Division One of the Ellan Vannin Fuels league is starting to take shape and Marown A and South Ramsey A are making the early running to give themselves some breathing space at the top.

Marown lead the way, six points ahead of South having played a game more, but will be disappointed to have only won 8-2 at home against Noble A last week. They sit out on Monday and will be expecting South to pass them the only question to be answered is by how much, before they travel to Douglas B on Friday evening?

South won 9-1 away at Ballaugh A last week and with a home fixture against Finch Hill A would expect to hit the top on Monday night. They have a tough midweek home fixture against Port St Mary A so it will be interesting to see how the land lies going into next week.

Onchan A are eight points off the top on the same number of games as Marown after negotiating too extremely tricky fixtures last week. They defeated Douglas A 6-4 at the park on Monday after drawing on games before travelling to Port St Mary A where they lost 5-3 on games but took the aggregate points to secure a 5-5 overall draw.

The champions, Onchan, are not down and out but they need to start winning big if they want to start closing on their rivals and they need to start doing it now as they cant afford the gap to widen if they are to fulfil their title ambitions.

Port St Mary A are now in fourth after their strong showing against the champions backed up a battling 7-3 away win against Douglas B at the Villa Marina on Monday.

Douglas B have started well and are still one point ahead of their A team, having played a game more, and they will be hoping this is still the case after they face off in the Douglas derby this week.

High flying South Ramsey B suffered a rare home defeat in the local derby against North Ramsey A after the match tied on games with North doing enough to snatch the aggregate points and overall win.

Port Erin A beat Finch Hill A 6-4 away from home in the final fixture of the division after tying on games but winning on points.

This defeat leaves Finch third from bottom after a promising start and in an early battle with Ballaugh A and basement team Nobles A to remain in the top flight next season.

Peel A are back at the summit of Division 2 after a solid 8-2 win over Marown B followed up by a 9-1 win in the rearranged fixture against the Sunset City C team.

Onchan B remain in second place after winning 7-3 away at Nobles B, however they now find themselves six points adrift of the Govags and will need to start closing the gap soon if they want their hands on the silverware come the end of the season.

Castletown B kept their own bid for the title on track with their own 7-3 victory over Onchan C.

Port St Mary B are now in fourth place and closing in on the teams above them after a brilliant 10-0 maximum over Ballaugh B.

Douglas C find themselves back on top of Division Three after a strong 8-2 win away at Ballaugh C. They are on the same points as Port Erin B, who won 6-4 at home against Nobles C, with a game in hand.

Champions Onchan A got their title defence back on track with two impressive 9-1 wins last which sees them move two points clear of second placed Marown A as they hit the summit of Ellan Vannin Fuels Division one for the first time this season.

Respective victories over North Ramsey A and Port Erin A sees them leapfrog the Crosby outfit who suffered their first set back on Wednesday. Marown A started the week will with an 8-2 win over Port Erin A, but a loss by the same score away at South Ramsey A has dented their title ambitions.

The Northerners were pushed all the way on their travels to Castletown A on Monday leaving with a battling 7-3 win to set up the highly anticipated midweek clash with Marown, and they will have been delighted with a 6 point winning margin.

Whilst the result may seems one sided it wasn’t with South just edging all of the extremely close encounters to leave them eight points off the top with a game in hand.
South Ramsey B had a brilliant week to move into fourth place after winning 6-4 and 9-1 against Ballaugh A and Nobles A respectively. They really are turning a few heads already.

Port St Mary A are a team with an outside chance of the title and although they only had one match last week will be pleased to have won the Southern Derby 8-2 against Castletown A.

Douglas B continued their impressive start to the season with an 8-2 home victory over Finch Hill A before being brought down to earth with a bump as the lost out 8-2 to North Ramsey A.

Onchan B took advantage of a postponement in the clash between Peel C and Peel A to move top of the division two tree, despite losing a game. They lost out 7-3 to Peel B on Monday before picking up a 9-1 over North Ramsey B later in the week.

Peel A are only one point off the pace, with a game in hand, after a very impressive 10-0 maximum over Nobles B. They preserve the only 100% still intact in this division.

Castletown B are in third spot just one point behind Peel with Marown B only a further 2 points back after recording 2 wins last week.

Nobles C have moved ahead of Douglas C to top Division Three after respective 91 & 8-2 victories over Peel D and Finch Hill B.

