The Men’s 2018 Over 60’s Championships Finals Day took place on Wednesday 18th July on North Ramsey Green at the Mooragh Park with six of the sixteen competitors taking part belonging to the North Ramsey Club.
At the Quarter Final stage we saw some close games with Geoff Porter beating Norman Racliffe 21-19 and Stuart Garrett taking a 21-16 win from Bernie Mc Phee. Ray Skelly pipped Roger Thomas 21-19 in another close match and Steve Parker had a 21-17 win against the consistent Peter Oates.
So as we came to the Semi Finals we still had three North Ramsey Players looking for a chance to play in the Final but Stuey Garrett returning to the Town of his childhood had other ideas as he edged past Geoff Porter to take a 21-19 win.
In the second Semi-Final Ray Skelly took on Clubmate Steve Parker and it was Steve who eventually ran out the 21-18 winner.
The Final then saw the home Green knowledge of Steve Parker matched against the experience and big game temperament of Stuart Garrett and it was the latter man who took the win 21-10.
So after a good afternoons bowling the 2018 Men’s Over 60’s Champion is Stuart Garrett with Steve Parker the Runner up.

As we came to Tueday 3rd July the long term League Leaders Castletown A continued to shine as brightly as the sun as they defeated Port Erin 7-1 with Derek Allen being Port Erin’s only winner defeating Ron Williams to 12.
Second placed Peel Sunset A travelled to Crosby to play Marown who are proving difficult to beat on their home Green and this was again the story as Marown took a 5-3 home win denting the League Championship hopes of the Westerners.
Douglas A travelled to play Ballaugh B on a quick and tricky Green and after the first four games the Ballaugh men led 3-1 but the men from the Villa fought back to take the last four games and a 5-3 victory despite a very creditable performance from the Ballaugh Team.
Douglas B hosted Castletown B and this ended 7-1 to Castletown B with the only winner for Douglas B being Les Quayle who beat Kevan Osborne 21-8.
At Nobles Park the Nobles B side were beaten 6-2 by South Ramsey with Brian Cain and Terry Bates picking up the wins for the Nobles men.
In a sunny Mooragh Park and on a Green improving rapidly in condition every day the North Ramsey B side beat Finch Hill A 5-3 and back in the East at Onchan Park Onchan A had a great 6-2 win over Ballaugh A with only Barry McDonald and Peter Graham managing wins for the Ballaugh A Team.
Port St Mary A hosted Onchan B 7-1 with Moore Kelly taking the Onchan sides only win and finally Port St Mary B lost 5-3 to Peel Sunset B.
With Thursday being Tynwald Day the matches were carried forward to Friday and Castletown A hosted Nobles Park A who on their day are capable of beating anyone. It proved to be a close match but in the end Castletown A ran out 5-3 winners to maintain their lead over the chasing teams.
Castletown B travelled to play an ever improving Ballaugh B in a match that had some very close games before ending 4-4.
At the ‘Villa’ Douglas B proved themselves to be Team of the Day as despite being two players short they beat Port Erin 5-3 to lift themselves off the bottom of the League.
Port St Mary had a home game to Ballaugh A and in a match that saw three games end 21-20 it was the Southerners who eventually ran out 5-3 winners.
Port St Mary B travelled to Marown where they found the home team too strong on a tricky Green and it was the Marown men who took a 7-1 win.
At Onchan Park Onchan A were on good form as they beat Douglas A 6-2 while the Onchan B side were not so lucky in the Sunset City as they went down 5-3 to Peel Sunset B.
And finally Nobles B were unable to get enough players to field a team against North Ramsey A at the Mooragh Park and therefore this is awarded as an 8-0 win for North Ramsey who were willing to rearrange the fixture.
So after another week of the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League we have Castletown A still leading with 43 points from 23 games followed by Peel Sunset A with 38 points from 22 games and in third spot are Marown with 37 points from 23 games.

