Louie’s Angels enjoyed the extra weekend of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League after they clawed back a 48 point deficit to clinch fourth spot in the final table by a single point.

Two of their squad also took the top two honours in the individual standings after Matthew Keggen won the Derek Killey memorial trophy, whilst Marg Tasker won the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy awarded to the best woman.

They finished one and two in the overall list, both winning the awards for a second time and with Mark Kelly (Seven-Up) completing his games some weeks back he had to wait to see what his final position would be, just missing out on top spot by four points.

Fourth position was taken by Jenny Moore (Outsiders) and making up the top six were Mike Thomas (Parkers) and Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers); the top junior was Shannon McMullan who also played for Lakers.

Saturday’s fixtures were re-scheduled when storm Ciara hit the Island back in early February and things didn’t quite go to plan this time either after an accident on the mountain road delayed some players, resulting in a change to the order of play.

So first up it was Govags who were trying for a top six finish and Cannons who were battling near the foot of the table, the score went in favour of the westerners, but only by a margin of five from a three-all draw on games.

After the arrival of the missing players, Outsiders joined in the action and wasted no time in racking up the campaign’s 21^stmaximum at the expense of Cannons, who in turn set a target of just over 240 points for their stablemates to catch up the following day.

Govags had reduced the margin to Parkers down to 96 after the first fixture, but fell one short of that target when Outsiders completed their season in great style with a result of 123-95 and secured third position along the way, leaving Govags down in seventh.

Results for Saturday, March 7: Govags 107 (3), Castletown Cannons 102 (3); Castletown Cannons 60 (0), Outsiders 126 (6); Outsiders 123 (5), Govags 95 (1).

Storm Dennis was to blame for Sunday’s re-arranged games and Louie’s Angels certainly enjoyed the slightly better weather this time around as they romped to the season’s 22^nd maximum score against Mooragh Lakers who were unfortunately a player short.

Angels began the afternoon aiming to hold onto fifth spot and securing those two merit titles, but after beating Lakers by an impressive margin of 45 points were in sight of snatching fourth from their opponents.

Erin Porters and Castletown Corkers were also competing with the result going pretty much to form and with a total of 89 the Castletown outfit were confirmed as the basement side.

Lakers only dropped six points in the games played, but added to the 15 for the walkover left a glimmer of hope for Angels; Corkers meanwhile put up a great fight only to lose out on their second victory by just four chalks.

Angels meanwhile lost nine points in the opening games against Porters, followed by another eight in the final three, to leave them with a score of 109; they then had an anxious few minutes before they found out that Lakers had totalled 105, therefore the sides swapped places in the table.

Results for Sunday, March 8: Mooragh Lakers 81 (0), Louie’s Angels 126 (6); Erin Porters 111 (4), Castletown Corkers 89 (2); Louie’s Angels 109 (4), Erin Porters 90 (2); Castletown Corkers 102 (2), Mooragh Lakers 105 (4).

The seven teams in action still had more than one player in with a chance of winning their merit, with the triumphant ones being Matthew Keggen, Jenny Moore, Steve Parker, Dougie Allan (Govags), Bernard Thackrah (Porters), George Peach (Cannons) and Dave Faragher (Corkers).

The club championship will be held on Saturday with a 12 noon start and with an entry of almost 40 it will be a busy afternoon to complete the games.

Sunday, March 22 will be the prize presentations and annual Best versus Rest when the league champions Guns for Hire along with some support players will take on the remaining 11 team merit winners or representatives. 

This will be a top-up fundraiser for the Relay for Life charity round robin which was rained off a few weeks ago, so there will be a raffle, along with some cakes for sale, also the chance to watch the final bowls of the winter season.

Two groups of doubles made up from an entry of 22 contested the latest midweek round robin; with the winners being Steve Parker and Bryan Corner in one gang; whilst Bernie McPhee and Peter Corlett won the other.

There are still 10 league places up for grabs, along with seven team merit winners to be decided as the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club goes into an extra weekend of games brought on by the recent storms.

Once again, the participants had to endure strong cold winds over both days with the Saturday gang in a race to beat the wet weather arriving late afternoon and this they did with little time to spare.

Unfortunately for them, Castletown Cannons were a player short and as a consequence lost out to Erin Porters by 12 points even though they won four of the six games.

Bowl Rollers then joined in the action needing to maintain their average to stay above first opponents Erin Porters, they went down by a margin of 16 chalks, but also set themselves a manageable target for their final outing.

Rollers then battled the elements and a spirited Cannons team to record a high enough total to hold onto eighth spot, whilst Cannons improved their average a little in the contest at the basement of the table.

Results for Saturday, February 29: Castletown Cannons 102 (4), Erin Porters 114 (2); Erin Porters 108 (4), Bowl Rollers 92 (2); Bowl Rollers 112 (3), Castletown Cannons 96 (3).

All of Sunday’s three teams had targets – fifth placed Louie’s Angels to close the gap to the two above to put the pressure on, seventh placed Govags to improve their average and move back up the table and Corkers to maintain the task of moving out of bottom position.

