League updates

The Indoor Bowls Premier Pairs League was well and truly lit up on November 5th with some sparkling bowls and amazing results with one result in particular seeing Likely Lads rocketing up the League Table.

Likely Lads took on Cheesemakers who until then had a 100% record and with Jimmy Sansom and David Quirk playing really well for Likely Lads they inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Cheesemakers.

Villans also had a good 4-0 win over Jazz while the strong Young Guns pairing of Ben and Tony Dugdale could only get a draw in their match with Spinners. In the other two matches in this league we saw Dragons beat Northern Nomads 4-0 while Radical Heads also pulled off a 4-0 win over Tee Pegs.

These results really opened up the League with any one of the first six teams being in with a chance of picking up the awards at the end of the season as we were left with Cheesemakers and Young Guns on 15 points, Dragons on 14, Likely Lads on 13, Villans on 12 and Radical Heads with 11.

In the Tuesday morning league the leaders Villans took the only 6-0 victory off the day as they beat Early Birds while Ellan Vannin maintained second place despite losing 4-2 to Castletown Crofters who moved up to third place.

The First Division Pairs saw League Leaders Castletown Crofters being held to a draw by PAL but with Terriers losing 3-1 to Orange Peelers the Crofters still maintained the lead followed by Terriers and Orange Peelers.

In the Premier Teams we once more saw some really close matches with QPR just squeezing a 4-2 win over Villans and Spinners also getting a 4-2 win over TBC. There was also wins for Dragons and Ramsey Raiders which left QPR leading the league followed by Dragons and Villans.

In the First Division we have Maxums looking strong favourites to win the league after a 6-0 win over Flat Mats with DNA moving into second place and Bowledly Going Nowhere moving up to third place.

After Friday nights Second Division Pairs we still have Reckless Rollers leading but very closely followed by Odds and Bobs 2 with both being on 18 points with Outcasts in third place on 13 points.

So at the end of yet another good weeks bowling many were looking forward to some fascinating matches in Monday’s Premier Pairs with Likely Lads playing Villans and Dragons playing Young Guns and Cheesemakers playing Spinners with the latter team being more than capable of pulling off a shock result.

The Cheesemakers pairing of Trevor Quayle and Wayne Roberts moved into a two point lead over Young Guns in the Isle of Man Indoor Bowling Premier Pairs with a strong 4-0 victory over Tee Pegs while the Young Guns could only manage a 2-2 draw with a tough Radical Heads team. In third place are Dragons who played out a 2-2 draw with Spinners.

In the Tuesday Morning Team League we saw the current leaders Villans beat second placed Maxums 4-2 while Ellan Vannin had a 6-0 win over Early Birds to overtake Maxums and move into second place closely followed by Castletown Crofters who took third spot.

It was a successful day for the Castletown Crofters on Tuesday as in the evening they took the League lead with a 4-0 victory over Odds and Bob’s while Terriers beat Huff n Puff 4-0 to move into second place and Enigma dropped to third after being beaten 3-1 by Orange Peelers.

On Wednesday evening the Premier Pairs produced some great bowling and especially the game between Dragons and Villans produced some really high class bowling and despite great bowls from the Villans on the night they were outplayed particularly by Mark McGreal who played some exceptional shots and it was a pleasure to watch this game which ended 5-1 to the Dragons. QPR were beaten 4-2 by the Birdies, Spinners beat Ramsey Raiders 5-1 and Saltire lost 6-0 to TBC. This leaves QPR top with 20 points, Dragons second on 19 points and Villans third with 17 points.

Thursdays First Division Teams saw leaders Maxums beat Smugglers 6-0 and second placed DNA lost 4-2 to Odd Balls who in turn moved up to third.

The final games of the week the Second Division Pairs saw everything closing up at the top with leaders Reckless Rollers being held to a draw by Outcasts and although they stayed top of the League they were joined on fourteen points by Odds and Bobs 2 with Outcasts third on nine points.

The Committee and Members of the Isle of Man Indoor Bowling Association were delighted at the performance of member Clive McGreal who was competing in Australia in Lawn Bowls in the World Singles Champion of Champions Event. Playing great bowls Clive got through the Group Stages to the Play Offs where he lost in the Quarter Finals to the Malaysian National Champion. This means that after all the bowls had been played that Clive finished a very creditable sixth out of twenty seven and he should be credited for a tremendous performance.

Also competing in the Ladies Event was Janice Pilling who had some very difficult opponents to play but still won three of her games and performed well to finish twentieth out of twenty six.

