Things didn’t go quite to plan over the opening weekend of the new year in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club with a set of fixtures postponed in December put on hold once again.

Everyone arrived on Sunday to a waterlogged green, a sight not evident too often this term thankfully, despite the continuing wet conditions, mainly thanks to the great work being done by the Corporation staff.

The revised date for these games will be Saturday, January 30, which leaves just one free afternoon before the scheduled completion of fixtures.

The non-league sessions did however go ahead over the festive period, four round robins to catch up now, starting with a midweek one held just before Christmas.

None of them had large entries, probably due to lots of other things taking place, however seven triples fought a contest eventually won by Alec Taylor, Ken Clarke and Peter Kelly; second going to Doug Allan, Lil Smith and Mike Skelly. In third spot were Steve Parker, Glen Boland and Philippa Taylor.

A small entry of 18 took part in the round robin held on Sunday, December27 with the leading trio of Gordon Corrin, Thomas Keggen and Jenny Moore winning a roll-up to beat Allan Kennaugh, Steve Crampton and Bob Berry into second; third spot went to Steve Parker, Derek Allen and Ken Karran.

In the Festive midweek outing just nine battled against their opponents and gale force winds, with the victors being Doug Allan, Derek Allen and Steve Parker.

To kick-off 2016 it was a session of doubles with the winners being Steve Parker and Steve Moore, along with Philippa Taylor and Derek Allen. Just falling short were James Teare and Lil Smith, and Shirley Whelan paired with Dave Faragher.

There seems to be a familiar pattern developing as the weather made things difficult once again in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club.

Three postponements, three Saturdays, all involving two sides, Bits n Bobs and Mooragh Lakers, who now have a bit of catching up and as they are already involved in a re-arranged set of fixtures on Saturday, December 19, the latest group of games will be played in the New Year, on Sunday, January 3.

Just like most other events the decision to call off Saturday’s games was fairly easy, but what a difference a day makes, as the following afternoon’s results went pretty much as expected and included the season’s ninth maximum in almost perfect conditions.

The session involved just three teams and it was Louie’s Angels who came out on top in the opening encounter, after a share of the games against Parkers, as they enjoyed a 20 point winning margin.

Angels kept their momentum going in the next fixture, when they did enough against Castletown Corkers to move up one place in the table and missed out on the season’s ninth maximum by just three points.

That milestone just missed by Angels, was reached in the final six games of the session, as Parkers brushed aside a Corkers outfit who find themselves in the bottom three, just above Govags and stablemates Cannons.

Results for Sunday, December 6: Parkers 95 (3) Angels 115 (3), Angels 123 (5) Corkers 90 (1), Corkers 80 (0) Parkers 126 (6).

The wet weather cleared in time for 24 entrants to compete in one gang of triples in the midweek round robin, from which Bernie McPhee, Doug Allan and Ken Karran emerged as victors.

Second position had to be settled by a roll-up, with Jeff Wilson, Ken Clarke and Terry Bates just pipping Derek Clarke, Derek Cadamy and Mike Skelly.

Subject to things going as planned this weekend, the schedule for the remainder of the month and over the festive period is: Saturday, December 19, fixtures from November 22; the following afternoon, Christmas Tombola and round robin.

Sunday, December 27, round robin; Saturday, January 2, round robin; Sunday, January 3, fixtures from December 5. The Wednesday round robin sessions will be held as normal.

The weather played havoc with the schedule once more over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club with Saturday’s fixtures falling foul of the wet conditions.

Things had dried up a little by Sunday afternoon and in a very windy session three of the participating teams managed to improve their averages, one of them recording the season’s eighth maximum scoreline.

Second placed Seven-Up kicked-off taking on a Parkers side who have been improving after a slow start, both of them finishing with fairly low totals, but an eight point margin win to the Sevens.

The two Castletown outfits were also in action and it was Cannons who notched up their second win of the campaign – both of which have come against opponents Corkers.

The session unfortunately didn’t get any better for Corkers as they struggled to just 76 points against Seven-Up who racked up a full house and got their chase for the top back on track.

Parkers also completed their afternoon on a high and with a good total, as they dropped only four points with victory over Cannons, who remain at the foot of the table.

Results for Sunday, November 29: Parkers 101 (2) Seven-Up 109 (4), Corkers 92 (2) Cannons 108 (4), Seven-Up 126 (6) Corkers 76 (0), Cannons 90 (1) Parkers 122 (5).

