News: Men’s
Marown Teams Make Strong Start
Despite the poor weather conditions Marown A got their season off to a solid start with a 9-1 win at home to Douglas B. The visiting team would have been disappointed not to have taken one or two more points off the home team having lost out 21-19 & 21-20 with both the Douglas players letting commanding leads slip away.
Defending champions South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against local rivals North Ramsey A with the ‘North’ men taking two points off the home team & running close in a couple of other games.
Douglas A shrugged off the disappointment off losing over half of last year’s team with a comfortable 9-1 victory over a visiting Ballaugh team who tend to struggle on their travels. Onchan A matched the Villa side with a 9-1 scoreline.
South Ramsey B made the trek to Port St Mary & will have been pleased to have taken three points off the home team, who don’t drop many points on their home turf.
Castletown A used their home advantage to take a 6-4 victory over Peel A, with the result being 4-4 on games, but just edging out Peel by one chalk to take the crucial aggregate to gain the two ‘bonus’ points.
In the second division Marown B had an excellent start to their season having beat Finch Hill A 9-1 away from home.
Nobles A came closest to matching Marown B with a 7-3 victory, dropping only six chalks.
Peel B started their season with a 7-3 win over Onchan B, however this doesn’t tell the whole story with only three chalks separating the teams.
In the third division Douglas introduced a D team for the first time despite losing a number of players over the winter. It is really positive to see six new players taking up the game. The newly formed D Team did themselves proud to take 4 games off the visitors.
Marown C look to have stuck together, having introduced a new team last season & will look to improve on last season’s fifth place finish. I am sure they will improve on last season’s league position with an extra year’s experience under their belt.
Ballaugh B made an assured start to their season with a 10-0 win over Finch Hill B with the visitors failing to reach the 100 point mark.
World Club Championship
Following their Historic title win last season South Ramsey recently travelled to Fox Lane in Leyland to compete in the World Club Championship.
With the competition being played in a straight knockout format South Ramsey were looking to progress in the competition. Unfortunately this wasn’t their day with the team only managing two individual victories and going close in a couple of other games. I am sure the experience will have served them well and no doubt the team will be looking to challenge for the league again this year in an attempt to return next season.
League Preview
Monday evening sees the return of the Men’s night league fixtures.
For the first division there has been a considerable movement of players none more so than Douglas losing five players, whilst making two or three new signings. Both South Ramsey & Marown look to have improved their squads with South having strengthened from within this year, while Marown have a couple of new signings.
Onchan have one in & one out, while Peel have an influx of players now their return to the first division has been sealed, with the return of Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly being the most notable. It will be hard to see past Marown & South Ramsey competing for the title, however there are three teams, Onchan, Port St Mary & Peel who are more than capable of taking points from any team throughout the season.
At the other end Douglas B & Castletown B will be fighting hard to retain their first division status.
In the Second division Nobles & Finch Hill will be hoping to bounce straight back, with Marown B looking to go one step further following last years heartbreak.
That said if they can keep their team together, they have another years experience under their belt, so should be able to take that next step with promotion to the first division.
In the third division Peel C are my tip to gain promotion to the 2nd division, whilst it is good to see a number of new players gaining the experience in this division with a fair standard having followed a number of these fixtures last year.
Kennish Double & ‘Moore’
Bethany Kennish won the first Junior Manx Masters beating Sarah Quirk in the final. The event was well supported with a good entry of 13 juniors. The early stages were played in a round robin format.
There was some excellent bowling from these games that would not have been amiss in the seniors competitions that were taking place later on.
Qualifiers from the round robin stages were Bethany, Sarah, Austin Hart & Glenn Boland.
Bethany & Sarah came through tough semi finals against Glenn & Austin respectively.
In the Ladies event Elaine Moore beat daughter Jenny Moore 21-8. Losing semi finalists were Shelley Kennish & Mary Moffatt. Losing out in the quarter finals were Kath Kinley, Janet Monk, Philippa Taylor & Fiona Kennish.
The Men’s competition had a field of 32. The eventual winner was John Kennish beating South Ramsey team mate David Bradford 21-3. Losing semi finalists were Glynn Hargraves & Kevin Quirk. Losing out in the quarter finals were Chas Grills, Rob Monk, Ewan Cooil & Trevor Quayle.
