There were no positional changes, but things are much closer between the top three in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League after the latest two days of action, which included the 100th fixture.

Before any bowls were played, the margin between first and third was 34 points, whereas at the conclusion on Sunday that gap was down to 14.

Leaders Outsiders kicked the weekend off against an Erin Porters team who are clearly not settling for a place in the bottom half and they fought out a contest in which the top team dropped 18 points.

Porters then pushed southern neighbours Louie’s Angels in a clash that was decided by only five points from a high scoring result that leaves Porters 24 chalks behind sixth placed Parkers, with victors Angels currently fifth.

Things didn’t get any easier for Outsiders when they re-joined the action against an Angels outfit with players quite capable of causing an upset and after a draw on games the table toppers triumphed by just nine points.

Although having dropped 28 chalks during the session, Outsiders retained their position at the top, but their average dropped to 117.8, with Lakers close behind on 117.1 and the A-Team due to play 24 hours later, now 258 adrift, with a possible 252 available.

Results for Saturday, January 19: Outsiders 108 (3), Erin Porters 96 (3); Erin Porters 113 (2), Louie’s Angels 118 (4); Louie’s Angels 107 (3), Outsiders 116 (3).

Govags are another team fighting to improve their position in the table, they are currently eighth, and they began Sunday afternoon with a maximum score against Bits n Bobs.

Hoping to take advantage of the dropped points by the leaders the day before, A-Team had to overcome a Bowl Rollers side who were always going to put up a fight, and this they did, taking eight points from their opponents final total.

The next fixture on the list – number 100 – produced the closest outcome of the weekend with Govags getting the better of Bowl Rollers by just two points – two less than the last time they met.

Unfortunately for bottom side Bits n Bobs, the final outcome went to form and A-Team recorded their fourth and the campaign’s 21^stmaximum to move onto an average of 116.9 – cue that headline from a few months back!

This leaves the top three separated by less than one point on average and they are being chased closely by Seven-Up who are currently on 116, having played two fixtures less.

Results for Sunday, January 20: Govags 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 80 (0); A-Team 118 (5), Bowl Rollers 88 (1); Bowl Rollers 101 (3), Govags 101 (3); Bits n Bobs 62 (0), A-Team 126 (6).

Romping to victory in their group at the midweek round robin were the trio of Doug Allan, Tricia Bull and Peter Karran, with Derek Allen, Brenda Bowyer and Reg Temporaza finishing as runners-up.

Also played as triples the other gang had Terry Bates, Brian Lindsay and Bernie McPhee as winners, ahead of Pat Lenton, Brian Corner and Steve Crampton.

All seven fixtures went pretty much as expected over the latest two days in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League, the outcomes of which saw the Castletown teams swap places near the foot of the table.

Govags began their afternoon with the highest total of the session as they overcame Castletown Cannons by a great margin of 40 chalks.

Next up were third-placed A-Team who needed a near perfect couple of hours to move up the table, but their opener against Parkers was by no means a certainty and this was proven after they dropped 10 points in a three-all draw.

With Erin Porters breathing down their necks, Parkers needed a good score from their second outing against Govags and a result of 117 to 103 was helpful to keep them in sixth place on average.

Finally it was two sides looking for points for different reasons – A-Team to remain in contention at the top and Cannons to try and remain above their stablemates in the table.

At the conclusion A-Team took the spoils and are now 13 points behind second-placed Mooragh Lakers; however Cannons could only manage a total of 73, which meant that they dropped one position below Corkers.

Results for Saturday, January 12: Castletown Cannons 83 (1), Govags 123 (5); Parkers 101 (3), A-Team 116 (3); Govags 103 (2), Parkers 117 (4); A-Team 120 (5), Castletown Cannons 73 (1).

Sunday saw the first three-team session of the season and a chance for Seven-Up to move back into third spot, but they fell just four points short of the target.

They dropped two in their opening battle with a Bowl Rollers outfit who put up a good fight to pass the 100 mark.

