Another week, another Leader
The lead in the Tower Insurance Over 60’s League has changed yet again, after a black week for previous leader Peel Sunset A, who entertained reigning champions Castletown A on Tuesday and ended up on the wrong end of a 6-2 defeat, this was followed by a similar score line on their trip to Port St Mary A to compound a poor week for the westerners, however I am certain that they will come back from this setback stronger than ever. This allowed Douglas A to take over the mantle as top dog, with a fine 5-3 win on their trip to Onchan A, however the curse at the top say them drop at point at home to an accomplished Nobles A team to allow North Ramsey A to head the table after beating Finch Hill at the Mooragh 7-1 and then beating Nobles B by 6-2 at Nobles, this game was a lot closer than the score line suggests with Nobles having one player scoring 20 and two on 19. North Ramsey have 12 points from 7 games one ahead of Douglas A and South Ramsey, who beat Nobles B 7-1 in the north before visiting Onchan B and getting a 5-3 victory. On 9 points come Port St Mary who have a game in hand after two victories this week. Also on 9 points but having played 7 games come previous leaders Peel Sunset A, and Castletown B who also had two good wins
Next up come defending Champs Castletown A who like Port St Mary have a game in hand and are on 8 points along with Nobles A, while on 7 points are three clubs that also all have a game in hand these being Marown A, Ballaugh A and Peel Sunset B. This means that once the teams that have played a match more have to sit out their game there could be 10 teams within 3 points of the top. And this is not including the two Onchan teams who are going through a bad spell at present but both have the players to climb up the league. The Preliminary round of the Ismay Cup was also played this week and which pitted a lot of the top clubs against each other. Ballaugh A had a good away win over Nobles A by 6-3 while the other three games saw wins for home teams, Douglas A defeating Onchan B 7-2, Onchan A beating Finch Hill 7-2 and Port St Mary had a home win over South Ramsey with a 6-3 score line. Finch Hill gained some revenge on the Thursday when they used home advantage to beat Onchan A 5-3 in the League. The top fixtures next week are on Tuesday when Peel A’s tough fixtures continue with Douglas A turning up in the west, while third place South Ramsey entertain Castletown A. On Thursday Douglas travel down south to Port St Mary A, while leaders North Ramsey A have their turn to sit a game out. And a resurgent Marown visit Castletown A. Could I remind all captains that the postage rate is going up on 5th May and could they please put an extra 2p stamp on the result cards. Many thanks and good bowling