After only 5 games into the season every team has lost its 100% record in what is looking like the most open Tower Insurance Men’s Over 60’s League for a long time. Peel Sunset A now top the league with 9 points after a 6-2 home victory over North Ramsey B, then they visited Ballaugh and came away with a point in a very close match, I feel this could be a valuable point gained as Ballaugh have a very strong team with John Keenan and Peter Graham turning out for them to bolster an already good team. Douglas A travelled to South Ramsey on Tuesday and left the north empty handed going down 5-3. North Ramsey A had a close shave against Peel B at the Mooragh in their earlier game by 5-3 with one of the Peel B players losing to 20. This set up nicely the top game of the day between Douglas A and North Ramsey A, and it turned out to be a good day for the side from the Villa winning by 6 games to 2 to leapfrog North Ramsey into second place both teams on 8 points, South Ramsey completed a good week with an away win at Finch Hill to move into fourth place on 7 points. Two teams are on six points Nobles A and Peel B. Nobles held visitors Port St Mary A to a draw on Tuesday and then travelled to Marown and again shared the points. Peel B who are a team that everyone is starting to fear had a very close home win over Onchan A by 5-3 with an Onchan player scoring 20. On five points come Onchan B and Port St Mary A both these teams have had to sit out a game due to having an odd number of teams, while also on five points are Castletown B who got their season started at last with a 7-1 home win over Finch Hill before just sneaking a very close encounter at Nobles B by 5 games to 3 this game could so easily have ended up 5-3to Nobles. Marown had a good win away at Onchan A by 5 games to 3.while another team on 5 points are Port Erin who drew with Onchan B at the Breagle, before heading home form North Ramsey B with both points On Four points come Castletown A who had an 8-0 win over Douglas B and had to sit out their other game this week. While Nobles B and Onchan A, are bracket together with Castletown although both have played five games. With Ballaugh on 3 points after beating Douglas B before there draw with Peel A. With next week’s fixtures including leaders Peel Sunset A facing Champions Castletown A at Peel and Onchan A hosting Douglas A on the Tuesday while on the Thursday Port St Mary A host Peel A, and Douglas A entertain Nobles A be prepared for more snakes and ladders in the league. Could I finish by firstly thanking Matthew Keggin for the hard work he has put into the Isle of Man Crown Green Bowls website. And thanks to all the captians for getting your results to him as well as me. And secondly asking if anyone would be interested in collating the results of the over 60’s from next year, if anyone would like an information please give me a ring on 471301

The Tower Insurance Men’s Over 60’s Bowls is looking set to be one of the most open in recent years, with after just three games gone only three teams have a 100% record. Peel Sunset A, Douglas A and North Ramsey A are the three. In very balmy conditions Peel had comfortable wins at home to Nobles B and away to Onchan B, North Ramsey had a 7-1 win over Port St Mary A at the Mooragh, then came away with the points on their visit to Marown in a close 5-3 match. Douglas A defeated the second teams of Port St Mary away and Castletown at home. Defending Champions Castletown A got off to a bad start losing their second game of the season on their visit to Onchan A by 5 games to 3, Onchan A then visited Port St Mary A and found a Port team in superb form inflicting a 8-0 whitewash over their visitors, to keep up the pressure on the top teams. Castletown A eventually got their season up and running with a win over Nobles A at the crofts by 5 games to 3, this if after Nobles A used home advantage to beat Ballaugh on the Tuesday. Peel B had a couple of draws this week firstly in a close game at Castletown B, then repeating this at home to South Ramsey. Port Erin had a mixed week winning at home to Finch Hill before losing to Nobles B. while Finch Hill had a 5-3 victory over PSM B.

The Tower Insurance Over 60’s League got off to a sensational start on Thursday with defending Champions Castletown A going down at home to their nemesis North Ramsey A by 5 games to 3 to give the Northerners renewed hope in their attempt to be top of the pile this year, Two of last year’s top four teams met at Port St Mary with South Ramsey providing the opposition and it was the Southsiders that used their home advantage to gain both points in a 6-2 victory, It is nice to see Ray Watterson back after his shoulder injury last year. Onchan A are another team with title aspirations and they had a good win at Ballaugh by 6 games to 2, While Peel Sunset A also travelled well and also had a 6-2 win at Finch Hill A, unfortunately Finch Hill had to withdraw their B team prior to the seasons start. Peel Sunset B made it a good start for the westerners with a 5-3 win over Port St Mary B, Marown also started well with a good 5-3 win over Castletown B at the Memorial Fields, Douglas A had a comprehensive 8-0 win over Port Erin at the Villa, and not to be outdone Noble’s B turned the tables on Douglas B with another 8-0 victory, Noble’s A also got two points in their first game with a 5-3 win over North Ramsey B. Nobles who have amalgamated the old Noble’s Park and Noble’s Mixed teams should have two very good outfits this year.

