Peel Bowling Club hosted the popular pre-festival competition the Davisons Autumn Shield on Sunday. The competition attracted 96 entries which made for a long day, with start times given out to those taking part.

Losing out at the quarter final stage were Bob Wyatt (Packhorse BC), Brian Furber (Pavilions) Tom Kelly (Peel) and Dido Kelly (South Ramsey).

In the semi-finals Neil Wright (Kirkham) ended the challenge of Neil Ridgen (New Longton) with a 21-15, whilst Wayne Ditchfield (Kirkham) booked his place in the final with a 21-12 win over Steve McCall (Kirkham).

In the final club mates Wright and Ditchfield took to the green with both players knowing each other’s game well it was always going to be a close final, however Ditchfield did enough to take a 21-18 win and his third success in this competition.

The presentation was made by Ian Davison, who once again sponsored the competition. There was over £750 paid out in prize money with the winner receiving £300. Thanks were also given to everyone who had helped with the running of the competition.

It was only the second double week of the season in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one this week with the positions at the top and bottom becoming a lot clearer.

Champions South Ramsey A had a good week starting with a 10-0 win at home to bottom of the table Douglas B. For the visitors Pat O’Donohue lost 16-21 against John Kennish, whilst Grahem Moore was 9-1 up on Glynn Hargraves before losing 15-21.

On Wednesday evening South Ramsey A had a much tougher fixture away to Onchan A on a wet night, despite this the Onchan green played well with the rain mostly holding off for the duration of the match with some good comebacks from both teams. For Onchan Phil Kerruish was first off winning 21-15 after being 7-10 down to go 20-10 up, with Grills taking five singles to get back to 15-20 before Kerruish got in to finish the game. Stefan Kelly replied for South Ramsey after taking a 10-4 lead against Steve Crampton with Crampton getting back to 17-18 before Kelly finished with a single and a double to win 21-17. Glynn Hargraves was next off for the visitors recovering from 5-9 down against Kevin Quirk to take a 19-12 lead. Quirk picked up five points over the next four ends to pull the score back to 17-19 and was lying one before Hargraves got back in to finish the game with two singles to win 21-17. Perhaps one of the best comebacks of the night was the game between Peter Slinger and Dido Kelly with Slinger taking a 15-5 lead only for Kelly to take 14 points without reply to go 19-15 up. Slinger then staged his own mini comeback to take the next four ends scoring six points to run out winning 21-19. Kelly would have been disappointed at playing a poor end at 19-15 up and then having opportunities on the next two ends to get back in. The match could not have been any closer at the halfway stage at 2-2 and the chalks tied at 76 each.

In the second half Rob Monk helped Onchan’s cause performing well to win 21-6 against Peter Collister. John Kennish responded with a 21-12 win over Jordan Cain, with Cain doing well to reach 12 after being 2-13 down in a game which had several tight ends. David Bradford was another who dug in for his team to pull off a good comeback against Matthew Quirk who performed well despite eventually losing out. Quirk was 14-6 up before Bradford ‘edged’ his way back into the game playing the edge along the shelter side of the green to take the lead 18-16. Quirk replied with three singles to retake the lead at 19-18 with Bradford getting back in playing a good bowl to level up the score 19-19. Bradford then played two good length bowls on the last end to take a double to secure a 21-19 victory with his experience seeing him through a tough game. This left Alan Moore needing to win 21-16 or better against Mark Kelly to secure the aggregate for the visitors, with Moore doing just that winning 21-11 to secure the aggregate by just six chalks (145-139). South Ramsey came away with a 7-3 win knowing they had been in a tough game against an Onchan team that performed well despite the loss.

Marown picked up two wins during the week, however slipped three points further back on the league leaders South Ramsey. On Monday night the Crosby men won 7-3 away to Castletown A with Peter Oates, Juan Kermode and Jordan Drewett beating Peter Kelly, Matthew Keggen and Phil Kelly respectively.

