Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

The first Rayner Shield semi-final was played on Wednesday evening with South Ramsey A hosting Onchan A. The green was in fantastic condition and was running superbly considering the amount of rain throughout the day, with the gusting winds playing its part affecting the bowls.

First game off on the night was home captain Glynn Hargraves who was ruthless recording a 21-3 win over Mark Kelly, with Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly not far behind with his 21-6 win over Steve Parker. After just two games with a 32 chalk lead the home team became huge favourites knowing two more wins would be likely enough to secure the win on the night barring any heavy defeats. Kevin Quirk responded for the visitors with a 21-14 win over Peter Collister. The last game of the first half was a great battle between David Bradford leading 20-16 against Peter Slinger, only for Slinger to dig in to take four consecutive singles to level at 20-20 and lying one for game with a 15-inch bowl Bradford held his nerve to bowl in for game in what was an entertaining game to watch. 

In the second half Stefan Kelly put in a good performance scoring four doubles on the bounce to go from 8-6 up to 16-6 to take control, to beat Matthew Quirk 21-12. Alan Moore was next off and was the second home player on the night to get home 21-20 with Phil Kerruish 17-20 down he took three singles to level it at 20-20, only for Moore to put up a great first bowl to end the game. James Teare brought home the third 21-20 win of the night with his win over Frank Watson fighting back from a 16-20 deficit to win. With the match long over it was Chas Grills and Jordan Cain left on the green to entertain the crowd, with Grills leading 16-10 Cain dug in to run out with 11 consecutive chalks to take a 21-16 win.

The match of the season in Ellan Vannin Fuels division one took place at Crosby on Monday night between league leaders Marown A and current champions South Ramsey A. The visitors started strongly with captain Glynn Hargraves winning 21-13 over Dean Kipling after taking a 15-1 lead, Kipling dug in to claw his way back into the game. Next off was Alan Moore who had the visitors biggest win 21-12 against Phil Kelly, with Moore winning 17 ends to Kelly’s seven ends. James Teare continues to impress for the A team to make it 3-0 to the visitors with a good 21-14 win over Paul Kelly. Neil Withers took the only win in the first half for Marown with a 21-5 victory over Ian Moore to reduce the chalks difference to eight in favour of the visitors. In the second half the match was finely balanced with Colin Kelly swinging the aggregate in favour of Marown with a 21-9 win putting the home team four chalks ahead. Next off was David Bradford who claimed a hard fought 21-18 win over Paul Dunn, with Bradford taking a 9-1 and 14-6 lead which helped as Dunn found his rhythm to fight back well to get some all-important chalks on the board. Securing a fifth win on the night for South Ramsey was Stefan Kelly who held a 10-1 lead over Matthew Keggen, which he then extended to 19-9 only for Keggen to respond with three doubles on the bounce which would prove crucial in the match result. Kelly finished the game off with two singles to claim a 21-15 win. Last match on the green was between John Gelling and Peter Collister, with Collister performing well in the second half of the game to recover from a 4-15 deficit before losing out 15-21. Not many teams will go to Marown and take five games off the Crosby men yet South Ramsey did just that, however Marown had the last laugh of the night to edge the aggregate by a solitary chalk (135-134) to take the draw which kept their opponents at arm’s length.

Onchan A capitalised on the clash at Crosby to take a good 9-1 home win over Marown B to close the gap by four points on the league leaders. For Marown Peter Kelly prevented the whitewash with a 21-12 victory over Frank Watson.

In the other matches Castletown A brushed aside their B team with a 9-1 win, with Bob Clark the only winner with a 21-17 victory over Juan Kermode.

Noble’s A took a good 4-6 win away from Mooragh Park with their win over North Ramsey A with Tommy Collister merciless with his 21-0 win on the night.

South Ramsey B closed the gap on Marown B despite slipping to a 3-7 home loss to Peel A, whilst Douglas A did enough to take a 6-4 home win over Port St Mary A.

In division two Ballaugh A continued their good form with their 2-8 away win over second from bottom North Ramsey B, whilst Port Erin B took a hard fought 4-6 away win over Marown C who continue to hold their old own in a match that had five games losing to 19 and above in a finely contested match.

Port St Mary B slipped to a disastrous 3-7 home defeat to their C team with the result suggesting some of their players should be playing in different teams. Finch Hill A performed well to see off close rivals Onchan B with a 6-4 home win.

In division three runaway leaders South Ramsey C recorded a hard fought 6-4 home win over Onchan C, whilst the fight for second goes on with second placed Noble’s B winning 9-1 at home to Douglas C, Finch Hill B lie in third after their 3-7 away win against Port Erin B, whilst Ballaugh C were ruthless with their 10-0 home win over Peel D. Just four points separate second place Onchan (74) and fourth placed Ballaugh (70).