League leaders Guns for Hire extended their advantage during the one set of fixtures held last weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League, recording two 5-1 victories to maintain their unbeaten start.

The first outing on the list saw Castletown Cannons up against Bits n Bobs and it was the latter who romped home with a forty-plus points margin.

In action at the same time, Bowl Rollers had the task of taking on the leaders and they did manage to win one game in an 89 to 121 defeat.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the next fixture was that Guns for Hire never recorded a maximum against Castletown Cannons, who did well to win the doubles; however, the southerners slipped into bottom spot below their stablemates Castletown Corkers.

The final battle saw Bowl Rollers recover from their earlier loss to maintain their league position just ahead of opponents Bits n Bobs courtesy of a 116 to 98 points victory.

Results for Sunday, November 3: Castletown Cannons 80 (1), Bits n Bobs 121 (5); Bowl Rollers 89 (1), Guns for Hire 121 (5); Guns for Hire 122 (5), Castletown Cannons 76 (1); Bits n Bobs 98 (2), Bowl Rollers 116 (4).

Even at this early stage only four players have a maximum number of wins; some remain unbeaten but have missed games for their team for one reason or another.

Leading the way with eight from eight played is Dido Kelly (Guns for Hire), followed on four are Jenny Moore and Frank Watson (both Outsiders), along with Gordon Corrin (Govags).

Two round robin sessions took place prior to the league games and at the midweek one held on Wednesday, 42 players took part in three groups.

Just three chalks separated five pairs in the doubles with Steve Kelly and Sid McKnight emerging as the winners.

Things were more open in the two triples, with Irene Goodall, Gordon Corrin and Sue Gawne taking one group, and Dave Faragher, Elaine Moore and Kevin Firth winning the other.

Saturday’s session had a gang of just 16 compete in one group, with the pairing of Steve Parker and Lynda Cadamy taking the spoils.

The average points gap between the top and fifth placed teams was shrunk from 13.5 to just 5.7 on Saturday afternoon in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League in a session where the sides involved played the same opponents twice.

First on the list were leaders Guns for Hire and a resurgent Bits n Bobs outfit who were clearly looking to build on their good start to this campaign.

Looking back to last season, this session had two maximum wins for G4H already on the cards, but even though they lost both outings Bits were far from whitewashed.

They took four games from their opponents over the two fixtures, totalling 193 points along the way, which was not good news for the top of the table team who saw their average drop from 122 to 119.2.

Fifth placed Seven-Up were also in action, along with Parkers who were down in ninth and yet to find their form.

It turned out to be a tough afternoon for the lower placed team; they only managed to win one game and a total of 179 points, which saw them slip down another position as a consequence.

Seven-Up on the other hand dropped just five chalks over the afternoon and in turn closed that margin between themselves and the leaders.

Results for Saturday, October 26: Bits n Bobs 89 (2), Guns for Hire 108 (4); Parkers 90 (0), Seven-Up 126 (6); Guns for Hire 119 (4), Bits n Bobs 104 (2); Seven-Up 121 (5), Parkers 89 (1).

Sunday’s participants included last season’s top two teams and they went head to head in the afternoon’s opener, which ended with the closest result over both days.

I think it is fair to say that neither team played at their best, however Outsiders came out on top by just three points in a fairly low scoring battle with Mooragh Lakers.

Another side struggling with their form are Erin Porters and they suffered two heavy defeats; firstly, at the hands of western rivals Govags who were making only their second appearance of the campaign.

Then things didn’t get any easier for Porters as they could only manage 68 points when they came up against Outsiders and slipped two places down the table.

The final contest between Mooragh Lakers and Govags ended all-square on games, however Lakers dropped nine chalks and a position down to fourth in the standings; whilst the westerners moved up to eighth.

Results for Sunday, October 27: Outsiders 108 (3), Mooragh Lakers 105 (3); Govags 113 (4), Erin Porters 88 (2); Erin Porters 68 (0), Outsiders 126 (6); Mooragh Lakers 117 (3), Govags 95 (3).

The midweek round robin group had another glorious afternoon weather-wise and the 45 entrants were once again separated into three sections of triples.

