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Battles for places

The battle for places goes on behind the top two who have completed their programme in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League and Outsiders now look favourites to take third spot. 

They began the afternoon 16 points ahead of fourth placed Mooragh Lakers and extended that margin after two days of action, which was possible for the first time in three weekends due to storms Ciara and Dennis. 

Outgoing champions Outsiders kicked-off against Bowl Rollers and dropped just seven chalks before a heavy hail shower cleared players of the green for a short while. 

Govags then joined in the action and racked up a good total against Rollers as they tried to stay ahead of Parkers and perhaps challenge Louie’s Angels for fifth spot. 

Unfortunately, the westerners couldn’t keep that good form going and slumped to a heavy defeat to Outsiders, who themselves ended the session 251 points ahead of fourth placed Lakers, just one short of the total available 24 hours later. 

Results for Saturday, February 22: Outsiders 119 (5), Bowl Rollers 92 (1); Bowl Rollers 100 (2), Govags 116 (4); Govags 77 (1), Outsiders 116 (5). 

Sunday’s participants arrived to a much brighter afternoon, albeit still with a stiff breeze to add to their challenge and it was Parkers who enjoyed themselves most with two victories. 

They opened with a narrow four point success over Lakers, before sitting out whilst their opponents next took on Erin Porters; they later went back onto the green to defeat the southern outfit and score enough to jump up into sixth position. 

Results for Sunday, February 23: Parkers 105 (3), Mooragh Lakers 101 (3); Mooragh Lakers 115 (5), Erin Porters 84 (1); Erin Porters 91 (3), Parkers 106 (3). 

The top two couldn’t be caught ahead of this action, however this leaves Outsiders 35 points ahead of Lakers, both with two left to play and in fifth are Louie’s Angels a further 262 chalks adrift, but have four fixtures left. 

Next come Parkers who have finished their season and must wait to see if they have done enough to remain in the top half of the table. 

There were no changes in the leading three of the Derek Killey memorial individual merit as they were not in action, however Jenny Moore (Outsiders) and Mike Thomas (Parkers) both won twice to remain fourth and fifth. 

Behind them two Lakers players swopped places after Sue Gawne lost one and Steve Parker recorded two wins to move into a five point lead over his team-mate. 

Some players still have four fixtures remaining, some only two and of course some are finished; over the next two weekends the overall, ladies and junior merit winners will be decided. 

Unfortunately, the Wednesday charity round robin was rained off, but some players did take part in a last-minute event held 24 hours later.…

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Storm halts fixtures

Just like a number of other events, storm Ciara put paid to any action over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League forcing the club into their first postponements of the campaign. 

Saturday’s games have been re-scheduled to a date of the end of the list and will now be played on March 7; whilst Sunday’s programme has been moved just one week to February 16. 

This means that a number of teams have had their season extended a little and this includes table toppers Guns for Hire who have had to wait an extra week for their showdown with second-placed Seven-Up. 

In last week’s report I took a look at the leading nine players in the individual merit battle for the Derek Killey memorial trophy and with the Isle of Man bowls website now back online I can confirm that was list was correct. 

At present 115 different members have competed for one team or another and sitting in tenth position in the standings is Dave Kelly (G4H) with a perfect 18 wins from 18 played, however as he has missed two games, his average from those played by his team shows him on 18.9. 

Bowl Rollers occupy the next two spots, with Jamie Joughin and Lil Smith locked on the same total, with Jamie ahead because his against is lower; these two are being chased very closely for their team merit by Sylvia Kennaugh who is only one chalk behind in 14th overall. 

Another player who has missed games, sits amongst the Rollers trio and that is former double merit winner Kevin Quirk (Seven-Up) who triumphed in 2003 and 2010; completing the top 15 is Bernard Thackrah (Erin Porters), whose team have six fixtures left to play. 

There could be another sting in the tail of this battle with the rumour of players being missing this weekend, then as I pen this there could possibly be storm Dennis to contend with… 

Entries are still open for the club championship, which will take place on Saturday, March 14 and following this on Sunday, March 22 the best versus rest event will take place along with the prize presentations. 

Prior to that, on Wednesday, February 19 a charity round robin will take place, all proceeds from the afternoon will go to Cancer Research UK, Relay for Life IoM, Team Elf.…

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G4H remain undefeated

There was just one afternoon of league action over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club and it featured leaders Guns for Hire overcoming another big hurdle in their quest to win the title. 

Current champions Outsiders, who at present occupy third spot in the standings, began their Sunday session with the season’s 19th maximum scoreline recorded at the expense of opponents Bits n Bobs. 

This while the league leaders comfortably hit the average needed to retain their advantage over closest rivals Seven-Up when they missed out on a similar total by just one chalk in their clash against sixth-placed Govags. 

Outsiders held a 13 point lead over G4H after the opening three games in the big clash of the day, but the leaders fought back to take the final three and hold onto their unbeaten record by a margin of just two. 

Although they dropped 16 points in this contest, they averaged enough over the two outings to remain on course to win the title even if their nearest challengers were to record maximum scores in their remaining two fixtures – one of which is against G4H. 

Govags meanwhile recovered from their earlier loss to record a 121 to 96 points victory over Bits n Bobs, so remain in sixth spot – 23 ahead of Bowl Rollers. 

Results for Sunday, January 26: Bits n Bobs 79 (0), Outsiders 126 (6); Guns for Hire 125 (5), Govags 98 (1); Outsiders 108 (2), Guns for Hire 110 (4); Govags 121 (5), Bits n Bobs 96 (1). 

There were two round robin sessions held prior to Sunday’s games and in the first one on Wednesday afternoon an entry of 32 was split into two groups. 

From the triples section Peggy Freeman, Doug Allan and Andy Sykes emerged as winners ahead of Carol Kaye, Jenny Moore and Mark Kelly. 

The other gang played doubles, with the triumphant pair being Steve Parker and Elaine Moore, with second spot going to Derek Allen and Terry Bates. 

A few showers of rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the victors in Saturday’s outing, with two trios being separated after a roll up and it was Derek Allen, Steve Parker and Lynda Cadamy who took the honours in front of Ken Karran, Kevin Firth and Alan Moore. …

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