After the break for the June Bowling Festival the Teams in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s Men’s League were all raring to go on a beautiful warm Tuesday.
League leaders Castletown A hosted Finch Hill A and this resulted in a 7-1 win for the ‘Town’ with the only winner for Finch Hill being Tony Epifani. The Castletown B Team travelled West to play the Peel Sunset B Team and it was the Westerners who took a 6-2 win with John Alderson and the ever steady Peter Curtis getting the wins for Castletown.
With second placed Peel Sunset A sitting it out the most intriguing match of the day was at Crosby where Marown hosted Douglas A on an extremely quick Green. In an encounter which Marown won 6-2 there were some very close games and at the end only 6 chalks divided the teams and the winners for Douglas A were Andy Kennish and Stuey Garrett.
Douglas B Team hosted North Ramsey A and the men from Ramsey showed no sympathy as they despatched the Douglas side 8-0 on a quick Villa Green.
Nobles A travelled to Onchan Park to play Onchan A and despite having only 6 players they managed to take a 4-4 draw while the Nobles B side hosted Port St Mary B at Nobles Park where the side from the South took a 5-3 win.
Ballaugh A took a trip to the Mooragh Park to play North Ramsey B where there was a tight game which ended in a 4-4 draw after a good performance from the Ramsey players. Ballaugh B hosted the other Ramsey side in South Ramsey with this game also resulting in a 4-4 draw.
And finally Port Erin took the short trip to play Port St Mary A with the Port St Mary men taking a 7-1 win with Derek Allen being the only winner for Port Erin.
So with the second batch of games on Thursday we has Castletown A again putting up a strong performance as they beat Onchan B 6-2 at the Park with the two winners for Onchan being Ken Clarke and Brian Woodall with the latter beating Peter Oates who was in contention for the Individual Merit.
The second placed team Peel Sunset A also put up a strong performance as they defeated Ballaugh B 7-1 with John Bolton being the only Ballaugh B winner.
After their good win over Douglas A on Tuesday Marown went down 5-3 to Nobles Park A in Nobles Park while Onchan A took a 7-1 away win at Finch Hill.
Ballaugh A welcomed Peel Sunset C to sunny Ballaugh and they were too strong for their visitors as they defeated them 8-0 while Peel Sunset B travelled even further North to South Ramsey where they were beaten 6-2 with Jimmy Corlett and Phillip Clarke being the winners for the Peel side.
North Ramsey A had a 7-1 win over Port St Mary A with Mike Ware being the only man to score points for the Southerners while North Ramsey B had a 4-3 win over Port Erin with both teams being one player short.
Douglas A took advantage of their ‘quick’ Green at the Villa to beat Nobles B 6-2 and Douglas B travelled to Port St Mary B where the Southerners won 7-1 with Tony Creer winning for the men from the ‘Villa’.
So Castletown A maintain their lead over Peel Sunset A by one point and it is difficult to predict who will win the League although in previous years Castletown A have proved that once they get to the top it is difficult to get past them.
The Individual Merit is currently being led by Andy Kennish of Douglas A and our best wishes go out to Andy as he represents the Isle of Man in the J and J Isherwood Vet’s Merit in Shropshire on Wednesday 4th July.

The Over 60’s Tower Insurance League saw some close matches and interesting results with good weather bringing out good bowling with the top teams trying to maintain their positions before the T.T Week break.
Peel Sunset A were given a tough match by Finch Hill A but in the end it was the Westerners that came through to take a 5-3 victory. Peel Sunset B Team travelled to Crosby to play Marown and found the home team too strong with Marown winning 6-2 with Eddie Convery and Paul Baker being the winners for Peel. It was however a very tough day for Peel Sunset C who went down 8-0 to Port St Mary A.
Douglas A hosted Nobles A with a strong performance from the home side
seeing them come out as 6-2 winners over the Nobles side who struggled to get to grips with the ‘Villa Green’ which was quicker than they usually compete on. The Douglas B Team travelled just up the road to Nobles Park where they shared the honours 4-4 with Nobles B.
At the Mooragh Park we saw North Ramsey A do well to get a 5-3 victory from a strong Ballaugh A side while the North Ramsey B men lost 6-2 to Ballaugh B.
Onchan B played South Ramsey at Onchan Park and this ended 5-3 to the Onchan men while finally Port St Mary B hosted Port Erin and this resulted in a 6-2 home win.
Thursday saw a Southern Derby between League Leaders Castletown A and Port St Mary A and after a close battle this ended ‘honours even’ with a 4-4 draw which was duplicated by the B Teams with Castletown B and Port St Mary B drawing 4-4 also.
Peel Sunset A went to the South to play Port Erin and with a dominant display the Westerners took an 8-0 victory while back in the West Peel Sunset B beat their C Team 6-2 with Bert Quayle and Leslie Halsall getting the C Team wins.
Finch Hill A hosted Douglas A and they made the men from the Villa fight hard to take a 5-3 win while Douglas B suffered a 7-1 loss to Marown with Ray Osborne getting the one victory for Douglas B.
Onchan A took a 7-1 win from Nobles B at the ‘Park’ with Terry Bates getting the only Nobles B win. Meanwhile back at Nobles Park the Nobles A men took a 6-2 victory over Onchan B with Moore Kelly and Ken Clarke getting the wins for Onchan B.
At Ballaugh we saw the meeting of Ballaugh A and B with the A Team taking a 7-1 win and John Bolton was the only winner for the B Team.
South Ramsey hosted North Ramsey A in a match that ended 6-2 to North Ramsey A with Chas Grills and Robert Callister taking the South Ramsey wins.
So as we come to the T.T break the leading positions in the League are as follows; Castletown A with 31 points.
Peel Sunset A with 31 points.
Douglas A with 28 points.
Onchan A with 28 points.
Marown with 27 points.
All the above have played 17 games.