Shining through at the top of each gang were – Derek Allen, Pat Lenton and Trevor Barker; Steve Parker, Ken Karran and Doug Allan; also, Marg Tasker, Kevin Firth and Carol Kaye.

Taking second in their respective groups were Dave Faragher, Gill Morgan and Peter Curtis; Alec Taylor, Sue Gawne and Mark Kelly; Bernie McPhee, Alan Moore and Caroline Corlett.

With all league fixtures up to date, this Saturday’s free day will be used as a round robin session.

Nine-time champions Guns for Hire head the pack after the opening three weekends of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League and are now the only unbeaten team. 

They almost recorded their second maximum, but missed out by one chalk, in a five games to one success over Erin Porters. 

Mooragh Lakers meanwhile began their session with a comfortable games win, but they dropped eight points when Bits n Bobs triumphed in the doubles. 

The top two at the start of play next battled out a draw on games, however Guns for Hire took the bragging rights with a five-point winning margin over Lakers to maintain their impressive start. 

Finally, Bits n Bobs proved their big win on the opening day was not a one-off, when they were victorious in a close contest against Erin Porters and took their average back above 100 points. 

Results for Saturday, October 19: Bits n Bobs 76 (1), Mooragh Lakers 118 (5); Guns for Hire 125 (5), Erin Porters 88 (1); Mooragh Lakers 107 (3), Guns for Hire 112 (3); Erin Porters 103 (2), Bits n Bobs 109 (4). 

Sunday’s gang had the better of the weekend weather for a change and the session saw the season’s fourth maximum scoreline recorded. 

Louie’s Angels followed up the previous Sunday’s full-house with a similar result against Castletown Cannons, allowing their opponents a total of just 72 points. 

Also in action were Castletown Corkers, but they suffered the same fate as their stablemates at the hands of southern rivals Erin Porters. 

Angels finished their afternoon with a comfortable win over Bowl Rollers and scored enough points to move into second spot on average behind leaders Guns for Hire. 

The Castletown teams completed Sunday’s programme and it was Cannons who triumphed with a three-point winning margin in a fixture that had four juniors playing. 

Results for Sunday, October 20: Louie’s Angels 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 72 (0); Castletown Corkers 101 (2), Bowl Rollers 117 (4); Bowl Rollers 98 (2), Louie’s Angels 118 (4); Castletown Cannons 102 (3), Castletown Corkers 99 (3). 

The club’s midweek round robin attracted an entry of 45, which was split into three equal groups of triples. 

Romping to victory in the black jack group were Bernie McPhee, Derek Allen and Mark Kelly; with second place going to Steph Swift, Alec Taylor and Joy Stephens. 

The margin between the top two was a bit closer in the red jacks – the winning trio being Frances Radcliffe, George Brew and Terry Bates, and in the runners-up spot were Sid McKnight, Judy Kelly and Cliff Clague. 

Just one point separated the leaders in the final gang, with Elaine Moore, Steve Kelly and Sue Gawne just getting the better of Maureen Hamilton, Andy Morgan and Kevin Firth. 

The final four teams made their first appearance of the campaign in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League on Saturday, with three of them notching up a win, whilst one leapt straight into second spot in the table. 

Both sides in the opening clash had new faces in their ranks, however it was last season’s runners-up, Mooragh Lakers, who were triumphant over Castletown Cannons. 

Some new members also took part in the next fixture, with one of them helping his new team, Bowl Rollers, to a five games to one victory over Erin Porters. 

After missing out on the title last season by just 13 points, Lakers will aim to go one better this time around and they began their challenge with an average of 119.5 after their second success of the day, when they beat Bowl Rollers. 

Erin Porters recovered well from their earlier defeat to go within two chalks of a full-house in an outing against Cannons who themselves averaged 98 points for the session. 

It was a good afternoon for the junior members in attendance, with all three of them recording a victory – Charlotte Peach (Cannons), Dylan Marsh (Porters) and Shannon McMullan (Lakers) all performed brilliantly. 

