Marown Continue Impressive Start
Marown A took on Port Erin A at Crosby on Monday evening, with the home team crushing their opponents 10-0. Four of the home team won to single figures, with the back four being pushed harder with scores of 18, 17 and 16. Seamus Whelan came closest to taking a point for his team before losing out 20-21 to John Gelling. Marown have certainly started the season with the bit between their teeth, but tougher tests are surely to come.
South Ramsey A played their first home fixture of the season taking on Douglas A who will recall they were beaten 10-0 last season in this fixture. It looked like luck was not on the home teams side with Douglas taking three points off the champions with Jimmy Sansom scraping home 21-20 after having a big lead against Peter Collister, and Keith Rise defeating captain Glynn Hargraves, with Keith himself leading for most of the game before going 17-20 down before picking up a double and two singles to also get over the line 21-20. Shaun Seal turned in the performance of the night to beat David Bradford 21-10.
Peel A started their season off with a defeat on games at home to Port St Mary A but managed to take the two point aggregate thanks to winning on chalks. Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly won to single figures, whilst his son Ste Kelly also had a strong win. For the away team Nathan Hamilton made his debut for Port St Mary defeating Tom Kelly 21-16. Captain Trevor Quayle just managed to hold off Jerome Surridge to win 21-20, Thomas Keggen also came through a close game to defeat Frank Watson 21-19.
Onchan A got their season up and running with an 8-2 win over North Ramsey A, with Jimmy Moffatt beating Adrian Skinner 21-14 and Steve Walmsley defeated Steve Crampton 21-18. The home team had Peter Slinger, Matthew Quirk and Jordan Cain winning to single figures, whilst Kevin Quirk managed to hold off Tony Smart to win 21-20.
Douglas B had a tight 7-3 win over South Ramsey B, managing to edge the chalks by one point despite South Ramsey’s Tony Dugdale winning 21-0, James Teare winning 21-7 and Sid Bolton winning 21-13. For the home team they had a 21-9 winner, with the other four winning in double figures.
Castletown A first game of the season resulted in a 8-2 home win over Marown B, with their ‘old guard’ of Mike Hargraves, George Peach and Peter Oates all winning to single figures, whilst Juan Kermode just got over the line against Marown Captain Harry Barton. Jordan Drewett won 21-13 against Arnie Withers, with home captain Ian Watson winning 21-14 against Brian Kelly. For the visitors Juan Killip had a resounding 21-5 win, with Steve Bridson their other winner.
In division two Castletown B extended their lead at the top to three points courtesy of a 9-1 win away to Port Erin who were only able to field five players. The lone winner for the home team was Ben Mowle who beat Alan Phair 21-20, whilst Ken Horsley and Ed Benson both lost out 17-21.
Peel B will have been pleased to come away from their visit to Douglas taking on Finch Hill A with an 8-2 victory with three close games. Harry Kelly got over the line 21-19 for the visitors, whilst for the home team Dave Jones won 21-20 and Paul Dougherty won 21-19. On another night Peel could have won 10-0.
Onchan B continued their good start to the season with a 7-3 home win over North Ramsey B, whilst Noble’s A came away from Port St Mary C with a 6-4 win thanks to gaining the two points for the win on chalks. Peel C lost 3-7 away to Noble’s B.
In division three Marown C, Ballaugh B & Castletown C are all tied on 15 points with each team having matching 7-3 wins on the night. Marown C won at home to Finch Hill B with Dan Smith just losing out 20-21 to Bryan Masterson. Ballaugh B had Dicky Watson losing out 20-21, but will have been pleased to have Philip Quayle winning another close game 21-19. The chalks were close with Douglas C only losing out by six chalks. For Castletown C the chalks were even closer with only four chalks separating the sides. Castletown C managed to take the win on chalks despite losing two games to single figures, thanks to winning five games and having a single figure winner themselves.
Onchan C sit just three points behind the top three teams thanks to a 9-1 home win over Douglas D, with Norman Kneen sparing the visitors blushes winning to single figures in his game.
South Ramsey D took on South Ramsey C with a 4-4 draw on games, however the C Team displayed their superiority winning on chalks thanks to having Toby Hart and Tony Marler winning to single figures.