All teams hit the 10 fixture mark on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club in a session that saw all four outings finish level on games, but only one of the points margins ending close.

First result on the card was a good win for Parkers as they overcame Govags with a 19 point advantage; while Bowling for Soup were pushed all the way by Erin Porters, both teams just passing the 100 mark.

Parkers then cruised to a comfortable 22 point success over third placed Bowling for Soup, dropping just five short of a full house. This result meant that B4S dropped a position down the table.

Erin Porters and Govags both improved their scores next time out, with the southerners taking victory to remain just above their opponents in the standings.

Results for Saturday, November 29: Govags 96 (3) John Lightfoot, Parkers 115 (3) Peter Karran; Bowling for Soup 106 (3) Tony Dugdale, Erin Porters 102 (3) Derek Cadamy; Parkers 121 (3) Jo Smith and Mike Thomas, Bowling for Soup 99 (3) Phil Kerruish; Erin Porters 115 (3) Derek Cadamy, Govags 102 (3) Doug Allan.

Sunday’s schedule was a repeat of some weeks earlier and had the same outcomes all round, except that the winning margins were wider on this occasion.

The afternoon began with Rule Breakers continuing their quest to retain their title and somehow make me take back the prediction that they might not win the league this time around – they must have read it wrong!

Louie’s Angels were their opponents, but they lost out by a margin of 19 in a match that also saw the end of the last individual unbeaten run.

Castletown Corkers, the side directly behind Angels, took full advantage of this and swapped places after dropping just one point whilst defeating Castletown Cannons, who once again failed to field a full team.

Any impact Corkers had made on their rivals was wiped out almost immediately when the Angels jumped back up into fourth with a 23 point winning margin over the Castletown outfit.

As the sun dropped, Rule Breakers continued to shine with yet another maximum win to take the season’s tally to seven, unfortunately for Cannons they slipped further behind the pack in bottom position.

Results for Sunday, November 30: Rule Breakers 118 (4) Dido Kelly, Louie’s Angels 99 (2) Marg Tasker and Trish Bull; Castletown Corkers 125 (5) Ron Williams, Castletown Cannons 76 (1) Peter Curtis; Louie’s Angels 121 (4) Matthew Keggen, Castletown Corkers 98 (2) Ron Williams; Castletown Cannons 64 (0) Barbara Young, Rule Breakers 126 (6) Dido Kelly.

The midweek round robin entry was split into three groups and in the red doubles Rita Callister and Derek Clarke finished just ahead of Lilian Slinger and Alec Taylor.

Triples was the order of the day for the remainder and in the black jacks the winners were Jo Smith, Philippa Taylor and Gordon Corrin, with second going to Mike Skelly, John Lightfoot and Bernie Mcphee.

The remaining section had the closest finish with Viv Rush, Jordan Cain and Peter Kelly just getting the better of Peter Daugherty, Shirley Corrin and Kevin Quirk.

Sunday’s games got the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club programme back on track, with them playing a set of fixtures that were postponed a few weeks earlier.

Another very wet spell spoilt things for the opening session on Saturday and with more showers during the afternoon, the results threw up a few surprises.

First up it was Rule Breakers who recorded their seventh 120 plus result when they defeated Mooragh Lakers.

Castletown Corkers meanwhile pulled-off the first surprise of the day when winning four games against leaders Seven-Up, only to miss out by a margin of two on the all-important points front, both teams just passing the 100 mark.

Things didn’t get much better for Seven-Up next time out and they struggled to a low score of 89 when they took on Rule Breakers, who themselves dropped just eight points. As a consequence the two sides swapped places in the league table.

Finally two teams who occupy places in the top six remained as they were after Lakers came out ahead of Corkers by a margin of 20.

Results for Saturday, November 22: Mooragh Lakers 106 (1) Steve Parker, Rule Breakers 120 (5) John Kennish; Seven-Up 103 (2) Alec Taylor, Castletown Corkers 101 (4) Sid Bolton; Rule Breakers 118 (5) Alan Moore, Seven-Up 89 (1) Philippa Taylor; Castletown Corkers 94 (2) Sid Bolton, Mooragh Lakers 114 (4) James Teare.

Two of the teams returned on Sunday for a set of fixtures postponed from earlier in the month and what a difference weather-wise from the original date.

Coming out fighting after a poor session just 24 hours earlier were Seven-Up and they notched up their first and the season’s sixth maximum, unfortunately the losers, Castletown Cannons could only manage a total of 68.