The games which were postponed will now be played on Saturday, December 19, the day before the Christmas tombola draw, numbers for which are now on sale during club events.

A small but hardy gang of 18 signed in for the midweek round robin, from which Doug Allan, Pauline Worrall and Tricia Bull emerged as victors ahead of Roma Ware, Derek Allen and Bernie McPhee and the trio of Derek Cadamy, Bob Berry and Erwin Gelling.

Two teams participated on both days over the weekend as the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club played catch up with a set of fixtures held over from a couple of weeks earlier.

They both also improved their advantages in the process, beginning with two wins apiece on Saturday, when Parkers and Castletown Corkers beat Titans, a side above them in the table.

It was a good session all round for the southern outfit as they recorded their first victory of the campaign when they took on an under strength Govags.

This was followed by a nail biting two point margin win against Titans, to make it a double success. Both teams dropped a total of just 12 points between them as they shared the games three-all.

Meanwhile, Parkers had earlier recorded a narrow victory over their fourth placed opposition, the gap on this occasion being three points; before they completed the first of their two days with a comfortable win against Govags.

Titans may have lost both fixtures but they came away with just one point less from the afternoon than their opponents and hold onto their position in the standings.

Results for Saturday, November 21: Titans 107 (2) Parkers 110 (4), Govags 78 (2) Castletown Corkers 106 (4), Parkers 117 (5) Govags 96 (1), Corkers 121 (3) Titans 119 (3).

Having had a pretty good Saturday, Parkers started the second session where they left off almost 24 hours earlier and repeated their 117 points tally when they took on Bits n Bobs.

Corkers meanwhile had their mini winning run brought to an end as they fell just short of the 100 point mark when defeated by Mooragh Lakers, who themselves scored just below their average.

The two victors then fought out a share of the six games in an outcome that saw Parkers lose for the first time over the weekend, whilst opponents Lakers did just enough to maintain their third place in the league table.

In the final result Bits n Bobs notched up their second victory of the season and brought to a conclusion what began as a promising two days for Corkers.

Results for Sunday, November 22: Bits n Bobs 79 (1) Parkers 117 (5), Mooragh Lakers 109 (4) Corkers 99 (2), Parkers 100 (3) Lakers 115 (3), Corkers 96 (2) Bits n Bobs 117 (4).

The wet weather abated long enough for a small gang of 20 to take part in the midweek round robin, with Terry Bates and Bernie Thackrah winning one group and the pairing of Bernie McPhee and Tricia Bull the other.

Runners-up spots went to Doug Allan and Hazel Hughes, along with Derek Clarke and Lynda Wilson.

Mean Machine extended their advantage at the top of the table in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club over a weekend which saw both days go ahead, albeit in far from perfect conditions.

Saturday’s participants got a real soaking for their efforts with two from the leading six maintaining their positions behind the front-runners at the end of a very wet afternoon.

Highest scorers from the opening fixtures were sixth placed Erin Porters, who dropped just five points against Govags; this while Titans, who were one place ahead, also lost just one game when they took on Bowl Rollers.

Porters and Titans then went head to head in a clash, which ended three-all on games and with a slender five points winning margin for the latter, which proved crucial 24 hours later.

The final encounter saw the Rollers cope with the conditions better than opponents Govags, who were unfortunately not helped by being a player short.

Results for Saturday, November 14: Titans 119 (5) Bowl Rollers 91 (1), Govags 84 (1) Erin Porters 121 (5), Porters 98 (3) Titans 103 (3), Rollers 114 (5) Govags 89 (1).

The weather didn’t look very promising for Sunday’s session, but to be honest it couldn’t have been much worse than 24 hours earlier and went ahead in dry and breezy conditions.

The top two sides kicked off proceedings and the clash ended with an 11-point advantage to Mean Machine who inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on Seven-Up.

Third placed Louie’s Angels were also competing, and they began with a comfortable five games to one victory over Castletown Cannons to maintain the pressure on the two above them.

The question was, how would Seven-Up recover from that defeat, well very well was the simple answer as they brushed aside the Angels, leaving them trailing with a total of just 79 and as a consequence they slipped down two places to fifth behind Mooragh Lakers and Titans.

Mean Machine meanwhile lived up to their name and notched up the season’s seventh maximum; this against a Cannons outfit who struggled with the difficult conditions.

