Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

A top of the table clash took place at Crosby in Canada Life International Division One on Wednesday evening as league leaders Marown A hosted South Ramsey A on a night which had plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Marown captain Paul Dunn set down a marker for the home team as he beat John Kennish 21-14, swiftly followed by Peter Jones who defeated Glynn Hargraves 21-13. Colin Kelly recovered from a 1-9 deficit against Bob Clark to win 21-16. South Ramsey’s Peter Collister got over the line 21-19 against Neil Withers with a great last bowl, to secure a first point for the visitors as the latter failed to count two on the last end with the game finely poised at 19-20.

In the second half of the match David Bradford secured a resounding 21-9 win over Paul Kelly, as he took the only single figure win of the night. James Teare battled well to be level with Tom Kelly at 16-16, however a strong finish from Kelly ensured a fourth win for the home team. With the last two games on the green heavily in Marown’s favour as Glenn Boland led 18-13 against Dido Kelly, the latter dug deep to score four doubles over the last five ends to win 21-20. This left Dean Kipling on the green with Jordan Cain, with the Marown man leading 9-1, 14-4, and 20-15, it looked like a game that couldn’t be won by the South Ramsey man, however a huge effort saw Cain get over the line 21-20 to secure a fourth win of the night, as the home team ultimately won 6-4 and by nine chalks (152-143).

South Ramsey will have been mightily relieved to escape with this defeat, as the Crosby men could just as easily have won 9-1, which would have put them 10 points ahead, instead of the four point it now stands at.

Peel A made the most of the top two clashing as they closed the gap on the top two, as they beat North Ramsey A 9-1, as the visitors hit 100 chalks despite suffering four single figure defeats.

Onchan A sit in fourth place as they won 9-1 at home to Port St Mary A, with Paul Skelly the lone winner as he beat Jamie Clague 21-10. The visitors lost one game to 17, two games to 18, and a further game to 20, the Port men will have felt hard done by on the night.

Castletown A slipped to a heavy 2-8 home defeat against Marown B, with former home greener Sam Clague recovering from a 9-20 deficit against Andy Clark to win 21-20.

Douglas A won 8-2 at home to Marown C, with James Kelly stepping up from the D Team to beat the previously unbeaten Gordon Wynne-Smythe 21-16. Winning close games for the Villa were Jimmy Sansom, Andy Cannell, Stuart Garrett, and Dave McCabe.

In Division Two Noble’s A picked up an impressive 7-3 home win over early league leaders Douglas B, in a close match with 12 chalks separating the two teams (149-137).

South Ramsey B took full advantage of the defeat for Douglas B, hitting top spot for the first time this season, as they beat visitors Onchan B 10-0, with James Evans making his first appearance of the season for the home team, as he secured a 21-6 win over David Tait.

Peel B were once again the only away winners in Division Two as they beat Ballaugh A 4-6, helped by winning the aggregate by a solitary chalk (151-152).

North Ramsey B also won 6-4, as they beat Finch Hill A by just two chalks (140-138). Castletown B remain winless after five games, as they lost 8-2 to Port Erin A at Breagle Glen.

In Division Three Nobles D went into second place ahead of Noble’s C, as they came away from their game with South Ramsey D with a 2-8 victory.

Ballaugh B were the biggest winners on Tuesday night as they beat Castletown C 9-1 at home, whilst South Ramsey C came away from Marown D with a 3-7 victory as they sit just four points off top spot, whilst Peel C managed to see off Port St Mary B 7-3, despite Trevor Quayle turning out for the B team, as he won 21-3 against Peel captain Kevin Murray.

In Division Four Ballaugh C sit in top place by 10 points as they beat the new bowlers from Noble’s E 3-7 away from home.

Douglas C matched them Ballaugh C with their own 7-3 win at home to North Ramsey C, with 15-year-old Robert Tomlinson the last game on the green with Paul Arthur, the junior bowler held his nerve to seal a 21-17 win.

Elsewhere Finch Hill B beat Castletown C 9-1 at home, with James Drinkwater the lone winner for Town as he beat John Smith 21-1.