Averages drop for most
The average points gap between first and fourth was halved over the latest weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League after all but one of the teams taking part saw their average drop.
League leaders and multiple title winners Jacks Off along with current champs Mooragh Lakers went head to head in the opening battle on Saturday and it was Jacks Off who came out on top in a 3-3 draw on games, which saw them triumph by just two points.
Bottom side Bits n Bobs were also in action, but could not prevent opponents Govags from notching up a comfortable victory.
The Bits then had to face the earlier victors Jacks Off and will have been quite pleased to have won one game, thanks to Geoff Mayles who made it two wins in the session to deny both opponents a full-house.
Unfortunately Govags couldn’t do the same as Mooragh Lakers swept to their second maximum win of the campaign and in the process maintained their average of 116.5, whereas Jacks Off saw theirs slip to 119.3, which put them into second spot overnight.
Results for Saturday, November 11: Mooragh Lakers 107 (3), Jacks Off 109 (3); Bits n Bobs 86 (1), Govags 113 (5); Jacks Off 119 (5), Bits n Bobs 65 (1); Govags 79 (0), Mooragh Lakers 126 (6).
Sunday’s group also had two of the leading four outfits competing and they both won twice against the same opposition in a session that saw overnight leaders Seven-Up slip back behind Jacks Off by the slender margin of 0.1 of a point on average.
They began with a five games to one victory over Castletown Corkers in a contest that saw Tracey Moore emerge as the sole winner for her team.
Also in action were third placed Outsiders, but even though they were successful in both outings, they slipped further behind the leading two and in turn closer to fourth-placed Lakers.
Louie’s Angels were first to offer a challenge and this battle finished with both teams recording three figure points totals; Corkers were next up, but they fell short again and remain in the bottom three.
The final clash of the day saw Seven-Up defeat Louie’s Angels and even though they won by 11 points, that margin could have been much closer, as a disagreement on the cards saw two players go back onto the green, restarting from 15-across, which after a further four ends, finished 21-15.
Maybe a lesson to be learned here, because one marker had the game finished at 21-20, whilst the other had 20-across, which in the end saw the losing player and team involved miss out on five chalks, which can prove difficult to get at the best of times.
Results for Sunday, November 12: Castletown Corkers 90 (1), Seven-Up 120 (5); Louie’s Angels 100 (2), Outsiders 112 (4); Outsiders 116 (4), Castletown Corkers 92 (2); Seven-Up 117 (4), Louie’s Angels 106 (2).
Once again the midweek gathering had a very good entry with 54 players battling in groups of triples.
The black jacks were decided after a roll-up, which went in favour of Jean Thackrah, Carol Kaye and Brian Masterson, with Lynda Wilson, Sue Gawne and Shirley Whelan just missing out.
In the red group, a one point difference gave victory to Joy Stephens, Trevor Barker and Gordon Corrin, with second going to Mavis Franks, David Clucas and Derek Allen.
Whilst in the other gang the victors had a two point margin, when the threesome of Derek Clarke, Kevin Firth and Doug Allan sneaked home ahead of Edward Carlyle, Greg Brew and Mark Kelly.