This weeks Over 60’s Bowls has been marred with controversy after Port St Mary B decided to concede their game at North Ramsey B, due allegedly to the fact that some of their players were also playing at North Ramsey in the evening! Actions like this have a serious effect not only on the running of the league and also the merit competition, and it seems inconceivable that they were unable to muster a team from the players available. I would like to add that North Ramsey A are the innocent party in this, and I am sure they would have definitely preferred to have played rather than be given a walkover. Teams should play each and every game, and not decide not to attend, when it suits them, as this not only affects the opposition it also affects each and every team in the league, and would result in anarchy if other teams took similar action. I am sure the Executive Committee will come up with a more suitable punishment than the docking of two points should anything like this happen again, for the good of our sport.

Enough ranting, on with the game, this week with North Ramsey sitting a game out, Castletown narrowed the gap to three points with a very close away win at Marown with two of the two players winning to all but the 5-3 victory could just of easily been reversed. At home on the Thursday Town A hit top form against Nobles B inflicting a whitewash on the visitors. Port St Mary A dropped a point on their visit to Douglas A before beating North Ramsey B 7-1 To lie four points behind Castletown A, Onchan have moved up to fourth place on 36 points two behind PSM A, missing the chance to close right up by getting draws at South Ramsey, then being held by Peel A at home, Peel A are level with Ballaugh on 33 points 3 behind Onchan, Ballaugh having a full house this week with two 5-3 wins at home to Finch Hill and Away to Onchan B, next up one point behind come Castletown B, Nobles A and Douglas A, Castletown B beat Port Erin 7-1 before going down 5-3 at Nobles A, who in turn lost to Peel A in their other match. Douglas A had two tough games and came away with three points holding PSM A before winning at Marown 5-3. With South Ramsey and Marown on 31 points only two points separate 5th to 11th positions. The Merit is led by Stuart Garrett of Douglas who has won 24 games on 23 wins are Mike Hargraves (Castletown) and Geoff Porter (North Ramsey) with 22 victories are Chas Grills (South Ramsey) and Ron Maycox (Port St Mary) while on 21 wins are Tony Carroon (Peel B), Roger Thomas (South Ramsey), George Peach (Castletown B) and Colin Hinds (Onchan). The Popular Charlie Howland Pairs Competition was played at Ballaugh on Friday in good conditions with 24 pairs in contention. After some excellent bowling throughout the competition the Onchan Pairing of Mike Thomas and Paul Bailey were the victors over home green pairing Dave Foulis and Paul Bradford 21-19 in a very thrilling final, the losing semi-finalist were also both from Ballaugh, Dave McTaggart and Arthur Moore and John Keenan and Peter Graham. The Over 60’s are very grateful for Charlie Howland for his wonderful sponsorship of the competition, Ballaugh Bowling Club for being such good hosts and the ladies in the kitchen for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon. The Ismay Cup Final between North Ramsey A and Port St Mary A will be held at Nobles Green on Wednesday 12th August 2pm start

The Tower Insurance Over 60’s League stills has North Ramsey A as top dogs after a 7-1 home victory over Nobles B on Tuesday, however they were slightly fortunate on their visit to Onchan B winning 5-3 including a walkover as Onchan B only had seven players available, The Southside Giants, Castletown A and Port St Mary A continue their chase of the leader, both also winning both games, Town went to their bogey green Port Erin and came away with a 7-1 win before using home green advantage to see of South Ramsey 5-3. Port St Mary had the result of the week going to Peel A and demolishing them 7-1 before whitewashing visitors Port Erin. Nobles A had the bragging rights against rivals Douglas A by using home advantage to win 7-1 with Vinty Dugdale being the first player to beat Stuart Garrett in the league this season, Onchan A have also hit form at present and had a whitewash over Finch Hill, and to show how close games can be North Ramsey B who are near the foot of the table nearly pulled of a surprise by only just going down 5-3 to Onchan A with North Ramsey Players losing to 20 and 19, Ballaugh also had a good week winning at Port St Mary B and then seeing of Castletown B, Another team moving up the league are Marown who collected four points this week with 5-3 wins over Douglas and Port St Mary B. The Merit Table has a new leader in Geoff Porter of North Ramsey who is fractionally ahead of Stuart Garrett of Douglas, both having won 22 games, Geoff missed out on opening up a bigger gap by losing to Ken Bridson of Onchan on the Thursday. On 21 wins come Chas Grills of Ramsey and Mike Hargraves of Castletown, with Ron Maycox of Port St Mary and Roger Thomas of South Ramsey on 20 wins. This week also saw the semi-finals of the Ismay Cup, with as expected the two home teams won both by 7-2 scores, North Ramsey A beating Port Erin and Port St Mary A defeating Peel B, This should make a very close final between two of the big guns in the league,

