Whilst the weather continues to play havoc with the round robin sessions, the league breezes through its fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club and after game 36, Seven-Up occupy top spot.

In second position are Louie’s Angels who improved their average with two scores over 80 in the weekend’s one set of fixtures that were played in near perfect conditions.
They began with an expected win against Bits n Bobs, and I am sure thought they would have a tougher battle in their second outing, but in fact were comfortable victors over challengers RBM, recording a score of 82-64.

Just three points separated Castletown Cannons and RBM in their opener, before Cannons finally recorded their first success of the campaign whilst defeating Bits n Bobs.

The regular Wednesday round robin went ahead in mixed conditions, with the 20 entrants being separated into two gangs of doubles. Winners in the reds were Mike Skelly and Sylvia Kennaugh ahead of Jean Thackrah and Margaret Tasker; while in the yellow gang, Alan Moore and Derek Allen came out in front of Derek Cadamy and Trish Bull.

More inclement weather resulted in just 12 competitors at the weekend session which was won by Derek Clarke and Philippa Taylor and in second were Margaret Tasker and Caroline Whitehead. Both sessions ending early, but not quite beating the weather, with the midweek gang caught out by heavy rain and the Saturday group finishing in a hail shower.

The weather did its best once again to interrupt a session of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club but the two latest sets of fixtures went ahead and saw the first maximum on the card, along with four scores of 86, three of them on Saturday.

The weekend’s opening afternoon had that once in a season where the teams involved play their opponents twice and the biggest benefactors were leaders Seven-Up who were handed 30 points due to Govags being a player missing.
They did however impress in the games played which resulted in them extending their average points lead and are currently on 84.2, with their closest rivals back on 77.2. Winning both clashes by five games to one Seven-Up dropped just four points each time, whereas the westerners could only manage a total of 83 from the afternoon.

Also showing their intention to challenge at the top are RBM, they began with a 6-0 win on games and 90 points to their credit, before dropping only four points in their second outing. Opponents Bits n Bobs struggled to just 40 first time around, but then improved to 52 and went very close to snatching a three-all on games as the weather deteriorated in the last half hour.

Sunday’s results were much closer and began with Castletown Corkers winning by a margin of just four against Erin Porters; this was followed by Beachcombers beginning a successful outing with a 77-71 victory over Parkers, both ending three-all on games, but it is points that count in the end.
Strong winds played their part in this session, but did not stop Beachcombers who stormed into equal third spot with an 86 against the Porters. Finally Corkers repeated their slender four points win from earlier when they made it a poor afternoon for Parkers, who now sit in the bottom half of the table.

A dry Wednesday afternoon resulted in a healthy entry of 43 compete in two sets of triples at the round robin, from which the black jack winners were Mike Skelly, Jackie Elliott and Steve Parker. Runners-up were Peter Karran, Philippa Taylor and George Brew; while third went to Sefton Dent, Gordon Corrin and Dave Corkish.
The other section was a close affair with the outcome being settled by a roll-up in favour of Edwina Reid, Geoff Mayles and Les Halsall. Just missing out were Louis Callister, Dot Mylchreest and Derek Allen, with third place going to Pauline Worrall, Bernard Thackrah and Mavis Franks.

With the league fixtures up to date there will be a round robin this Saturday, weather permitting, entries close at 1pm.

There were some very close outcomes and a first win for newcomers Spare Parts over the latest two days of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club as they almost avoided the heavy rain that swept across the Island.

Saturday began with players competing in short shirt sleeves in warm dry conditions, but ended in a downpour that no doubt spoilt the session for those still in action.

Just two points separated the teams in both of the opening contests – RBM got the better of Castletown Corkers by 72-70, while Bits n Bobs overcame Beachcombers by 79 points to 77.

Corkers then improved their tally with success over Bits n Bobs; before RBM recorded the highest score of the afternoon with an easier than expected win over Beachcombers.

Sunday’s action began with Incredabowls being held to a three-all on games by Castletown Cannons and even though their points margin was better by 14 they slipped down a position behind Louie’s Angels who themselves romped to an 84-48 success over Spare Parts.

The two victors then went head-to-head, with non-participating leaders Seven-Up being the only winners, as Louie’s Angels and Incredabowls shared a fairly low scoring 69 points apiece, which leaves their rivals with an early advantage.

New side Spare Parts then got the better of the Cannons to record their first success and do enough to sit above their opponents in the average points standings.

The second weekend of action in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club took place over two sunny dry afternoons and although early pacesetters Seven-Up came very close with the highest total to date, the league still awaits their first maximum score.

All teams have now fulfilled at least two fixtures with the final four entering the fray on Saturday and the surprise package of the session was last season’s bottom side, Beachcombers, who came away with an average of 77.5.
They began by pushing Louie’s Angels all the way only to miss out by just three points, before recording a great five games to one success over Castletown Cannons, dropping just six points in the process.

An all-Castletown affair opened proceeding for two southern teams and it was Corkers who came out on top with an 81-60 scoreline; however they couldn’t repeat that success and lost out to Louie’s Angels and suffered the lowest total to date in their second outing.

Sunday’s action began with last year’s champions Incredabowls, taking on Seven-Up, one of the main threats to their crown, and it was the latter who stole the advantage winning by nine points to help establish an early gap of 21 over their rivals.

Also competing were new side Spare Parts, but they missed out in the closest of outcomes against Govags, going down 62-63. Meanwhile the final two fixtures of the weekend saw Incredabowls record a score over 80 to occupy second spot on average behind Seven-Up, who themselves dropped just two points in a comfortable win over Spare Parts.

Wednesday afternoon’s round robin session was interrupted by a heavy hail shower but didn’t stop the 43 entrants completing the first midweek session of the season.

The yellow group was played as triples and was won by Victor Corlett, George Brew and Dee Lewis with second going to Louis Callister, Bernard Thackrah and Sefton Dent; the black jack section was also triples with the victors being Les Halsall, Hazel Hughes and Ann Rooney; ahead of Bob Berry, Terry Moore and Sylvia Kennaugh.

Doubles was the order of the day for the red section and the winners were Doug Allan and Alan Moore, with the runners-up being Voirrey Curphey and Trish Bull. Once again all players are urged to sign-in on time as entries close at 1pm prompt – no exceptions.

Mixed conditions welcomed members for the opening weekend of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club in a season which I believe will be too close to call with a number of changes in a lot of teams.

Eight sides began their campaigns, with no less than 12 newcomers taking part over the two days, including three juniors, two of which headed home with a win apiece.

The participants included one new outfit, Spare Parts, who have replaced Outsiders; also two new names – Incredabowls (formerly High Flyers), the current champions who have lost four players from their squad and RBM who were known as All Time Low last season and have also been forced to make some changes.

One team who I believe will be in contention come next March are Seven-up and they began with the highest tally over the two days, dropping just 13 points with a total of 167, they also had ‘new faces’ in their line-up. They were followed by Incredabowls on 161; next came Parkers 19 adrift and a further five back were Bits n Bobs who recorded an impressive 80 in their opener on Saturday.

Unfortunately the first midweek round robin due to be held on Wednesday succumbed to the rain; meanwhile all members are reminded to sign-in on good time for a 1pm prompt start each week.