First up were Angels and Govags, but they both dropped vital points in a fixture that ended in a close victory for the western outfit, who next took on Corkers and dropped just eight in a clear victory.

The final contest of the session saw Angels defeat Corkers by just nine, but once again both dropped valuable chalks in their quests to improve their league places.

Results for Sunday, March 1: Louie’s Angels 105 (3), Govags 106 (3); Govags 118 (4), Castletown Corkers 79 (2); Castletown Corkers 98 (2), Louie’s Angels 109 (4).

With one weekend of re-arranged fixtures remaining the tasks for certain teams are this – Lakers need to score 36 points more than Outsiders; Angels need 165 points to finish above Parkers and not be caught by Govags, who themselves require 203 to pip Parkers to a top half finish.

Elsewhere Porters should be able to remain ahead of Bits n Bobs, whilst at the foot of the table, Corkers trail their stablemates Cannons by 79 – so still lots to play for team-wise between the seven involved.

The top two players, Matthew Keggen and Marg Tasker, both from Angels, vying for the Derek Killey memorial individual merit title won their contests, so going into the final games Matthew can reach of total of 444 and Marg 442, with Seven-Up’s Mark Kelly already finished on 440.

Four other teams also now know their merit winners and for Guns for Hire it is Dave Kelly; for Parkers, Mike Thomas; Bowl Rollers, Sylvia Kennaugh and Bits n Bobs, Franz ten Donkelaar.

Leaders for the remaining sides are Jenny Moore (Outsiders), Steve Parkers (Mooragh Lakers), Doug Allan (Govags), George Peach (Cannons), Dave Faragher (Corkers) and equal on points for Erin Porters are Caroline Whitehead and Bernard Thackrah.

Two big events still to come are the club championship on Saturday, March 14, entries for which are still being taken, and the prize presentation afternoon on Sunday, March 22 when the Best will play the Rest, raffle prizes for which would be very much appreciated.

A good entry of 32 enjoyed the midweek round robin, with the two group winners being Alan Phair, Rita Callister and Dave Faragher in the triples, and in the pairs it was Derek Allen and Kevin Firth.

The battle for places goes on behind the top two who have completed their programme in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League and Outsiders now look favourites to take third spot. 

They began the afternoon 16 points ahead of fourth placed Mooragh Lakers and extended that margin after two days of action, which was possible for the first time in three weekends due to storms Ciara and Dennis. 

Outgoing champions Outsiders kicked-off against Bowl Rollers and dropped just seven chalks before a heavy hail shower cleared players of the green for a short while. 

Govags then joined in the action and racked up a good total against Rollers as they tried to stay ahead of Parkers and perhaps challenge Louie’s Angels for fifth spot. 

Unfortunately, the westerners couldn’t keep that good form going and slumped to a heavy defeat to Outsiders, who themselves ended the session 251 points ahead of fourth placed Lakers, just one short of the total available 24 hours later. 

Results for Saturday, February 22: Outsiders 119 (5), Bowl Rollers 92 (1); Bowl Rollers 100 (2), Govags 116 (4); Govags 77 (1), Outsiders 116 (5). 

Sunday’s participants arrived to a much brighter afternoon, albeit still with a stiff breeze to add to their challenge and it was Parkers who enjoyed themselves most with two victories. 

They opened with a narrow four point success over Lakers, before sitting out whilst their opponents next took on Erin Porters; they later went back onto the green to defeat the southern outfit and score enough to jump up into sixth position. 

Results for Sunday, February 23: Parkers 105 (3), Mooragh Lakers 101 (3); Mooragh Lakers 115 (5), Erin Porters 84 (1); Erin Porters 91 (3), Parkers 106 (3). 

The top two couldn’t be caught ahead of this action, however this leaves Outsiders 35 points ahead of Lakers, both with two left to play and in fifth are Louie’s Angels a further 262 chalks adrift, but have four fixtures left. 

Next come Parkers who have finished their season and must wait to see if they have done enough to remain in the top half of the table. 

There were no changes in the leading three of the Derek Killey memorial individual merit as they were not in action, however Jenny Moore (Outsiders) and Mike Thomas (Parkers) both won twice to remain fourth and fifth. 

Behind them two Lakers players swopped places after Sue Gawne lost one and Steve Parker recorded two wins to move into a five point lead over his team-mate. 

Some players still have four fixtures remaining, some only two and of course some are finished; over the next two weekends the overall, ladies and junior merit winners will be decided. 

Unfortunately, the Wednesday charity round robin was rained off, but some players did take part in a last-minute event held 24 hours later. The pairing of Tricia Bull and Reg Temporaza won the group of eight which was separated by only seven chalks. 

The money raised will be topped up at a second fundraiser, either at the club championship on Saturday, March 14, entries for which are still being taken, or alternatively the prize presentation afternoon on Sunday, March 22 when the Best will play the Rest at what is normally the club’s final event.