Results for Saturday, October 12: Castletown Cannons 90 (2), Mooragh Lakers 117 (4); Bowl Rollers 115 (5), Erin Porters 92 (1); Mooragh Lakers 122 (5), Bowl Rollers 102 (1); Erin Porters 124 (4), Castletown Cannons 106 (2). 

Sunday’s programme only went ahead after a discussion between the captains and officials, unfortunately the constant rain made for some tricky conditions, which obviously suited some players, but not others. 

Louie’s Angels took to the conditions like a duck to water and opened their session with a five games to one success over Parkers, dropping just six points along the way. 

Next up were Castletown Corkers and they will have been pleased to have taken one game off opponents Seven-Up who added 116 points to their overall tally. 

Fixture 15 on the list should have been a close battle between two teams capable of challenging at the top; however the Angels romped to victory over Seven-Up by a margin of 39 points. 

This result saw the winners leap from eighth to third, whilst the losers went in the opposite direction and slipped down to seventh position. 

The defeated sides in the first two fixtures then went head to head to complete the afternoon and it was Parkers who emerged as clear winners to leave their southern opponents at the foot of the table. 

There was only one junior competing on Sunday and Aalish Moore can be very proud of her contribution to the final totals for Castletown Corkers on a very wet green.  

Results for Sunday, October 13: Louie’s Angels 120 (5), Parkers 82 (1); Castletown Corkers 89 (1), Seven-Up 116 (5); Seven-Up 81 (1), Louie’s Angels 120 (5); Parkers 121 (5), Castletown Corkers 79 (1). 

The midweek round robin was played with an entry of 40 and they were split into three groups, two of which were triples, the other doubles. 

Sid McKnight and Lil Smith won their group ahead of Gill Jopson and Bryan Corner; whilst Peter Kelly, Alan Moore and Margaret Tasker triumphed by just one chalk; with their closest challengers being David Clucas, Bernie McPhee and Andy Sykes. 

The other victorious  trio were Elaine Moore, Shirley Whelan and George Brew, who pipped second placed Sue Gawne, Kevin Firth and Tricia Bull. 

Without a victory during the previous two seasons, Bits n Bobs made up for that in great style when they kicked off their campaign in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League with a maximum score to add to the 100 points recorded earlier in the afternoon.

They took full advantage of the fact that players can compete up to three times for any team, before choosing who they play for in their remaining 19 fixtures. A number of sides had to call upon reserves due to some members missing – either playing bowls at a competition in England or perhaps on holiday.

Game number one saw Bits n Bobs put up a good fight against Louie’s Angels, before going down by five games to one, with a score of 100-121; this while former champions Guns For Hire cruised to the first maximum win of the season against Castletown Corkers.

The two winners then went head to head with Guns For Hire almost having a perfect start after they recorded a five games to one success over the Angels and dropped just one point in the process.

Last outing of the afternoon saw Bits n Bobs halt a losing run of 55 fixtures, which spanned over four seasons and they did so in great style with a full-house of wins in their clash with Corkers.

Results for Saturday, October 5: Bits n Bobs 100 (1) Louie’s Angels 121 (5), Guns For Hire 126 (6) Castletown Corkers 67 (0), Louie’s Angels 95 (1) Guns For Hire 125 (5), Castletown Corkers 96 (0) Bits n Bobs 126 (6).

Sunday’s gang had two of last season’s top three competing, with third placed Seven-Up leaving with the best points tally, which was helped by a six chalks victory over champions Outsiders.

Outsiders began the defence of their title with a win over Parkers; whilst Seven-Up drafted in three replacement players, who helped them hit a good total of 124 points against Govags.

The two successful teams then battled out a three-all draw on games, with Seven-Up taking the vital chalks win to leave them with a 12 points advantage on the day over rivals Outsiders.

To complete the session Parkers and Govags fought hard in the closest fixture of the weekend, which ended in a share of the games and a win for Parkers, by a margin of only three points.

Results for Sunday, October 6: Outsiders 119 (5) Parkers 82 (1), Govags 86 (2) Seven-Up 124 (4), Seven-Up 113 (3) Outsiders 107 (3), Parkers 109 (3) Govags 106 (3).

