In the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored division one this week reigning champions South Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Port St Mary A who were missing two of their experienced players. The conditions on the night around the Islands greens were tough with swirling winds. Despite this the home team managed to take three games off the visitors and on another night could have taken two more. The winners for Port St Mary were Trevor Quayle, Dan McCabe and Wayne Roberts, with Steve Franks and Rob Cooil going close before losing out to Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves. Manx Champion John Kennish carried on where he left off from Sunday winning 21-1, with Dido Kelly winning 21-7.

Second placed Peel A made the trip to the capital to take on bottom of the table Douglas B. The home side fared better than they could have hoped taking three points from the visitors losing 3-7. Captain Andy Cannell had an outstanding 21-9 win over opposition captain Ste Kelly, whilst Pat O’Donohue rolled back the years to inflict a 21-4 defeat on Jerome Surridge. Mark Corrin was the third winner defeating David Proctor 21-15. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly was pushed all the way by Roy Williams before winning 21-19, with Tom Kelly back to winning ways holding off Bob Banning 21-18. Tommy McMeiken kept up his 100% league record with a 21-4 win with Gary Smith also winning to single figures.

Marown B took on their A team with the B team players looking to prove they can mix it with the A team and continue their climb up the table. The B team will have pleased to secure three points following their 3-7 loss. For the B team Peter Kelly rolled back the years to defeat his Nephew Neil Withers 21-14, whilst his son John got over the line 21-19 against Ian Kissack. Bobby Thorne proved his worth beating John Gelling 21-18. For the A team Dean Kipling beat Juan Killip 21-4, whilst Colin Kelly, Paul Kelly and Matthew Keggen had comfortable wins. Captain Paul Dunn was pushed a lot harder winning 21-18 over Brian Kelly.

North Ramsey A hosted South Ramsey B with the home team securing a 6-4 victory thanks to two single figure wins by Allan Callow and John Cannan. The other two winners were Steve Parker 21-17 over Ben Dugdale and Gary Merrill edging it 21-19 against Austin Hart. For the visitors Tony Dugdale and Sid Bolton had comfortable wins, with James Teare (21-18) and Steven Waters (21-19) having enough in the tank to hold off Ray Skelly and Steve Walmsley.

Port Erin A hosted Douglas A at Breagle Glen with the home team suffering an 8-2 defeat, the southerners will have felt hard done by as Derek Allen & Bernie Durcan both lost 18-21 to Ian Moore and Mervin Sayle respectively. Steve Durcan lost 17-21 against Gary Conwell, whilst Peter Addision also fell at the last hurdle losing 20-21 to Stuart Garrett. Despite the home defeat there were only 12 chalks separating the teams to show how close the game really was.

Onchan A bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Castletown A 9-1. For the home team Matthew Quirk, Kevin Quirk, Steve Crampton and Jordan Cain all won to single figures, whilst for the visitors the only winner was Juan Kermode over the experienced Phil Kerruish who is notoriously difficult to beat on Onchan.

In division two, top of the table Noble’s A had a tough away game with a visit to Peel B, managed to maintain their unbeaten record despite being beaten 5-3 on games, they took the aggregate two points for the chalks edging it by a solitary chalk (146-145). Noble’s missed out taking extra points off Peel with Steve Cook and Tommy Collister losing 20-21 to Alec Taylor and Gordon Corrin, whilst Bod Boland lost 18-21 to Dougie Allan. For Peel, Harry Kelly and Mike Ashmole won comfortably.

Castletown B missed an opportunity to close the gap further on Noble’s A with a 6-4 home victory over strugglers Port St Mary C who performed well to take four points away from home. Dave Faragher kept up his place at the top of the individual merit table with a 21-7 win over Nathan Hamilton. John Alderson lost out 20-21 to Tom Wilson, whilst Alan Phair & Aaron Richardson lost out 17-21 to Louis Callister and Chris Oates.

Ballaugh A came away from Finch Hill A with a 6-4 win with Edgar Cowin winning 21-8 for the visitors. John Keenan, Richard Fisher and Steve Grant were the other winners for the visiting team. Winners for Finch Hill were Tony Epifani, Sefton Denton, Paul Dougherty and Billy Long.

