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.