The final set of fixtures took place on Saturday to bring the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League to a conclusion in a season that saw all the games played as scheduled, something that has not occurred in the 10 years I have been involved.

Two of the sides in action had final league positions to play for, one of them fighting to move away from bottom place, whilst the other needed enough points to secure third.

Having missed out on the chance of a ninth title the previous weekend, Unstopabowls were now set to clinch third spot and they began the afternoon with a 13-point margin success over Erin Porters who couldn’t improve on seventh.

Next up the victors took on Bits n Bobs, who themselves needed to score well above average to move ahead of Castletown Cannons, but Unstopabowls inflicted a heavy defeat, which saw the basement side trailing home on a total of just 87.

This left the Bits outfit needing an almost perfect result in the final fixture of the 2016-17 campaign and they put up a good fight against Porters, but fell short of their target by eight points, much to the relief of Cannons, as they have held that bottom position for the past two seasons.

Match details (Bits first): Dot Mylchreest 19, Derek Cadamy 21; Geoff Mayles 21, Lynda Cadamy 14; Gill Morgan 9, Caroline Whitehead 21; Andy Morgan 20, Derek Allen 21; Allan Kennaugh 18, Bernard Thackrah 21; Sam Stannard and Tim Williams 21, Voirrey Curphey and Chris Dent 15. <strong>Bits n Bobs</strong> 108 (2), <strong>Erin Porters</strong> 113 (4).

Remaining results for Saturday, March 4: <strong>Erin Porters</strong> 100 (2), <strong>Unstopabowls</strong> 115 (4); <strong>Unstopabowls</strong> 115 (5), <strong>Bits n Bobs</strong> 87 (1).

As mentioned in an earlier report a few weeks ago, the introduction of doubles into the league games brought a new challenge, not least to the team captains who had to make the choice of who was to take part.

A look at the points scored over the winter shows it went in order of the league table for the top three – Lakers 451, Seven-Up 442 and Unstopabowls 431, a margin of 20 between them, whereas the league had 35.

Then things change, as next are seventh placed Erin Porters on 410, Louie’s Angels 398, Outsiders 388, Bowl Rollers 385 and Parkers back on 365.

Govags on 345 occupy ninth in both tables, and are followed by Bits n Bobs with 338, ahead of the two Castletown teams – Corkers on 306 and finally Cannons with 297.

This Saturday the club championship takes place, with an entry of over 40, and at the time of compiling this it is not sure if the competition will be over one or two days – as always the weather will be the determining factor.

With the annual prize presentation afternoon not far away on Sunday, March 19, which will include the best versus the rest encounter, the final two team merit winners have been decided, and they are Glynn Hargraves (Unstopabowls) and Bernard Thackrah (Erin Porters).

Two round robin sessions took place either side of the league games, with the midweek gang of 37 enjoying a busy afternoon from which Barbara Young and Doug Allan won the doubles ahead of Philippa Taylor and Jean Thackrah in second; with Vicky Lloyd-West and Peter Kelly third.

The triples were equally as tight at the top end, with the winners being Julie Reilly, Janet Monk and Rita Callister, in second were Steve Parker, Ken Karran and Derek Clarke; with third spot being taken by Allan Kennaugh, Bernard Thackrah and Tom Wilson.

Sunday’s session had a much smaller group and the doubles victors were Sam Stannard and Alan Moore, followed by Caroline Whitehead and Rita Callister; whilst in the triples Derek Allen, partnered with Steve and Jenny Moore took the spoils, ahead of Steve Parker, Marg Tasker and James Teare.

The outcome of the title in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League was decided on Saturday when eight-time champions Unstopabowls failed to score enough points to overhaul the two sides above them, so Mooragh Lakers will be crowned only the sixth different winners in the club’s 16 years.

Unstopabowls began the session knowing they could drop no more than 14 points if they were to come from behind and retain the shield they had won eight times in the previous nine campaigns.

They sat out the opening fixture in which Louie’s Angels, who were trying to leapfrog Parkers, left it late to notch up their first maximum at the expense of a Castletown Cannons side that was unfortunately short of players.

With both teams having had to make last minute changes, Angels next took on Unstopabowls and at this point in the proceedings stood between their opponents and Lakers, as to who was going to win the title and in turn needed 98 points themselves to move into fifth spot.

Angels began well, having already had a game on the green and took a 21-9 win, this saw their opponents hanging on to their title chances by a slender margin, which soon disappeared as Angels won four games in total to record a 121 to 102 chalk success.

The outcome clinched fifth spot for the victors, but in turn meant that Unstopabowls had to settle for third at best and Seven-Up completed their season in the runners-up position for the fourth consecutive year, this time behind triumphant Lakers.

Match details, Angels first: Janet Monk 20, Stefan Kelly 21; Thomas Keggen 17, Dave Kelly 21; Rebecca Teare 21, Glynn Hargraves 16; Matthew Keggen 21, Kim Hargraves 9; Margaret Tasker 21, Steve Waters 20; Tricia Bull and Ken Karran 21, Ryan Hargraves and Alan Moore 15. Louie’s Angels 121 (4), Unstopabowls 102 (2).

