Outsiders hold slender advantage
Outsiders remain as early leaders of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League after the latest two weekends, however the margin has been reduced to an average of just half a point.
Teams occupying places in the lower half of the table competed in the first of three sessions to catch up with and recording two wins apiece were Parkers and Bowl Rollers, the first of the campaign for the Rollers.
This took place during an afternoon where sides played their opponents twice, with Parkers inflicting two defeats on Castletown Cannons, the first by a margin of 15 and in the second they increased the gap to 22.
Bowl Rollers meanwhile went agonisingly close to maximum scores in both encounters with basement side Bits n Bobs, dropping only five chalks along the way.
Results for Saturday, October 27: Castletown Cannons 103 (2), Parkers 118 (4); Bits n Bobs 86 (1), Bowl Rollers 124 (5); Parkers 116 (3), Castletown Cannons 94 (3); Bowl Rollers 123 (5), Bits n Bobs 83 (1).
Three of the leading five took part in the following days action, with two of them leaving happier than the other and as a result the title contenders group could well have been reduced to four.
First up were leaders Outsiders against fifth placed Seven-Up and the outcome saw the table toppers notch up an important victory by a margin of 11 points.
Currently third are Mooragh Lakers and they began with a score of 123 against Castletown Corkers, before recording an impressive win over Seven-Up, dropping just five chalks and increasing their average to 120.8.
Corkers may well have won a game in their opener, but could not prevent Outsiders from notching up a third maximum to date and keep their noses in front of second placed Louie’s Angels.
Results for Sunday, October 28: Outsiders 116 (4), Seven-Up 105 (2); Mooragh Lakers 123 (5), Castletown Corkers 86 (1); Castletown Corkers 76 (0), Outsiders 126 (6); Seven-Up 108 (2), Mooragh Lakers 121 (4).
Just one group of fixtures were scheduled last weekend and it was up to third placed A-Team to match the challengers as they endeavour to hang onto their crown.
They dropped just four points whilst defeating Parkers, before they racked up their second maximum of the season at the expense of Castletown Cannons to become the first team to win their opening six fixtures.
Govags also beat the southern outfit, but then went down by a margin of 20 points against Parkers and now have them breathing down their necks, with less than a point separating the pair on average.
Results for Sunday, November 4: Govags 118 (5), Castletown Cannons 105 (1); A-Team 122 (5), Parkers 93 (1); Parkers 112 (3), Govags 92 (3); Castletown Cannons 76 (0), A-Team 126 (6).
Two midweek round robins attracted good entries; the first had 53, which was divided into three gangs.
The yellow triples winners were Gill Malpass, Kevin Firth and Jenny Moore/James Teare, the latter two sharing the games. Also victorious in their groups were the threesome of Bob Berry, Mike Kelly and Jo Smith, along with the pairing of Janet Monk and Steve Parker.
A slightly smaller entry of 42 took part in last week’s gathering, with the successful gangs being Sefton Dent and Bernie McPhee (doubles); Mark Kelly, Steve Parker and Carol Kaye (yellow triples); and Alan Phair, Doug Allan and Jeff Wilson (black triples).