As we came to the start of another week of Over 60’s Men’s Bowls with Game 15 it was beginning to look as if Castletown A may well go unbeaten for the entire season and they reinforced this theory with an impressive 8-0 win over North Ramsey A. The Castletown B team however were on the receiving end of a 7-1 defeat by Port St Mary A in the deep South of the Island.

Second placed Peel Sunset A had a good 7-1 win over Nobles B while the Peel Sunset B team hosted Douglas A with the men from the Villa taking a 6-2 away win and Peel Sunset C picked up their first win of the season with a 6-2 win over Finch Hill A.

Port Erin travelled to Onchan Park where they were beaten 7-1 by Onchan A while Onchan B travelled to the Mooragh Park where they took a 5-3 v[ctory over North Ramsey B.

Ballaugh B hosted Nobles A and it was the Douglas side that took a 5-3 win while Ballaugh A had an impressive trip to Crosby to take a 5-3 win over a strong Marown side.

South Ramsey A had a trip to the ‘big smoke’ to play Douglas B and the Northerners went back over the mountain with a 7-1 win under their belts.

Game 16 started with Castletown A travelling to the Villa to play Douglas A and a tough but friendly battle ended all square at 4-4 with the Castletown side dropping what was only their second point of the season. The Southerners may well have dropped both points but for Peter Oates playing a ‘Captains game’ and squeezing a 21-20 victory from Jimmy Sansom.

Peel Sunset A fought out a 4-4 draw with Port St Mary A in the ‘Sunset City’
with Peel Sunset B travelling to Finch Hill A and also playing out a 4-4 draw and finally for the Westerners their C Team travelled to Castletown and were beaten 7-1 by Castletown B with ‘Bert the Bowler’ Quayle being the worthy winner for the Peel team.

Ballaugh A had a 7-1 home win over Douglas B with Arthur Ashcroft being the only winner for the men from the Villa while Ballaugh B travelled Onchan Park where they were beaten 5-3 by Onchan B with Onchan A taking a 6-2 away win at Port St Mary B with the winners for the Southerners being Andy Sykes and Derek Kneen.

North Ramsey hosted Marown at the Mooragh Park and this resulted in a 5-3 win for the local side, North Ramsey B travelled across the Town to play South Ramsey and also ran out 5-3 winners.

Port Erin hosted Nobles B and this ended with a 5-3 win for Port Erin although it could easily have been a draw with the match between Stuart Gale and Tony Birch ending 21-20 to the Southerner.

So after an interesting week in Over 60’s Bowls we have the top five as follows,

Castletown A played 15 for 28 points.
Peel Sunset A played 15 for 27 points.
Onchan A played 16 for 26 points.
Douglas A played 15 for 24 points.
Ballaugh A played 16 for 24 points.

Thursday 3^rd October saw the Castletown A side maintain their run to win theTower Insurance Men’s Over 60’s League with a convincing 7-1 home win overBallaugh B with Paul Bradford being the only winner for the Ballaugh side. In the reverse fixture of this the Castletown B side travelled to Ballaugh and were on the receiving end of a similar 7-1 defeat with the only Castletown B winner being Dave Ali.

Marown maintained their good form with an 8-0 defeat of Nobles B while Nobles A defeated the Finch Hill team 7-1 at Nobles Park.

In the picturesque Mooragh Park the North Ramsey A Team beat Port St Mary B 7-1 with the consistent Brian Lowe being the only winner for Port St Mary B. Meanwhile in Port St Mary the North Ramsey B side were beaten 6-2 by the Southerners A Team with the only winners for the men from the Mooragh being Bryan Corner and David Lacey.

At the ‘Villa’ it was Douglas A who beat their own B Team 8-0 while in the sunny North of the Island it was South Ramsey who ran out 5-3 winners over the Port Erin team.

Peel Sunset A travelled to Onchan Park to play Onchan B and went cheerfully back to Peel with a 7-1 victory ‘under their belts’ with Roger Payne being the only winner for Onchan B. The Peel Sunset B Team hosted a strong Onchan A Team and it was the Onchan side that won 5-3.

