News: Reports
Derby Shocks As Nobles B Upset A Team
Nobles B Mens Team 2017
Lawrence Doogan, Kerry 'Bod' Boland, Glenn Boland, Kevin Firth, John Ruscoe, Mark Quinn, Paul Leece, David QuayleWith TT week over all three divisions featured this week in the Ellan Vannin Fuels sponsored Mens League before another week off for the June Bowling Festival.
Tie of the round on paper was Onchan A vs Port St Mary A. Port St Mary had two of their strongest players missing and Onchan eased to a 7-3 win beating the southerners by 39 chalks. Matthew Quirk and Jordan Cain both won to single figures and Trevor Quayle maintained his 100% record. Stand-in and stand-out performer was Steve Franks who beat Phil Kerruish 21-18.
Title favourites and defending champions South Ramsey A picked up a comfortable 8-2 win on the road at Castletown A. Dave Hollingworth beat Stefan Kelly and Peter Oates came from 18-12 down against Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly running out 21-18 to salvage some points for the Balley Chashtal men.
Marown A remain second after their visit to Mooragh Park to play North Ramsey A winning both halves of the match 3-1 to take the aggregate and an 8-2 win back to Crosby. The final match score doesn’t reflect a couple of the games with both Neil Withers and Colin Kelly lying game down before winning 21-19 and 21-20 respectively. Geoff Porter and Tony Smart picked up wins for the home side.
Peel Sunset A bounced straight back from losing last week to defeat Port Erin A 9-1. There were big wins for Peel in most of the games but Seamus Whelan 20 and Steve Durcan 19 came close to snatching some precious points. Peel remain third but sit out the next round of matches and will wait to see where they are at the half way stage.
Douglas A went over the mountain to face South Ramsey B and despite winning 7-3 will feel they missed out on a 9-1 win having lost two games 21-20 with Ben Dugdale and Sid Bolton sneaking over the line against former home greeners Gary Conwell and Andy Kennish.
Douglas B remain at the foot of the table but clawed a couple of points back by beating relegation rivals Castletown B 6-4
In Division Two Onchan B still lead the way at the top at the after a 7-3 away win at North Ramsey B.
Nobles B faced up against their A team and incredibly won 8-2 to keep themselves in third position and challenging for promotion.
Port St Mary C were hoping to create a similar derby upset against their B team but it wasn’t to ‘B’ as they went down 7-3 and by a large 44 chalk margin. Port St Mary B finally close to within a point of the C team in the league and will be hoping to kick on after a poor first half of the season.
Finch Hill A have struggled making their home green a fortress this season, but will be happier following a 7-3 win over promoted side Port Erin B.
The gap now at the bottom of Division Two is over 20 points with both Douglas C and Onchan C well off the pace. Douglas C went down 9-1 away to Peel B whilst Onchan C lost 8-2 home to Marown B. Both will be staring down the barrels of relegation in September without a massive turnaround.
A similar gap exists at the bottom of Division 3 with both Finch Hill B and Douglas D over 20 points behind their nearest rivals. Douglas D lost 9-1 at home to Peel D and South Ramsey D beat Finch Hill B 7-3
Another club derby took place this week with Ballaugh B taking on their C team who sit 20 points ahead of them in the league. The match must have been a thriller with the two sides playing out a true draw 4-4 on games and 136-136 on the chalks. Youngster Patrick Grant continued his impressive form beating Dicky Watson 21-20 in a game which was the difference between a 5-5 draw and a 7-3 loss.
With Ballaugh C drawing Peel C leapfrogged into top spot with a crushing 9-1 165-108 victory over Nobles C. Marown C who started the season well, have slipped off the pace in their last couple of games and lost at home to Castletown C 8-2
With a week off for festival the league will return on the 26th June for round 13 and will complete the first half of the season. No matter what results are thrown up South Ramsey A will be top of the League going into the second half of the season and are favourites to retain their title. Marown A and Onchan A will fight all the way for top spot and Peel A, Douglas A and Port St Mary A will not give up their own pursuit easily of a top three finish.
The week of the 26th also sees the Quarter Finals of the Rayner Shield and Plate. Tie of the round in the shield sees Port St Mary A making the trip away to South Ramsey A who have not lost a home match since July 2015. On that night it was Port St Mary A who defeated them 7-3 picking up the aggregate by a single chalk.