North Ramsey B had a good 8-2 home win over Port St Mary B, with Barry Teare getting over the line 21-19 against Peter Collins, whilst Rheuben Thomas held his nerve to beat Paul Russell 21-20. Winners for Port St Mary were Brian Corrin and Dave Saxon.

Peel C hosted Onchan B with Onchan taking a 6-4 win. For the home team Paul Quirk and Kevin Mort helped secured two extra points for their team winning 21-19 and 21-20 over Mike Thomas and Paul Bailey respectively. Edward Carlyle, Les McLellan, Mike Alexander and Bernie McPhee were the winners for the visitors.

In division three, Peel D took the pressure off with a 9-1 away win to Douglas D. For Peel Ryan Tate got a walkover, Steve Tate won 21-4 and Leslie Halsall also won to single figures. For Douglas Tony King prevented the whitewash with a 21-8 win.

South Ramsey D welcomed Douglas C in a tight contest, recording a 6-4 win. Home Captain James Moore and his eldest son Ian won to single figures, whilst youngest son Jay had to battle to win 21-18. Richard Davies was the other winner. For Douglas Juan Readshaw marked his first appearance of the season with a win, backed up by William Cowley, Andy Foster and Mike Cain.

Marown C just missed out on a 10-0 win over Onchan C with Darren Kerruish losing 20-21 to Gary Lee to record a 9-1 win to extend their lead at the top of the table. Paul Clinton came close to securing another point for the visitors before losing 19-21 to Karl Parker. For the home team Stephen Rundle and Jamie Joughin won to single figures, with Walter McCarthy, Steve Wilson, Kevin Kelly and Carey Dewhirst also having comfortable wins.

Ballaugh C took on their B Team with the match ending 6-4 to the B Team to show how little difference there is between the two teams. For the C Team Bert Quayle got home with a 21-20 win over John Kneen, with Paul Bradford the biggest winner 21-11 over Percy Faragher. Maurice O’Reilly just lost out 19-21 to Fred Waggett. For the B Team Tony Quine won to single figures, whilst John Bolton and Philip Quayle had comfortable wins.

South Ramsey C managed to record a 6-4 victory over Finch Hill B despite suffering two heavy defeats, they responded with three big wins over the visitors. For the home team Anthony Kelly, Tony Marler and Tony Hart all won to single figures, whilst Kevin Anderson and Sam Stannard also won to single figures for Finch Hill. Toby Hart kept his cool to beat Pat Maher 21-20, whilst Kevin Stannard did the same for Finch Hill with his own 21-20 win. Just three chalks separated the teams to show how close a contest it was.

There were two top of the table clashes this week in division one with third placed Peel A hosting second placed Marown A in the Sunset City, with the home team recording an outstanding 8-2 home win, backing up my early season prediction that the Peel men had the firepower to damage the top teams. Home team captain Stevie Kelly recorded a 21-5 win over Phil Kelly. Tommy McMeiken continued his fine start to the season with a 21-13 win over Matthew Keggen, with Frank Watson and Gary Smith also winning to the same score over Neil Withers and Dean Kipling. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly and Jerome Surridge were pushed a lot harder and both won 21-18 over John Gelling and Paul Kelly respectively. For the visitors, captain Paul Dunn led by example to beat Tom Kelly 21-4, with Colin Kelly the other winner 21-13 over David Proctor. This result helped Peel leapfrog Marown to sit in second place one point ahead of the Crosby outfit.

Top of the table South Ramsey A took on Onchan A at home recording a 7-3 win with the result being a fair reflection of the game. Dido Kelly was on form recording a fine 21-5 win over Rob Monk. Glynn Hargraves also won to single figures over Steve Crampton. John Kennish, David Bradford and Peter Collister defeated Matthew Quirk, Phil Kerruish and Mark Kelly respectively. For the visitors Kevin Quirk looks to be playing his way back into form with a 21-11 win over Stefan Kelly, whilst Jordan Cain and Peter Slinger also won for the Onchan men. This result helped the champions extend their lead to nine points.

