Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The men’s night league season hit the halfway point in Canada Life International Division One on Monday evening in blustery conditions across the island.

South Ramsey A are well placed at the top of the league, following a tricky looking away fixture with Douglas A at the Villa. The visitors managed to win 9-1, with three single figure wins from David Bradford, Glynn Hargraves, and Dido Kelly. James Teare won 21-17, after trailing 7-12 to Dave McCabe, whilst Jordan Cain sealed the last win of the match with a 21-20 win over Andy Cannell. The lone winner for the home team was Gordon Wynne-Smythe, as he beat Peter Collister 21-20.

Marown A kept in touch at the top, they sit just one point behind after their 9-1 home win over Castletown A. Winning for the Town men was David Quayle who beat Dean Kipling 21-12, with the visitors pushing hard in two games before losing out 20-21, as Dean Kinley and Andy Clark lost to Neil Withers and Glenn Boland respectively. Three games were settled to single figures with wins from Colin Kelly, Paul Kelly, and Tom Kelly.

Peel A and Onchan A battled it out in the Sunset City, with the home team managing to win the aggregate to help secure a 5-5 draw (chalks 139-132), despite losing 5-3 on games, as Steve Kelly, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly, and Gary Smith all shared the kitty with 21-9 wins over Kevin Quirk, Steve Parker, and Peter Slinger respectively. Winning close games for the visitors were Matthew Quirk, who beat Tommy McMeiken 21-18, whilst Jamie Clague won to the same score against Tony Carroon.

Port St Mary A had a good evening as the teams immediately below them and above them lost heavily, The Port men helped their cause with a 8-2 home win over bottom side Marown C, with big wins arriving from Paul Skelly, Wayne Roberts, and Trevor Quayle.

North Ramsey A made the most of home advantage to defeat Marown B 7-3 at Mooragh Park, as they went level on 37 points with the Crosby men. All eight games reached double figures. Winning close games for the home team were Steven Waters, who won 21-17 against Phil Kelly, Allan Callow performed well to beat John Gelling 21-18, with Harry Barton ensuring it wasn’t a heavier defeat for the home team as he edged home 21-20 against Gary Merrill.

In Division Two league leaders Peel B slipped to their first defeat of the season away to Onchan B 6-4 with the home team securing the win on the aggregate by 12 chalks (143-131) gave the chasing teams a chance to close the gap at the top.

Second placed South Ramsey B closed the gap to six points, following their 7-3 home win over Douglas B, with George Brew winning the closest game of the night with a 21-20 win over Steve Gregg, whilst Lee Dawson beat Willie Cowley 21-3.

Ballaugh A occupy third place, they are five points adrift of second spot, following their 7-3 home win over Port Erin A, with Edgar Cowin just missing out on picking up an extra point for the Ballaugh men as he lost 20-21 to Steve Durcan.

Castletown B had another performance to forget as Finch Hill A came away from the Crofts with a 2-8 victory, as Stephen Oates continues to fly high in the race for the individual merit, currently occupying third place with eight wins from nine games.

North Ramsey B hosted Noble’s A at Mooragh Park on Tuesday evening, with the games finishing 4-4 the match was settled on the aggregate which went in favour of the visitors by just four chalks (138-142). This result condemned the Mooragh men to bottom place at the halfway point, and gave the Noble’s men a 12 point cushion from the bottom two sides.

In Division Three Noble’s B sit top at the halfway stage despite losing to their lower ranked D team 5-3 on games, with the aggregate going in favour of the D Team by just three chalks (149-146) in a high scoring match with four games finishing to 17 or more. The 7-3 result ensured the D team occupy second place just two points behind the leaders.

Third placed Peel C will have been disappointed to lose 4-6 at home to Onchan C, as they lost the aggregate by 10 chalks (133-143), whilst Noble’s C dropped to fourth spot following their 7-3 defeat away to Ballaugh B.

Occupying the middle of the table are South Ramsey C, who despite being a player short away to Port St Mary B managed to win four games, with the aggregate understandably going against them by nine chalks (135-126) to ensure the Port men won 6-4. South Ramsey’s Greg Barlow leads the individual merit with a 100% record after nine games played.

South Ramsey D (pictured earlier in the season) got rid of an unwanted record as the last team to win a league game this season, as they beat Marown D 7-3 at home, taking the aggregate by 16 chalks (141-125)

In Division Four Finch Hill B hosted Peel D on Tuesday evening, whilst the home team winning 5-3 on games, they lost the aggregate by four chalks (133-137) despite two single figures victories, a heavy defeat and three of their wins to 18, 19 and 20 ultimately cost them the bonus points.

On Thursday evening league leaders Ballaugh C had a short visit north to Mooragh Park to take on second placed North Ramsey C, with the visitors taking going home the happier of the two sides with a 4-6 win, taking the aggregate by eight chalks (133-141) in a keenly contested match, with Ballaugh now 11 points clear at the top on 55 points.

At the other end of the table, the bottom two sides Douglas D and Castletown C faced off at the Villa. A 7-3 victory for the Town men lifted them off bottom spot to go two points ahead of Douglas, with Junior bowler Freddie Palmer putting in a superb performance with a 21-12 win over Les Quayle to help seal the win.