It was business as usual for leaders Jacks Off on the one day possible over the latest weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League when they extended their winning run to 16 and opened the points margin.

First into action was the top two in a fixture that was decided by just six chalks in favour of Jacks Off and as a consequence improved their lead over their closest rivals Mooragh Lakers.

Basement side Bits n Bobs then joined the fray and if their task wasn’t tough enough, they had to compete against teams who had already played. Unfortunately they couldn’t prevent two whitewashes against them to remain rooted to the bottom with only six fixtures left to play.

Results for Saturday, January 20: Jacks Off 113 (3), Mooragh Lakers 107 (3); Mooragh Lakers 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 65 (0); Bits n Bobs 67 (0), Jacks Off 126 (6).

With the playing surface already soft from the rain prior to Saturday, another spell of wet stuff put paid to any chance of games the following afternoon and these fixtures have been re-scheduled for Sunday, February 18; so with no league games this Saturday (January 27) a round robin will take place.

Not only are Jacks Off setting records at the top of the league, they also occupy the leading two spots in the standings for the Derek Killey memorial trophy, awarded to the winner of the individual merit.

Things are a little closer after Saturday, however, Stefan Kelly went into the session with 14 wins from 14 played, but was beaten to 19 by Jenny Moore from Mooragh Lakers; whilst closest rival Matthew Keggen won, the two are now separated by six points, both with six to play.

Waiting in the wings for a slip up are Stuart Garrett (Outsiders) and Glynn Hargraves (Jacks Off); whilst in fifth position is Rob Monk (Lakers) who dropped down the rankings after a defeat.

The next two places are occupied by team-mates and leaders for the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy awarded to the top lady; Janet Monk and the aforementioned Jenny Moore are separated by just one point.

Next on averages in eighth to 12th in the overall listing are Doug Allan (Govags), Brian Kelly (Lakers) and Margaret Tasker, Rebecca Teare and Tricia Bull, all Louie’s Angels. The leading junior, Austin Hart (Jacks Off), is in 26th overall.

An extremely cold afternoon meant that only 24 hardy players took part in the midweek round robin, with the runaway winners in the black jack group being David Clucas and Mike Ware.

Securing the runners-up spot to make it a good afternoon for one family, were Roma Ware and Philippa Taylor.

Topping the yellow jack gang was the pairing of Mark Kelly and Doug Allan, with second going to Rita Callister and Bryan Corner.

Parkers are up into the top six after the latest weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League; they climbed three places after two good scores on Sunday afternoon.

Neither day had great weather for bowling, but Saturday’s gang certainly had the worst of it with constant rain all through the session.

Third placed Outsiders were in action and dropped three less chalks than Seven-Up who occupy fourth position; the margin between the pair is now seven points.

Outsiders opened with a 114 to 99 point victory over Bowl Rollers, whereas Seven-Up temporarily held the advantage with a score of 123 against Erin Porters.

The two sides then swapped opponents and almost did the same with the results, however Outsiders took their winning tally to 125, while Seven-Up recorded 113 in a three-all in games against Rollers.

Further down the table, this left Porters in sixth on a reduced average of 105.8, Rollers also slightly lower on 105.4, Govags next on 104.6 and just behind were Parkers, who were scheduled to play 24-hours later, on 104.1.

Results for Saturday, January 13: Bowl Rollers 99 (2), Outsiders 114 (4); Erin Porters 89 (2), Seven-Up 123 (4); Outsiders 125 (5), Erin Porters 94 (1); Seven-Up 113 (3), Bowl Rollers 108 (3).

An injury to Kiera Corlett (whilst playing doubles for Castletown Corkers with her mother Mary) midway through the game on Sunday; meant that the pair had to retire, ahead of them going to hospital.

May we all wish Kiera a speedy recovery and hope to see her back playing soon.

The action continued in what was the first three-team session of the season and I am sure Parkers would not have wanted to benefit on the points front this way, but they went on to record a 123 to 85 victory.

Cannons also struggled in the difficult conditions in a fixture that saw Parkers notch up another good score and in the process jump up three places into sixth on an average of 106.4.

The unfortunate incident earlier in the afternoon had a bearing on the final encounter when the two Castletown outfits went head to head.

Cannons took full advantage of their opponents being two players short and notched up their third success with a 111 to 68 scoreline, swapping places in the table with their stablemates.

Results for Sunday, November 14: Parkers 123 (5), Castletown Corkers 85 (1); Castletown Cannons 91 (1), Parkers 122 (5); Castletown Corkers 68 (1), Castletown Cannons 111 (5).

