Dragons on course for a triple win

Dragon pairing of Clive and Mark McGreal, with the IOMIBA president and the Pairs trophy
Premier Pairs winners Clive and Mark McGreal with President Win Kewley

After the lay off for lockdown Dragons who have already sealed the Premier Pairs title are on target to take the Premier Team and Friday Afternoon Pairs wins also. In the Premier Team Competition played on Wednesday 3rd February Dragons took a 5-1 win from Saltire while Cheesemakers also beat DNA by the same 5-1 scoreline. In the remaining games, Villans beat Birdies 6-0 and Bay City Bowlers lost 4-2 to Ramsey Raiders. This means that Dragons lead with 42 points followed by Cheesemakers who are second on 37 points with Villans third on 31 points.

With the Thursday night, First Division Team League being postponed due to a Flood Warning leading to the closure of the NSC the next matches were in the Friday Afternoon League where Dragons held on to their top place by drawing 2-2 with High Jacks. Sunset Rollers lost 4-0 to Low Rollers, Celtic Thunder and Southpaws drew 2-2 and Powered by Prosecco lost 4-0 to Cowley Cannonballs. In the remaining match, Woodbourne Reds were unable to fulfil the fixture so OK had a 4-0 walkover meaning that Dragons lead on 42 points followed by High Jacks on 30 points and Sunset Rollers and OK both on 29 points.

In the Singles League, we saw leader Muriel Cain beat Mike Ashmole 18 -3, Gary Lenton take a 14 – 12 win against John Kewley and Win Kewley beat Andy Foster 14 – 11, Paul Cowley beat Pauline Cowley 30 – 3 and Rob Mathews took the points from Edward Carlyle. This leaves Muriel Cain top on 24 points followed by John Kewley on 21 points and Paul Cowley on 19 points.

Monday of this week saw the last night of the Premier Pairs League and top team the Dragons were held to a 2-2 draw by GLS while Villans lost 3-1 to Cheesemakers and Young Guns beat Tee Pegs 4-0. In the remaining match of the night, we saw Villa Boys go down 4 – 0 to Radical Heads which left the final League positions as Dragons being Premier Pairs League Champions with 44 points followed by Cheesemakers on 40 points and Villans in third place on 32 points.

In the Tuesday Morning League, the leaders Bushwhackers beat Hillbillies 4-2 and second-placed Villans drew 3-3 with Maxums and Early Birds beat Jacks on a Roll 4-2. In the remaining matches, Ramsey Raiders took a 4-2 win against Thru the Gap and Cushags and Onchan Royals drew 3-3 with all this meaning that Bushwhackers maintain their lead on 69 points with Villans second on 56 points and Ramsey Raiders third but also on 56 points.

The First Division Pairs saw leaders Points Make Prizes draw 2 – 2  with second-placed Ramsey Wallys while third-placed Spinners also drew with the Officials and OK lost 4-0 to TOU. A close match between Super Hoops Terriers and 1 in 4 ended in a 2-2 draw while in the remaining match of the night we saw the Enigma pairing of Win Kewley and Pam Makin put on a strong performance to beat Kencoe 4-0. The end result of all this is that Points Make Prizes still lead on 35 points with Ramsey Wallys second on 34 points and Spinners are third on 31 points.

Finally, may I remind everyone that the Championship entries must be in by Saturday the 13th of February.