On Wednesday evening Marown had a tough looking home fixture against Peel A, however they still managed to take a 7-3 win with Paul Dunn and Colin Kelly winning 21-8 against David Proctor and Frank Watson respectively. Dean Kipling won comfortably 21-11 against Mick Kavanagh, whilst Peter Kelly did well to beat Peel captain Stevie Kelly 21-18, with Paul Kelly beating Tom Kelly to the same score. Winning for Peel were Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly who beat Neil Withers 21-16, with Tommy McMeiken beating Matthew Keggen to the same score and Jerome Surridge defeating Phil Kelly 21-17.

South Ramsey B will have been pleased with their weeks work despite losing 8-2 away to Marown B they managed to beat Douglas A 6-4 at home. The result on another night could have ended up 9-1 to the Ramsey men with Sid Bolton, Steven Waters and George Brew all losing 19-21 to Jimmy Sansom, Gary Conwell and Shaun Seal respectively. Austin Hart recorded his second league win of the season defeating Ian Moore 21-13, with good wins from Tony Dugdale, Ben Dugdale and James Teare.

Port Erin A now need a minor miracle to stay up having picked up five points following an 2-8 away loss to Peel A and a 3-7 home defeat against Marown B. The Breagle Glen team are 13 points from safety with three games to play, one of which is away to the team closest to them South Ramsey B.

Douglas B picked up just one point this week and are certainties to be relegated to the second division.

In division two it was very much a case of as you were at the top with both Noble’s A and Castletown B taking 14 points each with both teams picking up the points with differing results.

Noble’s A won both of their fixtures 7-3 starting the week with a home win over Onchan B that could have been 9-1 with Glenn Boland losing 19-21 to Mike Alexander and Mark Quinn also missing out 18-21 to Colin Spence. Noble’s ended their week with a good away win against Peel C, with David Quayle, David Pease and Tommy Collister all winning close games.

Castletown B started their week with a 6-4 win taking the aggregate by just six chalks. Alan Phair missed out on winning an extra point for the visitors losing 20-21 to Brian Colquitt. In their second fixture of the week Castletown beat Onchan B 8-2 bettering the result that Noble’s had recorded against the same opposition on Monday evening.

At the other end of the table Port St Mary C look to be safe on 73 points having picked up 12 points during the week helped by a 9-1 home win over the side closest to them Noble’s B. Things don’t look so good for Port Erin B who are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table on 50 points and facing a return to division three, with Noble’s B looking likely to suffer the same fate, currently sitting 22 points from safety with just three games to play.

In division three Marown C continue to set the pace at the top of division three following two good 7-3 wins, away to Peel D and at home to Douglas C.

Castletown C are hot on their heels, sitting just three points behind Marown despite giving a number of walkovers throughout the season. It was great to see Nathan Cooil back playing league bowls with Cooil showing he has still got it with two single figure wins, winning 21-2 and 21-9.

Another three points back on Castletown are Ballaugh B who have a game in hand on the two teams above them, which they could well use to return to the top of the league if they record a big win.

Two of the junior players performed well this week with Peel D player Ryan Tate winning both of his games, with Ryan Hargraves doing the same for South Ramsey D. Both players have improved this year, as shown in their improvement not just in winning games, but their overall scores.

In Ellan Vannin Fuels division one South Ramsey A suffered their first defeat of the season away to Marown A, with the men from the north anything but disheartened by their 4-6 loss. Leading the way for Marown and first off the green was Dean Kipling winning 21-9 against Stefan Kelly, followed closely by captain Paul Dunn who put in an assured performance to see off Dido Kelly 21-13 with Kelly suffering his first league defeat of the season. South Ramsey hit back with Alan Moore digging in from 14-17 down to eventually win 21-19 against Neil Withers who loses very few games on his own green to show how good a win this was. David Bradford followed soon after with a 21-17 win against Phil Kelly in what was a close game throughout. At the half way point it was 2-2 on games with Marown holding a 14 chalk advantage (78-64). In the second half Marown took the lead again with Colin Kelly disposing of Chas Grills 21-4, with Paul Kelly winning comfortably 21-13 against Peter Collister. This put Marown 4-2 ahead with the chalks now 39 in their favour the aggregate was safe despite John Kennish performing well to win 21-4 against Peter Kelly. Last game off was visiting captain Glynn Hargraves who won 21-12 against Matthew Keggen to level the match on games at 4-4 with the two points for aggregate safely in the home teams pocket. The result pulled two points back on the league leaders with the Crosby men trailing by 14 points with five games left to play.

