In week 23 of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored league, Onchan A showed their class with a 6-4 home win over South Ramsey A, it was a significant victory for Onchan A who have not had a vintage season by their own standards, but showed their power this week and when tuned up could mount a serious challenge for the top honours again next year.

Marown A had a commanding 8-2 win over Port St Mary A who are themselves a quality outfit, they now sit comfortably in second place, I feel they will not be content with this looking forward to next season and will be planning to present a bigger challenge to the champions. Peel A suffered a shock defeat away against Douglas B and are now involved in a three way fight for fourth place in the top flight.

Division Two

Leaders Marown B were at home to North Ramsey B and handed out resounding 9-1 beating, but second placed Onchan B were even more impressive they had what could have been a tricky away fixture with Port St Mary B, Onchan B were having none of it and came away with a tremendous 10-0 victory, this brings the gap at the top down to eight point with two games remaining. Peel B had a comfortable 8-2 home win over Port Erin B and third place looks like their likely finishing spot.

Division Three

The division leaders Peel C suffered a severe blow to their title challenge when they were beaten at home 8-2 by South Ramsey C, Second placed Ballaugh C had the reverse with an 8-2 away win over Douglas D, these results could be highly significant to the outcome of the third division. With two games remaining Peel C have a four point lead over Ballaugh C with the pair meeting in their final fixture in the Sunset City.

In week 22 of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored league,  there were several significant results affecting the outcome of the league, South Ramsey confirmed there superiority over Marown A with a 6-4 home win but they were pushed all the way, winning the aggregate by 9 points.

Third placed Onchan A suffered a significant defeat losing away against Douglas A by an 8-2 scoreline, this result would appear to open up a battle for third ,fourth and fifth places in the top division.

Peel A moved back up to fourth place courtesy of a 9-1 home win over Castletown B and the Sunset City outfit are well poised to make a strong charge in the final run in, North Ramsey A and Castletown A both recorded 8-2 home wins and are firmly established mid-table with respectable point tallies.

Division Two

Division two leaders Marown B were at home to Port St Mary B and had an impressive 9-1 win, they have now opened up a nine point gap over Onchan B and seem likely winners of this division, Onchan B carved out a good result with a 7-3 victory over Port St Mary C this has left them with an 8 point margin over third placed Nobles  B. Finch Hill held Nobles’B 5-5 a good result for the home side.

Division Three

The division leaders Peel C were away to second placed Marown C and clinched a 7-3 win this opens the gap between the pair to nine points with the Peel side having a game in hand. Ballaugh C had a tremendous 9-1 home win over South Ramsey D and are now only one point behind Marown C with a game in hand.

Saturday the 19th August saw the Mannin Hotel sponsored Douglas Town Cup Event being staged by Douglas Bowling Club at the Villa Marina.
With both Ladies and Men’s events being held side by side on the ‘Villa’ Bowling Green there a great day of bowls with the events starting at 10-30am and finishing around about 5pm.
The men’s event started with some great early games being played in the blustery but dry conditions with just the very occasional short light rain shower not really being enough to dampen anyone’s spirits.
As we got to the semi-final stage we saw two interesting matches with the first being between South Ramsey Club mates Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly and Glynn Hargraves with Glynn eventually running out as the 21-18 winner.
In the other semi final we saw ‘dark horse’ Edward Carlyle who had already despatched John Kennish and Neil Withers up against an on form David Bradford.
It was not to be Edward’s day however as David was to strong and took a 21-14 win which put him into the Final against Glynn Hargraves.
There was some good bowling in the Final but it was David Bradford who took the Trophy with another strong performance winning 21-16.
In the Ladies Event there was once again some great bowling and the first semi final was between Paula Garrett who had beaten good opposition in Alison Keggin and Fiona Kennish en route and Helen Martin who had beaten Lisa Boland and Janet Monk to get through.
Paula seemed to handle the blustery conditions better but both ladies played really well with Paula running out the 21-14 winner and earning a place in the Final.
The second semi final saw a tough battle between Lyn Bolton and Margie Tasker and after some great bowling Lyn just made it past the post with a 21-20 win.
So with the Final being between good friends Paula Garrett and Lyn Bolton we were looking forward to some good bowling and that is what we got.
Lyn looked at one stage as if she was building up a significant lead over Paula but the Douglas Bowling Club player held her concentration and came back to take the Trophy with a 21-17 victory.
So after a great days bowls the two Mannin Hotel Douglas Town Cup winners were David Bradford and Paula Garrett.
In their ‘Winner’s speeches’ both competitors thanked Mr Keith Lord and the Mannin Hotel for sponsoring the event and thanked all those who helped on the day.