A round robin took place on the Wednesday prior to the league commencing and 21 players competed in one group of triples.

Allan Kennaugh, Bernard Thackrah and Caroline Corlett emerged as winners, ahead of Gill Jopson, Terry Bates and Sue Gawne in second, with Andy Sykes, Ken Karran and Bryan Corner in third.

Twice former winner, Alan Moore was triumphant again in the delayed Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling club championship, which took place on Sunday, beating Phil Kerruish who himself had won the title back in 2005.

A 24 hour delay due to the weather didn’t deter most of those who had entered and from the 38 who competed on the day, two former champions fought out a closely contested final, having earlier seen a number of potential winners go out in their opening games.

Kerruish began his afternoon with victory in the prelims, before a repeat of the 2005 final against Margaret Tasker saw him through to the second round, where he was pushed all the way in a 21-20 result by Cliff Clague.

Moore meanwhile, got through his opening encounter by just three chalks, before a repeat of the 2017 final when he defeated Frank Watson.

The only junior member in the competition, Shannon McMullan, was successful in her first game, before losing out on 19 in her second to Derek Allen, who then went down in the quarters 21-20 to Kerruish.

Also missing out at this stage were Steve Parker, beaten to 19 by Edward Carlyle; Tony Hart who fell short on a score of 18 against Reg Temporaza and Tricia Bull, the last lady entrant who went out to the eventual winner.

The four semi-finalists who had endured a tough afternoon in the cold wind, took to the green in front of a dwindling crowd of spectators, Kerruish knocking out Carlyle and Temporaza losing to Moore, both results 21-12.

The final had no more than two points between the opponents at any point of the game, then at 16 across Kerruish took the next two ends to lead 19-16, but Moore fought back with three singles and a double to take the title he had won previously in 2016 and 2017.

Moore remains as only the third player to have won this honour more than once, following Kevin Quirk on five titles and John Kennish on four; keeping it at only nine different winners over 18 seasons.

Results – quarter-finals: Edward Carlyle 21, Steve Parker 19; Phil Kerruish 21, Derek Allen 20; Tony Hart 18, Reg Temporaza 21; Tricia Bull 12, Alan Moore 21. Semi-finals: Carlyle 12, Kerruish 21; Temporaza 12, Moore 21. Final: Kerruish 19, Moore 21.

Just a few days earlier the midweek round robin had a relatively small gang of 25 split into two sections, with the trio of Kevin Firth, Mark Kelly and Tricia Bull romping to victory ahead of Sefton Dent, Dougie Allan and Jeff Wilson. 

Things were closer in the doubles group with the eventual winners being Ken Karran and Maureen Payne, with second spot going to Peter Karran and Peter Kelly.

This weekend will see the final two days of the winter season, beginning with a round robin on Saturday, followed 24 hours later by the Best versus Rest event and prize presentations for which raffle prizes would be very much appreciated.

Proceedings begin at 1pm and taking part in Sunday’s contest will be league champions, Outsiders, supported by double merit winner, Helen Martin; junior merit champ, Austin Hart and newly crowned club champion, Alan Moore who will make up the Best team.

The individual team merit winners, or representatives, will form the Rest and turning out for the challengers will be Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers); Mark Kelly (Seven-Up); Stefan Kelly (A-Team); Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels); Terry Moore or Colin Spence (Parkers); Derek Allen (Erin Porters); Bryan Corner (Govags); Lil Smith (Bowl Rollers); Sam Aherne or Nathan Hamilton (Castletown Corkers); Alan Phair (Castletown Cannons) and Franz ten-Donkelaar (Bits n Bobs).

League prizes will be awarded down to fifth position; from the quarter-finals onwards in the club championship and the finalists in the J&M Lee memorial doubles, which was held back in December, so if those concerned can be in attendance to collect their awards it would be very helpful.

Unfortunately the weather makes the headlines again this week as the wet stuff put paid to the latest three sessions planned by the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club, so let’s hope for better conditions this Saturday when the club championship takes place with an entry of over 40.