The Tower Insurance Over 60’s League has been torn apart by North Ramsey A, firstly they entertained Castletown A at the Mooragh and demolished the town 7 games to 1, to all but finish off the towns title ambitions, With second placed Port St Mary also in Ramsey playing South Ramsey and needing a win to keep up the pressure they were held to a 4-4 draw. North Ramsey A then headed to second place Port St Mary and again came up with the goods in a 5-3 away victory to move them into a five point lead at the top over the two Southside teams 34 points to 29points, and they certainly are odds on to claim their first ever league title. Castletown bounced back from their mauling to hand out the same medicine to Onchan A at the Crofts with an 8-0 whitewash. Castletown B had a good win over Marown by 6 -2 however it was far closer than the score suggests. While Douglas A went to Port Erin and came home with the two points in a 6-2 win. With Castletown B getting a draw on their visit to Peel B, Douglas had another 6-2 win this time at home to Port St Mary B to to edge ahead of Town B both on 26 points, Next up come Marown on 25 as they got back to winning ways by just edging visitors South Ramsey 5-3 on 24 points are Peel A who got 4 points this week with wins over Finch Hill 5-3 and Nobles B 6-2, on 23 come Nobles A and Onchan A.
Next week sees the Mini Cup Semi Finals on Wednesday with Douglas B hosting Peel B and Nobles B hosting Finch Hill. Could the captains ensure that my name and address is on the back of the card please. Also can I remind everyone that the closing date for the Over 60’s Championship is the 2nd July with qualifying on Wednesday and Thursday 8thand 9th July and the Finals taking place the following Wednesday 15th July all at Onchan, so please text your entries to me on 471301 or email [email protected] please remember to indicate your preference W=Wednesday, T=Thursday, and E=Either, to help with the draw or write the players wishing to play on the reverse of the fixture card.

With the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League nearly reaching its half way stage a breakaway group of three teams have opened up a reasonable gap on the chasing bunch. However if it was the Grand National they would have another lap to do so anything can happen, and probably will, look out for Beechers!! Leaders North Ramsey A march on relentlessly firstly beating their B team 8-0 before having a 7-1 home win against Ballaugh, The Castletown’s teams did not do each other any favours by sharing the points at the Crofts, with the A team then visiting Port St Mary B and coming away with a 7-1 win. Port St Mary A also played their B team this week and won comfortably against their understrength team mates. The Port A team then visited Castletown B and became the first team this year to win at the crofts against the B team to hold onto second place on 28 points, 2 behind leaders North Ramsey A, Castletown A come next on 27 points, while just hanging on to 4th place on 23 points are Town B with Marown level on points after good wins against Port Erin and away to Peel A. On 22 points come Douglas A who after beating their B team, sat out Thursdays game. On 21 points are Nobles A who gained four points this week with big wins against their B team and Onchan B, and Onchan A who also beat their B team although it was only 5-3 and then had a whitewash over Nobles B to also get four points this week, South Ramsey are in 9th place and Peel A in 10th place on 20 points at present after finishing runners up and fourth respectively last season. South Ramsey losing at Ballaugh before bouncing back against North Ramsey B, while Peel A were held by their second team before going down to Marown
With Ballaugh in 11th position on 19 points, with only five points separating 4th to 11th there is a lot to play for in the second half of the season, Peel B are next on 17 points after getting a point against their A team they lost out to Port Erin 5-3. Finch Hill are on 15 points, followed by Onchan B on 9 points, which they will be disappointed with after their strong showing last season, Port Erin are also on 9 with Nobles B on 8 points PSM B on 7 points, North Ramsey B on 3 points and Douglas B on 2