So as we came to Game 11 on Tuesday 8^th May the question was who would be the first to ‘slip up’, would it be League Leaders Castletown A or chasers Peel Sunset A?

Castletown A soon showed that they ‘were not for slipping up’ as they took an 8-0 victory over Nobles B and Peel Sunset A travelled to Ballaugh for a tricky fixture with the Ballaugh A side and it was the Ballaugh men who took the victory 5-3 therefore giving Castletown A a clear lead in the League.

In a tight match at Nobles Park the Nobles A side drew 4-4 with Castletown B while a little further down in Douglas Finch Hill ran out 6-2 winners over Port Erin.

In a an equally close match at the Mooragh Park, North Ramsey A and Douglas A fought out a close battle that resulted in a 4-4 draw while back in Douglas the North Ramsey B side won the match without losing a game.

Peel Sunset B took a 7-1 home win from Balaugh B with Bobby Clayton taking the only win for Ballaugh B while at Onchan Park the Onchan B Team were beaten  6-2 by their A Team.

And finally South Ramsey beat Port St Mary B Team 6-2 with Brian Lowe and Ashley Qualtrough being the winners for Port St Mary B.

So at the conclusion of play on 8^th May we see Castletown A still in the lead having played 11 games for 22 points followed by Peel Sunset A with 18 points from 10 games and Marown with 16 points from 9 games and in fourth place Ballaugh A with 16 points from 11 games.

Game 7 on Tuesday 24^th April once more saw wet weather clothing being almost as important as the woods themselves this season with persistent rain through most of the afternoon.

This did not dampen the spirits of League Leaders Castletown A though as they travelled to Douglas B and came away with an 8-0 win. The Castletown B side hosted Douglas A and it was the Douglas side that got off to a great start and were 4-0 up after the first half but the Southerners fought back and the game ended in a 5-3 victory for the men from the ‘Villa’.

Peel Sunset A travelled to Port St Mary B and achieved a 6-2 success with Brian Lowe and Chris Oates taking the wins for the Port St Mary side. Meanwhile back in Peel the Peel Sunset B team lost 5-3 to a strong Port St Mary A side and  Peel Sunset C travelled to Onchan Park where they lost 6-2 to Onchan A with Leslie Halsall and Brian Lindsey taking the two wins for the Westerners.

Ballaugh A had a very successful ‘day out’ in Douglas where they beat Nobles Park A 5-3 while the Ballaugh B Team stayed at home and had a 6-2 win over Nobles B with Terry Bates and Brian Atherton being the two winners for the Nobles Park men.

Finch Hill A found the visiting North Ramsey A side too strong as the Northerners beat them 6-2 but the North Ramsey B side went down 7-1 to Marown at Crosby with David Thompson being the only winner for the North Ramsey B Team.

And finally at Port Erin there was a close battle between the home side and Onchan B which resulted in a 4-4 draw with some close hard fought games.

Game 8 on Thursday 26^th April saw the Castletown A Team being pushed very hard by a  strong Onchan A side at Castletown but the home men ran out 5-3 winners in a match that could quite easily have gone either way as there were some very close games. The Castletown B side travelled to Onchan Park where they were beaten 5-3 by the Onchan B Team also in a close match which could easily have gone either way.

Peel Sunset A who are the second placed team in the League played their own B Team and it was the A Team who ran out 7-1 winners with Phillip Clarke being the only winner for the B Team. Peel Sunset C meanwhile held North Ramsey B to a 4-4 draw in a match that saw the Westerners score their first point of the season.

Douglas A took a good 7-1 win from Port St Mary A at the Villa with Team Captain Colin Leece being the only winner for the Southerners. Douglas B travelled South to play Port St Mary B and this time the scores were reversed with Bob Banning being the only winner for Douglas B defeating Mike Skelly 21-16.

Ballaugh A showed great form beating Finch Hill A 8-0 at Ballaugh with the Finch Hill Team scoring only 70 chalks but unfortunately for Ballaugh their B Team were beaten 7-1 by Marown at Crosby with Ray Parry being the only

Nobles A hosted South Ramsey and it was the home side that took a 7-1 win with the only winner for South Ramsey being Chas Grills.

In the South of the Island Port Erin hosted North Ramsey A in a match that ended in a 4-4 draw.

So as Game 8 drew to an end we still had Castletown A topping the League having played 8 games for 16 points closely followed by Peel Sunset A who have played 7 games for 14 points. In third place are Marown who have played 8 games for 14 points and in fourth are Douglas A who have played 7 games for 12 points and in fifth place are Port St Mary A who have played 8 games for 12 points.