Results for Sunday, November 15: Seven-Up 106 (2) Mean Machine 117 (4), Castletown Cannons 71 (1) Louie’s Angels 119 (5), Angels 79 (1) Seven-Up 115 (5), Mean Machine 126 (6) Cannons 59 (0).

This Sunday will feature a set of matches postponed from November 8, involving Castletown Corkers, Parkers, Bits n Bobs and Mooragh Lakers, so unfortunately there will be no round robin, as was the case last Wednesday due to rain.

Leaders Seven-Up won the big clash on the one day of play that was possible over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club with the weather putting paid to Sunday’s programme.

Things didn’t look too promising on Saturday morning either, but the schedule went ahead, with the opener pitching together Seven-Up and Titans, a fixture which had the makings of a tough battle and proved so as they ended all-square on games, but with a vital six-point advantage for the table toppers.

However, southern outfit Castletown Cannons didn’t have a good session, firstly they lost out to Govags with 87 on the card, before Titans romped to a maximum against them and they recorded a total of only 70 points in the process.

Govags meanwhile did put up a spirited performance against Seven-Up in their second outing, taking two games from their opponents and leaving for home with an average of 102 for the afternoon.

Seven-Up slipped down the standings after these two scores and now have an average of 117.63 and sit behind Mean Machine by 0.04 of a point, next come Louie’s Angels in third. All very close ahead of a weekend, which sees Sevens take on those two teams directly above and below them in the table.

Results for Saturday, November 7: Seven-Up 113 (3) Titans 107 (3), Castletown Cannons 87 (2) Govags 108 (4), Titans 126 (6) Cannons 70 (0), Govags 96 (2) Seven-Up 120 (4).

The midweek round robin gang were split into two sets of triples with the winners being Derek Cadamy, Roy Moore and Alec Taylor; along with Derek Kneen, Margaret Tasker and Erwin Gelling.

Second places in the two groups went to Ken Karran, Jeff Wilson and Pauline Worrall after a roll-up in the yellow jacks, while the trio of Bob Berry, Jean Thackrah and Mike Skelly missed out in the blacks.

Just one set of fixtures took place over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club which saw three winners with the other result ending all square.

Erin Porters dropped just six points in their opening encounter, when they got the better off their southern neighbours, Castletown Corkers and maintain a top half position in the table.

This while Parkers left Bowl Rollers struggling to a final total of only 89, before the latter bounced back next time out to beat the new look Corkers by a similar score.

The two big winners from earlier in the afternoon, Erin Porters and Parkers, then battled out a draw on points at 111 apiece and a share of the games at three-all, coincidentally the second time this result has occurred this season.

Results for Sunday, November 1: Parkers 118 (4) Bowl Rollers 89 (2), Castletown Corkers 101 (2) Erin Porters 120 (4), Porters 111 (3) Parkers 111 (3), Rollers 116 (4) Corkers 88 (2).

Three round robins now to bring things up-to-date, starting with two midweek sessions that saw over 40 competitors take part each afternoon.

Gill Aughton, Derek Clarke and Mary Black emerged as winners after a roll-up against Erwin Gelling, Edwina Reid and Derek Allen in one group of triples, whilst Rita Callister, Malcolm Black and Ken Karran topped the other ahead of Bernie McPhee, John Lightfoot and Carole Wade.

The doubles winners being Philippa Taylor and Shirley Whelan, with the runners-up spot going to Dave Faragher and David Galbraith.

Next time out the entrants were split into three equal sections of triples and the victors in each were Mike Ware, Philippa Taylor and Elaine McElroy; Sheila Preston, Peter Karran and Peter Kelly; and Rob Cowley, Alan Kennaugh and Bernie McPhee.

Just missing out in second came Alan Cromwell, Bob Berry and Voirrey Curphey; Derek Clarke, David Galbraith and Jordan Cain; also Dave Faragher, Jean Thackrah and Gordon Corrin.

Last Saturday’s groups were both doubles and in the yellow jacks the triumphant pair were Steve Parker and Alan Moore ahead of Ken Karran and Steve Moore; while Louis Callister and Philippa Taylor were also successful, just pipping Lyn and Sid Bolton.

The leading three sides are separated by just nine points after the latest sets of fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club, with Seven-Up leading the way ahead of Mean Machine and Louie’s Angels.