In the meantime third placed Louie’s Angels had their wings clipped by Mooragh Lakers who recorded an above average score to close the gap on their opponents.

Lakers followed this with a five games to one success against Cannons, whilst Seven-Up completed a good day by notching up a comfortable victory over Louie’s Angels.

The outcome of the day’s results shows Angels slip two places in the standings below Bowling for Soup and Mooragh Lakers. Seven-Up remain in second, however Cannons slip into bottom position.

Results for Sunday, November 23: Louie’s Angels 100 (2) Trish Bull, Mooragh Lakers 118 (4) Jenny Moore; Castletown Cannons 68 (0) Joyce Kiernan, Seven-Up 126 (6) Philippa Taylor; Mooragh Lakers 111 (5) Lilian Slinger, Castletown Cannons 90 (1) Alan Phair; Seven-Up 114 (5) Kevin Quirk, Louie’s Angels 91 (1) Matthew Keggen.

A good entry of 39 attended the latest midweek round robin and from two gangs of triples the winners were John Lightfoot, Bernie McPhee and Derek Allen; also Jo Smith, Sheila Preston and Dave Faragher.

Just missing out in second were Derek Anscomb, Bernard and Jean Thackrah; Derek Clarke, Shirley Corrin and Doug Allan. Third places went to Erwin Gelling, Ken Karran and Rob Monk; along with Mike Skelly, Louis Callister and Trish Bull.

The latest groups of fixtures played over the weekend resulted in positional changes for all but the leading three in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club.

Things kicked-off with Mooragh Lakers just falling short of a maximum by the closest of margins, while Seven-Up followed them home just two points behind with a 123 on the card. Their opponents Bits n Bobs and Roller Bowlers both struggled with scores in the mid eighties.

Seven-Up then improved their average and lead at the top when they dropped just five points against Bits n Bobs who unfortunately moved in the opposite direction and ended the day at the bottom of the table.

This result means that Seven-Up have recorded five 120 plus totals, however they have as yet to hit that 126 points target.

Finally Lakers were pushed all the way by Roller Bowlers and with another tally over the 100 mark moved up two places to fourth in the standings – if only for 24 hours.

Results for Saturday, November 15: Mooragh Lakers 125 (5) LilianSlinger, Bits n Bobs 86 (1) Kim Hargraves; Seven-Up 123 (5) Alec Taylor, Roller Bowlers 85 (1) Shirley Corrin; Roller Bowlers 91 (2) Lil Smith, Mooragh Lakers 104 (4) Steve Moore; Bits n Bobs 74 (1) Geoff Mayles, Seven-Up 121 (5) Derek Clarke.

High flyers in the opening set of games on Sunday were Louie’s Angels as they notched up their first and the season’s fifth maximum score, opponents Govags pushed them all the way and had two losers on 19.

Unfortunately being two players short meant that Castletown Cannons were lacking fire-power when they took on Bowling for Soup, however I am sure they will have been pleased to have avoided a whitewash.

Next up was the biggest clash of the weekend with fifth placed Bowling for Soup being a little too hot for Louie’s Angels who were third, as a result the victors moved up one position and are now only eight points behind their opponents.

The final outcome of the session went in favour of Govags due mainly to Cannons not being able to field a full team, although the losers did win three of the four games played.

Results for Sunday, November 16: Louie’s Angels 126 (6) Marg Tasker, Govags 93 (0) Allan Cromwell and Peter Kelly; Castletown Cannons 80 (1) Peter Curtis, Bowling for Soup 115 (5) Nigel Thomas; Bowling for Soup 124 (5) Nigel Thomas, Louie’s Angels 103 (1) Matthew Keggen; Govags 106 (3) Allan Cromwell, Castletown Cannons 89 (3) John Alderson.

Please note there will be no round robin on Sunday, November 23 due to rearranged fixtures.

A gang of 29 braved the elements with rain forecast ahead of the midweek round robin and topping the triples section at the conclusion were Roy Murphy, Viv Rush and Trish Bull, also finishing on the same points and ending as runners-up were Gordon Corrin, Peter Daugherty and Alan Kennaugh.

The remainder were paired up and the leading duo of Bernie McPhee and Shirley Corrin finished ahead of Dave Faragher and Pauline Worrall.

Just one set of fixtures took place over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club after Saturday’s session was washed out, but the following day Breakers ruled supreme once again and notched up maximum points.

