Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

In Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One it was a rare double week with the top teams once again clashing as we get to the business end of the season.

Marown A will reflect on a poor week as whilst they won both games it was a chance missed to apply some pressure at the top as they dropped two points in their 8-2 win against their B Team at Crosby on Monday night with Karl Parker beating Juan Killip 21-14, while Peter Kelly beat Marown captain Paul Dunn 21-20.

On Wednesday evening Marown A were once again at home this time to Port St Mary A who stunned the Crosby men as they took four vital points off the visitors, with Trevor Quayle beating Paul Dunn 21-10, Tom Collins won 21-15 against Matthew Keggen, while Paul Russell stunned John Gelling 21-12. The shock of the night was Wayne Roberts beating Colin Kelly 21-19, with Kelly suffering a second home league defeat of the season. To put this into context prior to this season Kelly’s last home league loss was in 2011 to a certain John Kennish.

Peel A made the short journey north to take on Ballaugh A on Monday, the visitors came away with a 1-9 win. Patrick Grant was the star of the night as he beat Peter Greenlees 21-3, whilst South Ramsey A had a tough home fixture against Castletown A on a heavy green due to rain throughout the day localised to Ramsey, with the visitors losing 7-3 but good value for their three wins with Bob Clark beating James Teare 21-2, Jordan Drewett won 21-8 against Chas Grills, while Sam Clague beat Alan Moore 21-12, with the scores tied at 12-12 the former took six consecutive ends to seal his win.

On Wednesday night Peel A hosted league leaders South Ramsey A in the Sunset City, with the home team starting the match having won every home game so far this season, for a time it looked like the match would go 4-0 in their favour with George Gadsby storming home 21-4 against Chas Grills, Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly got over the line 21-17 against Stefan Kelly having led 18-5 at one point, while Tom Kelly crept home with a 21-19 win over Peter Collister. Peel captain Gary Smith had a five-point advantage at 19-14 over Alan Moore with the latter finishing the game strongly to run out with a 21-19 victory.

In the second half of the match South Ramsey hit back with captain Glynn Hargraves pulling the chalks level (82-82) with a superb 21-0 win over recent Autumn Shield winner Peter Greenlees. Next off was Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly who was always in control with his 21-13 win over Tommy McMeiken, whilst James Teare bounced back from his heavy defeat on Monday evening to put Andy Kennish to the sword 21-13. David Bradford rounded off the night and a remarkable comeback as he beat Darren Young 21-14 to seal a 3-7 victory for the visitors. The result leaves South Ramsey in a strong position barring a huge disaster, as they are 11 points ahead of Marown A and 14 points ahead of Peel A with just two games to play.

At the bottom of the table Noble’s A are officially relegated to Division Two, where they will look to regroup over the winter as they find their level, however they can leave with their heads held high as despite two defeats this week, they performed well as they lost 4-6 away to Peel B, followed up by a 3-7 home loss to North Ramsey A.

Ballaugh A are all but relegated as they look to be making an immediate return to Division Two after a tough week losing 1-9 at home to Peel A on Monday evening. On Wednesday evening they fared a bit better losing 3-7 at home to Douglas A.

In Division Two Onchan B moved to the top of the table following a 9-1 home win over Port St Mary B, then hit top spot despite only drawing 5-5 at home to Peel C in what could prove to be a costly result as the home team lost five games.

In joint second place just one-point back on the league leaders are Port Erin A and Castletown B with the latter recording two solid 9-1 wins this week, as they turned over South Ramsey B at the Crofts on Monday evening, then finished the week strongly as they beat Marown C at Crosby.

Port Erin A had a good start to the week and a bad finish as they seen off Douglas B 9-1 at home, while their visit north to take on South Ramsey B didn’t end so well as they were defeated 8-2. South Ramsey B remain in the mix in fourth place just four points off top spot with two games to play.

Finch Hill B have been relegated to Division Three as they are over 40 points away from safety with only 20 points available, while Port St Mary B are 14 points from safety and look to be dropping into Division Three.

In Division Three Ballaugh B look to be in control at the top of the league as they used their game in hand to go eight points clear of Onchan C following their 2-8 away win over Douglas C, which was followed up by a 9-1 home win over Peel D.

Onchan C also look assured of finishing no worse than second place as they won 8-2 in their only game this week, they are 15 points clear of Ballaugh C with just two games to be played.

Douglas C sit rock bottom as they are 26 points adrift of their lower ranked D Team who have outperformed them, and will no doubt need to have a reshuffle of players should they look to push for a higher finish next season.