Unstopabowls then had to overcome the disappointment, along with the appalling weather, and take on a Cannons side which was battling for places with their stablemates.

They had no problems and dropped just two points, whereas a total of 82 left their southern opposition waiting another 24 hours to see if they had done enough to pip Corkers in the final standings.

Remaining results for Saturday, February 25: Castletown Cannons 84 (0), Louie’s Angels 126 (6); Unstopabowls 124 (5), Castletown Cannons 82 (1).

The players arrived on Sunday amidst the latest storm to hit the Island, but as it was relatively dry proceedings went ahead with a set of games that saw Outsiders too strong for a Govags team, who had begun with a chance of overtaking Bowl Rollers, but needed to score above their average for this to happen.

A cause not helped by them being a player down, and that opportunity was blown away with a total of 82, but they then completed their programme with a 119 to 98 victory against Corkers, which saw them finish with an average over 100, whereas their opposition still had a fixture to play to decide that battle with Cannons.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse as the final clash took to the green and it was Outsiders who coped best to record a five games to one success, but Corkers did enough during the afternoon to claim the bragging rights in Castletown by a margin of 32 chalks.

Results for Sunday, February 26: Outsiders 116 (5), Govags 82 (1); Govags 119 (5), Castletown Corkers 98 (1); Castletown Corkers 91 (1), Outsiders 113 (5).

There were defeats for Unstopabowls leading two players in the merit list, but although he couldn’t play on Saturday due to a leg injury, Glenn Boland, one of their juniors is confirmed as the junior merit winner.

Ten of the 12 team merit winners are now known and have the chance to compete in the best versus the rest challenge, which will be held on Sunday, March 19.

They are Jordan Cain (Seven-Up), overall winner; Jenny Moore (Lakers), ladies winner; Lynn Bolton (Outsiders); Bernie McPhee (Parkers); Matthew Keggen (Louie’s Angels); Rosie Winckle (Bowl Rollers); Doug Allan (Govags); Tim Williams (Bits n Bobs), Tracy Moore (Corkers) and Alan Phair (Cannons).

A quick look at the latest midweek round robin shows wins for Steve Parker, Joy Stephens and Alison Keggen, along with Peter Kelly, Ken Clarke and Derek Cadamy.

The final four-team session of the campaign took place on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League and featured outfits from the bottom half of the table all battling for positions.

Bottom side Castletown Corkers were well up for the challenge of getting away from the spot they had occupied for quite some time, and began the afternoon with their first maximum of the winter at the expense of fellow strugglers Bits n Bobs.

Also starting well were Govags, they kicked-off with victory over Erin Porters who were two places above them in the standings.

Match details with Govags first: Lynda Wilson 21, Carol Kaye 14; Vicky Lloyd-West 21, Caroline Whitehead 16; John Lightfoot 21, Bernard Thackrah 17; Peter Kelly 17, Derek Cadamy 21; Doug Allan 21, Lynda Cadamy 15; Pat Robertson and Mark Kelly 13, Derek Allen and Chris Dent 21. Govags 114 (4), Erin Porters 104 (2).

The westerners carried forward their good form and also racked up their first maximum to take the overall tally to 16 and in the process improved their average to over 100 points.

Unfortunately opponents Bits n Bobs paid the price for being a player down once again and slipped to the base of the table after two heavy defeats.

Corkers however, may have lost to Porters, but did enough to climb up the league, not just one position, but two, and are now above their stablemates Castletown Cannons, both with one outing left.

Remaining results for Saturday, February 18: Castletown Corkers 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 92 (0); Erin Porters 117 (5), Castletown Corkers 94 (1); Bits n Bobs 77 (0), Govags 126 (6).

A new feature of the league has been the introduction of doubles into the programme and a look at the statistics show that leaders Mooragh Lakers have won 19 of their 22 games, whilst the second and third placed sides, Seven-Up and Unstopabowls have lost just four times.

Erin Porters and Louie’s Angels are the next best two, whilst at the other end of the scale are the Castletown teams with just five victories between them.

Eight of the teams have yet to finish their campaign, so it will be interesting to see the final table when the schedule finishes.

And with this, it seems a good time to mention two end-of-season events, starting with the club championship on Saturday, March 11, for which entries are now being taken; also the prize presentation afternoon, which will feature the annual best versus the rest challenge on Sunday, March 19.

Three round robin sessions took place either side of the league games, two before and one after, the first of which had an entry of 35, played as triples and doubles.

Winners of one group were Derek Allen, Marg Tasker and Steve Parker, ahead of Derek Cadamy, Roma Ware and Doug Allan; whilst in the other, the pairing of Mike Ware and Janet Monk triumphed ahead of Julie Reilly and Lil Smith.

The next session saw 29 compete and had Rita Callister, Peter Kelly and Peter Hughes at the head of their gang, with second going to Roma Ware, Derek Cadamy and Tricia Bull.

Whilst in the other set, played as doubles, Marg Tasker and Derek Allen were winners, with second going to Janet Monk and Lil Smith.

