After an action packed Saturday afternoon involving the top three teams, Outsiders racked up enough chalks in both fixtures to win the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League title.

The session also saw defeats for the leading two players in the individual merit – Helen Martin (Mooragh Lakers) dropped three points, whilst Glynn Hargraves (A-Team) scored 19 to move a little closer; both have two left to play with a gap of just two chalks.

Waiting for any slip-ups are Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels) who is seven adrift of the leader and eight behind is Brian Corner (Govags).

Moving back to the action, things began with leaders Outsiders easing to success against 2018 champions A-Team, although the 13 points dropped by the victors must have given the watching Mooragh Lakers a little glimmer of hope.

Lakers then joined the fray, as the weather took a turn for the worse and they sneaked home by just two chalks over A-Team, but also dropped the same amount of points as Outsiders, so the gap was back to where they started earlier.

The pair then went head to head with Lakers needing a similar performance to that from a few weeks previous when they won by nine against the same opponents; however Outsiders were in no mood to let this chance slip and recorded a 14 point advantage win to take one of the hottest contested titles in the club’s history.

Unfortunately Outsiders captain Ben Dugdale has not been able to play recently due to a back problem, but this is not the first time he will have had his hands on the shield, after he won with New Found Glory back in 2011.

The winning margin that year was 12 points, whereas just one year earlier his team, then named Angry Mob, missed out by only two to the Chancers. The next closest ending was in 2017 when Lakers pipped Seven-Up by the slender advantage of seven.

Results for Saturday, February 23: Outsiders 113 (5), A-Team 96 (1); A-Team 111 (3), Mooragh Lakers 113 (3); Mooragh Lakers 106 (3), Outsiders 120 (3).

Sunday’s opening fixture featured third placed Seven-Up and began on a foggy afternoon, with them needing as many points as possible – firstly to put some pressure on Lakers who are second on average and also to keep Louie’s Angels at bay as they were only nine behind at the start of play.

Finally to fend off A-Team who were keen to climb back up the table after slipping down two places just the day before.

Surprisingly they dropped 11 points in their opener against basement side Bits n Bobs, before they let another two slip when they played Castletown Corkers; however they did enough to remain above A-Team, but will have to wait for their final position to be decided.

The last outcome of the session saw Corkers just miss out on a full-house when they inflicted the twenty-second defeat of the campaign on Bits n Bobs and need to score just 126 points from their final outing to finish above their stablemates.

So all in all there are still nine league positions to be settled over the one weekend of fixtures yet to play, along with seven team merit winners.

Results for Sunday, February 24: Bits n Bobs 90 (2), Seven-Up 115 (4); Seven-Up 124 (5), Castletown Corkers 96 (1); Castletown Corkers 124 (5), Bits n Bobs 88 (1).

An entry of 24 took part in the midweek round robin, with one group having the top four separated by just one point at the end of play and after a roll-up it went in favour of David Clucas and Bernie McPhee, ahead of Allan Kennaugh and Marg Tasker.

The other section had Brian Kelly and Sefton Dent as clear winners, with second spot being taken by Frances Radcliffe and Ken Karran.

Two more names have been added to the team, which will take on the league champions in the end of season finale, they are Mark Kelly (Seven-Up) and Franz ten Donkelaar (Bits n Bobs).

The club heads into its final month with the league schedule almost complete and two major dates yet to come – the championship, for which entries are still being taken, will take place on Saturday, March 16 (and Sunday 17 if required), with the prize presentations afternoon the following Sunday, for which raffle prizes would be much appreciated.

The battle for places really warmed up on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League with one of the contenders dropping vital points, whilst another proved they are not settling for fifth spot.

Let’s look at how the weekend’s one set of fixtures went, before I analyse the possible outcomes over the few sessions remaining.

Third placed Seven-Up took on Erin Porters who are sixth and this was a formality last time these two teams met, with a maximum in favour of Sevens and they only allowed their opponents to score 69.

This time the southern outfit almost reached 100 points and managed to take one game, but more importantly five chalks from the title contenders.