Castletown A have retained their status of Over 60s Mens Champions following a 5-3 win over their nearest rivals Port St Mary A ending their title challenge with 3 games to go.

It is still all to play for for runner up with only 3 points seperating the next 5 teams.

Castletown have now won the league for 6 consecutive seasons, this latest victory being their 9th overall.

Current League Standings
[standings league_id=12 template=extend-bowls logo=false season=2014]

The Tower Insurance Over 60 League had more twists and turns than the big dipper at Blackpool, as Castletown A travelled to Onchan A on Tuesday and managed to come home with a point in a game that Town’s Derek Lewney won his game against Les McLennan 21-20, to let the Town of the hook, Port St Mary A gained another point on their Southside rivals with a 6-2 win at Nobles Park to close the gap to 2 points at the top. Peel A had a visit from a depleted Onchan B and used home advantage to notch another two points with a 6-2 victory, while South Ramsey also kept up the pressure with a very tight 5-3 home win over Marown with South Ramsey’s Bill Callow beating Arnie Withers 21-20 in an extremely close game. North Ramsey A had a 5-3 win over Peel B to keep in touch with the top bunch, while lower down the table Castletown B defeated Douglas A, with unfortunately Norman Kneen of Douglas feeling unwell and being taken to hospital for a check up during his game, best wishes for a speedy recovery from everyone Norman. Port Erin shared the points at home to Noble’s Mixed with Port Erin’s Derek Allen just losing out to Noble’s Mixed skipper Peter Morris in another all but across game. With Port St Mary B doing well to take a point of Finch Hill A with the experienced Archie Collister just getting the better of the Finch’s captain Sefton Dent in another 21-20 win. Ballaugh had a 5-3 win at Finch Hill B with home team captain Malcolm Black just losing out to Richard Faragher in yet another 21-20 game. Douglas B came very close to getting their first point of the season with Brian Oliver just losing out to Ray Parry 21-20.
The second round of games saw Castletown A win at home against Noble’s Park 7-1 while Port St Mary A also won comfortably against Douglas B 6-2 with Peel A having a difficult trip to Ballaugh but still came away 6-2 winners to keep their hopes of a first championship alive, The surprise of the round was the performance of Peel B who held South Ramsey to a 4-4 draw at Peel while Onchan A travelled to Marown and suffered with a 5-3 defeat, with Les McLennan of Onchan and Arnie Withers of Marown both winning to 19, and Peter Kelly of Marown suffering only his second loss of the season to Colin Hinds. North Ramsey A also dropped a point with a 4-4 draw at Finch Hill B. Port St Mary B travelled to Douglas A and came away with both points, while in another game with a couple of very close games,Vinty Dugdale beating Juan Kermode, and John Ruscoe losing to Ron Williams 21-20 Nobles Mixed had a 5-3 victory over Castletown B. Onchan B used the lightning fast green at Nobles 3 to their advantage with a 5-3 win over Port Erin. with North Ramsey B using home advantage to defeat Finch Hill B. The last two games mentioned saw the teams meet the day before for the Semi Finals of the Mini Cup with Port Erin entertaining the holders Onchan B and losing out by 6 -3 and Finch Hill B also unable to make home advantage pay against North Ramsey B by also going down 6-3. to set up a final between Onchan A and North Ramsey B. The Ismay Cup Semis were also played and this time it was both home teams that won 6-3 . Peel A defeating Port St Mary A and North Ramsey A doing likewise to Finch Hill A. to leave the Final between North Ramsey A and Peel A. venues for both finals will be notified shortly. The Individual Merit sees Dave Foulis (Ballaugh) sitting alone on top of the pile with 20 wins followed by Mike Thomas (Onchan) and Peter Kelly (Marown) who both lost this week on 19, with on 18 wins are Harry Kelly (Peel), Chas Grills (South Ramsey), Stuart Garrett (Douglas), the PSM pair of Ron Maycox and Ray Maddrell and the Castletown duo of Dave Faragher and Collin Holland.