Full report to follow.
South Ramsey Close In On History
With only a few weeks left of the Ellan Vannin Fuels Crown Green Bowls Leagues South Ramsey A have one hand on winning their first League Trophy and end 19 years of dominance of Marown A and Onchan A.
With Marown sitting out the Wednesday games they needed to better South’s score on Monday however they faced Nobles A who are fighting for their lives to stay in the top flight. Marown came away with a 7-3 win but crucially South Ramsey won 9-1 home to Ballaugh. Wednesday South Ramsey turned in their fourth 10-0 of the season moving them 11 points clear with three games to go.
At the other end Ballaugh A, Finch Hill A and Nobles A are fighting to remain in the 1st Division. Finch Hill have played an extra game than the other two teams and have tough games against Port St Mary A and Douglas A to come. Nobles and Ballaugh face off in what could be a relegation showdown this week.
In Division Two Peel Sunset A are still comfortable at the top of the League despite losing 7-3 to Marown B who are rallying to take 2nd place from Castletown B
Division Three remains tight as only 3 points separate Port Erin B and Douglas C at the summit of the table with two games to go.
Advantage South Ramsey
Marown A failed to capitalise on their fantastic 9-1 win last week as they slipped up with two home defeats in four days in Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s league division one.
Douglas A were the first to visit the memorial playing fields and put in a quite brilliant performance to win 7-3 but more impressively by 30 points on aggregate. Marown failed to bounce back on Thursday as they suffered another 7-3 defeat this time at the hands of third placed Onchan A.
This opened the door for South Ramsey A who gladly stepped through picking up two 9-1 wins against Douglas B and South Ramsey B. These results leave South just one point behind leaders Marown, with a game in hand, and I can’t see them slipping up as they bid to win their first ever division one title.
Peel A won the top of the table clash with Castletown B 6-4 to go fifteen points clear in Division Two. Peel are all but home and hosed, barring any slip ups, and I am almost certain they will return to the top flight next term.
Marown B failed to make any ground on Town B slipping to a surprise 6-4 defeat and the hands of Nobles B.
Douglas C are back in pole position in Division Three as they won 8-2 away at Port St Mary D to move one point clear of Port Erin B with a game in hand. Both of these teams are well ahead of the chasing pack with third placed Ballaugh C some 16 points behind the Port Erin.
Marown Lead With South Ramsey Showdown Looming
Marown A took advantage of South Ramsey A not playing last week to move into top spot of Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s league division one.
The Crosby boys put in a strong performance to beat North Ramsey A and move seven points clear of their closest rivals. In truth South will be favourites to overturn this deficit when Marown sit out so if Neil Withers charges want to put the pressure on really set alight their championship aspirations their aim should be simple.
They must win tonight and either equal or better the score of the Ballure side and follow this up by beating them when they face off next week so that they give themselves at least ten points advantage, which they will aim to maintain and hold going into their own break. If they can do this they will guarantee themselves top spot with only three games remaining.
This is easier said than done however and the lads from Ramsey will be planning on doing the exact opposite and eroding their lead at every single opportunity to put themselves back on top and in pole position for their first Division One League title.
Champions Onchan A had a decent run out beating a battling Finch Hill A side 8-2 to all but guarantee themselves third place. I think realistically their defence of their title is over now, but you just never know. With only nine games left and eleven points to make up it will be a tall task for anyone, even a team with championship pedigree such as theirs.
Third placed Port St Mary A didn’t have things their own way against a rejuvenated Nobles A side who are clawing themselves out of the relegation zone. Port won 6-4, but only just, after tying on games and taking the bonus aggregate points by just seven chalks.
Douglas A have finally started their engines. Many fancied the Villa Men to be much closer to the top of the table and at least challenging for third place however some lacklustre results has seen them close to the teams below them than those above. They managed to put this behind them in spectacular fashion last week with a magnificent 10-0 maximum win away at South Ramsey B. With the Rayner Shield final only a few weeks away they will be delighted to at last find some form.
Ballaugh A are making their own bid for survival and will be ecstatic with a brilliant 7-3 away win over Douglas B. They have two home games coming up and with Nobles having two tricky away fixtures in the same period will be hoping to capitalise and make back the four points they trail by.
