An entry of 41 battled the weather and their opponents for the honour of club champion in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club on Saturday and it was Jordan Cain who emerged as the winner.

The action got underway at 12 noon to help get the event completed in one day and there were some close encounters during the opening rounds, all ending with only the ninth different winner from 17 championships held so far.

Unfortunately the competition was hampered by an extremely cold wind, which made for tough playing conditions and not much fun for spectators either.

Six different teams were represented in the quarter-finals, where the fallers were Terry Bates (Bowl Rollers), Bernie McPhee (Parkers), Derek Cadamy (Erin Porters) and Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers).

By the time the semi finals went on, the players had also had a few showers of snow to contend with and in front of just a handful of supporters the four contenders took to the green.

First up was Lil Smith (Bowl Rollers) who had played exceptionally well all afternoon, but could not overcome the eventual winner who went on to record a 21-15 success.

The other game saw two-time winner and current holder of the title, Alan Moore (Jacks Off), compete against Erin Porter’s Caroline Whitehead and ended with a score of 21-10, a result that perhaps did not show how close this encounter was.

A shower of hail just towards the end of the semis lingered on the surface as the players went back on for the final and the big questions were could it be three titles in a row for Moore or could Cain, who plays for Seven-Up, record his first club championship success.

Moore took a two in the first end, before the game swung one way then the other, and after 13 ends the players were tied on 15 chalks apiece.

It was at this point that Cain headed into the corner of the green once again and after four more ends the players shook hands, giving the winner another trophy to add to his two merit wins in 2013-14 and 2016-17.

This Sunday will be the club’s prize presentations, preceded as always by the traditional best versus rest event starting at 1pm. The best will be made up from league winners Jacks Off; the ladies merit winner, Janet Monk; the new club champion and one player from runners-up Mooragh Lakers.

Their opponents will feature Jenny Moore (Lakers representative); Frank Watson (Outsiders); Mark Kelly (Seven-Up representative) Tricia Bull (Louie’s Angels); Paul Bailey (Parkers); Gordon Corrin (Bowl Rollers); Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters); Doug Allan (Govags); George Peach (Castletown Cannons); Tracy Moore (Castletown Corkers) and Geoff Mayles (Bits n Bobs).

The day before will be the final round robin session of the campaign as it has been decided that the club will close down at the end of proceedings on Sunday 25 March.

There were no surprises over the delayed final weekend of fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League and with the title already decided, the positions behind also remained unchanged.

First into the action were third placed Outsiders and they stormed to the 27th maximum win of the season at the expense of southern outfit Castletown Cannons.

They had begun the day 30 points ahead of Seven-Up, who had to match their rivals in the next encounter to keep alive any slender hope of catching them in the table.

Cannons were not giving up without a fight however and managed to take two games and 13 chalks off Seven-Up, which left Outsiders almost home and dry.

Well not exactly, as the persistent rain was making the playing surface extremely wet, as the two of them went head to head in a fixture that saw Outsiders hold off their rivals and maintain third spot.

Seven-Up in turn finished fourth, 22 points clear off Louie’s Angels, whilst waiting to compete the following day were outgoing champions Mooragh Lakers. They needed to score 180 points to finish as runners-up.

Results for Saturday, March 10: Outsiders 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 79 (0); Castletown Cannons 88 (2), Seven-Up 113 (4); Seven-Up 101 (2), Outsiders 109 (4).

There were some big questions to be answered going into Sunday, one of which, could Bits n Bobs break their losing sequence as they were sitting on played 20, lost 20, but sadly they showed up short of a player to make their task even more difficult.

Also who was finally going to win the women’s merit trophy, with the leading two – Janet Monk and Jenny Moore – going into the afternoon separated by just one point.

Lakers against Govags was first on the schedule with the westerners putting up a good fight to reach the 100 point mark and their two highest losers being the pair that played Monk and Moore – so the battle still went on.

Bits n Bobs then joined the action, but could not prevent another loss, as opponents Govags went close to their first maximum of the campaign.

The final fixture of the 2017-18 season, still had some important issues to settle, when Lakers went up against Bits n Bobs, sadly however the basement side could not manage that elusive victory.

Even though the losers took one game, it did not change the outcome of the women’s merit, after both contenders won to leave Janet as the overall winner just ahead of Jenny, who held this title for the previous three years.

Incidentally Lakers completed their campaign as runners-up and some 60 chalks ahead of Outsiders, also with an average of 171.4, which was better than last year’s winning tally.

This just went to show what a great season, champions Jacks Off have had, setting records along the way.

Results for Sunday, March 11: Mooragh Lakers 118 (5), Govags 100 (1); Govags 122 (5), Bits n Bobs 62 (1); Bits n Bobs 77 (1), Mooragh Lakers 121 (5).

A relatively small group of 28 attended the midweek round robin and the afternoon had two groups of doubles compete for honours.

The black jacks saw four pairs finish with only two points between them; Allan Kennaugh and Maureen Payne winning, ahead of Derek Cadamy and Derek Allen.