The Tower Insurance Over 60 Bowls League this week saw leaders North Ramsey A visit at the time 2nd Placed Castletown B and the result of a close encounter was the points shared in as very close draw, with Port St Mary playing their re-arranged match against North Ramsey B and coming away with a 6- 2 victory, coupled with two more wins this week away to Onchan B in a close 5-3 game and using home advantage to beat Peel B 6-2 they move into second place behind North Ramsey A who beat Douglas B 8-0 at the Mooragh to remain top dogs for another week with 26 points, two ahead of Port St Mary A and Castletown A who are locked on 24 points, Town had a struggle in beating North Ramsey B at the Mooragh 5-3 before using home advantage to beat Finch Hill 7-1next along come the Town B team who had to sit out a game this week on 22 points, next come Douglas A who have played a game more than all their close rivals on 20 points, after losing to Ballaugh before using home green advantage to beat North Ramsey B. only a point behind, come both Peel A and Marown on 19 points Peel A like Castletown B had to sit out a game this week but had a comfortable home win against Port St Mary B 7-1, while Marown had an away draw at Nobles B before defeating Onchan B 6-2 at home. South Ramsey are on 18 points after beating Douglas B at the Villa and then being held to a home draw by Nobles A. with Nobles A, Onchan A and Ballaugh all on 17 points, with Peel B on 16 points only 10 points separate the top 12 teams. The Ismay Cup provided a few upsets in close games in fact all three games played ended up 5-4 two in favour of the home teams and one for the visitors. The winning home sides were Peel B who saw off one of the favourites Castletown A while Port Erin mustered together a team to defeat Ballaugh in another close encounter, while Port St Mary continued their good week with a superb win at Onchan A. Unfortunately Port St Mary B were unable to field a team against North Ramsey A so had to forfeit the game. This leaves Peel B, North Ramsey A, Port St Mary A and Port Erin as the semi-finalists. The Merit is still lead by Stuart

Peel Sunset B provided the shock result of the week travelling to 2nd Place Douglas A they come away with a superb 5-3 victory to put a dent in the home teams title aspirations, this goes to back up the thought that on their day most teams can pull off surprise results, Douglas bad week continued as they had to visit Castletown A and went down 6-2 to leave them in 5th position having played 14 for 18 points, With leaders North Ramsey A having a superb win at tough to beat at home Onchan A before having a superb 7-1 win over another title contender Peel Sunset A THE Northerners sit looking down on everyone having played 13 games for 23 points, Two points in arrears of North Ramsey A on 21 points come Castletown B who used home advantage to beat South Ramsey 5-3 in a very close game before beating Douglas B to get maximum points this week, One point behind come Castletown A who still have the important game in hand on their B team. Castletown A had a very close 4-4- draw at Ballaugh with four games going to all but across, but vitally 3 of those games went to the home side, before as already mentioned they beat Douglas A at the Crofts On 18 points level with Douglas come Port St Mary A, but they have only played 12 but their rearranged game against North Ramsey B should off been played on Friday so the result will be in next week which should move them up the table. Port however suffered a hiccup on Tuesday going down 5-3 on their visit to Marown before getting back on track with 8-0 whitewash over visitors Nobles B. Peel Sunset A hold 6th place on 17 points after whitewashing Douglas B they suffered at leaders North Ramsey A on the Thursday. Marown had a superb week with two home fixtures they had wins over PSM And Ballaugh to climb to 7th place on 16 points with the all-important, game in hand on 6th place Peel. South Ramsey occupy 8th place on 15 points after losing out on their trip south to Castletown B they had a good 8-0 win over Port Erin. With Nobles A, Peel Sunset B both on 14 points. Peel B after beating Douglas A away were brought down to earth by next to bottom North Ramsey B who travelled west and came away with a point, which again proves any team can get points from each other. At Present Stuart Garrett of Douglas A leads the Merit having played and won 14 games, next come George Peach played 14 won 13 and Brian Redman played 14 won 12 both from Castletown B, closely followed by Geoff Porter (North Ramsey A) played 13 won 12, then on 11 wins are Tony Carroon (Peel B), Harry Kelly (Peel A), Peter Kelly (Marown), Dave Foulis (Ballaugh) Ron Maycox (PSM A) and Mike Hargraves (Castletown A)