South Ramsey B continue to pick up the points, following a good 6-4 home win over third placed Peel A. Picking up the wins for the home team were Tony Dugdale and Christian Caley who both won to single figures against Tom Kelly and David Proctor, with James Teare beating Dave Smith 21-13, and George Brew stepping in to win 21-16 against Stevie Kelly. For Peel three of their four wins were close with Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly winning 21-18 against Ben Dugdale, Frank Watson beating Steven Waters 21-19 and Tommy McMeiken sneaking the win 21-20 against Sid Bolton. Gary Smith won comfortably 21-11 against Steve Moore, however the aggregate went to South Ramsey with their losing games scoring highly.

Onchan A missed the opportunity to make up further ground on Peel with their 7-3 away win to Douglas B with the home team securing three wins. Grahem Moore beat Adrian Skinner 21-18, with Andy Cannell winning to the same score against Jordan Cain and Mark Corrin winning 21-3 against Mark Kelly. For Onchan, Kevin Quirk hit back with a 21-5 win over Geoff Mayles, with the other four winners being fairly comfortable from Peter Slinger, Phil Kerruish, Rob Monk and Matthew Quirk.

Port Erin A suffered another home defeat with Castletown A coming away with an 8-2 win. Winning for the home team were captain Bernie Durcan with a good 21-12 win against Jeff Kinley, whilst Derek Cadamy just got over the line to beat the visiting captain Ian Watson 21-20. Winning for the visitors were Peter Oates who had a fine 21-12 win against Dave McCabe, George Peach, Dean Kinley and Mike Hargraves who all won to fairly comfortable scores, along with Jordan Drewett who beat Derek Allen 21-18 and Juan Kermode who beat Peter Addison 21-17. This result leaves Port Erin 10 points from safety with just five games to go and a tough looking away trip to take on South Ramsey B who are the team closest to them in the table.

North Ramsey A finished their run of 11 consecutive home games with a 9-1 win over Marown B in what is their final home fixture of the season. Sparing the blushes of the visitors was Marown captain Harry Barton who won 21-15 against Gary Merrill. For North Ramsey Allan Callow won 21-6 against Bobby Thorne, with Marown just missing out in three close games with John Cannan and Stephen Walmsley winning 21-19 against Brian Kelly and John Kelly, whilst Tony Smart got over the line 21-20 against Steve Bridson. The other three wins for North Ramsey were comfortable from Geoff Porter, Jimmy Moffatt and Steve Parker.

Douglas A travelled to Port St Mary A coming away with a 4-6 loss. Winning four games for the visitors were regular winners captain Andy Kennish, Stuart Garrett, Ian Moore and Mervin Sayle. Replying for the home team were Paul Skelly who sits fourth in his teams merit despite having played just nine games this season, along with Trevor Quayle, Rob Cooil and Wayne Roberts. The home team won the aggregate comfortably thanks to two big wins from Skelly and Quayle.

In division two second placed Castletown B hosted league leaders Noble’s A and helped their cause to close the gap at the top to just three points thanks to a 7-3 home win. Winning for the home team were merit leader Dave Faragher, Ron Williams, Aaron Richardson with Derek Lewney and Alan Phair both winning their games 21-19 against David Pease and Kevin Firth respectively. For Noble’s Reginald Temporaza beat Mark Saunders 21-7, Steve Cook beat John Alderson 21-14 with Glenn Boland doing enough to beat Ross Moore 21-19. Castletown edged the aggregate by just one chalk winning 145-144 to set up what could be a tense end to the season as to who takes the top spot.

