Marown Keep Up The Chase
In division one second placed Marown A kept the pressure on the league leaders with an 8-2 home win over Port St Mary A, who just missed out on snatching an extra point with Paul Skelly losing out 20-21 to Paul Kelly. The winners for the visitors were Rob Cooil who beat John Gelling 21-18 and Trevor Quayle maintaining his 100% record beating Matthew Keggen 21-14. Winning to single figures for Marown were Paul Dunn and Neil Withers, also winning comfortably were Dean Kipling, Phil Kelly and Colin Kelly.
Peel A recorded a maximum at home against Marown B, with a 10-0 victory, although it could just as easily have been 8-2 with Tom Kelly beating Brian Kelly 21-20, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly also winning to the same score against Peter Kelly. Winning to single figures for Peel were captain Stevie Kelly and Tommy McMeiken.
North Ramsey A hosted near neighbours South Ramsey A and will have been pleased to take three games off the champions with the 7-3 win for the visitors being a fair reflection of the games. Winning to single figures for the home team were John Cannan who beat Chas Grills and Tony Smart who beat Alan Moore. Ray Skelly performed well to beat Stefan Kelly 21-17 to pick up his third win of the season. Hitting back for South Ramsey Dido Kelly beat Geoff Porter 21-3, David Bradford beat Gary Merrill 21-7, with Peter Collister winning 21-8 against Steve Walmsley, with John Kennish beating Steve Parker 21-11 and Glynn Hargraves beating Allan Callow 21-14.
Douglas A travelled south to take on Castletown and whilst being pleased to win five games away from home after their recent struggles of three successive defeats, they will have been disappointed to lose the aggregate with the match ending a draw 5-5. Winning for the home team were Ian Watson, Mike Hargraves and Peter Oates. The visitors had one comfortable winner, with Stuart Garrett winning 21-11, whilst the other four winners were close with Andy Kennish and Jimmy Sansom beating Juan Kermode & Dean Kinley 21-17, Ian Moore beat George Peach 21-19 and Shaun Seal edged his game 21-20 against Jordan Drewett.
Douglas B look certain to go down following a 4-6 home loss against their nearest rivals. Whilst the home team drew 4-4 on games, they suffered a 0-21 loss, along with two more heavy defeats 4-21 and 9-21. Winning for the home team were Pat O’ Donohue who beat Derek Allen 21-20, Andy Cannell who beat Bernie Durcan 21-18, Gordon Wynne-Smythe who won another close game 21-17 against Dave McCabe and Mark Corrin who won comfortably 21-11 against Mark Corrin. Winners for Port Erin were Stuart Gale, Steve Durcan, Derek Cadamy and David Cain.
South Ramsey B did well at home against Onchan A taking three games off the visitors with a 3-7 home defeat. Winners for South Ramsey were the trio of Tony Dugdale, Steven Waters and Christian Kelly beating Steve Crampton, Kevin Quirk and Mark Kelly respectively. Winning for Onchan were Jordan Cain, Robert Monk and Phil Kerruish who all won to single figures, along with Matthew Quirk and Peter Slinger with Slinger pushed hard by Martin Caley before winning 21-17.
Looking at the relegation battle Douglas B are a long way off safety on 12 points away from Port Erin A, whilst South Ramsey B sit one point ahead of Port Erin A the fixtures would appear to favour the northern team. Marown B have a bit of breathing space however they will need to continue to pick up points to ensure their place in the top flight next year.
In division two Noble’s A had a tough trip south to take on Port St Mary B and came away with a hard earned 6-4 win. Recording big wins to help secure the aggregate were David Pease and Reginald Temporaza, whilst Tommy Collister beat Brian Corrin 21-12. Mark Quinn had to battle hard to beat Paul Russell 21-18. For the home team Ray Watterson, Brian Lowe, Derek Kneen and Dave Saxon were the winners.
Castletown B also had a tough away fixture against Castletown B, still managed to record a 7-3 away win. Winners for Castletown were Derek Lewney, Aaron Richardson, Peter Curtis, Dave Faragher and Ron Williams. Picking up three points for the home team were Arthur Halsall, John Harris and Peter Hughes.
Peel B enjoyed their visit to Douglas to take on Noble’s B coming away with a 10-0 away win. Paul Quirk and Michael Kavanagh both won to single figures, with Harry Kelly winning 21-18 against Stewart Cubbon and Mike Ashmole winning his game 21-19 against Les Brookes.
Port St Mary C hosted Onchan B with Louis Callister showing he has still got it, with a fine 21-5 win over Bernie McPhee. Rob Cowley stepped in to win 21-5 against Andy Sykes, whilst Mike Thomas beat Ashley Qualtrough 21-7. For Port St Mary Colin Leece and Ken Karran came closest to picking up extra points before losing out 18-21 and 17-21 to Roger Payne and Edward Carlyle respectively.
Peel C topped off a good week for the Peel A, B and C Teams with an 8-2 away win against North Ramsey B. Jimmy Corlett and Robert Middleton won to single figures, whilst Peter Kelly beat Lee Christian 21-19. Winning for the home team were Stephen Gill who beat Bob Berry 21-6 and Barry Teare won 21-14 against Ian Pendlebury.
Port Erin B are ten points from safety at the bottom of division two following a 4-6 home loss. Winning for the home team were Christopher Dent, Ed Benson, Harry Minor and Ken Horsley. For Ballaugh John Keenan, Peter Graham, Edgar Cowin and Barry McDonald were the winners.
Ballaugh B continue to set the pace at the top of division three with a 7-3 away win against Onchan C, whilst Castletown B slipped nine points behind the league leaders following a 7-3 away loss to Marown C who now sit just three points behind Castletown in third. Sitting in fourth place are South Ramsey C who won 7-3 away to Peel D, whilst Ballaugh C sit in fifth place won 9-1 at home to strugglers Douglas D. With only eight points between second place and fifth place there is plenty to fight for in the seven games remaining of the season. South Ramsey D hosted Finch Hill B in the closest match of the night with the home team winning 6-4 taking the aggregate by just two chalks (136-134).