Wednesday’s round robin had an entry of 48 players, which was split into three groups of triples, with the closest outcome being in the black jack section, settled after a roll-up in favour of Philippa Taylor, Carol Kaye and Lynda Cadamy. Just missing out were Terry Bates, Rita Callister and Pauline Worrall.

Topping the yellow gang were Trevor Barker, Shirley Whelan and Joy Stephens, with second going to Derek Clarke, Mark Kelly and Kevin Firth.

Finally in the red jack section, Alan Moore, David Clucas and Elaine McElroy were triumphant, ahead of Bernard Thackrah, Sheila Preston and Clyde Quine.

Four more maximums over the latest weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League took the season’s tally to 20, with no less than seven of those going to runaway leaders, Jacks Off.

They racked up another two with a second faultless afternoon on Sunday, while just 24 hours earlier their nearest challengers, Mooragh Lakers, dropped 27 points in their third defeat of the campaign.

Now on an increased average of 122.5, over six ahead of Lakers, Jacks Off are well on their way to wrestling the championship shield away from their closest rivals and current holders, who will have to improve if they are to hold onto second spot.

The two days began with Louie’s Angels coming out on top by four chalks in a fairly low scoring encounter against Mooragh Lakers; this while Castletown Corkers notched up only their second success with victory over basement side Bits n Bobs.

Bits were unfortunately the first team this season not to have a full team, whereas the two Castletown outfits are making great use of the rule where players can compete for more than one side for up to five times before the individual is tied to any particular one – Corkers are now up to 21 different names, whereas Cannons are close behind on 17.

On the green, Angels and Lakers both recorded maximum scores in their final outings as they overcame Bits n Bobs and Corkers, who, over the session improved their average slightly to stay above their stablemates who were due to play the following day.

Results for Saturday, January 6: Louie’s Angels 103 (3), Mooragh Lakers 99 (3); Castletown Corkers 109 (4), Bits n Bobs 81 (2); Mooragh Lakers 126 (6), Castletown Corkers 77 (0); Bits n Bobs 56 (0), Louie’s Angels 126 (6).

Sunday’s quartet arrived to a slightly frozen green, which did not stop two of the teams taking advantage – Jacks off with those maximum scores and Govags who racked up a pair of good wins and as a result moved up a position in the standings.

Whilst Jacks Off eased passed an out of sorts Parkers outfit, the westerners dropped just four chalks in a five games to one victory over Castletown Cannons.

Cannons next had the arduous task of taking on Jacks Off and with a total of just 73 they slipped further behind Corkers on an average of 88.9, whilst their stablemates are on 90.5.

Jacks Off meanwhile are on course to set more records, they are already on course to beat the best average over a season of 119.4 they set in 2015 and are currently are on a total of 73 games for, with just 11 against.

The final clash of the session saw Govags beat Parkers by a margin of eight points and now lead them in the table by seven and in turn are now just 15 behind seventh placed Bowl Rollers.

Results for Sunday, January 7: Parkers 76 (0), Jacks Off 126 (6); Castletown Cannons 91 (1), Govags 122 (5); Jacks Off 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 73 (0); Govags 104 (4), Parkers 96 (2).

The first round robin of the New Year attracted an entry of 28 and the winners of the two groups were Sefton Dent, partnered by Peter Kelly and the duo of Janet Monk and Tricia Bull.

Another year of league fixtures was brought to a close in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club with a set of fixtures involving three of the leading four teams.

Delayed due to snow some three weeks earlier, the afternoon saw eight time champions Jacks Off drop just six chalks as they completed 2017 in dramatic fashion.

First into the fray were leaders Jacks Off against fourth placed Outsiders and even though the latter took two games, they went down by a 28 point margin in a 120-92 scoreline.

Also in this clash one of the remaining individual unbeaten records was halted, with the 21-13 defeat of Stuey Garrett (Outsiders) at the hands of Alan Moore.

Third placed Seven-Up were also in action, they were pushed hard by Govags in an encounter that ended three-all on games and the title challengers dropped 13 points in the process.

The westerners went one better in their next outing, after another share of the games; they beat opponents Outsiders by the closest of margins in a 104-105 result.

Finally the sides in first and third positions went head to head and I don’t think for one moment that anybody could have predicted the outcome as Jacks Off swept aside Seven-Up to record the season’s 16th maximum score to leave their rivals trailing with a total of just 78.