After only the third week of the Indoor Bowls Season three teams have already built up a clear lead over the rest of the field in the Premier Team Event.  On  last Wednesday those at the Bowls Rink at the NSC saw some great bowling and at the end of the night we saw QPR take the lead having already achieved a maximum eighteen points followed by Villans on sixteen and Dragons on fourteen. They were then followed by three teams all on six points which is an incredible gap at this early point of the season.

In the First Division Teams we have Maxums in the lead with thirteen points closely followed by DNA, also on the same points total. Although these two teams are looking strong, I still expect Mann Utd and Castletown Crofters ‘to be breathing down their necks’ as the season progresses.

In the Tuesday morning league Villans have built up an early six-point lead over Maxums and Ellan Vannin, but this is a very competitive league and much could happen before the end of the season.

In the Premier Pairs we saw Cheesemakers take the league lead followed by Young Guns both having earned eleven points and we then have Dragons on eight points and Likely Lads on seven. If pushed at this stage of the season I would now say Cheesemakers have to be firm favourites to end at the top but there are some very skilful bowlers in all these teams who will be doing their best to prove me wrong.

In the First Division Pairs we have my early favourites Castletown Crofters and Enigma in first and second place and playing really excellent bowls, but Terriers can’t be ruled out as they following closely behind and could well be in the mix later in the season.

The Second Division Pairs is proving really successful this year and is proving to be very competitive. In this league we have Reckless Rollers in the lead on twelve points followed by Odd’s and Bobs 2 on ten points with Corrin’s Folly in third place having gained a total of eight points.

After week two in the Premier Pairs we have only ‘Young Guns’ maintaining a 100% win record but this could come under serious threat when they face ‘Likely Lads’ in week three. I think however that this League is still wide open with any one of the first half dozen teams having a chance to take the honours at the end of the season.

In the First Division Pairs we have ‘Castletown Crofters’ again having gained full points and they are closely followed by ‘Terriers’ and ‘Enigma’ and it is already starting to look as if the eventual winner will come from one of these three teams.

In the Tuesday Morning League ‘Villans’ are the only team still on maximum points and are closely followed by ‘Ellan Vannin’ but I also think that ‘Maxums’ and ‘Onchan Royals’ could well be in the mix before the season reaches it’s halfway point.

The Premier Team League held on a Wednesday evening has all the makings of an epic battle that will go right ‘down to the wire’ with ‘Villans’ and ‘QPR’ both on twelve points with ‘Dragons’ close behind on ten. This battle will be worth watching closely throughout the season as all these teams have experienced and very capable players.

After only two weeks ‘Maxums’ and ‘DNA’ lead the rest of the field in the First Division Teams League by four points and I will be surprised if the winner does not come from one of these two teams.

And finally the Second Division Pairs which seems to have introduced quite a few new players is promising to be a close affair with the first four teams being separated by only two points and these are ‘Reckless Rollers’, ‘Outcasts’, ‘Odds and Bobs 2’ and ‘Corrin’s Folly’.

Club Championships

May I also take this opportunity to ask everyone interested to start thinking about the ‘Island Indoor Championships’ to be held in January so that they can sort out their teams etc and put their entries on the lists which are already on display in the NSC Bowls Hall.

Last Monday 8th October saw the opening of the 2018/19 Manx Indoor Bowls Association League Season at the National Sports Centre.

The success of the pre-season ‘taster’ or ‘come and try it’ sessions was evident with a good number of new players and teams taking part with a total of fifty three teams playing in various Leagues throughout the week.

In the Premier Pairs League held on a Monday evening the battle for the top at the end I suspect will involve, Cheesemakers, Young Guns, Likely Lads, Dragons and last years Champions Villans with perhaps Radical Heads who are newcomers to this League being worth an outside bet.

In the Tuesday morning League for Teams I can see the main contenders being Onchan Royals, Ellan Vannin, Maxums and Villans with this League going right ‘down to the wire’.

Tuesday evenings First Division Pairs will I think be a ‘two horse race’ between Castletown Crofters and Enigma’.

The Premier Teams will be a very closely fought affair and will light up Wednesday nights at the NSC with Dragons, QPR. Villans and perhaps TBC all fighting for top spot.

The First Division Teams Thursday League will I feel be contested by DNA and Mann Utd and finally I come to the Friday night Second Division Pairs but here I find it impossible to predict the best as there are so many new teams and players.

At the conclusion of the first week after watching every session what I will say is that I have noticed some great improvement in a lot of players from last year and I am sure there may well be a few surprises before the season finishes in March 2019. Also it is great to see players and officials from both Lawn Bowls and Crown Green Bowls playing and working in harmony in this Indoor Bowls League.