Seven-Up lost one of their regular players through illness just 24 hours or so prior to the session, when Derek Clarke withdrew, so once again the team of super-subs came to the rescue.

Louie’s Angels meanwhile had a similar problem, when Rebecca Teare, who was second in merit table, also took ill; this however did not stop Angels from recording their fifth full-house with a comfortable victory over Castletown Corkers – we wish both players a speedy recovery.

Next up Erin Porters got their quest to hold onto a top six spot back on track with success over Corkers, although both teams now have lower averages and are therefore closer to the sides directly behind them.

The final clash saw Angels revenge an earlier in the season heavy defeat against Seven-Up, with the victors dropping only three chalks on this occasion in a five games to one result, whereas the losers finished on a total of 102 and slipped down a place.

Results for Saturday, February 16: Seven-Up 121 (5), Erin Porters 97 (1); Castletown Corkers 74 (0), Louie’s Angels 126 (6); Erin Porters 115 (4), Castletown Corkers 98 (2); Louie’s Angels 123 (5), Seven-Up 102 (1).

With just four sessions remaining the top seven positions are yet to be decided – Outsiders occupy top spot and need to score nine points more than second-placed Mooragh Lakers in their last visit to finish ahead of them.

Next in line is A-Team – they can also still catch the leaders, but if they score 16 chalks less than Outsiders, then it is all over for them as current champions.

Things may be a bit clearer after they all compete in a three-team battle this Saturday – but waiting in the wings are two more ‘outsiders’.

Fourth-placed Seven-Up are still licking their wounds from last weekend and will need the leaders to drop over 40 points to be in with a chance; they now also have Angels just nine chalks behind and waiting for any slip ups.

Previous league winners are holding the top three positions, whilst the next two have yet to finish on that top step.

As for the next two positions in the table, Erin Porters are currently sixth and need to score 208 points or more to hold off Parkers who have played all their games.

Two round robins to catch up with, the first of which had 33 compete in a midweek session; Allan Kennaugh, Marg Tasker and Maureen Hamilton took one triples group, whilst Steph Swift, Carole Kaye and Mark Kelly won the other.

There was also a gathering on Sunday when 17 took part and had Nathan Hamilton partnered by Cliff Clague win one gang, along with Steve Parker, Lil Smith and Tony Hart victorious in the other.

There are still a lot of questions to be answered over the final three weekends of fixtures in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League, both from a team and individual perspective.

The latest batch of games saw defeats for the league’s top team and leader in the merit, along with three sides bringing their winter experience to a close.

Storm Erik was beginning to subside when leaders Outsiders began the afternoon with a comfortable victory over Govags and they dropped just three chalks along the way.

Next followed the first clash between the top two sides, but things did not start well for Outsiders, as they trailed Mooragh Lakers 42 points to 16 after the first two results on the card.

They dug deep in the remaining four games, to reduce the deficit at the end, to just nine chalks; with the highlight for them being Mike Alexander’s 21-17 win over merit leader, Helen Martin.

So after the opening two fixtures, Lakers had reduced the gap, but they needed to keep the momentum going when Govags made their way back into the action.

The westerners will have been disappointed with their Saturday on Nobles 3 green after they lost out 83 to 120 – well apart from one of their players, following Brian Corner’s victories against two top opponents to see him sit fourth on average in the merit table.

So at the end Lakers had closed the margin to Outsiders by just six chalks, but will that be enough, and has the fairly low scoring encounter given the third and fourth placed contenders a chance of taking the title?

If for instance the four teams score similar to the first time round, in the games they have remaining, things are about to change, but as we know this can be an unpredictable game.

Results for Saturday, February 9: Govags 89 (1), Outsiders 123 (5); Outsiders 100 (4), Mooragh Lakers 109 (2); Mooragh Lakers 120 (5), Govags 83 (1).

Sunday had three of the four participants finishing their league programme for the season, with Parkers going out on a high after they dropped just four chalks.