League Leaders North Ramsey A have managed to avoid the curse of the leading team in the league by hanging on to top spot after defeating Onchan B by 7 games to 1 at the Mooragh on Tuesday and then sitting out the Thursday Game, This meant that both Douglas A and South Ramsey A had disappointing weeks, but to be fair Douglas A had two away games against top opposition, firstly they shared the points at Peel A before going down to Port St Mary by 6 games to 2, with South Ramsey losing both their games at home to Castletown A by 5-3 this was a very close match with the last game going in towns favour with John Alderson coming back to pip Chas Grills 21-20, South Ramseys misfortunes continued on their visit to Onchan A who are slowly finding their form to beat the northerners 5-3. This has allowed Port St Mary A to close within one point of North Ramsey A, both teams having played 8 games in third place are Castletown B who have played a game more but are level on 13 points with PSM A. Town B had a good victory over Ballaugh A at the Crofts 7-1 and followed up with a close win at Port Erin by 4 games to 3 with both teams being players short. Castletown A are a point behind their B team but have a game in hand, after another good week for the southerners, last week’s leaders Peel A and Douglas A are also on 12 points but both have played a game more than Castletown A, and Peel B are a point behind their first team but also have a game in hand. The Mini Cup saw holders North Ramsey B lose on their trip to Finch Hill A, while Douglas B had a great home win over a much depleted Port Erin team, and Nobles B also progress into the semis with a 6-3 win over PSM B.

The Tower Insurance Over 60’s League only had one set of league games this week, and what a surprise they turned out to be, with some of the lower teams gaining points from the top teams in what must be the most open league for years. Leaders North Ramsey A travelled to lowly Port St Mary B and ended up coming away with a solitary point in a 4-4 draw, with Castletown B using home advantage to beat a strong Nobles A team 6-2 it moves the southerners level on points with North Ramsey on 15 points albeit Castletown B have played 10 games to North Ramsey’s 9, Douglas A move into third place on 14 points edging Marown 5-3 at the Villa, Douglas having played 10 games, Castletown A travelled to Nobles B and ended up drawing 4-4 with Town losing two games to all but, this puts them on 13 points from 9 games. Next up come Port St Mary A whose game at North Ramsey B was called off due to a waterlogged green, Port also have 13 points but have only played 8 matches, also on 13 points are Peel Sunset A who were held at home by Onchan A, Peel Sunset B travelled to Onchan B and lost the chance to overtake their A team as Onchan B ran out 6-2 victors, leaving them on 11 points along with South Ramsey who sat out his week’s game. Douglas B travelled to Port Erin and came away with their first points of the season, as unfortunately Port Erin could only field six players. While Finch Hill used home green advantage to defeat Ballaugh 5-3. The Thursday was Ismay Cup Day with the top two teams at present in the league North Ramsey A and Castletown B playing at the Mooragh, North Ramsey were in sparkling form and ran riot against the town winning by 8 games to 1, as fate would have it third and fourth teams were also matched with Douglas entertaining Castletown A, again it was an 8-1 score line this time in the favour of Castletown. Ismay Cup holders Peel Sunset A lost their grip on the trophy going down at home to visitors Ballaugh in a very close game with the outcome resting on the final game which John Keenan just beating Alec Taylor of Peel 21-20. Port St Mary A travelled to Marown and came away happy with a 6-3 victory, while the Port St Mary B team joined them in the hat for the next round just edging out North Ramsey B by 5 games to 4, Nobles B on the back of their draw with Castletown A were unable to stop a rampant Onchan A from inflicting a 8-1 home defeat. Port Erin by virtue of having fixture against the now defunct Finch Hill B also go into the last eight, the final game was played on Friday and saw Peel Sunset B beat Douglas B by 7-2.

