their continued sponsorship of the competition and Douglas Bowling club members for assisting throughout the evening. Association President John Ryder was then introduced to present the Rayner Shield to South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves who congratulated his team, offered commiserations to Peel, thanked their green keeper for preparing a superb surface and to everyone who had turned up to watch.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One it was an emotional night for the home team Port St Mary A played their last ever league fixture on the current green, signing off in style as they beat North Ramsey A 8-2. Five single figure wins went in favour of the home team as Trevor Quayle beat Paul Cannan 21-1, Wayne Roberts beat Ray Skelly 21-3, with Paul Skelly not far behind as he on 21-5 against John Cannan, while Robbie Cooil and Tim Williams won 21-8 against Tony Smart and Allan Callow respectively. Winners for the Mooragh Park men were captain Gary Merrill as he beat Tom Collins 21-15, while Steve Walmsley won 21-18 against Dan McCabe.

Marown A visited second from bottom Ballaugh A with the home team managing to take two games off the Crosby men as they did to South Ramsey A recently as they lost 2-8. Tony Quine pulled off a stunning 21-18 over Marown captain Paul Dunn, while Edgar Cowin beat Phil Kelly 21-20. The result may have been worse for the visitors, however Juan Killip edged home 21-19 against John Keenan, while Paul Kelly just got the win 21-20 against Barry McDonald. John Gelling came back into the team in place of Dean Kipling as he won 21-9 against John Maddrell, with Matthew Keggen, Colin Kelly and Neil Withers the other winners.

Peel A hosted Castletown A with the home team taking a good 8-2 win with captain Gary Smith recording the biggest win of the night as he beat Peel Town Cup Finalist Dean Kinley 21-6. For Castletown Bob Clark won 21-12 against Darren Young, while Jordan Drewett beat Peter Greenlees 21-18. All of the home wins for the Peel men were comfortable.

Toughest match on paper this week was South Ramsey A who hosted Onchan A. After four games South Ramsey were 4-0 up on games, with David Bradford up against Reg Temporaza, after recovering from a 2-9 deficit Bradford took charge to win 21-16. South captain Glynn Hargraves beat Phil Kerruish 21-12, Peter Collister won 21-10 against Mark Kelly, while James Teare dug deep to run out from a 16-19 deficit to win 21-19 against Steve Parker. Onchan hit back with Matthew Quirk winning 21-6 against Chas Grills, with Jordan Cain also winning as he beat Stefan Kelly 21-16. Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly made no mistake as he beat Kevin Quirk 21-7, while Alan Moore had to battle to overcome Frank Watson 21-18.

Douglas A recorded a 7-3 home win over Peel B with all the games reaching double figures. Winning for Peel were Dougie Allan who beat Merv Sayle 21-15, David Smith beat Jimmy Sansom, while David Proctor had a tough battle with Ian Moore before winning 21-18. For the home team Kevin Firth recorded the biggest win as he won 21-10 against the ‘real’ Paul Quirk, while Andy Cannell didn’t have it all his own way as he won 21-17 against Michael Kavanagh, with Shaun Seal continuing to go well in the individual merit as he beat Paul ‘Pooky’ Quirk 21-18.

Marown B picked up their second successive win as they beat Noble’s A 8-2 at Crosby. For the visitors Les Brookes caused an upset as he beat Glenn Boland 21-17, while Dave Naughton beat Brian Cain 21-15. For the home team Kevin Kelly beat Mark Kneen 21-8, with Darren Kerruish winning to the same score against Juan Qualtrough, while Karl Parker had to work hard for his 21-19 win over Martyn Hobson, as did Bobby Thorne with his 21-20 victory over Stephen Hampson.

In Division Two South Ramsey B continue to be consistently inconsistent as they travelled to Onchan B, with the home team winning 8-2. Whilst the result wasn’t surprising Neil Dunwell did cause an upset as he beat Tony Dugdale 21-13. The only winners for the visitors were Steven Waters who beat Mike Kelly 21-15 and Bryan Corner who won 21-11 against Mike Thomas. For the home team Colin Spence beat Edward Carlyle 21-7, Mike Alexander won 21-1 against Tony Marler, while Paul Clinton just snatched a 21-20 win against Ben Dugdale. Onchan B are just three points behind South Ramsey B with a game in hand.

Finch Hill B had a good week as they won 7-3 against Rayner Plate Finalists Marown C, with just three chalks separating the teams (135-132). For the visitors Walter McCarthy won 21-9 against Brian Atherton, as did Jamie Joughin as he beat Chris Thompson. Finch Hill had one single figure win from Stephen Oates who beat Marown captain Stephen Rundle 21-8.

Castletown B and Finch Hill A did each other no favours as they played out a 4-4 draw with the Town men getting the 6-4 win as they easily won the chalks (141-115). Castletown B are still well placed to return to top spot as they sit just two points South Ramsey B, also have a game in hand.

Peel Sunset C made light work of visitors Port St Mary B as they won 9-1 on Tuesday evening with Will Cain the lone winner for Port as he beat Ian Pendlebury.

The closest match of the week was between South Ramsey C and Port Erin A who played a 5-5 draw. The home team only won three games, however they secured the aggregate by four chalks (141-137) helped by James Evans winning 21-6 against Peter Addison.

In Division Three Onchan C occupy top spot following their 8-2 home win over Castletown C, whilst Ballaugh B remain in contention nine points behind with a game in hand following their 3-7 win against their lower ranked C Team. Noble’s B had a good 8-2 home win against Peel D, with Andrew Cover and Philip Pemberton both winning close games to prevent the whitewash, while Port Erin B came away from the Villa with a 2-8 win over Douglas C.