Douglas A welcomed South Ramsey B to the Villa, however they weren’t so welcoming on the green recording a 10-0 win over South Ramsey B. Stuart Garrett and Shaun Seal both won to single figures, whilst for the visitors Austin Hart continues to challenge in his games this time losing out 18-21 to Ian Moore, with Tony Dugdale losing out by the same score to Mervin Sayle. James Teare couldn’t quite get over the line as he lost out 20-21 to Gary Conwell who ensured the visitors headed home without any points. Douglas sit one point behind fourth placed Onchan A.

Marown B continued their climb up the table by inflicting an 8-2 defeat on rivals Port Erin A. Juan Killip won to single figures, Marown captain Harry Barton won along with Peter Kelly, James Kelly and John Kelly. Arnie Withers was pushed hard before getting over the line 21-19 against Steve Durcan. For the visitors Bernie Durcan beat Brian Kelly 21-9, with Peter Addison the other Port Erin winner defeating Bobby Thorne.

North Ramsey A took on Port St Mary A at Mooragh Park with the visitors missing star man Ewan Cooil who has recently suffered a broken hand. The home team came away with a solid 8-2 win. Steve Walmsley and John Cannan both won to single figures, whilst Geoff Porter, Tony Smart and Steve Parker had fairly comfortable wins. Ray Skelly had to work harder for his 21-19 win over Thomas Keggen. For the visitors Wayne Roberts replied with a 21-10 win over Gary Merrill, whilst Trevor Quayle maintained his winning start to the season with a 21-15 victory over Allan Callow.

Rounding off the first division games Castletown A welcomed Douglas B with the home team recording an 8-2 win. Peter Oates and Jordan Drewett won to single figures, backed up by David Quayle, Dean Kinley, Ian Watson and Mike Hargraves. For the visitors Graham Moore won 21-7 over George Peach, whilst captain Andy Cannell got over the line 21-18 against Jeff Kinley.

In division two Noble’s continued their quest for promotion with an 8-2 home win over Peel C. The two winners for the visitors were Kevin Mort and Jeff Wilson with Robert Middleton just missing out on snatching an extra point for his team losing 20-21 to David Quayle. Winners for Noble’s were Bod Boland, Glenn Boland, Tommy Collister and David Pease.

Second placed Castletown B came away from Onchan Park with a hard earned 6-4 win over Onchan B who sit in third place. Derek Lewney and Mark Saunders had comfortable wins, whilst Dave Faragher edged his game 21-19 against Les McLellan. Ross Moore got pushed even further getting over the line 21-20 against Bernie McPhee. For Onchan the winners were Mike Alexander, Edward Carlyle, Mike Thomas and Colin Spence.

Peel B will have been pleased to come away from Ballaugh A with a 6-4 win to extend the gap to three points between the two teams.

The biggest win in division two this week went to Port St Mary B who won 9-1 at home against Noble’s B with four of the Port St Mary players winning to single figures and the visitors scoring just 88 chalks overall. The lone winner for the visitors was Stewart Cubbon who beat Peter Collins 21-13.

Port Erin B performed well to beat visitors Finch Hill A 6-4 at Breagle Glen with Alan Crebbin, Harry Minor and Ken Horsley all winning to single figures. For the visitors Tony Epifani won to single figures, whilst Peter Hughes got over the line 21-20 against Ed Benson.

Port St Mary C faced North Ramsey B at home and eased their relegation worries with a 9-1 victory which helped them jump from bottom to fourth from bottom with an eight point gap on the bottom two teams.

In division three Marown C remain top despite a shock 7-3 defeat away to Douglas C. Keith Fearnley won to single figures, whilst Andy Foster and Mike Cain were both pushed a lot harder winning 21-18 against Walter McCarthy and Stephen Rundle. For the visitors Carey Dewhirst had a 21-6 win, Steve Wilson won comfortably and Darren Kerruish battled well to win 21-18.

In another shock result Ballaugh B lost 8-2 at home to Castletown C despite the southerners giving away a game being a man short. This result helped Castletown go two points ahead of Ballaugh B who occupy fourth place, with Ballaugh having a game in hand on the three teams above them, which they will look to use to go top.

Ballaugh C currently sit in third place thanks to a 7-3 away win against Onchan C. The visitors will have been pleased with this result, but would have been hoping for two more points with Peter Corlett and Alan Kelly losing out to 18-21 and 19-21 to David Clucas and Mike Kelly.