I think it is fair to say that Parkers and Bowl Rollers have not had a great campaign by their usual standards, however a victorious Parkers recorded a double maximum against their rivals, who had one loser reaching 20.

Southern outfit Castletown Cannons took their winning tally up to four with a 113 to 82 success over basement side Bits n Bobs.

Parkers next brought their winter to an end with a comfortable win over Bits n Bobs and moved up onto an average of 106.5, which is very close to Erin Porters who are just above them in the standings with four to play on 106.8.

Rollers meanwhile completed their league outings in the final encounter when they also took their winning total to four, with success against Cannons.

Results for Sunday, February 10: Castletown Cannons 113 (4), Bits n Bobs 82 (2); Parkers 126 (6), Bowl Rollers 87 (0); Bits n Bobs 75 (1), Parkers 122 (5); Bowl Rollers 117 (4), Castletown Cannons 98 (2).

Three team merit winners are known at this stage, with Terry Moore (Parkers), Lil Smith (Bowl Rollers) and Alan Phair (Castletown Cannons) qualifying for the best versus rest section of the prize presentations afternoon on Sunday, March 24.

With the league schedule up to date, a round robin session will be held this Sunday; whilst a good entry took part in last week’s midweek gathering when 38 players were divided into groups of triples and doubles.

Strongest in the black jacks were Steve Parker, Lil Smith and Steve Crampton; while second was settled by a roll-up in favour of Carol Kaye, Caroline Corlett and Peter Karran who just pipped Rita Callister, Bernie McPhee and Mark Kelly.

The pairs group was a bit closer with second and third also being decided by a roll-up, winners Jackie Elliott and Marg Tasker completed the afternoon ahead of Jeff Wilson and David Clucas, and Pauline Worrall and Peter Kelly fell just short in third.

The club championship will be held on Saturday, March 16, entries for which are now being taken at Nobles 3.

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.

The weather played its part in the latest three sessions planned for the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club – one cancelled due to a frozen green and another due to rain – but one held in very strong winds.

A cold spell overnight on Tuesday put paid to the midweek round robin and the gathering scheduled for Saturday was a wash out, however Sunday’s league fixtures produced some interesting results.

The group contained the leading two sides – Outsiders and Mooragh Lakers – who were separated on average by less than a point, with current champions A-Team in third spot, waiting in the wings for a slip up.

Castletown Cannons, who are having a battle near the bottom with their stablemates, were first up for Outsiders; whilst it was Parkers against Lakers in a fixture that was perhaps not truly reflected in the final totals.

I am sure Outsiders would have been happy with dropping just three chalks, which left them on an average of 118.1; whereas Lakers were ecstatic with their third maximum of the campaign to close that gap and sit on 117.7.

Cannons or Parkers were not about to let the top duo have things all their own way in the next two fixtures – the southerners winning one game, which more importantly took eight points from Lakers, so they remained on the same average at the end of the day.

Outsiders meanwhile were out to revenge their one and only defeat of the season, but were pushed very hard by opponents Parkers, who although they didn’t win a game, lost on a high total of 109, with their worst loser reaching 16.

Looking back at these same fixtures earlier in the campaign, Cannons also won just two games – one by Sue Peach and the other for husband George; who also won both his outings this time round.

Results for Sunday, January 27: Castletown Cannons 85 (1), Outsiders 123 (5); Parkers 90 (0), Mooragh Lakers 126 (6); Outsiders 126 (6), Parkers 109 (0); Mooragh Lakers 118 (5), Castletown Cannons 79 (1).

After this latest batch of games, Outsiders are top on an average of 118.6 with four fixtures left to play and are followed by Lakers on 117.8; third are A-Team 13 points behind on 116.9 and in fourth spot are Seven-Up, a further 15 chalks adrift on 116, these three all have six to play.

There are some big clashes yet to come over the next six weeks or so, including first versus second – twice, as they have yet to play one another.

Entries are now being taken for the Club Championships, which will be held in March.

There were no positional changes, but things are much closer between the top three in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League after the latest two days of action, which included the 100th fixture.