The qualifier for the Vet’s Merit (Jack and Jean Isherwood Trophy) was played at Douglas Bowling Club on Wednesday 25^th April and saw some excellent bowls from the Over 60’s taking part in this Mixed Singles Competition.

In the Quarter Finals we saw one of the great games of the day with Stuart Garrett and Janet Monk both playing excellent bowls and Stuey built up an early lead only to be overhauled by Janet in the later stages with Janet winning 21-18.

Frank Watson ran out 21-9 winner over Lil Smith and Phillipa Taylor lost 21-12 to Jimmy Sansom.

In the remaining Quarter Final Andy Kennish showed good form and Ron Williams who did little wrong lost out 21-13 to Andy.

In the Semi Finals we once more saw Andy play well to beat Frank Watson 21-15 and Janet Monk showing that the Ladies can play as well as the Men battled hard in the game with some great bowls but eventually Jimmy Sansom won 21-17.

So Andy and Jimmy promised to be a great Final but Andy got on his ‘mark’ and no matter how hard Jimmy tried he couldn’t match him so Andy won 21-10 and will now go on to represent the ‘Island’ in the Final Stages of this Competition in Shropshire.

As we came to Game 5 on Tuesday 17^th April we were asking ourselves whether or not Castletown A could maintain their early season form as they travelled to South Ramsey and their 6-2 win in the North of the Island showed us that they certainly could. The two winners for the South Ramsey side were Chas Grills and Robert Callister.

The Castletown B side hosted Onchan A and it was only fitting that in a match with a number of very close games that the end result would be a 4-4 draw.

Ballaugh A had a visit from Peel Sunset B and after a strong attempt from the men from the Sunset City to take the honours it ended in another 4-4 draw.

Douglas A hosted Port St Mary A at the ‘Villa’ and this resulted in a 7-1 win for the home side but it has to be said that the Southerners made them battle for every game with some very close results. In what could only be described as an epic game Stuart Garrett eventually managed to pip Bernard Thackrah 21-20 and Pat O’Donohue also had a 21-20 win over Ken Karran.

The Douglas B side travelled the short distance to Nobles Park to play a strong Nobles A team and it was the Nobles side who took the points here with a 6-2 victory with the winners for the Douglas B side being Bob Banning and Arthur Ashcroft.

Finch Hill A had a 6-2 home win over Nobles B with Brian Atherton and Chris Duggan being the winners for the Nobles B side in a match that also had some close battles with John Harris for the home side edging Tony Jones 21-18 and Peter Woods and Brian Cain of Nobles B also just going down 21-18.

Onchan B hosted a good Marown side and it was the Crosby men who took the honours 5-3 at Onchan Park in what appears to have been a competitive match.

Port Erin had a visit from Ballaugh B in what would seem to have been a really tough match with some close results and at the end it was the home side that run out as 5-3 winners.

North Ramsey B travelled to Port St Mary B and the Southerners won this 6-2 with the winners for North Ramsey B being David Lacey and David Thompson.

Game 6 saw Castletown A once more putting on a good show in beating Ballaugh A 7-1 at Castletown. Bob Unsworth being the only Ballaugh A winner in this one as he beat George Peach 21-16. The Castletown B side who are currently only three places behind the A Team in the League also managed a good win beating Nobles B 5-3 at Nobles Park.

Peel Sunset A who are serious challengers for the ‘League’ this season travelled to Onchan Park and came away with a good 5-3 win over Onchan A which keeps them in contention for a high League position. The Peel Sunset B Team also had a good 5-3 win over North Ramsey A in the Sunset City while the Peel Sunset C men lost 6-2 to Douglas A.

Port St Mary A got back to winning ways with a 6-2 win over Finch Hill A with Billy Long and Arthur Halsall picking up wins for the Finch Hill side. Port St Mary B travelled to Ballaugh where the home side took a 6-2 win with Colin Leece and Brian Lowe picking up wins for the Southerners.

Douglas B hosted Onchan B at the ‘Villa’ and despite good wins from David Galbraith and the consistent Bob Banning the Douglas men lost 6-2.

In  a close match  at Crosby South Ramsey put up a spirited fight but lost out 5-3 to a good Marown side.

So at the end of another week of Over 60’s Bowls we have Castletown A holding the lead with 12 points but Peel Sunset A who have a game in hand are only 2 points behind them and are level on points with Marown on 10 poiints. Only 1 point separate’s the next five Teams which in order are Castletown B, Nobles A, Douglas A, Onchan A and Port St Mary A.

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