South Ramsey C had the biggest win of the week with a 10-0 home win over Douglas D who had to give two walkovers, whilst the Home team had three players winning to single figures.

Peel D went level on points with South Ramsey D thanks to a 7-3 home win over the Northerners. For the home team William Lyall won to single figures, whilst Brian Lindsay was pushed all the way to defeat Franz Ten Donkelaar 21-20. Winners for the visitors were Richard Davies, Matthew Corkill and Ian Moore.

In division one Port Erin A took on Peel A at Breagle Glen on bank holiday Monday with the hosts earning their second win of the season over high flying Peel 6-4. For the Home team Derek Allen, Seamus Whelan and Steve Durcan won whilst Harry Minor took full advantage of his promotion to the A Team to defeat Jerome Surridge 21-20. For the visitors Gary Smith and Stevie Kelly had comfortable wins whilst Tommy McMeiken held on to his 100% record with a 21-17 win over David Cain and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly got over the line 21-19 against Bernie Durcan.

Port St Mary A took on nearest rivals Onchan A, managed to close the gap following a 7-3 home win. Bernard Thackrah made his second appearance for the A team and overcame Phil Kerruish 21-18, whilst another unbeaten man captain Trevor Quayle inflicted a first league defeat of the season over Matthew Quirk 21-20. Rob Cooil had a good 21-13 win over Kevin Quirk, whilst the other two winners were Ewan Cooil and Paul Skelly both to single figures. For the visitors Jordan Cain and Rob Monk returned the favour with single figure wins and Mike Thomas performed well to beat Wayne Roberts 21-19.

North Ramsey A took on Douglas A in their first home league game of the season and just scraped over the line with a 6-4 win, taking the aggregate by a solitary chalk (143-142). For the home team Jimmy Moffatt, Steve Parker, Steve Walmsley and Allan Callow all won, with Gary Merrill losing out 19-21 against Merv Sayle and Geoff Porter losing 20-21 against Ian Moore. Andy Kennish and Keith Rise were the other winners for the visitors.

South Ramsey B also recorded a 6-4 home win over Marown B, this was their first victory of the season, but they would have been hoping it could have been more with Austin Hart just missing on his first league win of the season 20-21 against Steve Bridson, however this should give the top flights youngest player some encouragement to build on for the rest of the season. Steven Waters also lost out 19-21 to John Kelly. The home team winners were Sid Bolton, Tony Dugdale, along with Ben Dugdale and James Teare who both won to single figures. The other winners for the visitors were captain Harry Barton and Peter Kelly.

Marown A returned to winning ways with a 10-0 home win over Castletown A with three of their players Neil Withers, Matthew Keggen and Dean Kipling all winning to single figures. The result helped lift the Crosby men back into second place five points ahead of Peel A and five points behind South Ramsey A.

South Ramsey A took on Douglas B at the Villa Marina, they also matched Marown’s result with a 10-0 win to build on last week’s win over Marown. Peter Collister, John Kennish and Dido Kelly all won to single figures, whilst David Bradford had to battle to overcome Douglas captain Andy Cannell 21-18. Alan Moore got over the line 21-19 after being a few behind against Graham Moore, visiting captain Glynn Hargraves also had a game on his hands at 13-13 with Gordon Wynne-Smythe before running out to win 21-13.

In division two Noble’s A continued their strong start to the season and came away from their short visit to take on Onchan B with a 7-3 win. David Pease kept up his 100% record, backed up by Steve Cook, Glenn Boland and Tommy Collister. Kevin Firth won to single figures. For the home team the winners were Mike Alexander, Peter Karran and Edward Carlyle.

Castletown B kept up the pressure on Noble’s A by matching their result defeating North Ramsey B 7-3. However this may be seen as points dropped against a side second from bottom. Dave Faragher maintained his winning run, whilst Mark Saunders had a superb 21-1 win, with Derek Lewney, Alan Phair and Ross Moore also winning. For the visitors Bryan Corner, Brian Colquitt and Lee Christian all had comfortable wins.