Things will get underway at 12noon prompt, however those attending must be aware that there will be parking restrictions in Nobles with the car park being closed from 2-5pm and with a lot of games to get through in daylight it will be a busy afternoon.

The eventual winner could possibly make it into the Best team, which will be competing against the Rest when the two sides meet at the season finale on Sunday, March 24, starting at 1pm; the prize presentations to all award winners throughout the season will also take place that afternoon.

League champions Outsiders will make up the majority of the Best and although captain Ben Dugdale is still out of action, the remainder of his squad – Tony Dugdale, Mike Alexander, Frank Watson, Steve Cook, Kevin Firth, Elaine Moore, Jenny Moore and James Teare will be included.

Double merit winner, Helen Martin and two other representatives will support this eight; one of which could be the club champion if they have not already qualified.

Their challengers will be a player from each of the 11 remaining teams and subject to confirmation they will be Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers rep); Mark Kelly (Seven-Up); Alan Moore (A-Team rep); Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels); Terry Moore (Parkers); Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters); Bryan Corner (Govags); Lil Smith (Bowl Rollers); Sam Aherne (Corkers); Alan Phair (Cannons) and Franz ten Donkelaar (Bits n Bobs).

In last week’s report we covered the top 10 league players in the overall merit, so here follows the next 15: 11. Bernard Thackrah (Porters), 12. Dougie Allan (Govags), 13. Jenny Moore (Outsiders), 14. Terry Moore (Parkers), 15. Rob Monk (Lakers), 16. Frank Watson (Outsiders), 17. Brian Kelly (Lakers), 18. Mark Kelly (Seven-Up), 19. Alison Keggen (Angels), 20. Lil Smith (Rollers), 21. Mike Thomas (Parkers), 22. Colin Spence (Parkers), 23. Janet Monk (Lakers), 24. Margaret Tasker (Angels), 25. Paula Firth (Seven-Up).

Some winter club facts – the winning margin between the top two in the league last year was 85, this time the leading five were separated by less than that, with the margin from first to fifth places being just 83 points.

Mooragh Lakers have been pretty consistent over the past three seasons with averages of 117.3, 117.4 and 117.1; the 135 fixtures were completed on schedule for the first time in a number of years. 

All fixtures were played with no byes recorded, perhaps testament to the rule that members could play for more than one team (on no more than six occasions); 22 people took advantage of this and turned out for more than one side, with one competing for six different teams and another for five.

The same four teams have occupied positions six to nine in the league table for the past four seasons – but not in the same order – they are Parkers, Erin Porters, Govags and Bowl Rollers.

My apologies go to Glynn Hargraves who I mentioned last week as a twice winner of the Individual merit, when in fact he is a three-time winner having also won this award back in 2004 whilst playing for league champions Cruisers.

The weather did its best to spoil the final weekend of fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League, when all outstanding issues were settled, including Lakers’ Helen Martin winning the two main merit titles.

Needing to match her closest rival’s total, or at worst dropping just one point, two victories in extremely tough conditions on a wet Sunday afternoon, were enough to see Martin become only the second player to win both the Derek Killey and Geoff Osborn memorial trophies in the same season.

This following in the footsteps of club president Marg Tasker (Louie’s Angels) who achieved the same double in the 2011-12 campaign.

Twice winner in 2013/16, runner-up in 2014/18 and with two third places in 2015/17, Glynn Hargraves (A-Team) was just two points adrift of the leader going into the weekend and in turn he was five ahead of last year’s winner Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels), with fourth placed Brian Corner (Govags) close behind.

Hargraves and Corner both won their games to leave Martin a target of 41 points or better, which was achieved in relative comfort and a sense of relief on a very wet playing surface.

Keggen also recorded maximum points to finish third, with fifth and sixth places going to his opponents on Sunday – Steve Parker (Lakers) and Wayne Roberts (Erin Porters).

Club treasurer Tricia Bull (Angels) is next on the list, just pipping Kevin Firth (Outsiders); with ninth and tenth places being taken by players who both missed two games – Alan Moore (A-Team) and Mike Alexander (Outsiders).

Although he hasn’t been able to play in the last two outings due to an ankle injury, Austin Hart (A-Team) had already done enough in the junior merit ahead of Sam Aherne and Shannon McMullan, both Castletown Corkers.