Whilst in the other gang there were three points dividing the top three, which had Alan Phair and Janet Monk at the top, with Steve Parker and Rita Callister in second.

This Saturday will see the club championship taking place, with the prize presentations and best versus the rest challenge the following Sunday, March 25.

The completion of the league programme in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club was delayed by the weather after the six teams due to play over the weekend were left waiting by a frozen green.

Both sets of fixtures have been rescheduled for this coming Saturday and Sunday, when still to be decided are a number of league positions, including second to fifth in the final standings.

Also still up for grabs is the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy awarded to the top woman points scorer in the individual merit table and on form to date will be won by one of two Mooragh Lakers team-mates who are separated by just one point.

Currently top on average is Janet Monk, who is followed closely by Jenny Moore; next having completed their season are three members of the same team – Tricia Bull, Margaret Tasker and Alison Keggen, all Louie’s Angels.

Safe in the next two places are Kim Hargraves (Jacks Off) and Tracy Moore (Castletown Corkers).

Seven of the team merit winners are now known and six of them will represent the Rest team when they face up against the Best side during the prize presentation afternoon on Sunday, March 25.

They are Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters), Tricia Bull (Louie’s Angels), Paul Bailey (Parkers), Tracy Moore (Castletown Corkers), Dougie Allan (Govags) and Gordon Corrin (Bowl Rollers).

The seventh name is that of overall winner Matthew Keggen who will captain his team, along with some, as yet unknown, representatives in the season’s finale. Proceedings will commence at 1pm and as always raffle prizes would be very welcome.

In the meantime entries are still open for the club championship, which will take place on Saturday, March 17 (and Sunday, March 18 if required). The entry form is in the clubhouse at Nobles 3 green, but players can email the secretary on [email protected].

The closing date will be Sunday, March 11.

Long-time favourites, Jacks Off, wrapped up the league title in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club at the weekend in record-breaking style, when they became the first team to win all their fixtures in a season.

They also set a new highest points average on 121.3, beating their own record of 120.5, set back in 2013, playing under the name, High Flyers. This was helped by nine maximum scores, with their two closest victories being against the outgoing champions, Mooragh Lakers, who lost out by just two points in the first clash and six the second time.

Back in 2009, called Hot Shots, they did in fact complete their programme undefeated, but had two drawn fixtures along the way.

You may see a theme developing here regarding team names; this is because over the past 11 seasons they have played with 10 different ones.

They won the league in 2008 called Generation Gap, ironically with the lowest average to date, and after the 2009 success, they missed out on the title when New Found Glory pipped them to the crown, then called Chancers.

Back they came to top the pile as New Avengers, High Flyers, Incredabowls, Rule Breakers and Mean Machine; missing out last year to Lakers, when they were called Unstopabowls.

They have had close to 30 different players in the squad over that 11 year period, but only one has participated every year, and that is Alan Moore, who now has a tally of nine league wins, one runner-up and one third to his credit.

The weekend’s fixtures had some teams still fighting for league positions and also saw another three complete their programme, on Saturday fourth placed Seven-Up kept the pressure on Outsiders who are now 30 points ahead, both with two to play, including taking on each other in their final outing.

Govags meanwhile will have to settle for ninth, as they cannot accumulate enough chalks in their last visit to Nobles to move up the table.

Results for Saturday, February 24: Jacks Off 116 (4), Seven-Up 95 (2); Govags 92 (2), Jacks Off 114 (4); Seven-Up 121 (5), Govags 97 (1).

Finishing the season in sixth are Parkers, who did just enough on Sunday to stay ahead of Bowl Rollers by the margin of 21, while Castletown Cannons need to match their average in their last two fixtures to claim the bragging rights over stablemates Corkers.

Louie’s Angels bounced back from the previous week’s disappointment to record two good victories, but will need a miracle if they are to finish any higher than fifth, as they are just 192 chalks ahead of Seven-Up and 162 in front of Outsiders.

Results for Sunday, February 25: Louie’s Angels 124 (5), Parkers 95 (1); Parkers 113 (3), Castletown Cannons 102 (3); Castletown Cannons 92 (2), Louie’s Angels 119 (4).

Jacks Off have the top three in the Derek Killey memorial trophy list, with Matthew Keggen winning the merit ahead of Glynn Hargraves and Stefan Kelly.

The destination of the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy for the leading lady is yet to decided, whereas the junior merit winner is Austin Hart, also Jacks Off.

Three more names have been added to the team, which will take on the league champions in the end of season finale and they are Tricia Bull (Louie’s Angels), Paul Bailey (Parkers) and Doug Allan (Govags).

The club heads into its final month with the league schedule almost complete and two major dates yet to come – the championship, for which entries are now being taken, will take place on Saturday, March 17 (and Sunday 18 if required), with the prize presentations afternoon the following Sunday.

A midweek round robin was held, when 44 entrants braved the extremely cold wind to compete in two groups of triples and one doubles.

The winning gangs were, Joan Murphy, Joy Stephens and Marg Tasker; Caroline Whitehead, Jean Thackrah and Lil Smith; Roma Ware and Peter Kelly.