Seven-Up into third
Two positional changes took place after results over the latest two days of action in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League, one of them seeing the nine-time champions slip down to fourth spot.
The playing surface during Saturday’s session was frozen hard in places with the remainder just thawed out enough to leave it damp on top, however things kicked off in glorious sunshine with Seven-Up falling just short of their fourth full-house of the season whilst playing Govags.
Straight back into the fray, the westerners then welcomed third placed A-Team on to the green, but lost out in a close encounter, which saw the victors drop down a place, having let slip a 15-point advantage.
With just one chalk separating them, the two winners went head to head in a clash that saw them both drop valuable points in the battle for the league title.
The fixture ended three-all on games; with Seven-Up doubling their slender lead in the table to two points and in turn recorded their first success against any of the three rivals at the top.
Seven-Up now trail leaders Outsiders by 44 chalks, with four fixtures each left to play and with the top two taking each other this coming weekend, the chasing pair in third and fourth will be keeping a close eye on the outcome.
Results for Saturday, February 2: Seven-Up 124 (4), Govags 102 (2); Govags 102 (2), A-Team 108 (4); A-Team 109 (3), Seven-Up 110 (3).
Sunday’s weather took a turn for the worse, with light rain on top of the frozen green, making conditions a little tricky; however this did not stop Erin Porters from recording their first maximum at the expense of Castletown Cannons.
Also in action were Louie’s Angels who came out on top by a margin of 10 against a Parkers outfit who were directly behind them in the standings and fighting to hold onto sixth spot.
Next up was the biggest clash of the session with seventh-placed Erin Porters recording a great 118 to 84 victory over Parkers to swap places with them and move two points clear on average.
Angels fell just one short of their fifth and the campaign’s 25th maximum when Cannon’s Peter Curtis won his side’s one game of the afternoon and it now looks like the southerners will have to settle for a position below their stablemates Corkers.
Results for Sunday, February 3: Erin Porters 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 80 (0); Louie’s Angels 118 (3), Parkers 108 (3); Parkers 84 (1), Erin Porters 118 (5); Castletown Cannons 85 (1), Louie’s Angels 125 (5).
A good entry of 33 participated in the round robin on a cold Wednesday afternoon and after being split into two groups of triples, the yellow jack winners were Sue Gawne, Bernie McPhee and Tricia Bull, with second going to Jeff Wilson, Alan Phair and Rita Callister.
It was a much closer finish in the black jack gang where Caroline Corlett, Brian Corner and Mark Kelly came out on top just ahead of Ken Karran, Derek Allen and Gill Jopson.
Looking ahead, the club championship will be held on Saturday, March 16, entries for which are now being taken at Nobles No. 3.