The boys from the Villa are still primed in a good position on equal points, having played a game less as they were made to fight all the way for a 6-4 win over South Ramsey D.

Marown A found themselves back on top of Ellan Vannin Fuels League Division One after two strong showings last week.

They began the week with a battling 7-3 victory over Port St Mary A at the memorial playing fields before travelling to the Villa Marina, outdoing even their own predictions, to destroy a star studded Douglas A side 10-0.

This win is even more surprising after Douglas looked to be in good form picking up a fin 8-2 win away at Castletown A earlier in the week.
South Ramsey A who trail Marown by seven points, however they have a game in hand, had a very impressive week. They started by defeating champions Onchan A 6-4 at Onchan Park before adding to the woes of the Douglas club as they also secured a maximum 10-0 home win over Douglas B.

Marown and South Ramsey are certainly setting the early pace however Onchan A are still touch just four points further back in third place, having played the same number of games as South. They only had one game last week and will be hoping to regroup before the visit of Douglas A who will also be hoping to right some wrongs from their poor showing last time out.

Surprise package South Ramsey B occupy fourth spot and an impressive 8-2 win over Finch Hill A in their only game last week keeps them progressing nicely in their first season at this level for quite some time.

Only three points separate the next four teams with Douglas B on thirty three points, Castletown A & Douglas A on thirty one and Port St Mary just one point further back on thirty. This is turning into a very unpredictable division, and as with Premiere League Football this season, its difficult to predict what will happen as nothing seems to be going to plan, but that’s sport and I am coming to expect a major upset every time I put pen to paper these days!

It’s a similar story in Division Two with only five points separating the top five teams. Onchan B top the tree after a hard fought 5-5 draw away at Port St Mary B last Monday set them up for a midweek 9-1 victory over Peel C.

Casltetown B are just two points off the pace after two solid performances, winning 6-4 away against Nobles B before a very impressive 8-2 win over high flying Peel A. Peel now drop to third and find themselves two points behind town with a game in hand.

Peel B had their best week to date beating Ballaugh B 9-1 and following this up with an 8-2 win over Onchan C to move within one point of their A team.
Marown B are fifth on the same number of points as the Govag’s second string after two more solid performances. A 6-4 win over Peel C in the sunset city was followed up by a 7-3 result at home against Nobles B. The Crosby men have actually won more games in this division than anyone else and if they start adding a few more individual games to their tally could climb the table.

Port Erin B top the third division and started the week with a vey impressive 7-3 win over second placed Douglas C. Douglas bounced straight back with a 9-1 victory over Port St Mary D whilst Port continued in their winning ways beating Peel 7-2 away from home.

Port St Mary A put in an electrifying performance in Ellan Vannin Fuels Division One as unceremoniously cast Nobles A aside as the recorded a 10-0 white wash victory, conceding only 74 points in the process.
It is an immediate return to form for a surprise heavy defeat in their previous fixture and they will be delighted to be in third place before they sit out this week.
Marown A kept their foot on the gas and still remain out in front after another impressive showing this time away to North Ramsey A, who are playing their home games on the Nobles number 2 green this season.
A 9-1 victory leaves the Crosby men sitting pretty, but also indicates how important every point will be for the northerners this year especially as all of their games will feel like away fixtures as they don’t have the security of their own familiar patch.
Onchan A will be pleased to chalk up nine more points away at Finch Hill A as they restricted the Douglas team to only one win with Captain Merv Sayle bringing home the only point for his team.
In the southern battle Castletown A just has the edge over neighbours Port Erin A at Breagle Glenn and despite a tie on games it was the visitors who took the two extra points with a 151-144 win.
Both Douglas sides picked up respective 7-3 results in their favour however it is the B team who will be happier with their nights work. An way win on their travels to Ballaugh A will do the newly promoted outfit no harm at all as they bid to not only survive but cause a few more upsets in their maiden season in the top flight.
The A team may have notched up a victor at home but they were made to fight all the way by a plucky South Ramsey B side who are proving just how good they are with every outing. On another day this could have been a very different result as South really were in this match until the very last bowl.
Peel A are still on top of the perch in Division Two thanks to a 7-3 score line recorded at Nobles Park against North Ramsey B.
Onchan B are just one point adrift though thanks matching the Govags 7-3 win on their travels to Port StMary C. Peel and Onchan are the only two teams with their 100% records in tact after just 3 matches so that shows you how tightly contested this division will be.
Port St Mary B picked up the biggest win on the night in this division as they took down Nobles B 9-1 at home to keep their challenge alive in these early stages.
Douglas C already have a bit of daylight between them and the chasing pack in Division Three after only three matches and their 8-2 win over Nobles C has only enhanced their title credentials.
Port Erin B are in second place but were made to fight for every point away at Castletown C leaving with a 6-4 win.