Those due to participate did show up for the first session, but it was decided by the captains and players to postpone the fixtures due to the inclement weather, these games will now be played on Sunday 23 November.

At kick-off time on Sunday things weren’t much better as a heavy shower of rain didn’t help matters, especially with an already soaking wet playing surface, but eventually the sun shone as did Rule Breakers.

Firstly they beat Parkers by a margin of 39, before defeating Erin Porters with a gap of 55. Those two scores mean that Breakers have scored maximums in 50% of their fixtures, notching up 503 out of a possible 504 points over the past two weekends – but they still trail Seven-Up on average points.

Castletown Corkers also handled the conditions better than their opponents and they recorded two victories, both 4-2 on games. First up they beat Porters; then were successful against Parkers, both losing teams slipped down the table.

The league leaders meanwhile have an average of 121 and the nearest challengers are on 119.4; following the top two are Louie’s Angels on 113.7 and Corkers holding on to fourth with 110.8. More details can be found on www.iombowls.com/winter-league

Results for Sunday 9 November: Parkers 87 (0) Peter Karran, Rule Breakers 126 (6) Glynn Hargraves; Erin Porters 93 (2) Mavis Franks, Castletown Corkers 111 (4) Dave Hollingworth; Breakers 126 (6) Alan Moore, Porters 71 (0) Mavis Franks; Corkers 110 (4) Lyn and Sid Bolton, Parkers 96 (2) Jo Smith.

In contrast the midweek round robin session had perfect weather with the 39 entrants being split into two groups of triples. Winners of the black jacks were Bob Berry, Jean Thackrah and Pauline Worrall; while in second it was Elaine McElroy, John Lightfoot and Peter Kelly.

The yellow section was decided by a roll-up after just two points separated the top four. Eventually taking the honours were Jo Smith, Steve Moore and Doug Allan, who just sneaked it ahead of Bob Daggett, Les Halsall and Alec Taylor.

League champions, Rule Breakers, came agonisingly close to a first double maximum during the latest session held in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club, dropping just one point from the two fixtures.

Once again a downpour of rain just a few hours prior to the action made the playing surface a little heavy, but nevertheless there was some great bowling on view and the first card saw Breakers drop only one chalk in their defeat of Bits n Bobs.

Also competing were Castletown Corkers and they scored above their average in a comfortable victory over an out of sorts Roller Bowlers.

Things didn’t get any better for the Bowlers in their next outing and they departed with the lowest total of the afternoon, while opponents Breakers recorded their second maximum of the campaign and closed the gap at the top in the process.

Castletown Corkers then popped up with their second best result to date and dropped only five points in a five games to one success over Bits n Bobs, this saw them jump up two places in the table.

Results for Saturday 1 November: Rule Breakers 125 (5) Alan Moore, Bits n Bobs 87 (1) Edwina Reid; Castletown Corkers 111 (4) Derek Lewney, Roller Bowlers 96 (2) Sefton Dent; Roller Bowlers 84 (0) Rosie Winckle, Rule Breakers 126 (6) John Kennish; Bits n Bobs 97 (1) Geoff Mayles, Castletown Corkers 121 (5) Dave Hollingworth and Lyn Bolton.

Saturday saw the first weekend round robin take place and 23 entrants had a race against the weather to complete the session. Winners in the doubles were Philippa Taylor and Lil Smith, followed by Bernard Thackrah and Derek Cadamy.

The triples however had a much closer outcome and winning by the closest of margins were Louis Callister, Trish Bull and Ben Dugdale; and after a roll-up,in second were Caroline Whitehead, Rita Callister and Alan Moore.

Prior to this the regular midweek event saw another good entry of 42, which was split into three groups. Triumphant in the doubles were Philippa Taylor and Gordon Corrin who were just ahead of Bob Berry and Rita Callister.

Winners of the black jack triples were Derek Clarke, Peter Kelly and Joan Ryder; while in the yellow gang it was LilianSlinger, Viv Rush and Erwin Gelling.

Runners up were Caroline Whitehead, Shirley Corrin and Jean Thackrah; along with Dave Faragher, Jack Lee and Jo Smith.

Things went from a weekend of no surprises to one with plenty as the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club breezed through another two days which saw the season’s first draw, winning margins ranged from one to 19 and five of the eight fixtures finished three-all on games.