The Tower Insurance Over 60’s League rolls relentlessly on with the last years champions Castletown A still holding a two point lead over Port St Mary A after the last two series of games. The Town had relatively easy games against the two teams at the tale end of the league winning 7-1 at Douglas B, and unfortunately Finch Hill B were unable to field a team for their visit to Castletown which resulted in an 8-0 walkover for the Town and two points deducted for Finch Hill B. Port St Mary A visited Finch Hill B on Tuesday and inflicted an 8-0 win but on Thursday they entertained current third placed Peel A who beat North Ramsey B on Tuesday 7-1 but then went down 6-2 at Port St Mary in a very close game Peel losing three games 21-20, This allowed South Ramsey to leapfrog Peel and are a further 2 points behind Port, and one ahead of Peel with victories at home to Finch Hill A 5-3 and at Douglas A by 6-2. North Ramsey A’s title hopes are slipping after being held to two draws, at home to Douglas A and away to Nobles Mxd. while Onchan A were held to surprising draw at home to Peel B , but got back on track by taking all the points in a 5-3 win at Finch Hill B. Marown move into 7th place with four points this week, while Castletown B drop to 8th after only picking up one point in their draw with Onchan B, who are in ninth place just a point behind the town B, while Ballaugh now in tenth place had a good week with four points from their trip to Port Erin and the visit of Castletown B both 5-3 wins.with Nobles Mixed just a point behind after a win and draw, then come Finch Hill A, Douglas A and Port Erin who are all mid table, with North Ramsey B four points behind Port Erin but a similar number ahead of Nobles Park. Peel B are climbing the table and although 3rd from the bottom are now in touch with Port St Mary B and Noble’s Park who are one and two points ahead of them. The Merit has again seen a change with Dave Foulis of Ballaugh losing to Bernard Thakrah at Port Erin, this means that Peter Kelly of Ballaugh moves ahead again both players on 21 wins, with on 19 wins come a whole scutch of players, Mike Thomas (Onchan), Harry Kelly(Peel), Chas Grills (S Ramsey), Ron Maycox and Ray Maddrell of PSM and the Town pairing of Dave Faragher and Collin Holland.
Next week sees just one set of games on the Tuesday with the top fixture pairing 4th placed Peel A at home to leaders Castletown A, with the Wednesday and Thursday being taken up with the Over 60’s qualifying at Douglas.

The Over 60’s Tower Insurance League certainly produced a few upsets to the form book this week with leaders Castletown A dropping a point on their visit to Onchan B, while the Town B team used home green advantage to beat Onchan A 5-3 and Peel B travelled to the Villa and defeated Douglas A by a similar score line. Second placed Port St Mary had a narrow win over Ballaugh. Finch Hill A travelled to the Mooragh and came away victors in their clash with North Ramsey B. while in the reverse fixture North Ramsey A beat the Finch Hill B team by 7 -1, and South Ramsey made the long journey to Port St Mary B worthwhile with a 8-0 whitewash, as did Peel A at home to Douglas B, while Noble’s Mixed had a good 5-3 win at home to Marown, and Port Erin had an easier than expected victory over the rapidly improving Noble’s Park outfit.

In the Thursday set of fixtures Peel A entertained Castletown B and although all the games were close the final result certainly wasn’t with Peel winning 7-1. Another close game was at Port St Mary A who just managed to edge out Douglas A 5-3, while leaders Castletown A won 6-2 at home to Peel B. Points were shared by Onchan B who have had a superb week with their visit to the hard to beat at home Marown, while Finch Hill A were held at home by Ballaugh. North Ramsey A also had a close game just edging out Noble’s Park 5-3, while Onchan A got back on track with a 7-1 win at home to Port Erin. Noble’s Mixed continued their better run with a 7-1 home win against North Ramsey B and finally another team to win both thsi week was South Ramsey who had a 6-2 win against Finch Hill B. The League table after 16 games is Castletown A 29 points , PSM A 28, South Ramsey on 25, North Ramsey A 24, Onchan A and Peel A on 23, Castletown B 22, Onchan B 20, Marown 19, Ballaugh 16, Noble’s Mxd 15, Finch Hill A, Douglas A and Port Erin on 14, Noble’s Park and North Ramsey B on 10, PSM B 6, Peel B 5, Finch Hill B 3 and Douglas B 0.

There is a new leader in the Merit with Peter Kelly of Marown has won 15 with on 14 wins come Mike Thomas (Onchan A), Chas Grills (S. Ramsey), Stuart Garrett (Douglas A) Dave Foulis (Ballaugh) and Collin Holland (Castletown A) .