Last week saw two fixtures played for teams in division one of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored league, in game twenty Marown A had a comfortable 8-2 home win over Douglas A, but they weren’t afforded a comfortable passage when they made a trip to the Sunset City on Wednesday evening, they were pushed all the way by Peel A, Marown A took the victory by the two aggregate points, credit must be given to Peel’s Dougie Allan who stepped up to first team duty and defeated John Gelling 21-14.

In game twenty Onchan A had a solid 8-2 home win over Castletown A and repeated the score line on their visit to Ballaugh A in the second fixture, Port St Mary A made the short trip to Port Erin A but didn’t have it all their own way winning 6-4, 139-124 on aggregate. South Ramsey B hosted Peel A in game twenty and although Peel had six winners to the two of the home side the aggregate was tied an 144. Douglas B played a home fixture with North Ramsey A in another closely fought affair, North Ramsey had five winners but lost the aggregate by a single point.
On Friday night South Ramsey A and B met and the 9-1 win was probably what would have been predicted, on the same evening North Ramsey A made up for their disappointment earlier in the week with a 7-3 win over Castletown A.

Marown B would have been pleased with picking up eight points in their away fixture against Port St Mary C , but Onchan B suffered a 7-3 away loss to Nobles B and now trail Marown B by seven points at the top of the table. Port St Mary B had a storming 10-0 win over Douglas C with an aggregate margin of ninety two points. Peel B hosted Finch Hill A and were beaten 6-4, disappointing for Peel B but Finch Hill A are picking up good points as I have mentioned in previous reports.

With Peel C sitting out this week’s fixture it was a chance for Marown c to close the gap and they did their cause no harm by picking up seven points away at Ballaugh B, Finch Hill B versus Ballaugh C was the closest fought league fixture of the week four winners a piece and the aggregate tied on 134.

In week 19 of the Ellan Vanin Fuels sponsored league South Ramsey A have opened up what would appear to be a unassailable lead at the top of the table by extending it to twenty points with a 10-0 win over Port Erin A leaving the latter seemingly cut adrift at the foot of the table.
Second placed Marown A did all that could be expected of them with a resounding 9-1 away win over Castletown A this ensures the gap between the chasing pack doesn’t change, as the three teams below them Port St Mary A, Onchan A and Peel A also recorded favorable 9-1 score lines. North Ramsey A continued their good run of form with an 8-2 victory over Castletown B.

The anticipated top of the table clash in Division 2 went the way of Marown B, the two point victory gap over close rivals Onchan B means the battle for the top spot looks like going down to the wire. Third and fourth placed teams Peel B and Noble’s B also faced each other and this also proved to be a close affair with the Peel side edging it 6-4. Finch Hill A had another good win 7-3 over Onchan C and are collecting good

In Division 3 top of the table Peel C stormed to a 9-1 win over Castletown C and have now opened up a twelve point gap over second place Marown C, things are looking good over at the Sunset City with the club building a really solid base for the future. Marown C did all they could in their chase with a 10-0 win, but Ballaugh C will have them looking over their shoulders as they are just five points behind with a game in hand.

Second placed Marown A took on third place Onchan A this week in the Ellan Vannin Fuels Crown Green Division 1. Only four points separated the two teams before play and with Marown not finishing outside of the top 2 since 1995 there was a lot at stake for them to bolster their position and continue to chase down leaders South Ramsey.

