Douglas Bay Pirates had a massive win last Sunday at the NSC as they beat leaders Ronaldsway Blockbusters 7-0 to close the gap to just 2 points at the top of the Cherry Orchard League.

Josh Ffrench & Jayne Smith took the opening game of pairs for the Pirates after a close 12-11 win which went all the way to the final bowl before Stephen Gale continued with an 11-2 win in his singles in a game which was much closer than the scoreline suggests. The Pirates then took maximum points with an excellent 15-4 victory in the triples to finish off a superb day for the second placed side.

Colby Cosmos moved into third place with a 4-3 win over Castletown Super Threes. The Castletown side got off to a fantastic start with Sylvia Maddrell & Brian Redman winning the pairs 20-7 but Cosmos fought back well with Ann Hollingworth winning 9-7 in the singles before teaming up with Rita Woodworth & Pauline Kelly in the triples to secure the victory with a 9-6 win.

In the final game of the day Laxey Minors beat Ballaugh 4-2 in another close match. Laxey took the opening two games with David Cottier & Peter Coward continuing their good form with a 12-8 win in the pairs and then Seamus Whelan securing a 9-7 singles win but Ballaugh fought back well in the triples with Ann Gale, Dave McTaggert & Richard Faragher running out 9-3 winners to mean the chalks were tied so no bonus point was awarded.

The table with 2 games remaining is:
1. Ronaldsway Blockbusters – 26 points
2. Douglas Bay Pirates – 24
3. Colby Cosmos – 13
4. Castletown Super Threes – 11
5. Laxey Minors – 11
6. Ballaugh – 10
7. Ramsey Rebels – 10

Next week is the 2 bowl pairs with Chris Holland & Ann Hollingworth hoping to defend their trophy and David Cottier & Peter Coward looking to continue their impressive form that saw them win the 4 bowl competition last week.