This week also saw the Ismay Cup second round games and the undoubted shock of the round was the defeat of holders and league leaders Castletown A by Finch Hill A at Finch Hill with a superb 5-4 win and this was made even more difficult for Casteltown as Finch Hill had to give the Town a game as they only had eight instead of nine players. The other three ties also went to the home teams with North Ramsey A defeating South Ramsey 7-2 , Peel A beat Ballaugh 8-1 and Port St Mary A had a walk over as North Ramsey B conceded their game.

The Draw for the Semi Finals was made on Thursday and sees Peel A v Port St Mary A, and North Ramsey A v Finch Hill A which will be played on Wednesday 25th June. The Draw for the Mini Cup will be made shortly.

With quarter of the season already gone in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League, Champions Castletown hold a two point lead over close neighbours Port St Mary A, The Town had another 8-0 maximum at home to Finch Hill A on Tuesday, and then picked up the points on their travels to Ballaugh with a 5-3 victory, Port St Mary A dropped a point at home to Marown in a very close encounter, before bouncing back with a excellent 6-2 away win at Nobles Mixed. Onchan B hold onto third place three behind the leaders after defeating North Ramsey B at the Mooragh before dropping a surprise point at home to Peel B. North Ramsey A are having an up and down season but at the moment they are on a definite up, travelling to Onchan A and taking both points with a fine 6-2 win before banging in a full house against Douglas B at home to move into fourth place four points behind the leaders level with them are Onchan A who have had a bad week, following the loss to North Ramsey they dropped a further point on their visit to Peel A who are always difficult to beat at home. Also bracketed with these two teams are South Ramsey who also had a full house against Douglas B, before travelling to Castletown B to inflict a very close 5-3 defeat on the home team, Two teams on 13 points are Marown who after picking up a point at PSM A had a another draw at Finch Hill A. Castletown B had a good win at Finch Hill B,while on 12 points but with a game in hand are Peel A who had good win at Noble’s Park. Ballaugh are another outfit on 12 points beating Douglas A 5-3 at the Villa this week, Douglas A responded with a victory of their own against North Ramsey B. Noble’s Park are having a reasonable start to the season with four clubs below them in the league, Port St Mary B who they shared a point with on their trip down south, Peel Sunset B, Finch Hill B and Douglas B. The Ismay Cup pitted Onchan A against North Ramsey A and although Onchan with home advantage had a four game lead North Ramsey fought back to clinch the game 5-4, South Ramsey entertained Castletown B and had a good 6-3 win over the Southerners, Holders Castletown A defeated 2012 holders Douglas A at the Villa by a comprehensive 8 games to 1, While Finch Hill A made it a bad Ismay round for Onchan by putting the B team to the sword by 7 games to 2 at a tricky Finch hill Green. Unfortunately Port St Mary B conceded their game against their A Team as did Noble’s Park against Ballaugh, The two remaining Ismay games were played on Friday, Peel Sunset A travelled to Marown and came away victors by 5 games to 4, While North Ramsey B had a superb 6-3 away win over Finch Hill B to join their A team in the last eight.

The Merit Table has changed once again, after Tuesday both Peter Kelly (Marown) and Dave Foulis (Ballaugh) lost their games to leave Dave Faragher sitting all alone on the top of the pile, however he to lost on Thursday, so that at present Chas Grills (South Ramsey and Collin Holland (Castletown A) who have both played 9 and won 9 are on the top of the perch, with Peter Kelly, Dave Faragher (Castletown A), Douglas pair Roy Williams and Stuart Garrett and Dave Foulis all having played 10 for 9 victories. Can I remind all bowler that the Foster Cup which is being played at Douglas on Wednesday 14th May please get your entries to George Peach (471301)