Add to this a loss for last year’s merit winner, along with first defeats for others and you can imagine how difficult conditions were, particularly on Sunday in the strong wind; so just five players remain unbeaten, having competed in all their team’s games.

Saturday’s gang included sides in the bottom half of the table, two of them, Roller Bowlers and Parkers went home with 219 points apiece; not far behind were Bits n Bobs who lost by just one in their first outing and then by three. A first win may not be far away. Erin Porters, however, were the session’s lowest scorers with a tally of 206.

This was the once a year set of fixtures in which teams play the same opponents twice and could also see players drawn for two games against the same person. This was indeed the case in five of the pairings with three of them doing the double and the other two gaining revenge for losses in the first outings.

Results for Saturday, 25 October: Bits n Bobs 109 (2) Kim Hargraves, Roller Bowlers 110 (4) Sefton Dent; Parkers 112 (4) Paul Bailey, Erin Porters 107 (2) Mavis Franks; Roller Bowlers 109 (3) Shirley Whelan and Lil Smith, Bits n Bobs 106 (3) Edwina Reid; Porters 99 (3) Caroline Whitehead, Parkers 107 (3) Bernie McPhee.

The second day’s participants had strong winds to contend with and this certainly played its part. The afternoon began with two of the title contenders, Seven-Up and Bowling for Soup, battling out a fairly high scoring draw, on games as well as points.

Also in action were Mooragh Lakers and Govags, another fixture which ended level on games, but Lakers triumphed with a 10-point margin over the westerners.

Early leaders Seven-Up then notched up the highest total of the weekend, just two short of a maximum against bottom side Govags, who I am sure would have been happy scoring over 100 themselves.

The final encounter probably threw up the biggest surprise as Mooragh Lakers recorded a win over Bowling for Soup, these two remain in fourth and fifth places in the table, separated by an average of just 1.7 points.

Results for Sunday, 26 October: Mooragh Lakers 110 (3) Jenny Moore, Govags 100 (3) Allan Cromwell; Seven-Up 113 (3) Alec Taylor, Bowling for Soup 113 (3) Nigel Thomas; Bowling for Soup 104 (3) Mike Alexander and Ben Dugdale, Lakers 109 (3) Steve Parker; Govags 105 (1) Peter Kelly, Seven-Up 124 (5) Kevin Quirk.

Unfortunately the midweek session did not go ahead due to the wet conditions, but hopefully with no league fixtures planned a round robin will be held this Saturday, 1pm prompt start.

There were no surprises during the latest sets of fixtures over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club, after which all teams have now reached the 100 points barrier.

Govags were the latest to do so as they notched up their first success of the campaign with a narrow win over Bits n Bobs, who once again won a fixture on games but fell short on the all important points front.Roller Bowlers meanwhile fought hard against their opponents, Bowling for Soup, but lost out by a margin of 12.

However in their next outing Bowling for Soup were just a little too hot for Bits n Bobs and missed out on a maximum by just three; while the afternoon was brought to a close with Roller Bowlers getting the better of Govags after a three-all on games and a points gap of six.

Results for Saturday, 18 October: Bits n Bobs 104 (4) Kim Hargraves, Govags 106 (2) Phil Parker; Roller Bowlers 102 (3) Sefton Dent, Bowling for Soup 114 (3) Nigel Thomas; Govags 104 (3) Ray Hardman, Roller Bowlers 110 (3) Sefton Dent; Bowling for Soup 123 (4) Tony Dugdale and Mike Alexander, Bits n Bobs 94 (2) Kim Hargraves.

Two of last season’s leading three teams clashed on Sunday and it was Rule Breakers who came out on top against Louie’s Angels, but both dropped vital points when they had a heavy loss apiece.

Also doing battle were the Castletown outfits and it was Corkers who won the bragging rights as they romped to victory over Cannons.

Angels then got back on track as they beat Corkers and Breakers dropped just three points with a comfortable win against Castletown Cannons.

Results for Sunday, 19 October: Louie’s Angels 105 (2) Marg Tasker, Rule Breakers 109 (4) Dave Kelly; Castletown Cannons 87 (1) Barbara Young, Castletown Corkers 122 (5) Derek Lewney; Corkers 101 (2) Dave Faragher, Angels 116 (4) Matthew Keggen; Breakers 123 (5) John Kennish and Stefan Kelly, Cannons 91 (1) James Drinkwater.