Onchan B secured a 6-4 home win over Ballaugh A with the visitors winning two games by the finest of margins. For Ballaugh Gordie Moore beat Mike Thomas 21-19, with Richard Fisher beating Neil Dunwell 21-20, whilst Peter Graham won 21-3 with Bob Unsworth winning 21-5. For Onchan Mike Alexander and Edward Carlyle both won to single figures, Paul Bailey beat Barry McDonald 21-11 and Colin Spence recorded a good 21-17 win over John Keenan.

Peel C hosted Port Erin B with the visitors doing well to take four games off Peel and losing out on the aggregate by just six chalks to lose 4-6. For Port Erin Harry Minor won 21-5, with the other three wins being close. Ken Horsley beat Bob Berry 21-18, with Peter Blower and Christopher Dent winning 21-19 against Jeff Wilson and Paul Baker respectively. For Peel, Peter Kelly beat John Ryder 21-5 with Ian Pendlebury doing enough to win 21-19 against Alan Crebbin.

Noble’s B travelled to Mooragh Park to take on North Ramsey B with the visitors losing out 4-6 despite having to give a game away. Terry Bates recorded the closest win of the night holding off Bryan Corner 21-20.

Peel B won 7-3 at home to Port St Mary C. On another night it could have been a 9-1 win with Steve Tate and Gordon Corrin both losing out 20-21 to Tom Collins and Brian Corrin respectively. Michael Kavanagh beat Dave Saxon to single figures. For Port St Mary Paul Russell responded with a 21-6 win over Robert Middleton.

Finch Hill A won 9-1 at home to Port St Mary C with Bernard Thackrah the lone winner for the visitors beating Bill Cairns 21-12, with all of the visiting players making it to double figures, with Colin Leece and Chris Oates both losing out 18-21 to Arthur Halsall and Sefton Dent.

In division three Marown C hit top spot following a 9-1 home win over South Ramsey D with Kevin Kelly beating Ryan Hargraves 21-2, Jamie Joughin winning 21-4 against Steve Kelly, with Karl Parker winning 21-19 against Jay Moore and Stephen Rundle holding off Franz ten Donkelaar to win 21-17. For the visitors third division merit leader Ian Moore got back to winning ways with a 21-7 win over Walter McCarthy.

Ballaugh B had a tough trip away to South Ramsey C with the visitors coming away with a 7-3 win. For Ballaugh Philip Quayle beat Robert Snape 21-18, whilst Mike Buckeridge had a good 21-8 win against Anthony Kelly. For the home team, Tony Marler beat Fred Waggett 21-7, Colin Gook stepped in to win 21-17 against John Kneen and David Corkill beat John Bolton 21-14.

Finch Hill B and Onchan C played out a 5-5 draw with the Onchan men losing 3-5 on games, but taking the aggregate by just four chalks. Finch Hill won three close games with Bryan Masterson winning 21-18, whilst Sam Stannard and Stephen Oates both won 21-19 against Graham Atkinson and Brian Woodall respectively.

Castletown C beat Douglas C 9-0 with both teams being a player short both captains agreed to put the walkover games against each other, to allow the players from each team to get a game. For Castletown James Drinkwater and Sam Clague both won to single figures. For Douglas captain Andy Foster recorded the highest score losing out 14-21 to John Matheson.

Ballaugh C hosted Peel D with the home team winning 7-3. For Ballaugh Bert Quayle, Peter Corlett and Paul Bradford all won to single figures, whilst Phil Faragher had his work cut out before seeing off Leslie Halsall 21-19. For Peel their very own Bert Quayle (not to be confused with Ballaugh’s Bert Quayle!) won 21-15 against Charlie Howland, John Lightfoot beat Alan Kelly 21-9 and Steven Bradley beat Ray Parry 21-15.

A new format is being trialled this season in the Men’s Association with the introduction of the Club Team Championship. This consists of a team of 11 players with 5 singles games played 21 up off scratch and three doubles games played 21 up off three, with a random draw as who plays singles and doubles. There are eight clubs left in the competition after a preliminary round, split into two groups of four with home and away fixtures.

In Group A Marown sit top after two games on four points following an away win against Peel by 11 points, with the home team taking three good wins in the singles. Marown won their three doubles games and the two singles games to ensure they took the victory.
In the other fixture in Group A Port St Mary brushed aside Finch Hill with ease winning by 70 points (160-90) to sit in second place.