Results for Saturday, December 30: Jacks Off 120 (4), Outsiders 92 (2); Govags 96 (3), Seven-Up 113 (3); Outsiders 104 (3), Govags 105 (3); Seven-Up 78 (0), Jacks Off 126 (6).

The top four sides have now played 12 apiece and the leaders have an impressive margin of 58 points over second placed Mooragh Lakers.

New third position team Outsiders have a slender margin of just four points over Seven-Up, but are in turn now 45 adrift of Lakers. Waiting in the wings are Louie’s Angels in fifth.

As mentioned earlier the leader of the individual merit lost a game, so this leaves Stefan Kelly (Jacks Off) at the top with his unbeaten run intact after 12 wins.

In second spot is Rob Monk (Lakers), just ahead of Matthew Keggen (Jacks Off), with Stuey Garrett now down in fourth. Making up the top six are Brian Kelly (Lakers) and Glynn Hargraves (Jacks Off).

Leading three for the ladies trophy, in this order, are Janet Monk (Lakers), Marg Tasker (Angels) and Jenny Moore (Lakers), while top junior is Austin Hart (Jacks Off).

A gang of 25 took part in a midweek round robin with the pairing of Ken Karran and Alec Taylor being hailed as winners along with the trio of Stefan Kelly, Alan Moore and Lyn Bolton.

Just missing out were Jenny Moore and Kevin Firth in the doubles and Derek Allen, Derek Cadamy and Lil Smith in the triples.

Another session was held on New Year’s Eve with just 17 braving the elements, the victors being Glynn Hargraves, Steve Parker and Ken Karran, along with the duo of James Teare and Peter Kelly.

Two round robins brought the pre-Christmas programme to a finish in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club and at the second event the tombola winning numbers were announced.

A smaller than usual gang of 31 attended the midweek session on Wednesday, December 20 which was separated into two groups.

Emerging as winners in the triples were Peter Kelly, Derek Allen and Sefton Dent, with the runners-up spot going to Derek Cadamy, Erwin Gelling and Doug Allan.

This while the pairing of Steve Parker and Nigel Thomas won the black jack set ahead of Elaine Moore and Ken Karran.

Saturday’s session was played as doubles with the winners being Marg Tasker and Alan Moore, along with Bryan Corner and Lynda Cadamy.

Second positions went to Glynn Hargraves and Ken Karran; also Kim Hargraves and Caroline Whitehead, whilst in third were Stefan Kelly and Sefton Dent, and Derek Allen and Alec Taylor.

This Saturday, December 30 a set of fixtures postponed due to snow on December 9 will be held and will involve three of the leading four teams.

A New Year’s Eve round robin will complete the 2017 activities the following day.

League leaders and former champions Jacks Off increased their advantage at the head of the pack on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League when they dropped just three chalks in a session that included the season’s 15th maximum.

Along with Govags, they kicked off the weekend with a score of 123; Jacks Off defeating Louie’s Angels to 98, whilst the westerners left opponents Castletown Corkers trailing on 68.

Jacks Off then racked up maximum win number five to push their average points up to 121.7, whereas Corkers saw theirs slip to 90.14.

The final outcome of the afternoon saw Angels record a five games to one success against Govags and maintain fifth spot in the table.

Results for Saturday, December 16: Louie’s Angels 98 (2), Jacks Off (123 (4); Castletown Corkers 68 (1), Govags 123 (5); Jacks Off 126 (6), Castletown Corkers 71 (0); Govags 81 (1), Louie’s Angels 115 (5).

Bowl Rollers were the only team to win both fixtures in the Sunday session, first up they were successful in a close tussle with Parkers, which was decided by just four chalks and a share of the games.

This while Erin Porters finished only two points short of their first full house, at the expense of a Castletown Cannons outfit, which is chasing down their stablemates.

Next up Parkers moved within touching distance of Erin Porters with a 19 point winning margin, the two sides are on 107.9 and 107.1 in the table as they head for the festive break.

Lastly Bowl Rollers emerged successful against Cannons, who remain behind their stablemates on an average of 90.08, but managed to close the gap by 40 points. Rollers meanwhile occupy eighth position behind Parkers.

Results for Sunday, December 17: Parkers 115 (3), Bowl Rollers 119 (3); Castletown Cannons 95 (1), Erin Porters 124 (5); Erin Porters 97 (2), Parkers 116 (4); Bowl Rollers 113 (5), Castletown Cannons 84 (1).