Before any bowls were played, the margin between first and third was 34 points, whereas at the conclusion on Sunday that gap was down to 14.

Leaders Outsiders kicked the weekend off against an Erin Porters team who are clearly not settling for a place in the bottom half and they fought out a contest in which the top team dropped 18 points.

Porters then pushed southern neighbours Louie’s Angels in a clash that was decided by only five points from a high scoring result that leaves Porters 24 chalks behind sixth placed Parkers, with victors Angels currently fifth.

Things didn’t get any easier for Outsiders when they re-joined the action against an Angels outfit with players quite capable of causing an upset and after a draw on games the table toppers triumphed by just nine points.

Although having dropped 28 chalks during the session, Outsiders retained their position at the top, but their average dropped to 117.8, with Lakers close behind on 117.1 and the A-Team due to play 24 hours later, now 258 adrift, with a possible 252 available.

Results for Saturday, January 19: Outsiders 108 (3), Erin Porters 96 (3); Erin Porters 113 (2), Louie’s Angels 118 (4); Louie’s Angels 107 (3), Outsiders 116 (3).

Govags are another team fighting to improve their position in the table, they are currently eighth, and they began Sunday afternoon with a maximum score against Bits n Bobs.

Hoping to take advantage of the dropped points by the leaders the day before, A-Team had to overcome a Bowl Rollers side who were always going to put up a fight, and this they did, taking eight points from their opponents final total.

The next fixture on the list – number 100 – produced the closest outcome of the weekend with Govags getting the better of Bowl Rollers by just two points – two less than the last time they met.

Unfortunately for bottom side Bits n Bobs, the final outcome went to form and A-Team recorded their fourth and the campaign’s 21^stmaximum to move onto an average of 116.9 – cue that headline from a few months back!

This leaves the top three separated by less than one point on average and they are being chased closely by Seven-Up who are currently on 116, having played two fixtures less.

Results for Sunday, January 20: Govags 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 80 (0); A-Team 118 (5), Bowl Rollers 88 (1); Bowl Rollers 101 (3), Govags 101 (3); Bits n Bobs 62 (0), A-Team 126 (6).

Romping to victory in their group at the midweek round robin were the trio of Doug Allan, Tricia Bull and Peter Karran, with Derek Allen, Brenda Bowyer and Reg Temporaza finishing as runners-up.

Also played as triples the other gang had Terry Bates, Brian Lindsay and Bernie McPhee as winners, ahead of Pat Lenton, Brian Corner and Steve Crampton.

All seven fixtures went pretty much as expected over the latest two days in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League, the outcomes of which saw the Castletown teams swap places near the foot of the table.

Govags began their afternoon with the highest total of the session as they overcame Castletown Cannons by a great margin of 40 chalks.

Next up were third-placed A-Team who needed a near perfect couple of hours to move up the table, but their opener against Parkers was by no means a certainty and this was proven after they dropped 10 points in a three-all draw.

With Erin Porters breathing down their necks, Parkers needed a good score from their second outing against Govags and a result of 117 to 103 was helpful to keep them in sixth place on average.

Finally it was two sides looking for points for different reasons – A-Team to remain in contention at the top and Cannons to try and remain above their stablemates in the table.

At the conclusion A-Team took the spoils and are now 13 points behind second-placed Mooragh Lakers; however Cannons could only manage a total of 73, which meant that they dropped one position below Corkers.

Results for Saturday, January 12: Castletown Cannons 83 (1), Govags 123 (5); Parkers 101 (3), A-Team 116 (3); Govags 103 (2), Parkers 117 (4); A-Team 120 (5), Castletown Cannons 73 (1).

Sunday saw the first three-team session of the season and a chance for Seven-Up to move back into third spot, but they fell just four points short of the target.

They dropped two in their opening battle with a Bowl Rollers outfit who put up a good fight to pass the 100 mark.

Castletown Corkers then entered the fray but were no match for opponents Seven-Up, however they did enough to win one game and deny the winners that higher position.

