Marown B Edge Closer to Safety
Marown B travelled south to take on Port St Mary A and came away with a draw that will help their fight to remain in the top flight. Marown took five games off the home team with Brian Kelly, Juan Killip, Arnie Withers and Peter Kelly all taking good wins against Robbie Cooil, Steve Franks and Wayne Roberts and Steve Hall respectively. John Kelly just managed to get over the line 21-20 against Dan McCabe. All the home team wins were to single figures which helped secure the two points for the aggregate with Thomas Keggen, Paul Skelly and Trevor Quayle doing the business for Port St Mary. Quayle is now the outright leader in the division one merit with 15 wins from 15 games.
North Ramsey A continue their run of home games recording a 6-4 win over Castletown A. Winning for the home team were Steve Parker who was pushed hard by Dean Kinley before winning 21-18, Gary Merrill who beat Mike Hargraves 21-11, with Allan Callow and Tony Smart both winning to single figures. Responding for the visitors were Peter Oates, Ian Watson, George Peach and David Quayle.
Douglas B are running out of games to catch the teams above them, losing 1-9 at home to Marown A on a heavy Villa green following the recent rainfall. Douglas captain Andy Cannell had a good 21-12 win over Dean Kipling. Geoff Mayles performed well against Paul Dunn after trailing 1-13, he went on to lead 15-13, before Dunn got back in and managed to see the game out winning 21-19. In another close game Grahem Moore led 20-17 against Paul Kelly, with Kelly just managing to stumble over the line to win 21-20. Winning to single figures for Marown were Neil Withers and Colin Kelly.
Second from bottom Port Erin A were beaten 10-0 away from home against Onchan A with the score not reflecting the games. Peter Slinger beat Bernie Durcan 21-20, Kevin Quirk and Mark Kelly both won 21-19 against Steve Durcan and Peter Addison respectively, whilst Jordan Cain was pushed hard by Dave McCabe with Cain 20-18 up, McCabe had two six inch bowls with Cain bowling in to get over the line 21-18.
South Ramsey B faced their A Team on a blustery night in the north of the Island with the A Team recording a strong 9-1 win on a tricky green. Sparing the blushes for the B Team James Teare performed well to beat Tony Dugdale 21-6. The A Team recorded four big wins from Glynn Hargraves, Dido Kelly, David Bradford and Peter Collister.
Peel A had a tough looking home fixture against Douglas A, however they brushed the visiting team aside with relative ease winning 9-1 with three single figures from Gary Smith, Dave Kelly and Frank Watson. Jerome Surridge was pushed hard by Mervin Sayle before winning 21-19. The lone winner for Douglas was Ian Moore who beat David Proctor 21-13.
In division two Ballaugh A damaged Castletown B in their chase to close the gap on Noble’s with a 5-5 home draw. Despite winning just three games Castletown picked up the aggregate two points by just four chalks to secure the draw with Ron Williams winning 21-4, Dave Faragher recording a strong 21-11 win against John Keenan and Derek Lewney also doing well to beat Peter Graham 21-12. Just losing out were Ross Moore 19-21 to Richard Fisher and Peter Curtis 20-21 to Bob Unsworth. Winners for the home team were Barry McDonald, Edgar Cowin and John Maddrell.
Noble’s A kept up their pursuit of top flight bowls next season with a 9-1 home win over strugglers Port Erin B with Harry Minor winning 21-20 for the visitors. Captain Kevin Firth and David Pease both showed no mercy recording 21-3 wins. Paul Leece was tested by Ken Horsley with Leece winning 21-18.
Finch Hill A hosted Noble’s B with the home team running out 8-2 winners. For the visitors Terry Bates beat Arthur Halsall 21-10 with Juan Qualtrough beating Gerald Woodsworth to the same score, whilst Les Brookes lost out 19-21 to Paul Dougherty. For Finch Hill Billy Long and Tony Epifani both won to single figures.
Port St Mary C travelled to Peel on Tuesday evening coming away with a hard fought 8-2 win. Newcomer Derek Cain won his second league game since taking the game up, beating Ian Pendlebury 21-17, whilst Tom Wilson just got over the line 21-20 against Jimmy Corlett. The other four wins for Port St Mary were fairly comfortable. For Peel Ray Shooter playing against his former club beat Ashley Qualtrough 21-15, with Philip Clarke beating Louis Callister 21-6.
Peel B travelled north to take on North Ramsey B at Mooragh Park, whilst they lost 6-2 Dougie Allan won 21-2 against Paul Cannon and Mike Ashmole beat Rheuben Thomas 21-12. For the home team Bryan Corner recorded the biggest win beating Paul Quirk 21-8, with Barry Teare doing well to hold off Harry Kelly to win 21-19.
Onchan B hosted Port St Mary B at Onchan Park with the home team taking the spoils with an 8-2 win. For Onchan Colin Spence won 21-8 against Dave Saxon, with Bernie McPhee not far behind winning 21-10 against Tom Collins with Neil Dunwell beating Peter Collins 21-17. The winners for Port St Mary were Ray Watterson who beat Roger Payne 21-8 and Mike Ware who beat Mike Alexander 21-12.
In division three Douglas D halted high flying Ballaugh B in their chase for promotion with their best result of the season taking four games off the visitors to record a 4-6 loss. For the Villa men Michael Knowles had a fantastic 21-6 win over David Hewitt, Greg Brew and Peter Wilcox both recorded their second win of the season, with Gavin Brew winning his first league game of the season. For Ballaugh three of their wins were to single figures with John Looney, John Bolton and Mike Buckeridge. John Kneen was their other winner beating Brenton Hanson 21-13.
Castletown C recorded a 6-4 home win over South Ramsey D despite giving another game away due to being a player short. For the visitors merit leader Ian Moore was the lucky man to benefit from the walkover, which was just as well as he had forgotten to bring his bowls! Matthew Corkill recorded the result of the week beating James Drinkwater 21-19 who was himself up at the top of the merit table prior to this fixture. Also winning for South Ramsey were Richard Davies who beat John Matheson 21-17 and Jay Moore winning 21-16 against Clifford Clague. For Castletown Juan Drinkwater won 21-13, Philip Smith beat Ryan Surridge, whilst John Kinley and Sam Clague both won to single figures.
Marown C now sit just one point behind Castletown C thanks to an 8-2 home win over Ballaugh C, helped by Walter McCarthy and Kevin Kelly both winning 21-20. Jamie Joughin made light work of his game winning 21-8 against Bert Quayle. For the visitors Brian Lace held on to beat Darren Kerruish 21-18, whilst Paul Bradford beat Carey Dewhirst 21-15.
South Ramsey C aren’t out of the chase for promotion just yet sitting just six points behind second placed Castletown. They recorded a 7-3 home win over Douglas C with no close games for either team. Paul Routledge beat Davey Stewart 21-8, whilst Tony Hart beat Keith Fearnley 21-6. For Douglas Mike Cain inflicted just a third league defeat of the season on Toby Hart with Cain winning 21-6.
Finch Hill B made the most of home advantage winning 8-2 at home to Peel D with three single figures wins from captain Pat Maher, Kevin Anderson and Kevin Stannard. For Peel John Lightfoot beat Brian Murphy 21-18, with Brian Lindsey winning 21-15 against Frank Christian.