In Group B South Ramsey sit top following a tough away fixture to Douglas at the Villa, winning by just seven points. South Ramsey won four of the five singles games, and one of the doubles games being the game that secured the win for the visitors with Austin Hart playing a brilliant bowl to turn two down into three up to win the vital chalks that his team needed.
In the other fixture in the group second placed Onchan beat North Ramsey by 73 points to win 162-75.

This week’s fixtures in Group A see Finch Hill host Peel, whilst second placed Port St Mary visit Marown. In Group B Onchan have a tough looking away game to South Ramsey, whilst North Ramsey will be hopeful of securing their first points of the competition at home Douglas.

For more information on the competition visit https://www.iombowls.com/mens/club-team-championship/groups/

Marown B travelled south to take on Port St Mary A and came away with a draw that will help their fight to remain in the top flight. Marown took five games off the home team with Brian Kelly, Juan Killip, Arnie Withers and Peter Kelly all taking good wins against Robbie Cooil, Steve Franks and Wayne Roberts and Steve Hall respectively. John Kelly just managed to get over the line 21-20 against Dan McCabe. All the home team wins were to single figures which helped secure the two points for the aggregate with Thomas Keggen, Paul Skelly and Trevor Quayle doing the business for Port St Mary. Quayle is now the outright leader in the division one merit with 15 wins from 15 games.

North Ramsey A continue their run of home games recording a 6-4 win over Castletown A. Winning for the home team were Steve Parker who was pushed hard by Dean Kinley before winning 21-18, Gary Merrill who beat Mike Hargraves 21-11, with Allan Callow and Tony Smart both winning to single figures. Responding for the visitors were Peter Oates, Ian Watson, George Peach and David Quayle.

Douglas B are running out of games to catch the teams above them, losing 1-9 at home to Marown A on a heavy Villa green following the recent rainfall. Douglas captain Andy Cannell had a good 21-12 win over Dean Kipling. Geoff Mayles performed well against Paul Dunn after trailing 1-13, he went on to lead 15-13, before Dunn got back in and managed to see the game out winning 21-19. In another close game Grahem Moore led 20-17 against Paul Kelly, with Kelly just managing to stumble over the line to win 21-20. Winning to single figures for Marown were Neil Withers and Colin Kelly.

Second from bottom Port Erin A were beaten 10-0 away from home against Onchan A with the score not reflecting the games. Peter Slinger beat Bernie Durcan 21-20, Kevin Quirk and Mark Kelly both won 21-19 against Steve Durcan and Peter Addison respectively, whilst Jordan Cain was pushed hard by Dave McCabe with Cain 20-18 up, McCabe had two six inch bowls with Cain bowling in to get over the line 21-18.

South Ramsey B faced their A Team on a blustery night in the north of the Island with the A Team recording a strong 9-1 win on a tricky green. Sparing the blushes for the B Team James Teare performed well to beat Tony Dugdale 21-6. The A Team recorded four big wins from Glynn Hargraves, Dido Kelly, David Bradford and Peter Collister.

Peel A had a tough looking home fixture against Douglas A, however they brushed the visiting team aside with relative ease winning 9-1 with three single figures from Gary Smith, Dave Kelly and Frank Watson. Jerome Surridge was pushed hard by Mervin Sayle before winning 21-19. The lone winner for Douglas was Ian Moore who beat David Proctor 21-13.

In division two Ballaugh A damaged Castletown B in their chase to close the gap on Noble’s with a 5-5 home draw. Despite winning just three games Castletown picked up the aggregate two points by just four chalks to secure the draw with Ron Williams winning 21-4, Dave Faragher recording a strong 21-11 win against John Keenan and Derek Lewney also doing well to beat Peter Graham 21-12. Just losing out were Ross Moore 19-21 to Richard Fisher and Peter Curtis 20-21 to Bob Unsworth. Winners for the home team were Barry McDonald, Edgar Cowin and John Maddrell.