The lead in the race for the 2014 Tower Insurance Over 60’s Championship has changed after surprise early leaders Onchan B hit the buffers this week firstly losing at home to visitors North Ramsey A by 5 games to 3 then losing by a similar score on their visit to South Ramsey. This has allowed Castletwon A to gain top spot with a 7-1 home victory against Peel A followed by a visit to their bogey team Port Erin where they came away with the points in a 6-2 win, right on Castletown A’s tail come Port St Mary A and Onchan A both just a point in arrears, Port St Mary had a good home win over neighbours Port Erin by 7-1 and then followed this up with a excellent but very close 5-3 win at the Mooragh against a always difficult to beat North Ramsey A. Onchan A had a far better week than their B team and moved ahead of them by a position and point, firstly a shared point at Douglas A in a close 4-4 encounter, before using their adopted home advantage to see of Ballaugh by 6 -2. The teams how in 5th and 6th places both on 11 points Marown and Castletown B both had 5-3 wins on the Tuesday, Marown at home to Finch Hill B while Castletown B just made it after the last game went in their favour 21-20 to beat North Ramsey B at the Mooragh, it was a bit de jay vu when Marown visited the Crofts to play Castletown B with the town again winning the last game 21-20 but this time it was to share the points against a very good Marown outfit. Noble’s Mixed held South Ramsey to a draw at home on the Tuesday then completed a good week with a 6-2 win against Douglas B at the Villa. Noble’s Park pulled off a major surprise by getting both points against Douglas B at home on Thursday in a close 5-3 victory, while Peel B eventually got their points score on the move with a home victory over a depleted Douglas B on Tuesday, while Finch Hill B also got their first points on Thursday by beating Peel B by 5 games to 3. Port St Mary B had a poor week losing to Ballaugh and then at home to North Ramsey B by 5 games to 3 in another close game. The Merit Table now sees the number of players having played every game and won every one drop from 6 to 3 with Peter Kelly (Marown), Dave (Fagsy) Faragher (Castletown A) and Dave Foulis (Ballaugh) being the 3, two players have played 7 and won 7 they are Chas Grills (S Ramsey) and Collin Holland (Castletown A), which I think shows what a competitive league we have. The Mini Cup first Round was played this week and the clear favourites after the super start to the league Onchan B visited Peel B and came away with a 6-3 win, Port Erin had a good 7-2 win over neighbours Port St Mary B, while North Ramsey B just managed to win at Noble’s Park with a 5-4 score line and a game they won 21-20, while Douglas B had to concede their game against Finch Hill B at Finch Hill. So this leaves Finch Hill B, Onchan B, Port Erin and North Ramsey B as the teams that will go in the hat for the Semi Final Draw.

Onchan B continue to lead the way after games 5 and 6 of the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League. Onchan were in sparkling form against Castletown B at a very quick second home at Noble’s 3 to come away with a 7-1 victory, Their better halves at Onchan A kept up the pressure with a similar score line on their visit to Peel B, while Champions Castletown recorded their second maximum in consequetive matches against Douglas B to remain in touch with the chasing pack, as did Port St Mary A who also had a maximum to see of Finch Hill B, while Peel A had a tough fight on their hands before they left North Ramsey B with both points in a 5-3 away win, while at the Villa Douglas A had agood victory over North Ramsey A to dent the Northerners title asperations, while Ballaugh got back on form and used home advantage to defeat Port Erin, a similar scoreline was recorded by Marown A who beat Nobles Park A, While Finch Hill A are starting to find their feet and got a good point at home to South Ramsey in a 4-4 draw. While the final game saw Noble’s Mixed gain two points in a 5-3 win at home to Port St Mary B.

The second set of fixtures saw Onchan B travel to Port St Mary B and they kept up their 100% record with a fine 6-2 win, Castletown A made it three maximums in a row with a good win at Finch Hill B, while Onchan A has a very close win over Finch Hill B 5-3 with two Finch Hill players getting to 20 it could of easily gone the other way. Peel A enteratained Post St Mary A and this game ended all square at 4-4 again Peel has a player on 20 so this game again could have had a different outcome. North Ramsey A got their week back on track with a maximum 8-0 win over Noble’s Mixed while North Ramsey B shared a point on their tripm top Port Erin, While Castletown B got back to form with a 6-2 victoruy over Ballaugh, and Noble’s Park had a good 5-3 win over Peel B who are having a difficult time this season, and Marown visited the Villa and defeated a depleted Douglas by 7 games to 1, while South Ramsey used home advantage to defeat Douglas A by 5 games to 3. After 6 games on six players have won all theri matches they are Peter Kelly( Marown), Dave Faragher (Castletown) Dave Foulis (Ballaugh), Colin Hinds (Onchan A), David Kelly (Onchan B) and Ray Maddrell (PSM A) with both Collin Holland (Castletowen A) and Chas Crills (South Ramsey) having won the five games they have played.

The Prelim Round of the Ismay Cup was held on Wednesday and saw home teams Castletown B defeat Noble’s Mixed by 6-3, and Finch Hill B beat Port Erin by the same score line. While Finch Hill A made it a good day for their club with a 6-3 win at Peel B, and the reamining game was a walkover for North Ramsey A against Douglas B. On a very sad note I would like to express all the over 60’s players condolences to Willie Craig family and friends. Willie who passed away aged 89 was a fine bowler and was captain of Finch Hill Over 60’s until this year as well as a multiple Island snooker champion.