On a lovely day for bowls at the Villa, Mike Hargraves eventually got his name of the Foster Cup for the first time after in the first round beating last years winner Geoff Porter of North Ramsey in a very close game, he then put out last years runner up Stuart Garrett of Douglas in another close encounter 21-19. to reach the quarters where Mike beat another Douglas man Keith Rise to 16, the other quarters saw North Ramseys Brian Colquitt edge out team mate John Breen, Douglas man Bill Jones defeated Ian Kissack of Marown, and George Peach just managed to beat Colin Hinds of Onchan 21-20. The Semi Finals saw Bill Jones defeat Brian Colquitt 21-12 and Mike Hargraves saw of club mate George Peach 21-17 to set up a final between Mike and Bill, It was even stevens in the early part but them Mike found a good length to run out worthy winner 21 -11. Can I thank the two people who sponsor the Foster Cup Roy Williams and Stuart Garrett for their very kind sponsorship, Paula for looking after the catering side and Douglas Bowling Club for providing such a good green for the competition, and Ken and Roy for looking after the sheet. Unfortunately the entry was down on previous years with the Night League having fixtures in the evening, so a rethink into the possible day of the competition could be called for.

The lead in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League has changed yet again, after a black week for previous leader Peel Sunset A, who entertained reigning champions Castletown A on Tuesday and ended up on the wrong end of a 6-2 defeat, this was followed by a similar score line on their trip to Port St Mary A to compound a poor week for the westerners, however I am certain that they will come back from this setback stronger than ever. This allowed Douglas A to take over the mantle as top dog, with a fine 5-3 win on their trip to Onchan A, however the curse at the top say them drop at point at home to an accomplished Nobles A team to allow North Ramsey A to head the table after beating Finch Hill at the Mooragh 7-1 and then beating Nobles B by 6-2 at Nobles, this game was a lot closer than the score line suggests with Nobles having one player scoring 20 and two on 19. North Ramsey have 12 points from 7 games one ahead of Douglas A and South Ramsey, who beat Nobles B 7-1 in the north before visiting Onchan B and getting a 5-3 victory. On 9 points come Port St Mary who have a game in hand after two victories this week. Also on 9 points but having played 7 games come previous leaders Peel Sunset A, and Castletown B who also had two good wins
Next up come defending Champs Castletown A who like Port St Mary have a game in hand and are on 8 points along with Nobles A, while on 7 points are three clubs that also all have a game in hand these being Marown A, Ballaugh A and Peel Sunset B. This means that once the teams that have played a match more have to sit out their game there could be 10 teams within 3 points of the top. And this is not including the two Onchan teams who are going through a bad spell at present but both have the players to climb up the league. The Preliminary round of the Ismay Cup was also played this week and which pitted a lot of the top clubs against each other. Ballaugh A had a good away win over Nobles A by 6-3 while the other three games saw wins for home teams, Douglas A defeating Onchan B 7-2, Onchan A beating Finch Hill 7-2 and Port St Mary had a home win over South Ramsey with a 6-3 score line. Finch Hill gained some revenge on the Thursday when they used home advantage to beat Onchan A 5-3 in the League. The top fixtures next week are on Tuesday when Peel A’s tough fixtures continue with Douglas A turning up in the west, while third place South Ramsey entertain Castletown A. On Thursday Douglas travel down south to Port St Mary A, while leaders North Ramsey A have their turn to sit a game out. And a resurgent Marown visit Castletown A. Could I remind all captains that the postage rate is going up on 5th May and could they please put an extra 2p stamp on the result cards. Many thanks and good bowling