In the Plate Port St Mary B have setup a southern derby against Port Erin B and the sole remaining Division One team Ballaugh A are away to Onchan C.
Ladies’ Association Pre-Festival Open
The Ladies’ Association Pre-Festival open took place at Port St Mary on Sunday 18 June, sponsored by the Slinger family in memory of their mother, Lilian , a stalwart of the Manx bowling community, who died last year.
The event attracted a field of 52 which included 19 visitors. The weather suited the occasion, but many competitors were caught out by the very fast green. Quarter-finals: Natalie Hughes (Crossgates) 21, Ann Maddrell 19; Pat Shevlin (Birchfield) 10, Rachel Quirk (Crossgates) 21; Sarah Varley (Rishton) 21, Jayne Kneen 12; Janet Monk 21, Jenny Moore 19.
In the first semi-final Rachel was in control from the start with Natalie unable to get her nose in front at any point, while in the other Janet had a slender lead after seven ends at which point Sarah took control to run out the winner.
Semi-finals: Rachel Quirk 21, Natalie Hughes 12; Sarah Varley 21, Janet Monk 13.
Sarah was 12-9 up after seven ends at which point the two players shared ends, with Rachel getting a greater number of 2‘s to levl up the score at 16-16 after fourteen ends. Three singles meant Sarah got to 19 first, before Rachel replied with two singles. Winning the next two ends gave Sarah the game to become the first winner of the Lilian Slinger trophy.
Association Competition secretary, Elaine Moore, thanked Port St Mary for the use of their green, their help on the green and also the amazing raffle and food, before thanking the Slinger family for sponsoring the event and introducing Peter to make the presentation.
Peter praised the green, saying it was the best on the island. His mother would have been so proud of the event and the standard of bowls on show – particularly in the final -and delighted that the winner, came from their part of England
Festival Preview
This years June bowls festival is a very different one for me as it my first as a non resident of the Island. I have always been filled with anticipation and excitement of the top class bowling an atmosphere the coming week held in store, but to actually be one of the visiting holiday makers has stepped things up to another level. I now understand what all the pro Isle of Man bowls week Facebook statuses from the UK bowling fraternity are all about, I literally can’t wait for it, so when I was asked to write the preview for it I was like a kid in a sweet store and grabbed the opportunity with both hands!
Some things never change however and as always when I run through each section of the draw to pick out the potential winner I am awestruck by the quality of the field and the number of potential victors. This is going to be a great competition.
In my heart I will always want a Manx winner and I think with events out of their control meaning they had to pull out of the County Championships it would be fantastic if we had one this time around. For most of them this year the two bowls festivals are their only real chance to have a seat at the games top table and take on the best of the best.
The first section of the draw is simply littered with players wanting to make their mark and claim the main prize. Visitors Paul Bailey (Meersbrook) and Callum Wraight (Castlefields) will fancy their chances of going a long way and the winner of Lee Johnstone (St Oswalds) and Danny Ferris (Norton BC) could also have a very good week, Jordan Cain (Onchan) and Stuart Garrett (Douglas) are two locals who are more than capable of making a finals day appearance.
It gets even more difficult to predict what will happen in the next section and you can never write off Andy Spragg (Callow BC). The charismatic Steve Freer (Castlefields) would be a very popular winner with both locals and visitors alike as he always brings his unique flair to the party. Mark Hughes (Crossgates) is now regularly making it to the latter stages and there is no reason why he couldn’t do it again. Young Conor Chamberlain could also go well if he finds his form. From a local perspective we also have a players capable of mixing it with the best in the shape of Kevin Quirk (Onchan), Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly (South Ramsey) and Rob Monk (Onchan).
There are former winners and runners up everywhere I look as I scroll down the page and defending champion Kez Smith (Crossgates) will have his work cut out to retain his crown with the likes of Kevin Shaw (Westhaoughton), Carl Armitage (St Oswalds), Chris Barton (Wirral) and Colin Kelly (Marown) all in close proximity. Don’t be surprised to if Stevie Kelly (Peel) turns a few heads and causes a few surprises.