Unfortunately there was no report last week, so a quick look back at the third weekend shows the Angels recorded two scorelines of 116 against Bowl Rollers and Erin Porters, whilst Mean Machine tallied six points less when they took on the same opponents.

The following afternoon saw Seven-Up triumph in both outings, dropping just 12 points, with Parkers and Castletown Cannons also winning a game apiece.

Results for Saturday, October 17: Bowl Rollers 107 (1) Mean Machine 116 (5), Erin Porters 97 (2) Louie’s Angels 116 (4), Mean Machine 110 (4) Porters 95 (2), Angels 116 (5) Bowl Rollers 109 (1).

Results for Sunday, October 18: Seven-Up 118 (4) Parkers 108 (2), Cannons 112 (4) Corkers 95 (2), Corkers 81 (1) Seven-Up 122 (5), Parkers 116 (4) Cannons 97 (2).

Moving onto last weekend, which had a maximum win on both days, the first to Mooragh Lakers, then next day Louie’s Angels as they continued their fine start to the campaign.

Saturday afternoon’s opener saw a draw on games, but a 12 point advantage in favour of Erin Porters over Bowl Rollers in a session which had two double headers. Porters carried on where they left off and even improved their total in the second to leave their opponents trailing home by a margin of 24.

Also in action were Bits n Bobs and Mooragh Lakers with the latter losing just one game and recorded their second maximum in the opening four weekends to sit just behind the leading three in the standings.

Results for Saturday, October 24: Bowl Rollers 101 (3) Porters 113 (3), Bits n Bobs 77 (1) Lakers 111 (5), Porters 119 (4) Bowl Rollers 95 (2), Lakers 126 (6) Bits n Bobs 77 (0).

Three teams who had won all their fixtures arrived to play on Sunday, but two of them left with that run in tatters.

Louie’s Angels opened their session with a full house as they defeated Govags, this while Mean Machine inflicted a first defeat on opponents Titans by a larger gap than was probably predicted.

Things didn’t get any easier for Govags, but they did manage to take one game against Mean Machine, whereas Titans turned back the clock to find their form with a result that left Angels with their first loss.

Results for Sunday, October 25: Titans 91 (1) Mean Machine 116 (5), Govags 87 (0) Angels 126 (6), Angels 96 (2) Titans 111 (4), Mean Machine 122 (5) Govags 74 (1).

Weather permitting a round robin will take place this Saturday, with league fixtures the following afternoon. Finally my thanks go to Matthew Keggen who stepped in with the newspaper reports whilst I was on holiday.

The latest campaign was brought to a conclusion over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club as they enjoyed favourable weather at two events which included the prize presentations.

The annual Best versus Rest contest opened proceedings on Sunday and saw possibly the most one-sided outcome in the history of the club as the Best lived up to their name and whitewashed their opponents 11-0.

The victors were made-up with members of league winners, Rule Breakers, the women’s merit winner and one player from runners-up, Seven Up; their opponents were representatives from the remaining 11 teams.

Unfortunately five of the merit winners were not available so replacement team players took part.

Scores (Best first, Breakers unless stated): John Kennish 21, Barbara Young (Castletown Cannons representative) 12; Fiona Kennish 21, Lil Smith (Roller Bowlers) 16; Elaine Moore 21, Edwina Reid (Bits n Bobs rep) 13; Stefan Kelly 21, Margy Tasker (Louie’s Angels) 11; Glynn Hargraves 21, Caroline Whitehead (Erin Porters rep) 14; Kevin Quirk (Seven Up) 21, Dave Faragher (Castletown Corkers rep) 11; Dido Kelly 21, James Teare (Mooragh Lakers rep) 14; Jenny Moore (M. Lakers, ladies merit winner) 21, Nigel Thomas (Bowling for Soup) 19; Mark Kneen 21, Connie Pettegrew (Govags) 14; David Bradford 21, Jordan Cain (Seven Up) 13; Alan Moore 21, Jo Smith (Parkers rep) 11. Best 232 (11) Rest 148 (0).

The prize presentations followed and proceedings began with the merit winners – those who didn’t get to play and collect their awards were Mike Thomas (Parkers), Bernard Thackrah (Erin Porters), Sid Bolton (C. Corkers), Peter Curtis (C. Cannons) and Kim Hargraves (Bits n Bobs).

