Marown A Fight On
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.