There are chances in the next section and for me it’s wide open. Another former champion Gax Lalley (Crossgates) will fancy his chances of making it to the latter stages however in form Trevor Qualye (Port St Mary), who currently leads the local division one merit, has the potential to do very well indeed.
Wayne Ditchfield (Kirkham) and Dave Jackson (Railway) will both expect to make it to the latter stages however there will be only room for one of them, that is of course if the get past local David Bradford (South Ramsey) who on his day can beat absolutely anyone and everyone.
Jack Dyson (Thongsbridge) will be hoping to add his name to the trophy however with seasoned campaigners such as Martin Gilpin (Kendal Vic), Rich Goddard (Castlefields), Rob Fitzpatrick (Wirral) and Marown’s Neil Withers all on the same page it would be a very good week at the office if he was to leave with the crown.
Ian Nicholson’s (Kendal Vic) name jumps of the next page and hits me between the eyes as the man most likely to be in the final shake up from the next group, however it will be interesting to see how Billy Speed (Castlefields) and young Stefan Kelly (South Ramsey) fare.
Stuart Mort (Kirkham) and Matt Kelly-Wally (Belvedere) will both fancy a long run out over the week however experienced locals Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly (Peel), Phil Kerruish (Onchan) and Manx Championship runner up Pete Slinger (Onchan) will all be wanting their own day in the sun on Friday.
News has filtered through to me that local favourite John Kennish (South Ramsey) is unable to take part in the competition this year due to work commitments which really opens up the next section of the draw. I can’t even begin to work out who will make best use of this and it will definitely pay dividends for someone and Paul Chamberlain (Stretton Anglesey) may just be the man to cash in.
James Wilcox (Crossgates) is probably favourite to make it to finals day out of the final 32 in the competition however locals Matthew Quirk (Onchan) and Matthew Keggen (Marown) are both well placed to stop him.
Well that’s it for now, draw analysed and like me you are probably no clearer to picking a winner than I am. What should shine through, however, is the quality of the field and the week of bowls we have in store for us and as I said at the top I literally can’t wait for it to start.
Ballacashtal Cup
Ballacashtal Cup 2017
Nicky Burridge (Runner Up), Adam Drewett (Friends Provident International Representative) Mark Hughes (Winner)The traditional curtain-raiser to the week-long Bowling Festival took place on Sunday on a fast and tricky Castletown playing surface. The event has taken an upsurge in popularity in recent years which has prompted the organisers to limit the entries to 96 and from this star studded field it was a previous Festival winner Mark Hughes from the Crossgates club in Leeds who took the honours beating Nicky Burridge from the Wirral 21-16 in a see-saw, quality final.
In the final stages which were dominated by visiting bowlers Hughes had beaten Ian Johnson (Calow BC, Derbyshire) in one semi while Rishton’s Mick Lee fell to Burridge in the other.
Only one local bowler reached the last 8, South Ramsey’s Glynn Hargraves, while the other losing quarter finalists were Wayne Jeavons (Wirral), John Colebourne (Calow) and Keith Middleton from Chapel Park BC.
At the end of the prestigious competition the home Club’s President Ron Williams mentioned how grateful the club was to Denny Oates and his daughter Kath Kinley for organising the event and he also thanked the club members who had worked through the day.
He finally spoke about the magnificent sponsorship provided by Friends Provident International before introducing company official, and local sportsman, Adam Drewett to present the prizes.
Sun Shines on Kennish in Kernan
Jim Kernan Winner 2017
John Kennish present by Bailey Hotchkiss grandson of sponsor George BrewThe first of the pre-festival opens The Jim Kernan Cup was held in glorious weather on a fantastic South Ramsey green that got quicker throughout the day. The competition attracted an entry of 48 bowlers, which was half price entry for Over 60’s and free for Juniors.
The winner was John Kennish, who mastered the green and made it a staggering 11th time that he has picked up the trophy on his home green.
Losing out at the quarter-final stage were home greeners Steven Waters, David Bradford and Glynn Hargraves, along with visiting bowler Keith Turton.
In the semi-final Kennish ended the challenge of visitor Roger Lunn.
In the other semi-final home greener Dido Kelly booked his place in the final by defeating Edward Carlyle (Onchan).