A great entry of 45 braved the breezy conditions at the latest midweek round robin and three groups of triples took part with the winners being Erwin Gelling, Peter Daugherty and Ben Dugdale; Mike Skelly, Rita Callister and Rob Monk; also Shirley Corrin, Mavis Franks and Peter Hughes.

Runners-up in each group were Jo Smith, Doug Allan and Willie Corkill; Bernie McPhee, Joan Murphy and Shirley Whelan; along with Lynda Clarke, Alec Taylor and Derek Cadamy.

The first maximum score of the campaign was the highlight over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Clubas the final four teams made their introduction into league action.

Now that all the sides have played I think it is safe to say there are four outfits which are in the mix for a shout at being crowned champions come next March.

They are current champions, Rule Breakers, with six championship wins under their belts; Seven-Up, who have completed a run of nine finishes in the top half of the table; Louie’s Angels, have also been there or thereabouts on a number of occasions;and Bowling for Soup who are the only other side to have won the title during the past seven seasons with success in 2011.

As to the finishing order is anybody’s guess, but my money would be on Seven-Up to go one better than last season and get their hands on the shield for the first time.

Saturday’s fixtures began with Rule Breakers recording a maximum points win over Govags; while Bowling for Soup kicked off with a hard fought 4-2 success against Castletown Corkers.

Govags did fare a little better next time out, but left with an average of just 80 after defeat by Corkers. Finally Bowling for Soup came out on top by the closest of margins in a fairly low scoring encounter against Rule Breakers, which saw both of them drop over 30 points each.

Results for Saturday, 11 October: Rule Breakers 126 (6) Dave Bradford, Govags 74 (0) Darren Young; Castletown Corkers 93 (2) Derek Lewney, Bowling for Soup 115 (4) Mike Alexander; Govags 86 (2) Allan Cromwell, Corkers 117 (4) Casey and Sid Bolton; Bowling for Soup 95 (3) Phil Kerruish, Rule Breakers 94 (3) Dave Bradford and John Kennish.

A glorious afternoon welcomed the participants the next day, with seven of the totals recorded being over the 100 point mark and topping the list were Erin Porters dropping just eight against Castletown Cannons.

Unfortunately they also had the lowest tally when they were defeated by Louie’s Angels, who had another successful session and fluttered back home after two hard fought wins.

Parkers meanwhile rallied but missed out by just six points in their opener against Angels, before getting the better of Cannons by a margin of only four.

Results for Sunday, 12 October: Louie’s Angels 111 (3) Marg Tasker, Parkers 105 (3) Peter Kniveton; Castletown Cannons 100 (2) Alan Phair, Erin Porters 118 (4) Derek Cadamy; Porters 87 (2) Mavis Franks and Lynda Cadamy, Angels 106 (4) Trish Bull; Parkers 111 (4) Brian Woodall, Cannons 107 (2) Alan Phair.

The second midweek round robin was held with another good entry of 38 and they played exactly the same format as the previous Wednesday. The pairing of Jo Smith and Kevin Quirk were clear winners of the yellow jack group, ahead of Mike Skelly and Derek Clarke.

This, while the trio of Derek Allen, Allan Cromwell and Lynda Clarke were triumphant in the black section, ahead of Derek Cadamy, Shirley Whelan and Jordan Cain.

The opening sessions in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club was held between two spells of very heavy rain last weekend as they started a new chapter in their history with all games now being played off six, up to 21, rather than the former 15up.
This means that 126 points are now up for grabs in each fixture and two teams came very close to that mark dropping just two apiece in their opening clashes; Louie’s Angels were first on the card, followed the next day by Seven-Up, who also notched up a 123 to head the averages.
Four new names appear in the list of teams – Rule Breakers, formerly Incredabowls, Roller Bowlers (previously Beachcombers), Mooragh Lakers (Spare Parts) and Bowling for Soup, who last season played under the name of Regular Bowl Movements.
As always there are changes to almost all of the squads and as the sides take part with any new faces, a better picture will emerge of who will be thereabouts at the top come the end next March. Seven-Up and Louie’s Angels have already shown their intent dropping just 13 points between them.

Nobles No 1 hosted the opening round robin session due to some maintenance still taking place at No 3 green. A good entry of 38 competed in two groups, with the winners in the yellow triples being Viv Grills, Viv Rush and Hazel Hughes; with second going to Rita Callister, John Lightfoot and Doug Allan.
The other gang was doubles with Chaz Grills and Derek Clarke heading the pack, just in front of Flo Kelly and Margaret Tasker.