With the league action taking its Christmas break there was just one event over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club and that was the J&M Lee memorial doubles.

A competition set up last season in memory and past president Jack Lee and his wife Margaret.

An entry of 34 was split into two groups with the yellow jack section having nine pairs and played over five ends per game, with the eventual winners being Mike Alexander and Jenny Moore.

Just missing out were the duo of Jo Smith and George Brew, they completed their group stage just one chalk behind the winners, with two more pairs a further point back.

The black jacks had eight doubles competing over five ends, with the clear winners being Steve Parker and Doug Allan; whilst in second position were the combination of Lynda Wilson and Wayne Roberts.

With the light fading fast on a day that was just 24 hours prior to the shortest one of the year, it was decided to play the final between the group winners over four ends.

First blood went to the Parker and Allan duo with a two, this was followed by two singles to build a 4-0 lead with just one end remaining, in which the challengers Alexander and Moore were lying on for three with the last bowl to play.

Everybody watched in anticipation to see if Moore could bowl in a fourth to tie the game and ultimately take it to an extra end shoot-out, however it was not to be and with just a three scored the shield was won by Steve Parker and Doug Allan.

At the end of a great afternoon it was announced that the fantastic sum of £275 had been raised towards Peel RNLI, a cause that was always foremost in Jack and Margaret’s lives.

This follows the great amount of £333 raised just last month for Children in Need and will not be the last charity fund raiser, as the club plan to hold another one in 2020, on a date yet to be finalised.

There will be one final round robin session this year and this will take place on Sunday December 29th, 1pm prompt start.

The league fixtures for the club will recommence on Saturday January 4th, with the midweek round robins starting four days later.

The top two teams march on with their quest to become champions of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League, both recording important wins over challengers directly behind them in the standings.

The final weekend of league action before the festive break saw Outsiders open with a much needed above average score in their victory over Parkers.

This while second placed Seven-Up dropped just five chalks in their four games to two success over Govags, who scored a healthy total of 104 themselves.

Seven-Up followed this up with a convincing 5-1 games victory over Outsiders, leaving the current champions with just an ‘outside’ chance of retaining their title.

They currently occupy fourth spot and now trail the leaders by 306 points with a maximum of 252 available from the two fixtures they have in hand.

The final clash of the session was between teams who were on a similar average in the table and it was Govags who extended their advantage over Parkers; all-be-it by just three points, but that was enough for the winners to move up one place and put Bowl Rollers between the pair.

Results for Saturday, December 14: Parkers 93 (2), Outsiders 117 (4); Seven-Up 121 (4), Govags 104 (2); Outsiders 100 (1), Seven-Up 115 (5); Govags 114 (4), Parkers 111 (2).

Sunday’s session had a real mix of weather – it began in relatively good conditions, before along came of shower of hail (which wasn’t much fun for one player in shorts!); then the afternoon ended with heavy rain which resulted in an extremely wet green.

Things did begin on a high for two of the teams after Mooragh Lakers and Guns for Hire took the maximums tally to 13 at the expense of Bits n Bobs and Erin Porters, who unfortunately had to compete a player short.

The two victors next went head-to-head and after the first three games, which ended during a hail shower, the scores were level at 54 points apiece.

The weather did its very best to spoil the remaining games and they probably would have had closer outcomes but for the rain; however, G4H kept their unbeaten run intact after they won the second half 51 to 44, leaving both sides with fairly low final totals.

Porters meanwhile fought through the conditions against Bits n Bobs and even though they gave their opponents a 15-chalk head start, they came through to win comfortably.

Results for Sunday, December 15: Mooragh Lakers 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 82 (0); Erin Porters 83 (0), Guns for Hire 126 (6); Guns for Hire 105 (4), Mooragh Lakers 98 (2); Bits n Bobs 85 (2), Erin Porters 100 (4).

The club will hold its second charity event of the year this Saturday, when the J&M Lee memorial doubles competition will take place with a 1pm prompt start. The 36 entrants have been paired up and split into two groups, which will be played as a round robin.