In a good quality final Kelly got off to a good start against Kennish, before Kennish turned the game round to go 16-12 up. Kelly then dug in to pull the score back to 15-16, before Kennish rallied to see the game out 21-16.
The presentation was made by Steve Moore, who thanked the sponsor George Brew and his family, those who helped run the competition and the Ladies for the excellent refreshments throughout the day. This was the first open that South Ramsey have held using their new clubhouse.
Thanks to Gary Weightman for the photos
Ismay Cup Quarter Finals.
Ballaugh A hosted Castletown A and this proved to be an easy win for the side from the South who had a 7-2 win with Dave Foulis and Arthur Moore being the only winners for the Ballaugh side.
North Ramsey A also had an easy win over Castletown B side having a similar 7-2 victory with Alan Phair and Robert Cooil being the winners for Castletown B.
In the South there was a much tougher match as Port St Mary A hosted Onchan A and it was the men from Onchan Park who took the honours 5-4 although it could have gone either way as Colin Hinds fought out a 21-20 victory over Milton Cubbon.
Peel Sunset A travelled to Nobles A and again this finished in a 5-4 win to the away side with a one game going 21-20 as Harry Kelly achieved that result over Stewart Cubbon.
So with Castletown A, North Ramsey A, Onchan A and Peel Sunset A all going through we are looking forward to an exciting Semi-Finals Day on 26th July.
Onchan A park their challenge at the Mooragh.
The first Over 60’s Match Day after the T.T Break saw a tough match for Leagues Challengers Onchan A who were away to Marown. Onchan A are producing a determined effort not to let Castletown A build a significant lead at the top of the League and this was clear as they defeated a strong Marown Team 5-3 at Crosby.
Castletown A showed the same determination on their Home Green as they beat a good Peel Sunset B side 8-0 which I think has to be the result of the day.
Castletown B travelled West to play Peel Sunset A and this time it was the Westerners who were the victors with a 6-2 win.
Onchan B entertained Finch Hill at the ‘Park’ and the Onchan men won 7-1 with John Harris being the only Finch Hill winner with a21-18 victory over Peter Wallis.
There were some close games at Ballaugh as Ballaugh A fought out a 4-4 draw with South Ramsey and a little further up the road North Ramsey A had a good 5-3 win over a strong Nobles A side.
Back in Douglas Nobles B beat North Ramsey B 5-3 and at the ‘Villa’ Douglas A had a 6-2 win over Port Erin.
In the deep South Port St Mary B played Port St Mary with the A Team winning 7-1 with Steve Franks being the only winner for the B Team.
So to close off Game 19 Douglas B travelled to Peel C and came away with a 5-3 win.
So at the completion of the days matches we still had a tight battle for the top position in the League with Castletown A and Onchan A both on 30 points and being chased by Peel Sunset A and Port St Mary A both on 28 points.
Game 20.
Onchan A travelled to North Ramsey A to try and maintain their League Challenge and were heavily beaten 7-1 by the men from the Mooragh Park with only Neil Dunwell winning for Onchan beating Norman Slinger 21-5.
Leaders Castletown A also had an away Match at Port St Mary B and although they were well ‘tested’ by the Port St Mary B Team the Castletown A side came away with a 5-3 win.
Castletown B had a 6-2 home win over North Ramsey B and Onchan B took a 5-3 win from Peel C.
Ballaugh A beat Nobles B 5-3 while the Ballaugh B side travelled to Finch Hill where they lost 5-3.
Nobles A shook off their defeat from earlier this week by beating Peel Sunset B 7-1 while in the West of the Island Peel Sunset A beat Douglas B 6-2.
South Ramsey hosted Port St Mary A and the men from the South took a 7-1 win with Bill Callow being the only winner for South Ramsey.
Marown travelled to Port Erin and took a 7-1 win from the Southerners with Bob Kay being the sole winner for the Port Erin side.
So after Thursdays matches Onchan A had a clear lead with 32 points followed by Peel Sunset A, Port St Mary A and Onchan A all on 30 points and Marown A on 28 points
Castletown Ladies’ Doubles
There was an entry of 18 pairs for the ladies’ doubles, sponsored by Microgaming, played at Castletown on Saturday 17 June. The event was played in beautiful weather with the green being its usual tricky self and appearing to get faster as the afternoon progressed.
