Angels leave happy
Louie’s Angels were the happiest side leaving the green after the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club, whereas Parkers were the happiest team not playing.
Another very wet morning on Saturday made for difficult playing conditions, however three teams did manage to improve their averages, whilst the other participants had a poor afternoon and slipped down two places.
Mooragh Lakers and Titans started the session with comfortable victories over Bits n Bobs and Govags, before they went head to head in a contest that saw Lakers come out on top.
Titans could only reach a total of 79 which saw them drop to seventh in the table, promoting Erin Porters to fifth and Parkers to sixth.
The final tussle of the day went in favour of Bits n Bobs who got the better of their western opponents by just nine points, both improved their averages in the process and moved that little bit further away from the bottom.
It could have been a different outcome for Govags who were a player short and therefore conceded 30 points, as was the case for Titans who will now struggle to get back into the leading group.
Results for Saturday, December 12: Bits n Bobs 88 (2) Titans 109 (4), Mooragh Lakers 116 (4) Govags 88 (2), Titans 79 (1) Mooragh Lakers 122 (5), Govags 102 (3) Bits n Bobs 111 (3).
Whilst 24 hours earlier members were waiting for the rain to stop, on Sunday it was a case of hoping it would stay away, but about an hour into the session, the conditions went from bad to worse as down came the rain to add to the extreme cold.
Things didn’t seem to deter Louie’s Angels however as they went on to record the highest total of the weekend, notching up two scores of 122 – firstly against Erin Porters and then with victory over Bowl Rollers.
Table toppers, Mean Machine, were also in action, but they were not firing on all cylinders, so along with their opponents, Bowl Rollers and Porters, saw their average drop and for Porters it cost them a place in the top six, as they dropped back down below Titans.
The gap on averages between fourth and fifth before the two days, was less than one point, but at the end that margin, now between Angels and Parkers had opened to 5.2; whereas first to fourth has closed from five down to just two, with Mean Machine on 117, Seven-Up 116.4, Lakers 115.2 and Angels 115.
Results for Sunday, December 13: Mean Machine 107 (4) Bowl Rollers 87 (2), Louie’s Angels 122 (5) Erin Porters 98 (1), Erin Porters 105 (3) Mean Machine 114 (3), Bowl Rollers 98 (2) Louie’s Angels 122 (4).
An entry of 23 in the midweek round robin was split into doubles and triples with the duo of Mike Skelly and Derek Clarke winning their gang ahead of Philippa Taylor and Bernard Thackrah; whilst the trio of Ken Karran, Tricia Bull and Terry Bates were successful, beating Bernie McPhee, Sylvia Kennaugh and Doug Allan into second.