Castletown A made it three wins on the spin as they just got the better of local rivals Port Erin A 6-4. This should give them confidence as they go into the hardest away fixture of the year as they travel to South Ramsey A this week.
Second Division leaders Peel A failed to take the aggregate points for only the second time this season as despite winning on games they lost on overall points to draw 5-5 away at Port St Mary B.
Castletown B took full advantage of their rivals slip up winning 9-1 away at North Ramsey B to close in to just seven points off the lead.
Peel B put in a strong performance to leapfrog Marown B into third place beating Brian Kelly’s charges 7-3 in the sunset city. Both of these teams have an outside chance of promotion but they will need to start closing the gap now if they want to turn chance into reality.
Douglas C are still sitting pretty on the perch of Division Three after a decent outing at Nobles C where they won 7-3.
Nearest rivals Port Erin B managed to gain one point back as they picked up a good 8-2 home win over Castletown D.
It is Douglas’ turn to rest this week and port will be hoping to get at least eight points to hit the top and put the pressure on Douglas when they take to the green again next week. Realistically thought I think Douglas are too strong and that even a maximum for Port might not be enough but you never know points on the board are better than those that teams should get on paper.
South Ramsey March On
Despite the miserable weather last week things are really hotting up at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s Division One.
Leaders South Ramsey A continued to turn up the heat with another strong showing winning 9-1 at home against Nobles A. With ten games to go the northerners must now be firm favourites to take their first ever Division one title and etch their names in to the history books.
Marown A are their nearest rivals only two points back and whilst they will fancy their chances they need to start getting their best eight players on the green if they want to mount a serious challenge.
This week is a great time to start with South sitting out this week they have the chance to go top and put serious pressure on the league leaders. It won’t be easy as they host a tricky North Ramsey A team who are capable of causing one or two surprises but a big result for the Crosby men here really would put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Onchan A continue to make third place their own and chances of a spirited fight back seem to be waning week by week, but this is also their chance to strike. They have an outside chance of a maximum against Finch Hill A this week and need to take it and start closing the gap on the leaders one point at a time.
Fourth places Port St Mary A hosted fifth place Douglas A last week and as you would expect things were pretty close. Both teams secured four games apiece with Port taking the victory thanks to a pretty convincing aggregate win 155-131. It was a pretty solid away performance by the Villa men who can take heart from a couple of great escapes late on in the match to secure their four points.
Castletown A have found themselves in a really rich vein of form for the last couple of weeks and another really impressive win, 6-4 away from home against North Ramsey A, sees them comfortably in sixth place only five points behind Douglas. Town have another great chance of a win this week as they host local rivals Port Erin A and if they do manage to capitalise it really will have been a good mini-run for them.
The battle of the newly promoted teams went the way of South Ramsey B who will be delighted to have left the Villa Marina with a 7-3 win over Douglas B. Victory will taste even sweeter for Ben Dugdale’s northern charges as this win sees them leapfrog North Ramsey into seventh place.
League leaders Peel A really are the consistent team in Division Two this term and another solid showing, winning 8-2 at home against North Ramsey B, sees them extend their lead at the top of the table to eleven points.
Second placed Castletown B are still doing their best to try and secure themselves promotion and a 7-3 result against Peel B sees them put another win safely in the bag. This is a really good result for town against a high flying Peel team who are still in with an outside chance of an historic first and second finish for the Govags.
Town will need to watch themselves however as third placed Marown B are really making a late charge for promotion and are in danger of sneaking past them on the outside as Brian Kelly’s men picked up their second 9-1 win in a row, this time against Ballaugh B.
Top of the table Douglas C and second places Port Erin B exchanged 7-3 results last week, against Peel D and Ballaugh C respectively, to keep the gap at the top static at nine points.
Douglas sit out in two weeks’ time and this week is their last match for a fortnight so Ports best chance at a serious title challenge is to try and eliminate the gap and put themselves on top when the Villa next take to the green, as the week after that they travel to the Villa in a do or die match for them.
Tight At The Top
Its getting tight at the top of Ellan Vannin Fuels Mens league division one with South Ramsey A’s lead at the top being cut to just two points by chasers Marown A.
South had the tricky task of travelling to the Villa Marina to take on the Rayner Shield Final opponents Douglas A and will be delighted to have left with a 7-3 victory which pushes them through the one hundred point barrier as they are now on 106.
