Top two march on
The leading two sides marched on and dropped just six points between them over the latest weekend in theManx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League; this whilst the third placed outfit slipped further adrift after a poor score not helped by them being a player short.
Leaders Guns for Hire simply blew their opponents away on another miserable wet Saturday afternoon, not just for their challengers but anyone watching, as they took the tally of maximums so far to 16, which includes four for themselves.
Two sides in the bottom half of the table were first on the list and it was lower placed Castletown Cannons who took the honours by four chalks against Bits n Bobs in what turned out to be the closest contest over the two days.
In action at the same time were Guns for Hire and Bowl Rollers who sat in ninth position, with the result going pretty much to form.
With conditions now far from ideal, the four took to the green for their second outings, but unfortunately Cannons could not cope with the fire power of Guns for Hire and went down to the lowest total of the campaign.
Rollers got the better of Bits n Bobs in their encounter to remain on the same points average and stay close behind Parkers and Govags in the standings.
Results for Saturday, January 11: Bits n Bobs 102 (2), Castletown Cannons 106 (4); Guns for Hire 126 (6), Bowl Rollers 90 (0); Castletown Cannons 53 (0), Guns for Hire 126 (6); Bowl Rollers 105 (4), Bits n Bobs 98 (2).
Sunday was the first session of the programme with just three teams involved and therefore all seven players on the green at the same time.
The afternoon’s top billing had second placed Seven-Up against Mooragh Lakers who were directlybehind them, however with the latter being a player short and perhaps not ‘totally fired up’ it turned out a one-sided affair.
Title challengers Seven-Up will have been very pleased with the bonus of a walkover, but also played extremely well and could easily have recorded a clean sweep, only to lose two games on 20.
Lakers meanwhile toiled to a total of 86, which was almost 40 behind their opponents and are now down to fourth in the overall standings.
The victors next took on Erin Porters and this turned out to be a much closer contest than the league positions suggested with the southerners going down by a margin of only 13 points.
Lakers were back to full strengthfor the final battle of the afternoon, which turned into the best clash with Porters having three losers on 20 and missed out by just six chalks, however as a consequence of their endeavours they moved up one place in the table.
Results for Sunday, January 12: Mooragh Lakers 86 (2), Seven-Up 124 (4); Seven-Up 122 (4), Erin Porters 109 (2); Erin Porters 111 (1), Mooragh Lakers 117 (5).
This latest two sets of fixtures leave the destination of the league title wide open, although games are running out for Seven-Up as they only have four left to play.
They really only have one tough fixture remaining and interestingly that is against top outfit G4H, who themselves have six to play including opponents Outsiders who are third and Louie’s Angels, currently fifth.
In short if Seven-Up score four maximums, G4H can drop no more than 37 points if they want to get their hands back on the shield.
The midweek round robins swung back into action with an entry of 32 and coming out on top of the two groups were Lil Smith and Bernie McPhee, along with Bryan Corner, Kevin Firth and Alec Taylor.