Castletown Corkers then entered the fray but were no match for opponents Seven-Up, however they did enough to win one game and deny the winners that higher position.

The final fixture ended in a draw on games with the Castletown team securing victory over Rollers who are their next targets above in the league table.

Results for Sunday, January 13: Seven-Up 124 (5), Bowl Rollers 103 (1); Castletown Corkers 83 (1), Seven-Up 121 (5); Bowl Rollers 92 (3), Castletown Corkers 114 (3).

A quick look at the league table with less than two months of the season remaining shows Outsiders at the top on an average of 118.6, next are Lakers on 117.1, with A-Team third on 116.2, just ahead of Seven-Up on 116. In fifth it is Louie’s Angels, 113.4, with the leading six made up by Parkers, 106.4.

A group of 39 entrants were split into threesomes for the latest midweek round robin and it was Ken Karran, Rita Callister and Lynda Wilson who topped their section ahead of Derek Allen, Marg Tasker and Sue Gawne.

The other gang had Allan Kennaugh, Andy Sykes and Steve Crampton as clear winners, however second had to be settled with a roll-up, which went in favour of Bernard Thackrah, Terry Bates and Bernie McPhee.

The Outdoor Winter Bowling Club, sponsored by Manx Petroleum, swung back into action last weekend after a brief Christmas break and saw defeat for the leader in the chase for the individual merit title.

Proceedings opened on Saturday when bottom side Bits n Bobs took on Erin Porters, a side looking to move into the top six and things went pretty much to form with the southerners dropping just eight points.

Also kicking off with a win were Louie’s Angels, who improved their average slightly with a four games to two victory over Bowl Rollers.

The two successful sides then doubled up when they swapped opponents – Porters getting the better of Rollers and Angels notching up the campaign’s 16^thmaximum against a Bits side with only nine individual wins to their name.

Results for Saturday, January 5: Bits n Bobs 85 (2), Erin Porters 118 (4); Bowl Rollers 102 (2), Louie’s Angels 116 (4); Erin Porters 116 (3), Bowl Rollers 106 (3); Louie’s Angels 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 71 (0).

Sunday’s games had the top three competing, however next to bottom Castletown Corkers were not there just to make the numbers up and had a huge impact on events.

This was a repeat set of fixtures from October last year when both Corkers and third-placed Seven-Up had to take on the top two outfits and consequently left with two defeats apiece.

The overall outcomes were the same this time round, but the ‘big three’ left with less points, whilst Corkers improved their tally by 20, which helped them move closer to their stablemates.

Leaders Outsiders scored five less than in October, whereas Mooragh Lakers (second) were down 16 and Seven-Up minus 11, which ultimately saw them drop a position in the standings behind A-Team.

The afternoon also saw six of the leading 18 players in the individual merit lose a game each, with the biggest casualty of the session being overall leader Rob Monk (Lakers) who scored just nine points in a loss to Nathan Hamilton (Corkers).

This all leaves Helen Martin (Lakers) top of the merit contenders, just ahead of Mike Alexander (Outsiders) and Rebecca Teare (Angels).

In the league, Outsiders now have a 21 point margin over Lakers, with A-Team in third on average above Seven-Up, who themselves now have Louie’s Angels close behind in fifth.

Results for Sunday, January 6: Seven-Up 107 (2), Outsiders 122 (4); Castletown Corkers 88 (2), Mooragh Lakers 107 (4); Outsiders 115 (4), Castletown Corkers 94 (2); Mooragh Lakers 121 (5), Seven-Up 95 (1).

A gang of 38 welcomed in the new year at the first round robin of 2019 and had to be split into three groups, making for a very busy afternoon on the green.

The black jack triples winners were Steve Crampton, Jeff Wilson and Derek Clarke, with second going to Sefton Dent, Alan Moore and Tricia Bull.

Topping the red triples were Kevin Firth, Peter Karran and Ken Karran, ahead of Alec Taylor, Marg Tasker and Mark Kelly.

The pairing of Stefan Kelly and Sue Gawne won their section and beat Elaine Moore and Rita Callister into second spot.