Despite the roads being closed on Saturday due to the TT races, there was a good entry of 36 taking part in the Association Singles held at Castletown.

Losing out in the quarter-finals were Kevin Quirk (Onchan), David Bradford (South Ramsey), Matthew Keggen (Marown), and former home-greener Bob Clark (Marown).

The first semi-final had John Kennish (South Ramsey) easing to a 21-6 win over Jordan Cain (Onchan) to book his place in the final. In the other semi-final, Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) was up against Tom Kelly (Peel), with Hargraves taking an early lead, Kelly never really closed the gap with Hargraves taking a 21-15 win.

In the final Kennish was quick out of the blocks, taking an early lead, before Hargraves got in to close the gap on Kennish. Just as Hargraves was working his way back into the game Kennish pulled out some good length bowls to get back in and put some distance between his team mate. From there Kennish changed the mark he was playing to secure a 21-13 win and a deserved second Association singles victory following his success at Douglas in April.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Association competition secretary Matthew Keggen, who thanked Castletown Bowling Club for hosting the competition, everyone who supported the competition.

Four of the top five teams clashed this week, with Marown A making the trip down South from Crosby to take on Port St Mary A, which has been a happy hunting ground for Marown for a number of years. It wasn’t such a happy journey home this time, with Port St Mary A winning 7-3. For the home team Trevor Quayle, Paul Skelly, Ewan Cooil and Rob Cooil all had fairly comfortable wins, whilst Dan McCabe managed to get over the line 21-20, when it looked like defeat was certain. McCabe came back from a few points behind to defeat Paul Dunn. For the visitors Neil Withers and Colin Kelly won, with Matthew Keggen doing enough to win 21-19 over Juan Hargraves.

League leaders South Ramsey A hosted Onchan A, with the home team keen to get over the disappointment of their first defeat of the season, whilst Onchan were looking to close the gap. The home team had other ideas taking a 9-1 victory over the visitors with David Bradford, Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore all winning to single figures, whilst John Kennish and Chas Grills also won comfortably. Peter Collister had to work hard to hold off Rob Monk, winning 21-17, whilst Glynn Hargraves saved game at 19-19 with Jordan Cain, and then won the next end to secure the victory 21-19. The lone winner for Onchan was Kevin Quirk, who inflicted a first league defeat of the season on Dido Kelly 21-13.

Peel A held onto second place in the league, and extended the gap on the teams below them following a 9-1 home win against bottom of the table Douglas B, which could have been worse for the visitors with the home team missing out on a 10-0 maximum by a solitary point with Jimmy Samson defeating Gary Smith 21-20.

Douglas A bounced back following last week’s loss to Onchan A, defeating visitors Castletown A 8-2, with Douglas only six chalks away from a 10-0 maximum, with two of the visiting players coming close to winning.

Castletown B made the most of their home advantage over South Ramsey B, winning 8-2 and in doing so moved eight points clear of the relegation zone and closed the gap on the teams above them.

Ballaugh A have now won four of their last five games over the teams closest to them in the table to pull even further clear of danger, following their 7-3 home win over Port Erin A.

In the second division league leaders Onchan B took apart visitors Port St Mary B with a 9-1 victory, the only winner for the visitors was Ray Watterson winning 21-5 over Peter Wallis.

Second placed Marown B came away from Mooragh Park, with a 6-4 victory over North Ramsey B to keep their promotion hopes alive. There is now a considerable gap developing between the top two and the rest.

Jekyll and Hyde team Finch Hill A visited Noble’s A and had a good 8-2 win, whilst Port Erin B continue to impress, following their 7-3 home victory over Peel B.

Noble’s B had a tough looking trip to Port St Mary C, however they came away with a 7-3 victory, to keep in touch with the top two and stay ahead of their A Team.

The bottom two teams Douglas C and Onchan C took each other on at the Villa, with the home team winning their first game of the season 8-2, to give them a massive boost, and in doing so the result lifted them off the foot of the table and above their opposition on the night.

On Tuesday evening in the third division South Ramsey C had a good 7-3 home win over close rivals Peel C, to maintain their position at the top of the table, whilst Peel D took on South Ramsey D in the sunset city with Peel doing enough to take a 6-4 home win.

