Will it be Seven-Up or maybe seven up!
The first maximum score of the campaign was the highlight over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Clubas the final four teams made their introduction into league action.
Now that all the sides have played I think it is safe to say there are four outfits which are in the mix for a shout at being crowned champions come next March.
They are current champions, Rule Breakers, with six championship wins under their belts; Seven-Up, who have completed a run of nine finishes in the top half of the table; Louie’s Angels, have also been there or thereabouts on a number of occasions;and Bowling for Soup who are the only other side to have won the title during the past seven seasons with success in 2011.
As to the finishing order is anybody’s guess, but my money would be on Seven-Up to go one better than last season and get their hands on the shield for the first time.
Saturday’s fixtures began with Rule Breakers recording a maximum points win over Govags; while Bowling for Soup kicked off with a hard fought 4-2 success against Castletown Corkers.
Govags did fare a little better next time out, but left with an average of just 80 after defeat by Corkers. Finally Bowling for Soup came out on top by the closest of margins in a fairly low scoring encounter against Rule Breakers, which saw both of them drop over 30 points each.
Results for Saturday, 11 October: Rule Breakers 126 (6) Dave Bradford, Govags 74 (0) Darren Young; Castletown Corkers 93 (2) Derek Lewney, Bowling for Soup 115 (4) Mike Alexander; Govags 86 (2) Allan Cromwell, Corkers 117 (4) Casey and Sid Bolton; Bowling for Soup 95 (3) Phil Kerruish, Rule Breakers 94 (3) Dave Bradford and John Kennish.
A glorious afternoon welcomed the participants the next day, with seven of the totals recorded being over the 100 point mark and topping the list were Erin Porters dropping just eight against Castletown Cannons.
Unfortunately they also had the lowest tally when they were defeated by Louie’s Angels, who had another successful session and fluttered back home after two hard fought wins.
Parkers meanwhile rallied but missed out by just six points in their opener against Angels, before getting the better of Cannons by a margin of only four.
Results for Sunday, 12 October: Louie’s Angels 111 (3) Marg Tasker, Parkers 105 (3) Peter Kniveton; Castletown Cannons 100 (2) Alan Phair, Erin Porters 118 (4) Derek Cadamy; Porters 87 (2) Mavis Franks and Lynda Cadamy, Angels 106 (4) Trish Bull; Parkers 111 (4) Brian Woodall, Cannons 107 (2) Alan Phair.
The second midweek round robin was held with another good entry of 38 and they played exactly the same format as the previous Wednesday. The pairing of Jo Smith and Kevin Quirk were clear winners of the yellow jack group, ahead of Mike Skelly and Derek Clarke.
This, while the trio of Derek Allen, Allan Cromwell and Lynda Clarke were triumphant in the black section, ahead of Derek Cadamy, Shirley Whelan and Jordan Cain.