Saturday’s action had former champions A-Team needing to score enough points to lift them back above Angels in the table, a target they hit with the help of their fifth and the campaign’s 27th maximum win.

They also recorded a total of 120 against Govags, the only team participating over the weekend whose final position was already confirmed and who had earlier beaten Corkers; however the southern outfit racked enough chalks to finish above their stablemates Castletown Cannons.

Results for Saturday, March 2: Govags 106 (3), Castletown Corkers 94 (3); Castletown Corkers 65 (0), A-Team 126 (6); A-Team 120 (5), Govags 80 (1).

The three outfits competing on Sunday afternoon were all fighting to retain or improve their league positions – Lakers recorded two wins to secure second, Angels failed in their attempt to move back into fourth and Erin Porters slipped out of the top six, being replaced by Parkers.

Results for Sunday, March 3: Erin Porters 89 (1), Mooragh Lakers 121 (5); Mooragh Lakers 124 (5), Louie’s Angels 91 (1); Louie’s Angels 112 (4), Erin Porters 98 (2).

Helen Martin will now represent the Best team on Sunday, March 24, whilst more names have been added to the Rest squad; they are Matthew Keggen, Brian Corner, Wayne Roberts, Alan Moore (A-Team, in the absence of Glynn Hargraves) and Sam Aherne; whilst Steve Parker will be Lakers representative.

Entries for the club championship on Saturday, March 16 close this Sunday; the winner of this competition will also be included in the Best team, which will take on the Rest at the Club’s prize presentation afternoon on Sunday, March 24.

A gang of 42 were split into three groups at the latest midweek round robin with the winners being Derek Allen, Bernie McPhee and Pauline Worrall; Geoff Mayles, Elaine Moore and Lynda Wilson; Julie Reilly and Mark Kelly.

After an action packed Saturday afternoon involving the top three teams, Outsiders racked up enough chalks in both fixtures to win the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League title.

The session also saw defeats for the leading two players in the individual merit – Helen Martin (Mooragh Lakers) dropped three points, whilst Glynn Hargraves (A-Team) scored 19 to move a little closer; both have two left to play with a gap of just two chalks.

Waiting for any slip-ups are Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels) who is seven adrift of the leader and eight behind is Brian Corner (Govags).

Moving back to the action, things began with leaders Outsiders easing to success against 2018 champions A-Team, although the 13 points dropped by the victors must have given the watching Mooragh Lakers a little glimmer of hope.

Lakers then joined the fray, as the weather took a turn for the worse and they sneaked home by just two chalks over A-Team, but also dropped the same amount of points as Outsiders, so the gap was back to where they started earlier.

The pair then went head to head with Lakers needing a similar performance to that from a few weeks previous when they won by nine against the same opponents; however Outsiders were in no mood to let this chance slip and recorded a 14 point advantage win to take one of the hottest contested titles in the club’s history.

Unfortunately Outsiders captain Ben Dugdale has not been able to play recently due to a back problem, but this is not the first time he will have had his hands on the shield, after he won with New Found Glory back in 2011.

The winning margin that year was 12 points, whereas just one year earlier his team, then named Angry Mob, missed out by only two to the Chancers. The next closest ending was in 2017 when Lakers pipped Seven-Up by the slender advantage of seven.

Results for Saturday, February 23: Outsiders 113 (5), A-Team 96 (1); A-Team 111 (3), Mooragh Lakers 113 (3); Mooragh Lakers 106 (3), Outsiders 120 (3).

Sunday’s opening fixture featured third placed Seven-Up and began on a foggy afternoon, with them needing as many points as possible – firstly to put some pressure on Lakers who are second on average and also to keep Louie’s Angels at bay as they were only nine behind at the start of play.

Finally to fend off A-Team who were keen to climb back up the table after slipping down two places just the day before.

Surprisingly they dropped 11 points in their opener against basement side Bits n Bobs, before they let another two slip when they played Castletown Corkers; however they did enough to remain above A-Team, but will have to wait for their final position to be decided.