Finch Hill B are still struggling to pick up the points, after the visit of Castletown C who came away with a 7-3 win, whilst Nobles C were at home to Ballaugh B, with the home team winning 7-3. Ballaugh C had a strong 9-1 home win over Douglas D, with Greg Brew being the only winner for the visitors.

In the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored first division South Ramsey A made the trip to Crosby on Monday night, with memories of last year’s 9-1 defeat fresh in their minds. They gave a much better account of themselves this time round, despite being beat 7-3 and losing the aggregate by only four chalks, they will feel it could have gone their way on another night. The first four games ended all square with Marown A captain Neil Withers taking the first win for his side with an assured 21-7 victory over Peter Collister, with Dido Kelly replying for the visitors with a 21-4 win over Phil Kelly. Matthew Keggen put the home team 2-1 ahead with a good 21-11 win over Alan Moore, shortly followed by Stefan Kelly levelling it up for the visitors with a 21-14 win over Bob Clark.

In the second half of the match the rain came, with South Ramsey looking like they could take an 8-2 win at one point, the Crosby men dug deep to respond. The Islands most decorated players Colin Kelly & John Kennish were drawn to play each other, in a game that neither player could shake the other off, however it was Kelly getting over the line to win 21-18 and in doing so ending an incredible run of 49 consecutive wins in the league for Kennish. John Gelling took on Chas Grills, with Gelling also winning 21-18. Mark Moorley came back from 17-7 down to win 21-20 over Glynn Hargraves, which ultimately earned his team the aggregate victory. Last game off on what ended up an awful night was David Bradford, who earned his team an extra point winning 21-18 over Paul Dunn.

Onchan A have been quietly plodding along this season, with a good 8-2 win over visitors Douglas A to close the gap to five points, this could have been even better with Rob Monk, just losing out 21-20 to Douglas captain Paul Kelly.

Peel A currently sit second in the table, also five points behind South Ramsey by virtue of having played a game more than their rivals, took the trip down to Castletown to take on the B Team, coming away with a good 9-1 win.

Port Erin A were unable to use their home advantage with North Ramsey A being pleased to take a 7-3 win.

South Ramsey B & Ballaugh A continue to pull clear of the relegation battle with South Ramsey beating Castletown A 7-3, whilst Ballaugh beat Douglas B at the Villa 6-4.

The battle to stay up is now looking like a three way fight between Castletown B, Port Erin A & Douglas B.

In the second division Onchan B stayed top thanks to an excellent 9-1 away victory against Port St Mary C, whilst Marown B had a tough trip to take on Port St Mary B, winning 8-2 to stay in touch with Onchan B.

Nobles B continue to make life hard for Finch Hill A courtesy of a 9-1 win, whilst Nobles A stayed in touch with their B Team winning 7-3 away to Peel B.

Port Erin B continue their rise up the table following a 9-1 away win against Onchan C, whilst Douglas C lost 7-3 at home to North Ramsey B.

In the third division South Ramsey D had a good 8-2 home win over Ballaugh C, with Peel C matching their result with a home win over Marown C. Peel C now have a chance to put a bit of daylight between themselves & other teams at the top, as they have a game in hand on their rivals.

Peel D carried on the run of 8-2 wins, following their visit to Douglas to take on Finch Hill B.

South Ramsey C kept their promotion hopes alive with a 7-3 away win against Ballaugh B. Douglas D won 5-3 on games against Nobles C, but missed out on the aggregate by just one chalk.

With South Ramsey A sitting out the Monday evening fixtures it was a good opportunity for the chasing teams to close the gap on the league leaders in the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored League Division One.

Marown had the pleasure of visiting Douglas A at the Villa. The home team performed magnificently to take a 7-3 win over the Crosby men,  with three of the home players holding their nerve gaining vital wins for their team in close games. Green keeper Ian Moore won 21-17, followed closely by Stuart Garrett who won 21-19. Andy Kennish also got over the line with a 21-18 victory over Mark Moorley, who was marginally in front lying two at a critical point in the game, with Kennish hitting a strike to turn the game in his favour. Neil Withers edged his game 21-18 over Keith Rise, with Mervin Sayle & Colin Kelly both winning 21-8.