The final fixture ended in a draw on games with the Castletown team securing victory over Rollers who are their next targets above in the league table.

Results for Sunday, January 13: Seven-Up 124 (5), Bowl Rollers 103 (1); Castletown Corkers 83 (1), Seven-Up 121 (5); Bowl Rollers 92 (3), Castletown Corkers 114 (3).

A quick look at the league table with less than two months of the season remaining shows Outsiders at the top on an average of 118.6, next are Lakers on 117.1, with A-Team third on 116.2, just ahead of Seven-Up on 116. In fifth it is Louie’s Angels, 113.4, with the leading six made up by Parkers, 106.4.

A group of 39 entrants were split into threesomes for the latest midweek round robin and it was Ken Karran, Rita Callister and Lynda Wilson who topped their section ahead of Derek Allen, Marg Tasker and Sue Gawne.

The other gang had Allan Kennaugh, Andy Sykes and Steve Crampton as clear winners, however second had to be settled with a roll-up, which went in favour of Bernard Thackrah, Terry Bates and Bernie McPhee.

The Outdoor Winter Bowling Club, sponsored by Manx Petroleum, swung back into action last weekend after a brief Christmas break and saw defeat for the leader in the chase for the individual merit title.

Proceedings opened on Saturday when bottom side Bits n Bobs took on Erin Porters, a side looking to move into the top six and things went pretty much to form with the southerners dropping just eight points.

Also kicking off with a win were Louie’s Angels, who improved their average slightly with a four games to two victory over Bowl Rollers.

The two successful sides then doubled up when they swapped opponents – Porters getting the better of Rollers and Angels notching up the campaign’s 16^thmaximum against a Bits side with only nine individual wins to their name.

Results for Saturday, January 5: Bits n Bobs 85 (2), Erin Porters 118 (4); Bowl Rollers 102 (2), Louie’s Angels 116 (4); Erin Porters 116 (3), Bowl Rollers 106 (3); Louie’s Angels 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 71 (0).

Sunday’s games had the top three competing, however next to bottom Castletown Corkers were not there just to make the numbers up and had a huge impact on events.

This was a repeat set of fixtures from October last year when both Corkers and third-placed Seven-Up had to take on the top two outfits and consequently left with two defeats apiece.

The overall outcomes were the same this time round, but the ‘big three’ left with less points, whilst Corkers improved their tally by 20, which helped them move closer to their stablemates.

Leaders Outsiders scored five less than in October, whereas Mooragh Lakers (second) were down 16 and Seven-Up minus 11, which ultimately saw them drop a position in the standings behind A-Team.

The afternoon also saw six of the leading 18 players in the individual merit lose a game each, with the biggest casualty of the session being overall leader Rob Monk (Lakers) who scored just nine points in a loss to Nathan Hamilton (Corkers).

This all leaves Helen Martin (Lakers) top of the merit contenders, just ahead of Mike Alexander (Outsiders) and Rebecca Teare (Angels).

In the league, Outsiders now have a 21 point margin over Lakers, with A-Team in third on average above Seven-Up, who themselves now have Louie’s Angels close behind in fifth.

Results for Sunday, January 6: Seven-Up 107 (2), Outsiders 122 (4); Castletown Corkers 88 (2), Mooragh Lakers 107 (4); Outsiders 115 (4), Castletown Corkers 94 (2); Mooragh Lakers 121 (5), Seven-Up 95 (1).

A gang of 38 welcomed in the new year at the first round robin of 2019 and had to be split into three groups, making for a very busy afternoon on the green.

The black jack triples winners were Steve Crampton, Jeff Wilson and Derek Clarke, with second going to Sefton Dent, Alan Moore and Tricia Bull.

Topping the red triples were Kevin Firth, Peter Karran and Ken Karran, ahead of Alec Taylor, Marg Tasker and Mark Kelly.

The pairing of Stefan Kelly and Sue Gawne won their section and beat Elaine Moore and Rita Callister into second spot.