The last outcome of the session saw Corkers just miss out on a full-house when they inflicted the twenty-second defeat of the campaign on Bits n Bobs and need to score just 126 points from their final outing to finish above their stablemates.

So all in all there are still nine league positions to be settled over the one weekend of fixtures yet to play, along with seven team merit winners.

Results for Sunday, February 24: Bits n Bobs 90 (2), Seven-Up 115 (4); Seven-Up 124 (5), Castletown Corkers 96 (1); Castletown Corkers 124 (5), Bits n Bobs 88 (1).

An entry of 24 took part in the midweek round robin, with one group having the top four separated by just one point at the end of play and after a roll-up it went in favour of David Clucas and Bernie McPhee, ahead of Allan Kennaugh and Marg Tasker.

The other section had Brian Kelly and Sefton Dent as clear winners, with second spot being taken by Frances Radcliffe and Ken Karran.

Two more names have been added to the team, which will take on the league champions in the end of season finale, they are Mark Kelly (Seven-Up) and Franz ten Donkelaar (Bits n Bobs).

The club heads into its final month with the league schedule almost complete and two major dates yet to come – the championship, for which entries are still being taken, will take place on Saturday, March 16 (and Sunday 17 if required), with the prize presentations afternoon the following Sunday, for which raffle prizes would be much appreciated.

The battle for places really warmed up on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League with one of the contenders dropping vital points, whilst another proved they are not settling for fifth spot.

Let’s look at how the weekend’s one set of fixtures went, before I analyse the possible outcomes over the few sessions remaining.

Third placed Seven-Up took on Erin Porters who are sixth and this was a formality last time these two teams met, with a maximum in favour of Sevens and they only allowed their opponents to score 69.

This time the southern outfit almost reached 100 points and managed to take one game, but more importantly five chalks from the title contenders.

Seven-Up lost one of their regular players through illness just 24 hours or so prior to the session, when Derek Clarke withdrew, so once again the team of super-subs came to the rescue.

Louie’s Angels meanwhile had a similar problem, when Rebecca Teare, who was second in merit table, also took ill; this however did not stop Angels from recording their fifth full-house with a comfortable victory over Castletown Corkers – we wish both players a speedy recovery.

Next up Erin Porters got their quest to hold onto a top six spot back on track with success over Corkers, although both teams now have lower averages and are therefore closer to the sides directly behind them.

The final clash saw Angels revenge an earlier in the season heavy defeat against Seven-Up, with the victors dropping only three chalks on this occasion in a five games to one result, whereas the losers finished on a total of 102 and slipped down a place.

Results for Saturday, February 16: Seven-Up 121 (5), Erin Porters 97 (1); Castletown Corkers 74 (0), Louie’s Angels 126 (6); Erin Porters 115 (4), Castletown Corkers 98 (2); Louie’s Angels 123 (5), Seven-Up 102 (1).

With just four sessions remaining the top seven positions are yet to be decided – Outsiders occupy top spot and need to score nine points more than second-placed Mooragh Lakers in their last visit to finish ahead of them.

Next in line is A-Team – they can also still catch the leaders, but if they score 16 chalks less than Outsiders, then it is all over for them as current champions.

Things may be a bit clearer after they all compete in a three-team battle this Saturday – but waiting in the wings are two more ‘outsiders’.

Fourth-placed Seven-Up are still licking their wounds from last weekend and will need the leaders to drop over 40 points to be in with a chance; they now also have Angels just nine chalks behind and waiting for any slip ups.

Previous league winners are holding the top three positions, whilst the next two have yet to finish on that top step.

As for the next two positions in the table, Erin Porters are currently sixth and need to score 208 points or more to hold off Parkers who have played all their games.

Two round robins to catch up with, the first of which had 33 compete in a midweek session; Allan Kennaugh, Marg Tasker and Maureen Hamilton took one triples group, whilst Steph Swift, Carole Kaye and Mark Kelly won the other.

There was also a gathering on Sunday when 17 took part and had Nathan Hamilton partnered by Cliff Clague win one gang, along with Steve Parker, Lil Smith and Tony Hart victorious in the other.