Onchan A also had a tough fixture, away to Castletown A & this proved to be very much the case.  From the first four jacks Onchan stormed into a 3-1 lead, with Mike Thomas winning to single figures,  followed up by father and son Kevin & Matthew Quirk both winning comfortably. Castletown pulled a game back with Derek Lewney scraping home 21-20 over Jordan Cain, who had come back from 20-16 down to 20-20 playing a long length. Cain led a good lead to the side of the jack last end, before Lewney made sure he reached with his bowl to trail the block. This gave the home side a boost for the last four blocks, with Juan Kermode coming close, before losing out 18-21 to Adrian Skinner. Nathan Cooil took on Rob Monk in a great encounter to watch with both players trying different lengths, before Cooil settled on a shorter length to go 13-6 up. From there Monk pulled the score back to 15-16, before Cooil managed to see the game out to take a 21-16 victory. Peter Slinger took on George Peach , with Slinger getting into a great position to go 14-6 up. From there Peach dragged himself back into the game to get the score back to 18-18, before Slinger got back in to go 19-18 up. Peach then took the win by taking three singles to see the game out. Captain Ian Watson took on undefeated Rob Cowley, in doing so gave a captains innings to recover from 11-15 behind to take the win 21-16. Onchan managed to take the overall victory thanks to gaining the two bonus points for the aggregate.

Port Erin A had the short trip to take on Port St Mary A on a tricky green, with the visitors managing to take two points off the home team, thanks to David Cain & Dave McCabe winning to 18 & 19 respectively, despite having to give a game away.

Peel A were at home to South Ramsey B who will have been delighted to take two points off the home team thanks to George Brew & Tony Dugdale both winning 21-20. Peel will have been disappointed to lose out on a maximum by only two chalks.

North Ramsey A sent Douglas B back home with their tails between their legs by taking a 9-1 victory over the visitors, whilst Ballaugh A hosted Castletown B with the home side taking the victory 7-3.

Wednesday evening was played in fine weather once again, with South Ramsey A back in action having sat out the previous round of fixtures, with the trek down south of the Island to take on Port St Mary A, which hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Ramsey men over the past few years. The visitors put in an assured performance on a green which is in excellent condition to take a 7-3 victory over the home team with five good wins, the two aggregate points to seal a fine victory.

Marown got over the disappointment of Monday’s result to take what looked like a strong 9-1 away win over Castletown B, just missing out on the maximum by only three chalks, with Ron Williams the lone winner, however it could have been very different with two of the Marown men Phil Kelly and Paul Dunn holding their nerve to win 21-20 for the visitors.

North Ramsey A played their second home fixture of the week taking on Douglas A this time, in doing so securing a 6-4 win thanks to winning the aggregate by six chalks.

South Ramsey B made it a miserable journey home to Port Erin by winning 9-1 over their rivals, in doing putting a bit of breathing spacing between themselves and the bottom three teams.

Ballaugh A took four points off visitors Castletown A, who managed to reverse their result from Monday with a 6-4 victory. Ballaugh will have been pleased with their weeks work.

In division two this week Onchan B held on to top spot thanks to a 6-4 home win against Nobles B.
Looking at how the Nobles teams are performing I can’t help but feel that they have players in their B who should be in their A. Time will tell if this will ultimately cost them a place back in the top flight.
Marown B kept in touch at the top thanks to a 6-4 win over Port St Mary C, who will have been pleased to have taken four points off the home team.
Peel B closed the gap by a point thanks to a 7-3 away win at Finch Hill A, to now sit just three points off top spot.
At the other end of the table Douglas C are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table following a 3-7 loss at home to Port St Mary B, whilst the team closing to them, Onchan C continue to struggle with a 8-2 loss at Nobles A. The bottom two look likely to go down with Onchan C now 11 points from safety with nearly a third of the season played.

In division three Ballaugh C continued their rise to the top with a 10-0 victory over Finch Hill B, with a game in hand they can take over at the top.
Marown C and Peel C both won 6-4 thanks to home wins against Ballaugh B and South Ramsey D respectively, South Ramsey were only four chalks from a maximum with two of their players losing out 19-21 to the visiting Douglas D players. The newly formed Douglas D Team continue to impress me with their individual scores in their debut season.
Last and by no means least Peel D had a 7-3 home win over Castletown C.