Club president, Jack Lee welcomed Jenn Clucas from sponsor Manx Petroleum to hand out the prizes and they included overall merit winner John Kennish who received the Derek Killey Memorial Cup, followed by Jenny Moore, winner of the Geoff Osborn trophy as leading lady.

The league honours were next and included Angels (fifth), Lakers (fourth), Bowling for Soup (third), Seven Up (runners-up) along with victors Rule Breakers.

Last but not least is was the club champion, David Bradford who collected his award, with the runners-up spot going to Dido Kelly.

The final two round robins held saw Doug Allan, Alec Taylor and Les Halsall finish first, with Rita Callister, Hazel Hughes and Erwin Gelling second in one group, while Jordan Cain, Shirley Whelan and Derek Allen won theirs ahead of Joan Murphy, Tricia Bull and Peter Karran.

Lastly the Saturday gang had Louis Callister and Peter Karran as victors; Bernie McPhee and Lynda Cadamy were second, with Lil Smith and Tricia Bull third.

At the conclusion of the season thanks are expressed to Douglas Corporation staff, for a fantastic job with the green and also anyone who helped in any way and contributed to Sunday’s refreshments and raffle.

An entry of 35 battled for the honour of club champion in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club on Saturday and it was David ‘Drof’ Bradford who emerged as the winner to add to his merit success in the 2005-06 season.

Sadly once again the mood around the green was a little subdued as news spread of the sudden death of popular Onchan and Parkers member, Peter Kniveton – perhaps it was a fitting tribute that a summer club-mate should be triumphant on the day.

Peter was in action for his team the previous Sunday and was about to embark on a holiday just a couple of weeks after celebrating his 80^th birthday.

A familiar face around the Island greens, he will be missed, especially at the Onchan club. Our thoughts and sympathies go to his wife Jan and family.

The action got underway at 12 noon to help get the event completed in one day and there were some exciting encounters during the opening rounds all ending with only the seventh different winner from 14 championships.

One team dominated the quarter-finals line-up with six members of league winning outfit, Rule Breakers, being joined by five time champion Kevin Quirk (Seven Up) and newly crowned ladies merit winner, Jenny Moore (Mooragh Lakers).

Fallers at this stage were Elaine Moore, Quirk, Stefan Kelly and Glynn Hargraves, who had earlier put paid to a fourth straight title for team-mate John Kennish.

Just three points in favour of Dave ‘Dido’ Kelly separated him in victory over Alan Moore, while a first class exhibition of corner bowling saw Bradford ease home to see brother and sister eliminated in the semi finals.

Playing off six just like the league fixtures this season for the first time, it was first blood to Kelly, but then both players had runs of four ends apiece to share the 24 points on the card.

Dido, playing with a set of woods for the first time, struggled to make his two’s and even though having won more ends trailed by one after the fifteenth.

The new champion then moved into top gear and led 20-15 before a measure couldn’t separate either player’s woods, however this only delayed the outcome as Drof headed back to the corner and emerged as a worthy winner 21-15.

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 Rule Breakers, the ladies merit winner and one player from second placed Seven Up.

Their opponents will feature Jordan Cain or Kevin Quirk (Seven Up), Nigel Thomas (Bowling for Soup), James Teare (Mooragh Lakers), Margy Tasker (Louie’s Angels), Dave Faragher (Castletown Corkers, merit winner Sid Bolton unavailable), Mike Thomas (Parkers), Lil Smith (Roller Bowlers), Caroline Whitehead (Erin Porters, Bernard Thackrah not available), Connie Pettegrew (Govags), Kim Hargraves (Bits n Bobs) and for Castletown Cannons it will be Barbara Young replacing Peter Curtis.

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 22 March (providing the day’s event goes ahead).

Two other round robins to bring news on; firstly amidweek session held recently drew an entry of 33 which was played in two groups of triples, the winners being Louis Callister, Shirley Corrin and Lynda Cadamy, along with Bernard Thackrah, Viv Rush and Les Halsall.

Missing out in second were Allan Kennaugh, Peter Karran and Tricia Bull, and after a roll-up, Philippa Taylor, Elaine McElroy and Jean Thackrah.

Sunday had a smaller gang take part in a session of triples and doubles, which had the threesome of Derek Cadamy, Ken Karran and Alan Moore beat Lynda Cadamy, MargyTasker and Peter Karran.

This while the pairing of Philippa Taylor and Gordon Corrin just pipped Lil Smith and Jenny Moore.