The leading two sides marched on and dropped just six points between them over the latest weekend in theManx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League; this whilst the third placed outfit slipped further adrift after a poor score not helped by them being a player short. 

Leaders Guns for Hire simply blew their opponents away on another miserable wet Saturday afternoon, not just for their challengers but anyone watching, as they took the tally of maximums so far to 16, which includes four for themselves. 

Two sides in the bottom half of the table were first on the list and it was lower placed Castletown Cannons who took the honours by four chalks against Bits n Bobs in what turned out to be the closest contest over the two days. 

In action at the same time were Guns for Hire and Bowl Rollers who sat in ninth position, with the result going pretty much to form. 

With conditions now far from ideal, the four took to the green for their second outings, but unfortunately Cannons could not cope with the fire power of Guns for Hire and went down to the lowest total of the campaign. 

Rollers got the better of Bits n Bobs in their encounter to remain on the same points average and stay close behind Parkers and Govags in the standings. 

Results for Saturday, January 11: Bits n Bobs 102 (2), Castletown Cannons 106 (4); Guns for Hire 126 (6), Bowl Rollers 90 (0); Castletown Cannons 53 (0), Guns for Hire 126 (6); Bowl Rollers 105 (4), Bits n Bobs 98 (2). 

Sunday was the first session of the programme with just three teams involved and therefore all seven players on the green at the same time. 

The afternoon’s top billing had second placed Seven-Up against Mooragh Lakers who were directlybehind them, however with the latter being a player short and perhaps not ‘totally fired up’ it turned out a one-sided affair. 

Title challengers Seven-Up will have been very pleased with the bonus of a walkover, but also played extremely well and could easily have recorded a clean sweep, only to lose two games on 20. 

Lakers meanwhile toiled to a total of 86, which was almost 40 behind their opponents and are now down to fourth in the overall standings. 

The victors next took on Erin Porters and this turned out to be a much closer contest than the league positions suggested with the southerners going down by a margin of only 13 points. 

Lakers were back to full strengthfor the final battle of the afternoon, which turned into the best clash with Porters having three losers on 20 and missed out by just six chalks, however as a consequence of their endeavours they moved up one place in the table. 

Results for Sunday, January 12: Mooragh Lakers 86 (2), Seven-Up 124 (4); Seven-Up 122 (4), Erin Porters 109 (2); Erin Porters 111 (1), Mooragh Lakers 117 (5). 

This latest two sets of fixtures leave the destination of the league title wide open, although games are running out for Seven-Up as they only have four left to play. 

They really only have one tough fixture remaining and interestingly that is against top outfit G4H, who themselves have six to play including opponents Outsiders who are third and Louie’s Angels, currently fifth. 

In short if Seven-Up score four maximums, G4H can drop no more than 37 points if they want to get their hands back on the shield. 

The midweek round robins swung back into action with an entry of 32 and coming out on top of the two groups were Lil Smith and Bernie McPhee, along with Bryan Corner, Kevin Firth and Alec Taylor. 

Play swung back into action after the festive break in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League and it was business as usual for second placed Seven-Up as they continue their challenge for the top.

They have dropped just five points an outing on average over their last seven fixtures and have moved to within touching distance of leaders Guns for Hire.

This while the three teams directly behind then slipped further adrift and are locked in their own little battle with only 27 points between them with eight fixtures to play.

Saturday kicked-off with Louie’s Angels out to try and repeat the maximum score they recorded against Parkers earlier in the season, which also came with a winning margin of 44, however their opponents had other ideas and managed to narrow that gap down to just six points.

Seven-Up meanwhile racked up the campaign’s 14th full-house when they played basement side Castletown Corkers.

Next up Seven-Up were out to gain revenge for a heavy defeat they suffered against Louie’s Angels back in October and this they did with a 20 point winning advantage this time round.

Seven-Up now also have a player at the head of the individual merit, following defeat for the previous leader Matthew Keggen (Angels) – Kevin Quirk takes over the position, just ahead of Marg Tasker, who also plays for Angels.

Matthew drops to fourth spot just behind Mike Thomas (Parkers), with the next two on the list being Mark Kelly (Seven-Up) and Jenny Moore (Outsiders).

The final result from the opening day saw Parkers do just enough against Corkers to move above Bowl Rollers by .06 of a point on average.

Results for Saturday, January 4: Parkers 107 (2), Louie’s Angels 113 (4); Seven-Up 126 (6), Castletown Corkers 68 (0); Louie’s Angels 101 (1), Seven-Up 121 (5); Castletown Corkers 90 (2), Parkers 120 (4).

Sunday’s quartet had two former league winning teams competing, however I believe they are both all but out of contention this time around and will battle it out for third spot.

Currently holding that position are Mooragh Lakers and they recorded two victories, both as close as possible and with exactly the same totals, but both below average.

First up they took on fourth placed current champions Outsiders and bearing in mind they were on the losing side of a score showing them separated by just three chalks back in October; this time the win went in favour of Lakers by just one.

There was another great encounter taking place at the same time between Erin Porters and Govags, with the latter taking the spoils by five games to one, however with only five points between them.

The four sides then went back into action, with Outsiders notching up a total of 118 against a battling Porters side.

Lakers meanwhile had another tough outing and were pushed all the way by Govags who eventually missed out on victory by two points, but did enough to hold onto sixth spot in the table.

This leaves the teams in third to fifth separated by just 27 points – Lakers on 1585, eight ahead of Outsiders, with Saturday’s participants Louie’s Angels a further 19 back – exactly 100 behind leaders Guns for Hire.

Results for Sunday, January 6: Mooragh Lakers 108 (3), Outsiders 107 (3); Erin Porters 110 (1), Govags 115 (5); Outsiders 118 (5), Erin Porters 93 (1); Govags 107 (3), Mooragh Lakers 108 (3).