Marown A entertained Ballaugh A and a strong 9-1 victory propels them to 104, just two points behind the leaders. They will hope to keep the gap at least static this week, however they travel to Finch Hill who are capable of surprising a few people on their own patch.
Champions Onchan A are finding themselves in the no mans land of third place nine points behind second place and eleven ahead of fourth placed Port St Mary A. They will see a 9-1 win over Douglas B as a good result though and will keep trying to chip away at the gap.
Port have now found their feet and a battling 7-3 win away at South Ramsey B cements their fourth position.
Castletown A are an a charge and have flown up the table thanks to their 10-0 whitewash of Finch Hill A. This is a devastating performance from the men from the Crofts and this will give them some momentum to take into their eagerly anticipated clash with North Ramsey A.
In the only other match of the division Nobles A picked up a much needed 7-3 win over Port Erin A to keep their hopes of top flight survival alive.
Second Division Leaders Peel A still flying high after an 8-2 win over their B team sees them move ten points clear at the top. This result sees the Govag second dtring drop to third in the table.
Castletown B are trying desperately to chase them down in second place however they had to settle for a 5-5 draw at Ballaugh B after winning 5-3 on games but narrowly losing out by just five aggregate points.
Port St Mary B and MarrownB are locked on 73 points each after two strong wins, 8-2 and 9-1 respectively, has really kick started their campaigns. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that one of these teams could earn promotion if they can find top hear for the remainder of the season.
Douglas C continue to occupy top spot in division three and another solid away win 7-3 at Finch Hill B will do their title credentials no harm at all.
Port Erin B managed to close the gap ever so slightly to nine points after they won 8-2 away at Port St Mary D.
South Top At Half Way
South Ramsey A defeated Port Erin A 8-2 last week ensuring they top Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s Division one at the half way stage.
As the domestic league scene now takes a week out, with the Island hosting the June Bowls Festival, South will be delighted with how they have performed so far this season winning all 12 of their matches to head Marown by four points at the turn.
Their talisman John Kennish also leads the way at the top of the individual merit with team mate Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly hot on his heals to add to what has been a brilliant start for the Ramsey men. They were most peoples tip for the title before a bowl was played and they are certainly living up to their billing as the ones to beat.
Marown A are course and distance men and are still very much in the hunt, knowing that a big result against South when they play each other would be enough to cancel out the points differential. They played South Ramsey B last time out and with an 8-2 win of their own kept the point’s difference static.
Defending champions Onchan A are third but trail the leaders by thirteen points, after a good 7-3 win away to Castletown A, which may be a bridge too far.
Realistically they need a near perfect second half to close the cap and mount a serious title challenge, and I am not sure they have enough in the tank to do it. That said they know how to win though, and if they can get themselves there or there about approaching the closing stages you just never know.
Port St Mary A seem to have settled into fourth spot now and will have their sights firmly set on Onchan who are 9 points ahead of them, and results like their 8-2 win over North Ramsey will do them no harm at all.
As the division starts to take shape it’s the bottom that proves equally as interesting as the top. Ballaugh A occupy the foot of the table after narrowly losing out 4-6 away from home to second bottom Nobles A. Both these teams have improved dramatically in recent weeks and they will be hoping to build on their first half results as they fight for their first division lives.
Finch Hill A are third bottom, four points ahead of Nobles, and will be delighted to have picked up four points in the last match at the Villa against Douglas A narrowly losing out 6-4 after tying on games.
Peel A remain at the summit of Division Two however they were made to fight all the way to the end last time out at Ballaugh A winning 6-4 thanks to the aggregate points.
Castletown B are second, seven points behind the leaders, and will be delighted to have left Port St Mary C with a 7-3 win.
Peel B put in a great performance to beat Noble B 8-2 and move within one point of Town. This will be a remarkable turn around for the club if they can get both of their teams in the top two spots and back into division one.
Peel C aren’t having the same good fortunes and are bottom trailing second bottom team Ballaugh C by seven points. North Ramsey B are only one point better off in tenth place.
Division Three leaders Douglas C put in a really strong showing at home to beat new boys Marown C 9-1 and extend their lead at the top to ten points.
Port Erin B are still in second place and should be happy with a good 6-4 win away from home at Finch Hill B.