Result of the week came from Port St Mary B who came away from Finch Hill A with a superb 8-2 victory, despite having to give a game away as they were a player short. For the home team Billy Long was the Finch Hill man who got the walkover and Paul Dougherty beat Ray Maddrell 21-15.

Noble’s B beat Port St Mary C 6-4, unfortunately Port St Mary gave away three games due to being short of players. It is only a few years ago that the club had a D Team playing in the league. Being short on players didn’t affect the teams efforts, as Derek Cain who has recently took up the game will have been delighted to record his first ever league win defeating Stephen Hampson 21-17. The other winners for the visitors were Ken Karran, Colin Leece and Mike Ware.

Peel B recorded a good 9-1 home win over bottom of the table Port Erin B with Michael Kavanagh and Mike Ashmole having two massive wins to 21-1 and 21-2 respectively. Sparing the visitors blushes was Ben Mowle who beat Peter Greenlees 21-16.

Peel C hosted Ballaugh A on Tuesday evening with the home team losing out 3-7 and losing out on the aggregate by just nine chalks. For Peel Robert Middleton inflicted a first league defeat of the season over John ‘Shirt’ Keenan, with Jeff Wilson and Kevin Mort also winning. For the visiting team Richard Fisher and Gordie Moore had to work hard for their victories to 21-18 and 21-20 respectively.

In division three Marown C took on Peel D at Crosby winning 8-2 to stay top. The home team had Carey Dewhirst, Darren Kerruish and Walter McCarthy recording big wins. The two winners for Peel were John Lightfoot and Bert Quayle.

Ballaugh B came away from their visit to Finch Hill B with a 7-3 win to keep the pressure up at the top, whilst Castletown C hosted Onchan C at The Crofts recording a 7-3 win with five of their players winning to single figures. For Onchan Brian Woodall had a single figure victory, whilst Bernard Galka and Mike Kelly worked hard to record wins to 21-18 and 21-20 to ensure a heavier defeat was avoided.

In the bottom of the table battle South Ramsey D visited Douglas D and came away with an outstanding 9-1 win with Ryan Surridge picking up his first league victory taking a 21-8 win, whilst Ryan Hargraves got the better of James Teare 21-18 to also pick up his first league win of the season. For the visitors Richard Davies and Franz Ten Donkelaar otherwise known as ‘Fonzie’ both had single figure wins.

Ballaugh C hosted Douglas C with the Home team picking up a 7-3 home win. In what was a good week for new and young players Patrick Grant held his nerve to win 21-20 over William Cowley. Peter Corlett and Maurice O’Reilly both won to single figures. The winners for the visiting team were captain Andy Foster, Keith Fearnley and Mike Cain.

In division one South Ramsey A took on league leaders Marown A with the reigning champions using their home advantage on a tricky green to record a tremendous 9-1 win over the Crosby men, who I cannot recall ever suffering such a heavy defeat in my 25 years of league bowls. For the Home team John Kennish defeated Paul Kelly 21-11, with David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves and Peter Collister not far behind winning to 12, 14 and 15 over John Gelling, Paul Dunn and Neil Withers respectively. In the second half of the match Dido Kelly and Chas Grills won to single figures over Matthew Keggen and Phil Kelly, whilst Stefan Kelly defeated Dean Kipling 21-15. Marown’s only winner was Colin Kelly who performed well to hold off Alan Moore winning 21-18. The Marown men can take comfort from South Ramsey suffering a 9-1 defeat at Crosby in 2016, however South Ramsey still went on to take the title that season, Marown will be looking to repeat this result later in the season to square things up.

Peel A took full advantage of the top of the table clash to leapfrog Marown A recording a 10-0 win in the sunset city over South Ramsey B with David Proctor, Jerome Surridge, Tom Kelly and Dave Kelly all winning to single figures. Tony Dugdale was the highest scorer for the visitors, however Frank Watson managed to win 21-17.