To decide the winners of the shield, the two pairs at the top of each group will play each other. All proceeds from the afternoon will go to the RNLI, therefore members are requested to bring a raffle prize.

The regular midweek round robin session saw an entry of 29 separated into two gangs, one of which was played as triples and was won by Gill Jopson, Kevin Firth and Doug Allan, ahead of Mark Kelly, Derek Allen and Cliff Clague.

It was doubles for the other group, which saw Allan Kennaugh and Steve Kelly take first spot, with Bernard Thackrah and Maureen Hamilton in second.

Three of the sides who featured on the one day of league action in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls on Saturday improved their overall positions, including the bottom placed outfit Castletown Cannons.

The southern based team may not have won their encounter with current champions Outsiders, but will have been pleased to win two games and reach a total of 100 points.

This whilst eighth placed Govags took on Bowl Rollers who were two positions above and after a share of the games the westerners won the all-important points battle by a margin of nine.

Fixture number 67 on the list paired Cannons and Govags, with both sides doing enough, in a 108 to 94 success for the Peel team, to move up the table – Cannons now off the bottom, leap-frogging their stablemates Castletown Corkers.

Completing the programme were Rollers and Outsiders, with the latter getting over their shaky opener to record the season’s eleventh maximum win and they are now up into fourth, just 10 chalks behind Mooragh Lakers.

Results for Saturday, December 7: Outsiders 115 (4), Castletown Cannons 100 (2); Govags 116 (3), Bowl Rollers 107 (3); Castletown Cannons 94 (2), Govags 108 (4); Bowl Rollers 81 (0), Outsiders 126 (6).

I have been asked by member Alan Phair to mention that he is in possession of two odd bowls and he believes someone else is in the same predicament.

So, if you have orange discs on your bowls, please check they are a matching pair – the one he has by mistake has some letters on one side.

Entries for the J&M Lee memorial charity doubles will close this Sunday, with the competition taking place the following Saturday, all proceeds from the day will be donated to the RNLI.

The event will be drawn pairs, played in a round robin format, with the winners of each group playing off to decide the overall winners. Raffle prizes from members or donations from those unable to attend will be very much appreciated.

There are two big games scheduled for this weekend, but neither involving the leader of the Derek Killey memorial individual merit due to the fact that Louie’s Angels have finished their programme until after the Christmas break.

Their captain Matthew Keggen heads the pack, just in front of Steve Parker (Mooragh Lakers), but even if Steve wins both of his games he cannot score enough to move ahead of his rival. Next on the list are Margaret Tasker (Angels) and Kevin Quirk (Seven-Up).

The unpredictable weather saw just 27 attend the midweek round robin session and from two groups of triples, the winners were Paul Callister, Philippa and Alec Taylor; along with Mark Kelly, Lil Smith and Tricia Bull.

Runners-up in each section were Derek Allen, Steph Swift and Gil Jopson; and the trio of Stuart Garrett, Doug Allan and Dave Faragher.

Another session was held on Sunday in gale force winds and perhaps not surprisingly just 12 entrants competed in one group of doubles, which was won by Stefan Kelly and Sue Gawne.

There is a margin of 32 points between the top two teams after the ninth weekend of fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League and it is advantage Guns for Hire ahead of Seven-Up.

Saturday saw the halfway point reached in the battles between the leading five sides, with Seven-Up completing their first four encounters with a victory to take them onto a tally of 424.

Heading this elite little group on 470 are G4H; in second are Mooragh Lakers on 436 and down in fourth it is current champs Outsiders on 413. Louie’s Angels meantime are fifth a further five points behind on 408.

The destination of the league title could possibly be decided by the scores recorded in the big games, so Outsiders will need to find their form if they want to improve on the fifth spot they currently occupy in the overall standings.

