Marown Close The Gap
League action returned this week in the Ellan Vannin Fuel sponsored division one with the tie of the week being top of the table South Ramsey A taking on second placed Peel A, who sat nine points behind the league leaders at the start of play. In the first four John Kennish led the way with a 21-6 win over David Proctor, backed up by captain Glynn Hargraves who inflicted a first league defeat of the season on Tommy McMeiken 21-14. Peel hit back with Jerome Surridge beating Chas Grills 21-15. Gary Smith then levelled the score to 2-2 at the half way stage performing well to beat David Bradford 21-16. In the back four visiting captain Stevie Kelly inflicted a 21-6 defeat on Peter Collister. This defeat was the largest since Juan Kermode beat Collister 21-7 a number of years ago. Stefan Kelly wasted no time in defeating Frank Watson 21-3, to level the match at 3-3 with a 14 chalk advantage to South Ramsey. Things were looking precarious for the home team with Dido Kelly taking on Barney Kelly with Barney holding a 10-3 lead and Alan Moore just 6-5 up against Tom Kelly. Dido kicked into gear to run out comfortably in the end performing well to win 21-16, whilst Moore won 21-13 over Kelly. This earned the home team a 7-3 home win. Peel will have been disappointed with the result having handled the quick green extremely well. The result could just as easily have been 7-3 to Peel on another night.
Marown A took full advantage of the top of the table clash to jump into second spot with a 10-0 win away to North Ramsey A, in doing so closed the gap at the top to just seven points, despite missing two regulars. Paul Dunn, Phil Kelly and Neil Withers all won to single figures over Allan Callow, Tony Smart and John Cannan respectively, whilst Bob Clark stepped in to win 21-12 over Geoff Porter. Paul Kelly had a fairly comfortable 21-16 win over Steve Parker. The final three winners were not so comfortable for the visitors with John Kelly holding off Ray Skelly 21-17, whilst Colin Kelly and John Gelling had to work hard to hold off Stephen Walmsley and Gary Merrill to both win 21-18.
Onchan A had a good 9-1 home win over Marown B. For the home team Kevin Quirk & Phil Kerruish won to single figures. For Marown Peter Kelly was the only winner defeating Steve Crampton 21-15. James Kelly came next closest to taking another point before losing out 18-21 to Mike Thomas.
Port St Mary A had a good 8-2 home win over Castletown A with Trevor Quayle maintaining his 100% record to record his 10th straight league win of the season. Wayne Roberts, Thomas Keggen and Steve Hall had to work hard to beat Mike Hargraves, Jordan Drewett and George Foy respectively. For the visitors Peter Oates had a fine 21-14 win over Ewan Cooil. Dave Quayle was the other winner for Castletown beating Dan McCabe 21-18.
South Ramsey B continue to close the gap on the teams above them at the bottom of the table thanks to a 6-4 away win over Port Erin A. James Teare led the way for the visitors with a 21-6 win over Seamus Whelan, along with Ben Dugdale, Tony Dugdale and Sid Bolton. The four winners for Port Erin were Derek Allen and Dave McCabe, along with Steve Durcan and Peter Addison.
Douglas A were ‘away’ to their B Team with the B Team performing well to snatch three points off the A Team. For the B Team captain Andy Cannell beat Merv Sayle 21-19, whilst Mark Corrin and Bob Callow were the other two winners. For the A Team captain Andy Kennish won 21-4, with the other four winners being Gary Conwell, Shaun Seal, Ian Moore and Stuart Garrett to help them on their way to a 7-3 win.
In division two, Noble’s A maintained their lead at the top of the table with an 8-2 win over their B Team. The winners for the B Team were Stewart Cubbon and Juan Qualtrough.
Castletown B maintained the pressure on the league leaders with an 8-2 home win over Port St Mary B, with all of the visiting players reaching double figures. The winners for Port St Mary were Ray Maddrell who had an outstanding 21-3 win over Mark Saunders and Dave Saxon who beat John Alderson 21-10.
Onchan B performed well to beat Finch Hill A 7-3 away from home, whilst Peel B beat their C Team 7-3. North Ramsey B ensured that Ballaugh A continue to struggle on their travels with a 7-3 home win, whilst Port St Mary C will have been pleased to come away from their visit to Breagle Glen with a 8-2 victory over Port Erin B.
In division three, South Ramsey D performed well at home on a quick green to take four points off high flying Ballaugh B. For the home team Ian Moore won 21-2, whilst Richard Davies won 21-13. Ryan Hargraves came back from 12-17 down to win 21-19 over John Bolton, captain James Moore matched this with a 21-19 win over Tony Quine. For Ballaugh Paul Cubbon beat Jay Moore 21-7, whilst Mick Buckeridge, Phil Quayle and John Cooney also won. The aggregate went to Ballaugh by just seven chalks to seal a 6-4 win for the visitors.
Castletown C closed the gap on the teams above them with an 8-2 home win over Finch Hill B. The two winners for Finch Hill were Bryan Masterson and Stephen Oates.
Peel D won 8-2 at home against Onchan C, with the home team losing three games 19-21, it could just as easily have been a 9-1 win on another night.
South Ramsey C made the short trip to Ballaugh to take on their C Team, coming away with a good 7-3 win on the night.
Douglas D took on their C Team with the D managing to take two games off the higher ranked team. Winners for the D Team were Mike Dransfield and Michael Knowles.