Marown B finally got their season up and running with a 7-3 home win over visitors North Ramsey A with Harry Barton, Peter Kelly, Steve Bridson, Brian Kelly and Juan Killip winning for the Home team. The winners for North Ramsey were Steve Walmsley, Gary Merrill and Allan Callow.
Douglas A took on Port St Mary A with the Villa men winning 6-4. For the Home team Andy Kennish, Merv Sayle, Keith Rise and Jimmy Sansom all won, whilst for the visitors Ewan Cooil, Trevor Quayle, Steve Franks and Wayne Roberts were the winners. Wayne’s 21-20 victory was all the more impressive given he was 6-20 down before recording 15 consecutive points to run out on his opponent. This goes to show that a game is never over and is one of the biggest comebacks I can recall.

Onchan A had a good 9-1 win over Douglas B, just missing out on a whitewash with Pat O’Donohue winning 21-18 over Steve Crampton. For the home team Matthew Quirk, Phil Kerruish and Rob Monk all won to single figures, whilst Mark Kelly had to work hard to hold off Andy Cannell to record a 21-18 win.

Port Erin A made the short trip to the ancient capital of Mann to take on Castletown A, coming away with a 3-7 defeat. For the visitors Dave McCabe, Peter Addision and Bernie Durcan won, whilst for the home team Ian Watson, Mike Hargraves, George Peach, Peter Oates and Jeff Kinley all won.

In division two Nobles A stunned high flying Castletown B to record an 8-2 home win to overtake the Castletown men at the top. For the visitors the winners were Dave Faragher and George Foy, whilst the home team winners were Reginald Temporaza, Bod Boland, Glenn Boland, Steve Cook, Tommy Collister and Dave Pease.

Ballaugh A recorded an 8-2 home win over Onchan B with Peter Wallis and Bernie McPhee the only winners for the visitors.

Bottom of the table Port Erin B will have had their spirits lifted considerably following a 7-3 home win over Peel C to close the gap on the teams above them, whilst Port St Mary B had a good 8-2 home win over Peel B. Finch Hill A also had an 8-2 win away to Port St Mary C. Nobles B won 7-3 at home to North Ramsey B.

In division three Marown C stayed top following their 8-2 away win over South Ramsey D with Jamie Joughin and Walter McCarthy winning to single figures. The winners for the home team were Ian Moore and Richie Davies.

Ballaugh B kept up the pressure on Marown C with an 8-2 home win over South Ramsey C. For the Home team Philip Quayle and Percy Faragher won to single figures, with Paul Routledge and David Corkill the winners for the visitors. The Ballaugh men have a game in hand on Marown C and will be looking to return to the top of the table once Marown take their turn to sit out later on in the season.

Ballaugh C came away from their short journey along the West coast to take on Peel D with a 7-3 victory taking the extra two points by only three chalks with Steve Tate losing out 20-21 and junior Ryan Tate losing out 19-21.

Castletown C came away from the Villa with a 6-4 win over Douglas C, whilst Onchan C had a 7-3 home win over Finch Hill B, however only eight chalks separated the teams.

In division one on Monday evening Peel A made the trip East to take on Douglas A at the Villa and came away with a 7-3 win. The overall result was a lot closer than the score line suggests as Peel took the two points for the aggregate thanks to edging the chalks by five. For the visitors Gary Smith and Ste Kelly had comfortable wins, whilst the other three wins for Peel were a lot closer with David Proctor and Tommy McMeiken winning 21-19 and Jerome Surridge winning 21-20 over Shaun Seal. For the home team captain Andy Kennish won to single figures, whilst Stuart Garrett held of Frank Watson to record a 21-19 win and Merv Sayle beat Peel man Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly 21-17.

South Ramsey A took on their B Team on another evening of swirling winds up the North of the Island and the A team recorded an 8-2 win. For the A team Peter Collister, Dido Kelly and Glynn Hargraves all won to single figures. For the B team James Teare performed well to beat Chas Grills 21-14 with the other winner being stand-in captain Tony Dugdale who just got over the line 21-20 thanks to securing a double on the last end. Steven Waters just missed out on the result of the week losing out 19-21 to John Kennish after leading for a large part of the game. The B team will feel confident having now played last season’s top three in their first four games.

Marown A extended their lead at the top to five points courtesy of a 10-0 over Douglas B but didn’t have it all their own way with Paul Kelly beating Mark Corrin 21-19 whilst Dean Kipling had his first real test of the season using all experience to get over the line 21-20 against Andy Cannell. Marown recorded this win despite missing three of their regular starters.