The first day of action over the weekend saw Lakers pushed all the way in their opener by Parkers who eventually missed out by just six chalks; this while Seven-Up went very close to a maximum in their win against Erin Porters.

The next two fixtures were drawn on games with Parkers victorious over Porters by fifteen points and Seven-Up going one better to triumph over Lakers by sixteen, a result that saw the two swap places in the table.

Results for Saturday, November 30: Mooragh Lakers 109 (4), Parkers 103 (2); Erin Porters 82 (2), Seven-Up 123 (4); Parkers113 (3), Erin Porters 98 (3); Seven-Up 118 (3), Mooragh Lakers 102 (3).

Sunday’s games, which were played on the first official day of winter, were a repeat of fixtures held back in October and three of the results went the same way, however Corkers gained revenge this time around against their stablemates.

Louie’s Angels notched up a maximum when they came up against Castletown Cannons previously, but their southern neighbours took 10 points off them this time out.

Bowl Rollers meanwhile shared the games with opponents Castletown Corkers, however thanks to three big wins, finished with a winning margin of 26.

Angels next did the double over Rollers and as a result of their efforts during the session, moved up into fourth spot at the expense of Outsiders.

With a margin of just three points, Cannons won the battle when they took on Corkers back in October; however, the latter took the honours on Sunday by four and in doing so recorded their first success of the campaign.

Results for Sunday, December 1: Castletown Cannons 89 (1), Louie’s Angels 116 (5); Bowl Rollers 119 (3), Castletown Corkers93 (3); Louie’s Angels 122 (5), Bowl Rollers 93 (1); Castletown Corkers 106 (4), Castletown Cannons 102 (2).

The headline on last week’s newspaper report said ‘Kelly takes over in the chase for individual merit’, when in fact it should have been ‘Gawne …’; however, that reign at the head of the list for Sue Gawne (Mooragh Lakers) didn’t last very long and after last weekend Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels) took over as leader ahead of Sue’s team-mate Steve Parker.

Next two are Kevin Quirk (Seven-Up) and Marg Tasker (Angels), with Sue now down into fifth position.

The midweek round robin attracted an entry of 36, which was split into two equal groups of triples.

Winning one section were Trevor Barker, Mark Kelly and Bernie McPhee, ahead of Julie Reilly, Derek Clarke and Steve Kelly.

Topping the yellow jacks were Stuart Garrett, Kevin Firth and Alec Taylor, with second place being taken by Gill Jopson, Peter Kelly and Derek Allen.

Another round robin will be held this Sunday and later in the month the J&M Lee memorial doubles will be held, entries for which are still open. All proceeds from this event on Saturday, December 21 will be donated to the RNLI, contributions, such as raffle prizes will be very much appreciated.

There was just one set of fixtures last weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League, which featured the season’s ninth maximum, but not from either of two of the leading three sides who were amongst those in action.

The first clash on the list saw ninth placed Parkers take on the team two places above and they notched up their second full-house of the campaign with six games to nil demolition of opponents Bits n Bobs.

Also, in action were leaders Guns for Hire and third-placed Seven-Up, after the first three games there was just one point separating them – 58 to 57 in favour of Seven-Up.

Game four saw the margin swing the other way as G4H took control to lead by six, and after they both won one more game apiece, the final result saw the undefeated leaders maintain their winning run by just four points.

Bits n Bobs unfortunately didn’t fare much better in their second outing; a fixture which saw them pass through the halfway stage, they were up against Seven-Up and as a consequence of scoring just 78, slipped two places down the table.

Parkers meanwhile fought hard against Guns for Hire and won two games to reach a total of 88, which was enough for them to climb up two positions, whilst the leaders had their advantage pegged back a little.

Results for Saturday, November 23: Parkers 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 90 (0); Seven-Up 112 (3), Guns for Hire 116 (3); Guns for Hire 114 (4), Parkers 88 (2); Bits n Bobs 78 (1), Seven-Up 123 (5).