The much anticipated first set of fixtures of the new Ellan Vannin Fuels men’s league got underway on Monday evening, and it more than lived up to the billing of an exciting new era for the local game.

The performance of Douglas B was on par with the exciting new partnership the Grown Green Bowls Association is forging with Ellan Vannin Fuels as the firm have agreed sponsorship support which will help promote and further the domestic game as the sport strives to reach unparalleled heights.

This ground breaking sponsorship agreement sees the Peel firm put their name to three of the associations premiere competitions in the shape of the Ellan Vannin Fuels Men’s League, Ellan Vannin Fuels Mixed League and Ellan Vannin Fuels Isle of Man Junior Championships. All of these competitions are vital for future development across all levels of our sport and we look to a fruitful partnership which I am sure will flourish for all involved.

Douglas B hosted reigning champions Onchan A, in their first game in the top flight since securing promotion last season, and there were a couple of questions on everyone’s lips. Do the champions have enough fire power in their arsenal to defend their title after a couple of changes in personnel and will the newly promoted side have what it takes to avoid the dreaded drop?

Whilst last weeks match does not give us definitive answers the Villa Men’s staggering victory must at least raise a few eyebrows of everyone else in the league and the signs look good as they set sail in the unchartered territory of the first division. Douglas B should be really proud of what was a magnificent team performance as it is the win on aggregate which is truly remarkable with every single point making a difference. Similarly, an under par Onchan A will hope to put this behind them and bounce back this week as they entertain Ballaugh A.

Douglas A didn’t share the good fortune of their B team and travelled to the highly fancied South Ramsey A team who were just too strong for them on the night. South will hope to pile the pressure on early doors to show the other teams around them that they mean business and are here to stay. It really wouldn’t surprise me if we see their name on the trophy come the end of the season.

Early leaders Marown A will be hoping to put a stop to that sort of talk and their 9-1 win away from home at Ballaugh A will go some way to doing that. Marown have a settled side and are course and distance men. If Onchan don’t bounce back quickly they could be the team with the staying power required to lift a trophy.

Port St Mary A are another team that will hope to do well this season and last year’s third placed outfit were made to fight all the way for a 7-3 home victory over division 2 champions South Ramsey B.

Port Erin A will be delighted to have got off to a winning start and a 7-3 victory over Nobles A is a good performance. They have nicely balanced team this year which will make Breagle Glen a difficult place to visit this year.

There was a thriller at Finch Hill in the final first division fixture of the round with the home side taking the win on games 5-3 but losing out by one point on aggregate 146-147 for Castletown A to seal the extra points and a 5-5 draw overall.

Castletown B got off to a flyer on their return to division two and were just too strong for Ballaugh B running out 9-1 winners at the Crofts. If they want to bounce straight back up to division one results like this will do their chances no harm at all.

Peel A won the Sunset City derby beating their B team 7-3 in a close match. Peel A are another team with aspirations of promotion and picking up points in their home games will be vital to their cause.

The Onchan derby finished in a similar fashion with the B team sealing a solid 7-3 victory over their C team. Onchan B will be there or there about in the shakeup at the end of the season and they will be hoping to bring this form with them this week on their travels to Port St Mary C.

There were some big performances in the third division but none more notable than at the memorial playing fields in Crosby where the newly formed Marown C picked up a magnificent 8-2 win over Peel D, with all but 1 of their players making their competitive debuts.

It is wonderful to see a team littered with new players making an immediate impact on proceedings and it is a testament to the growth and development at Marown in recent years as only a few years ago they had to drop their B team due to a shortage of players. How times change. I wish the C team and the club every success with this initiative and I get the feeling this plucky band of newbies may turn a few heads as the season progresses.

Port Erin B and Douglas C wont let them have things their own way though and both picked up impressive 8-2 wins of their own, with Douglas topping the tree on aggregate. This has been the most exciting division in recent memory and I expect this season to be no different with the lead swapping hands more than the baton in a relay competition at the Olympics.