Port Erin A took on Onchan A at Breagle Glen and whilst losing out 8-2 they did record two good wins with Peter Addison beating visiting captain Peter Slinger 21-17 and Dave McCabe who defeated Kevin Quirk 21-14.

North Ramsey A made the journey South to take on Castletown A with the home team recording a 7-3 win they had to work for the victory with captain Ian Watson winning 21-19 and David Quayle winning 21-18. For the visitors the winners were Allan Callow, John Cannan and Steve Parker who all recorded strong wins, however these wins were not quite big enough to take the aggregate losing out by just 3 chalks.

Marown B hosted Port St Mary A with the visitors putting out their strongest line up of the season resulting in a 7-3 win for the visitors. For the Home team Juan Killip, Arnie Withers and Bobby Thorne won, whilst Trevor Quayle, Paul Skelly, Rob Cooil and Nathan Hamilton won convincingly with Ewan Cooil having to work harder to beat Steve Bridson 21-19.

In the first double set of league fixtures on Wednesday the game of the night on paper was Marown A against Onchan A at Crosby with the Home team winning 7-3 with Peter Slinger going close before losing out 20-21 to Dean Kipling and Steve Crampton losing out 18-21 to Matthew Keggen. For the visitors Kevin Quirk will have been relieved to get over the line 21-20 against Peter Kelly, whilst Matthew Quirk beat Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-18, and Phil Kerruish won to single figures.

In the other fixtures Peel A, Douglas A and Port St Mary A all recorded 6-4 home wins over North Ramsey A, Marown B and Douglas B respectively however all three visiting teams will have been pleased to come away with four points each. Castletown A came away from their trip North from South Ramsey B with a 6-4 win, whilst reigning champions South Ramsey A had the longest trip of the night to take on Port Erin A and came away with a strong 9-1 win.

In division two Castletown B had another fine week with a 9-1 win over Ballaugh A and a 10-0 win over Nobles B to strengthen their grip at the top. Nobles A had a good week themselves thanks to a 10-0 away win against bottom of the table Port Erin B with Reginald Temporaza continuing his good start to the season in only his second year since taking the game up with a 21-2 win. Nobles A followed this up with an 8-2 home win over Ballaugh A, who may struggle to get back up to division one unless their away form improves considerably.

Not far behind the top two of Castletown B and Nobles A are Onchan B who recorded two 8-2 wins with an away win against Port St Mary B and a home win against Port Erin B.

In division three Ballaugh B are in second place but have a game in hand over Marown C and they faced bottom of the table Douglas D at home and came away with a good 9-1 win. Marown C kept the pressure on with two good 7-3 away wins to Ballaugh C and Douglas D who despite giving away two games took three points off the visitors.

South Ramsey D recorded their first win of the season with a 6-4 home win over Castletown C with the night leagues youngest player nine year old Ryan Hargraves fighting back from 15-20 down to 19-20 and having two good bowls either side of the jack until his opponent Castletown’s Rob Sayle played off his bowl and sat alongside the jack to claim a 21-20 victory. In their other game South Ramsey D made the short journey to take on Ballaugh C, but were sent home with a solitary point following a 9-1 loss with Ian Moore the only winner following a 21-9 win. Ryan Hargraves came closest to adding a second game, however he lost 20-21 after being 20-15 up but was unable to get over the line against Bert Quayle.

Peel D visited Castletown C but lost out 3-7 with young Ryan Tate winning his first game of the season courtesy of a 21-20 victory over Clifford Clague who has recently took up the game after spending a lot of time last season watching his Grandson Sam play bowls around the Islands bowling greens.

The Association Singles was held on Saturday afternoon at Douglas Bowling Club on a superb surface.

The winner was David Bradford (South Ramsey) who defeated Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly in the final to 21-12.

Losing out at the semi final stage were Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) and Edward Carlyle (Onchan).

Losers at the quarter final stage were South Ramsey’s John Kennish, Glynn Hargraves, Wayne Roberts (Port St Mary) and Walter McCarthy (Marown).

The presentation was made by competition secretary Matthew Keggen who thanked Douglas for hosting the competition, providing the refreshments and for preparing a superb green.