There is now a new leader in the chase for the individual merit after Dave Kelly (Guns for Hire) was absent from his team’s line-up over the weekend, so this elevates Sue Gawne (Mooragh Lakers) into top spot on an average of 20.8; second is Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels) on 20.3, with third being occupied by Kevin Quirk (Seven-Up) on 20.1.

They are followed by four players on 19.9 – Steve Parker (Lakers), Jenny Moore and Tony Dugdale (Outsiders) and Marg Tasker (Angels). Filling the top 10 positions on 19.5 are Mark Kelly (Seven-Up), Rosie Winckle (Bowl Rollers) and Mike Thomas (Parkers). 

Two round robin sessions took place either side of Saturday’s league action and at the first of them a gathering of 27 took part in two sets of triples.

The trio of Doug Allan, Bryan Corner and Tricia Bull won one group, ahead of Steve Parker, Lil Smith and Gill Jopson.

Clear winners of the other gang, with an average of almost 10 per game, were Joy Stephens, Dave Faragher and Mark Kelly; with second spot going to Andy Sykes, Kevin Firth and Bernie McPhee.

Sunday’s event had 23 entrants competing and it was the pairing of Steve Parker and Ken Karran who emerged out of the mist to claim victory ahead of Julie Reilly and Alec Taylor.

The other section was played as triples, with the winners being Marg Tasker, Lynda Cadamy and Lil Smith, just pipping Derek Allen, Brian Kelly and Tricia Bull.

Leaders Guns for Hire kept their impressive start to the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League going on Saturday, to take their winning run to 10 fixtures, the latest of which was against the current title holders Outsiders.

The multiple-time champions kicked off the session with a comfortable victory over Govags, dropping just four chalks along the way to strengthen their position.

Outsiders meanwhile have yet to hit top form and although they beat Bits n Bobs by five games to one, will have been disappointed to drop another five points on the leaders.

They next had to take on high flyers Guns for Hire and at the end of a hard-fought battle, had suffered a heavy defeat, winning only one game and a total of just 89 chalks.

Their seven players had won only one individual game each over the two fixtures and as consequence this leaves Dave Kelly (G4H) as the clear leader in the individual merit.

One final outcome saw Bits n Bobs sneak home by the closest of margins against Govags and now have more wins in this campaign, than they had in the previous three.

Results for Saturday, November 16: Outsiders 117 (5), Bits n Bobs 76 (1); Govags 90 (1), Guns for Hire (5); Guns for Hire 117 (5), Outsiders 89 (1); Bits n Bobs 115 (3), Govags 114 (3).

The first day of the weekend did not claim all the highs and lows, with Sunday having the campaign’s eighth maximum score, along with Porters having their best outing to date.

2017 champions Mooragh Lakers started their afternoon with a 21-point victory over Louie’s Angels, who at the start of play were on the same average as their opponents.

Erin Porters meanwhile notched up only their second win of the season when they beat Castletown Corkers, who are directly behind them in the table.

Porters kept that form going with a great victory over Angels and in doing so moved clear of the bottom two, whilst the losers saw their average drop dramatically.

The final clash of the session resulted in Lakers leaping from fourth to second when they racked up a maximum at the expense of Corkers and in turn show they are serious title contenders.

Results for Sunday, November 17: Louie’s Angels 101 (2), Mooragh Lakers 122 (4); Castletown Corkers 95 (3), Erin Porters 111 (3); Erin Porters 108 (4), Louie’s Angels 91 (2); Mooragh Lakers 126 (6), Castletown Corkers 78 (0).

A gang of 34 entered the midweek round robin session and they were split into two sections.

Topping the doubles were Paul Callister and Lil Smith, ahead of Margaret Tasker and Derek Clarke; whilst in the triples, Bernard Thackrah, Rita Callister and Rosie Winckle finished top, with second going to Peter Corlett, Dave Faragher and Tricia Bull.

With the league programme all on schedule there will be a round robin held this Sunday, with members welcome to participate.