Noble’s A kept up their pursuit of top flight bowls next season with a 9-1 home win over strugglers Port Erin B with Harry Minor winning 21-20 for the visitors. Captain Kevin Firth and David Pease both showed no mercy recording 21-3 wins. Paul Leece was tested by Ken Horsley with Leece winning 21-18.

Finch Hill A hosted Noble’s B with the home team running out 8-2 winners. For the visitors Terry Bates beat Arthur Halsall 21-10 with Juan Qualtrough beating Gerald Woodsworth to the same score, whilst Les Brookes lost out 19-21 to Paul Dougherty. For Finch Hill Billy Long and Tony Epifani both won to single figures.

Port St Mary C travelled to Peel on Tuesday evening coming away with a hard fought 8-2 win. Newcomer Derek Cain won his second league game since taking the game up, beating Ian Pendlebury 21-17, whilst Tom Wilson just got over the line 21-20 against Jimmy Corlett. The other four wins for Port St Mary were fairly comfortable. For Peel Ray Shooter playing against his former club beat Ashley Qualtrough 21-15, with Philip Clarke beating Louis Callister 21-6.

Peel B travelled north to take on North Ramsey B at Mooragh Park, whilst they lost 6-2 Dougie Allan won 21-2 against Paul Cannon and Mike Ashmole beat Rheuben Thomas 21-12. For the home team Bryan Corner recorded the biggest win beating Paul Quirk 21-8, with Barry Teare doing well to hold off Harry Kelly to win 21-19.

Onchan B hosted Port St Mary B at Onchan Park with the home team taking the spoils with an 8-2 win. For Onchan Colin Spence won 21-8 against Dave Saxon, with Bernie McPhee not far behind winning 21-10 against Tom Collins with Neil Dunwell beating Peter Collins 21-17. The winners for Port St Mary were Ray Watterson who beat Roger Payne 21-8 and Mike Ware who beat Mike Alexander 21-12.

In division three Douglas D halted high flying Ballaugh B in their chase for promotion with their best result of the season taking four games off the visitors to record a 4-6 loss. For the Villa men Michael Knowles had a fantastic 21-6 win over David Hewitt, Greg Brew and Peter Wilcox both recorded their second win of the season, with Gavin Brew winning his first league game of the season. For Ballaugh three of their wins were to single figures with John Looney, John Bolton and Mike Buckeridge. John Kneen was their other winner beating Brenton Hanson 21-13.

Castletown C recorded a 6-4 home win over South Ramsey D despite giving another game away due to being a player short. For the visitors merit leader Ian Moore was the lucky man to benefit from the walkover, which was just as well as he had forgotten to bring his bowls! Matthew Corkill recorded the result of the week beating James Drinkwater 21-19 who was himself up at the top of the merit table prior to this fixture. Also winning for South Ramsey were Richard Davies who beat John Matheson 21-17 and Jay Moore winning 21-16 against Clifford Clague. For Castletown Juan Drinkwater won 21-13, Philip Smith beat Ryan Surridge, whilst John Kinley and Sam Clague both won to single figures.

Marown C now sit just one point behind Castletown C thanks to an 8-2 home win over Ballaugh C, helped by Walter McCarthy and Kevin Kelly both winning 21-20. Jamie Joughin made light work of his game winning 21-8 against Bert Quayle. For the visitors Brian Lace held on to beat Darren Kerruish 21-18, whilst Paul Bradford beat Carey Dewhirst 21-15.

South Ramsey C aren’t out of the chase for promotion just yet sitting just six points behind second placed Castletown. They recorded a 7-3 home win over Douglas C with no close games for either team. Paul Routledge beat Davey Stewart 21-8, whilst Tony Hart beat Keith Fearnley 21-6. For Douglas Mike Cain inflicted just a third league defeat of the season on Toby Hart with Cain winning 21-6.

Finch Hill B made the most of home advantage winning 8-2 at home to Peel D with three single figures wins from captain Pat Maher, Kevin Anderson and Kevin Stannard. For Peel John Lightfoot beat Brian Murphy 21-18, with Brian Lindsey winning 21-15 against Frank Christian.