Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

After a welcome week’s break due to the TT it was back to league and cup action in the Canada Life International bowling leagues. 

Match of the week in Division One was between South Ramsey B and Port St Mary A on a tricky Ramsey green. The visitors came away pleased with a 4-6 win, as they took the aggregate by a solitary chalk (136-137). Helping the home team pick up three of their four points were the Hart family with Dad Tony who beat Tom Collins 21-16, youngest son Toby beat Bernard Thackrah 21-7, Toby’s older brother Austin impressed as he inflicted a rare league defeat on Trevor Quayle 21-19, whilst Tony Dugdale picked up the fourth win as he beat Dan Mccabe 21-11. For the Port men Paul Skelly held off Ben Dugdale 21-17, with comfortable wins picked up by Wayne Roberts, Robbie Cooil and Tim Williams over Eddie Carlyle, Frank Watson and Christian Caley respectively. 

At the top end of the table Marown A hosted Castletown A at Crosby on Monday night, with the home team missing two regulars in Colin Kelly and Phil Kelly, however they still took home a convincing 9-1 win, with Ian Watson making a return to the A Team, he impressed with a convincing 21-9 win over Matthew Keggen. For Marown Dean Kipling won 21-7 against Nathan Hamilton, whilst Neil Withers beat Mike Hargraves 21-3. 

South Ramsey A had a tricky looking away game against Marown C the following evening, so it proved despite winning 1-9 on the night they had to battle for three of their wins. Bob Clark was 19-11 up on Tom Kelly, before winning 21-18, Peter Collister led 18-13 against Marown captain Stevie Rundle, with Rundle levelling up at 18-18, only for Collister to rally to win 21-18. South Ramsey captain Glynn Hargraves trailed 7-13, then 16-19 to Andy Kennish, with the former finishing strongly to secure a hard fought 21-19 win. Preventing the whitewash for Marown was Peter Kelly who beat James Teare 21-12. The result ensured the top two matched each other once again. 

Elsewhere Peel A had a comfortable 9-1 home win over North Ramsey A, with Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly leading the way with a 21-2 win over John Corteen, notably four of the home team wins were 17 or above. For the Mooragh Men Steve Walmsley picked up the only win as he held off Dean Kinley 21-19. 

Onchan A picked up a solid 9-1 home win over Marown B, with home captain Peter Slinger the only single figure winner on the night as he beat John Kelly 21-8. Walter McCarthy was the man who prevented a 10-0 defeat as he beat Jamie Clague 21-11. 

Douglas A hosted Peel B at the Villa, with captain Mervin Sayle winning 21-2 against Rob Middleton, whilst Gary Conwell held off Andy Mackie 21-20, with Gordon Wynne-Smythe also winning a close game 21-19 against Paul Quirk. For Peel Gordon Corrin beat Shaun Seal 21-19, whilst Dewi Bartlett continues to impress as he settles in to Island life winning to the same score against Andy Cannell. 

In Division Two third placed Castletown B are in the mix with a 7-3 home win over Ballaugh A, with two single figure wins from Ross Moore and Derek Lewney, whilst George Peach and John Matheson both scraped home 21-20. The visitors are 11 points behind league leaders Finch Hill A, however they do have a game in hand to close the gap. 

Finch Hill A came away from Onchan C with a good 2-8 win, as they stayed top of the table by two points on 70 points from 10 games played. 

Port Erin A just missed out on a 10-0 maximum by two chalks following their 9-1 home win over South Ramsey C, as Andy Morgan prevented the whitewash with his 21-19 win over Mark Stockholm. 

Elsewhere Douglas B occupy second place following their 3-7 away win over Noble’s A, North Ramsey B beat Noble’s B 7-3 at Mooragh Park, whilst Onchan B won 4-6 away to Peel B (123-127). 

In Division Three the match of the night was between two of the top teams, with leaders Ballaugh B hosting third placed Noble’s D. The visitors managed to secure five wins to claim a 5-5 draw, with the home team edging the chalks (144-142). For the home team two single figure wins from Gary Griffiths and Mike Buckeridge ensured the aggregate went in favour of the home team. 

Port St Mary B went joint top with Ballaugh B with a 3-7 away win over Douglas C.  

Elsewhere South Ramsey D slipped to a 4-6 home defeat to end their recent good form, Noble’s C impressed with a 6-4 home win over Peel D, with the final two matches seeing a single chalk separate the teams as Finch Hill B claimed a 6-4 home win over Peel D (125-124), whilst Port Erin B drew 5-5 with Douglas D as the Breagle men managed to field a full team. 

Plumbmaster Rayner Shield 

The quarter final stages were played out on Wednesday evening on another fine evening, as the tie of the round saw South Ramsey A host Marown A.

The first two games off went in favour of the Crosby men as Colin Kelly beat James Teare 21-16, with Glenn Boland gaining revenge over Glynn Hargraves as he impressed with a 21-6 win. South Ramsey got their first win under their belt with Jordan Cain seeing off Neil Withers 21-16. Paul Kelly put the visitors 3-1 up at the half way stage getting over the line 21-17 after a spirited comeback from Stefan Kelly.  

In the second half with South Ramsey trailing by 19 chalks, their back four turned the match around with David Bradford beating Paul Dunn 21-13, Peter Collister ran out with a 21-20 win after trailing 17-20 against John Gelling. With two matches left on the green the comeback was almost complete with Bob Clark well ahead against Peter Jones, as Clark went on to win 21-12. The last game on the green was between Dido Kelly, who was making his first appearance of the season and Phil Kelly who had just returned from holiday. A good start from Dido to lead 10-0 kept his opponent at arm’s length throughout the game, as they matched each other point for point from there for Dido to win 21-11 and secure a 5-3 win for the home team to progress to the semi-final stage. The match was well contested by both teams with Marown putting in a good performance as just nine chalks separating the teams (144-135). 

Elsewhere Onchan A progressed to the next round with a solid 2-6 away win over Castletown B, with Peter Oates and Ross Moore the winners for Town. North Ramsey A made home advantage count as they won 8-0 against South Ramsey C, with four single figure wins, whilst Marown C won to the same score against Douglas B, with Stuart Garrett coming closest to snatching a consolation win for the Villa men as he lost out 18-21 to Steve Rough.  

Plumbmaster Rayner Plate 

Ballaugh A (+30) had to turn around a 20-chalk deficit against Noble’s A (+50), which they managed to do comfortably as they won by 27 chalks, with all six of their wins being comfortable which helped their cause. 

Finch Hill A (+30) hosted South Ramsey B (+40), despite the home team winning 5-3 on the night, they couldn’t make up the 10-chalk deficit as they lost by 15 chalks (156-171), as two single figure wins for the visitors from Tony Dugdale and Tony Hart, along with Ben Dugdale’s 21-10 win over Paul Dougherty were enough to get them over the line. 

First Division team Peel B (+20) hosted third division outfit Finch Hill B (+65) with the home team having to clawback a 45-chalk deficit, which they did by 17 chalks (188-171) thanks to an 8-0 victory. 

The final match of the round was held on Thursday evening between third division leaders Ballaugh B (+45) and first division side Marown B (+15) with the visitors having to make up a 30-chalk deficit… Report to follow…