Marown got off to a great start winning the first four games with Neil Withers winning 21-3 to remain undefeated in the 2017 campaign. Colin Kelly 21-7, Paul Dunn 21-12 and Phil Kelly 21-12 all put in solid performances to give Marown a 4-0 lead. Onchan looked to rally in the second half and did just that with Matthew Quirk winning 21-9 against John Gelling. Matthew Keggen lead Rob Monk 19-11 and looked set to close the game out before a momentum shift and Rob took the game back to 18-19 before Matthew closed the game out to win 21-19. Bob Clark defeated two time Manx Champion Kevin Quirk 21-19 to take the score to 6-1 with the final game between Mark Moorely and Jordan Cain left on the green. At 16-16 Jordan managed to get on a run to run out winner 21-16 picking up another point for Onchan. The match finished 6-2 (151-113) and overall 8-2 victory.

South Ramsey A would have been looking to extend their lead over Marown on their visit to relegation threatened Douglas B. South as expected dominated the game. Douglas did pick up a valuable couple of points with Jimmy Sansom and Andy Cannell winning for the home side. South won the match 8-2 (151-91).

After a tough couple of weeks Peel Sunset A put in a fine performance to defeat North Ramsey A 9-1 (164-115). Douglas A made the trip South to Port Erin and won 10-0 in a result which now places them in fifth position ahead of Peel.

Port St Mary A moved into third position after beating Castletown B 10-0. Port St Mary have played a game more than fourth placed Onchan but will are still well in the mix to finish in the top 3. Trevor Quayle also won to maintain his 100% league record.

Completing the Division 1 fixtures are South Ramsey B who defeated Ballaugh A 10-0.

In Division 2 Marown B travelled to fellow promotion candidates Nobles B who were only four points behind before the match. Marown put a marker down winning 8-2 to move 10 points clear and leave Nobles in third position. Onchan B made sure there were no slip ups beating Douglas C 9-1. Onchan B and Marown B are tied on 113 points and the battle for top spot looks set to go down to the wire. Nobles B won’t give up their fight for promotion easily and with Marown B and Onchan B due to play each other next week it could be an opportunity to close the gap.

At the bottom Douglas C and Onchan C are too far back and both look set to finish there come September.

Peel Sunset C still lead the way in Division 3 but the battle for second place is tight with only six points separating second to sixth position.

In week 17 of the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored league, South Ramsey A strengthened their position at the top of the division with a 10-0 home win over Castletown B, five of the league leaders side recorded single figure wins, David Bradford was pushed all the way by Alan Phair but came off on the right side 21-20.

Second placed Marown inflicted a 10-0 defeat on South Ramsey B to maintain their challenge which is all they can do, while waiting for the champions to falter. Port St Mary A hosted Peel A the fourth and fifth placed sides, the home side had much the better of the clash, the sides were evenly matched but the green was extremely tricky on the night and favoured the home side who used green knowledge to their full advantage and record an 8-2 win.

At the Villa Douglas A were the home side against the B and delivered an 8-2 return ,a fair result for the A team, but one that sends the B near the bottom of the division. Castletown A and North Ramsey both recorded 9-1 wins to keep them both comfortably mid table

Division Two leaders Marown B were away at Douglas C and came away with a comfortable 7-3 win, but second placed Onchan B went one better winning 8-2 away against Port Erin B this result brings them within one point of the leaders this sets up week 19 nicely when the two meet each other.

Noble’s B had a solid 8-2 away win over Onchan C to keep the pressure on the top two, peel B were 7-3 home winners over North Ramsey B this included three single figure winners and great 21-3 win for Alec Taylor. Finch Hill A had a good home win 8-2 over Port St Mary B, Port St Mary C travelled to Noble’s B and came away with a fine 6-4 win

The division leaders Peel C were at home to struggling Douglas D and had an emphatic 10-0 win underlining the strength in depth at Peel. Ballaugh B did their C team a favour by defeating Castletown C 6-4 while Ballaugh C were recording a good away 8-2 win against Noble’s C, to push them up to third level on points with second placed Castletown C but with a crucial game in hand.