Both semi-finals were hotly contested. In the first, Rita Callister once again showed her fondness for this green as she and her partner, Caroline Whitehead, made their opponents, Ann Hollingworth and Heike Perry, work hard for their win. Rita and Caroline had a slender lead over the first 14 ends before a spurt by the Castletown pair, taking seven points in 5 ends, saw them leading 18-14. Their opponents then scored four singles to level at 18s. A 2 and a 1 in the next three ends saw Ann and Heike through 21-19.
The other semi was even closer, with Chris Price and Kellie Maddrell-Reeve getting off to a stormer against Lyn Bolton and Paula Garrett leading 19-12 after fifteen ends. A one and a four in the next two ends brought Lyn and Paula back into contention, trailing by just two points. Chris and Kellie scored a single to take them to “all but”,but a two followed by two singles put Lyn and Paula into the final 21-20.
Semi-finals: Ann Hollingworth and Heike Perry 21, Rita Callister and Caroline Whitehead 19; Lyn Bolton and Paula Garrett 21, Chris Price and Kellie Maddrell-Reeve 20.
The final was a lot closer than the score suggests with every end being hotly contested. Indeed scores were level at 11-11 after eleven ends, but from that point onwards, in a fascinating game, Lyn and Paula had a slight edge coming through to win 21-11.
Final: Lyn Bolton and Paula Garrett 21, Ann Hollingworth and heike Perry 11.
The presentation was made by Hilary Kermode on behalf of sponsors, Microgaming. She thanked those who stayed to the end, and those who entered. It may not have been the biggest entry, but one could say it was quality rather than quantity !
She thanked Microgaming for their continued sponsorship, this being the eleventh year Castletown had had their support.
Thanks also went to Lynda and Heike for running the sheet and other club members who had helped in any way.
Jean Kelly Memorial Team Handicap Semi-finals
The semi-finals of the Jean Kelly team handicap took place on Thursday 15 June. At Port Erin visitors Nobles had the better of the encounter winning 6-3 on games with a big enough points margin for the handicap not to effect the outcome. The three winners for the home side were Carol Kaye, to single figures, Sylvia Shelbourne and Caroline Whitehead who edged out Sylvia Kennaugh 21-19. In reply Joyce Ogden also won to single figures for Nobles.
At Peel, taking the handicap into account there was only one point, in Port St Mary’s favour, in it after the first block of 5 matches, and up to the last two games it was still theoretically possible for the home side to win. However by the end of the match the visiting side won 7-2 on games and by a margin of 17 points. Tricia Bull and Val Macfarlane won to single figures , while Joyce Kelly and Mary Moffatt were the two winners for the home side. Peel players resisted well with Rose Corfield reaching 18 against Wendy Kennaugh and Heather Horsburgh just losing out 20-21 to Jayne Kneen.
Ladies’ over 60’s League Thursday 15 June
The Trend sponsored Ladies’ over 60’s league has reached its halfway point with last year’s winners, Port St Mary A in a commanding first place. Peel Sunset are in second place, holding a narrow lead over Castletown in third.
Returning after their break, Onchan were top scorers of the morning, winning five of their six games against Breagle, whose lone winner was Steff Swift. Port Erin visited Port St Mary B and gained a win by just 3 points despite winning 4-2 on games in the closest match of the day, the two winners for the home side being Roma Ware and Ann Maddrell to single figures. Port St Mary A did not have it all their own way on their visit to Nobles, drawing on games, but a good win to single figures by Val Macfarlane gave them a reasonable points advantage. Peel Sunset won four games against Ballaugh, three of them to single figures while the signature match of the morning saw Lynda Wilson come through 21-20 against Mary Simmonds. Mooragh Park had a good result at Villa, drawing the match on games. However wins to single figures by Muriel Cain and Margaret Corlett gave the home side a win on points. Kay McKiernan and Moira Anderson had a ding-dong battle with Moira just coming through 21-20.It was close at Marown where the home side had a 4-2 win on games, but Jan Osborne‘s winning to single figures cut their points advantage to just seven..