Sunday afternoon’s entry also had triples and doubles, with the trio of Janet Monk, Mark Kelly and Vicky Lloyd-West winning, along with Jenny Moore and James Teare.

Runners-up places went to Steve Parker, Thomas Keggen and Glenn Boland; whilst in the doubles it was Shirley Fargher and Glynn Hargraves.

Four teams crossed the finishing line over a very dramatic weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League, as first the title destination swung one way, then it swung back, but now with a familiar third party in the reckoning.

Things began on Saturday in arctic-like conditions with current champions Unstopabowls down in third spot and having an outside chance of retaining their title to make it eight wins in the past nine years.

They sat out the opener, in which Parkers notched up their first maximum of the campaign against a Castletown Cannons side whose cause was not helped by being a player down.

Cannons did fare better in the next encounter when they took a game off the champions, who themselves only dropped two points.

This ahead of a clash in which the victors Unstopabowls inflicted the heaviest defeat of the season on Parkers and in turn kept up their own little run of being the only team to have scored over 100 points in each of their fixtures.

So with a total of 120 to add to the earlier 124, Unstopabowls took their points tally overall to 2092 with two fixtures in hand on the leading pair.

This left 273 to make up, so they needed the leaders to drop at least 21 chalks the following day to give them a mathematical chance of achieving a great comeback.

Results for Saturday, February 11: Parkers 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 72 (0); Castletown Cannons 80 (1), Unstopabowls 124 (5); Unstopabowls 120 (5), Parkers 85 (1).

In a nutshell on Sunday afternoon, Mooragh Lakers who were top and second-placed Seven-Up, struggled against Outsiders, who unfortunately for them also had a player missing, so things could have been even worse for them both.

Lakers lost for only the second time and with their lowest total, as the fourth placed outfit were well up for spoiling the party when they battled out a 92-99 scoreline.

Also in action were Seven-Up and they started with a fairly comfortable victory over Bowl Rollers, which in turn swung a 16-point deficit into an advantage of 12, both contenders with one fixture left to play as they then swapped opponents.

Looking at Outsiders versus Seven-up clash first, it couldn’t have ended much closer, when Seven-Up made that extra player count and took the spoils by a margin of just two, even though their challengers won 4-2 on games.

Match details (Outsiders first): Tony Dugdale 21, Kevin Quirk 16; Lyn Bolton 21, Peter Hughes 16; Sid Bolton 13, Alison Keggen 21; Frank Watson 21, Derek Clarke 13; Dido Kelly 21, Nigel Thomas 18; Steve Cook 6, Jordan Cain and Paula Firth 21. Outsiders 103 (4), Seven-Up 105 (2).

As you can see the card showed a score of 103 to 105, so this left Seven-Up with an advantage of 117 over Lakers who were still on the green competing against the Rollers.

They had won the first four games, were ahead in another, but trailing well behind in the sixth on a score that left them in second place.

However they took a fifth win and showed their battling qualities in the remaining game, that ended in 19-21 defeat; which in turn gave them enough points to go back to top of the table by a gap of just seven.

All this let Unstopabowls back into the reckoning, but could drop no more than 14 points themselves over their remaining four fixtures, so it is possible we will have to wait until the last day of the season to find out who will be champions.

Remaining results for Sunday, February 12: Mooragh Lakers 92 (3), Outsiders 99 (3); Seven-Up 120 (4), Bowl Rollers 86 (2); Bowl Rollers 93 (1), Mooragh Lakers 124 (5).

Some consolation for the Seven-Up captain, Jordan Cain, was that he has won the Derek Killey merit award ahead of ladies winner Jenny Moore (Mooragh Lakers) who retains the Geoff Osborn memorial trophy.

Both have finished on the same points total, a target, which could be equalled by Glynn Hargraves from Unstopabowls also, but Jordan has the lowest points against total.

The top two sides recorded a maximum apiece as they continue their quest to become champions of the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League for the first time and they now head into their final weekend with a points gap between them of just 16.

The weather was on the side of the organisers once again as they managed to avoid the heavy rain, with battles for league places, beginning on Saturday with fifth and sixth on the agenda.

Parkers began the three-team session trailing Louie’s Angels by two points, but started the task to overhaul their rivals with a good total of 123 against Govags.

Next up the two challengers went head-to-head in a fixture which ended three-all on games, but with a five point advantage win for Parkers; a result that left their opponents needing a maximum score to draw level and therefore retain fifth spot.

Govags however had other ideas and battled their way to a good victory and in the process relegated Angels down to sixth and with a gap of 16 points to make up if they are to overtake Parkers.

Match details, with Angels first: Matthew Keggen 21, Peter Kelly 12; Thomas Keggen 10, Lynda Wilson 21; Ken Karran 21, Bob Berry 17; Tricia Bull 21, Doug Allan 18; Rebecca Teare 20, Mark Kelly 21; Debbie Leece and Rita Callister 15, Vicky Lloyd-West and Julie Reilly 21. Louie’s Angels 108 (3), Govags 110 (3).

Remaining results for Saturday, February 4: Govags 96 (1), Parkers 123 (5); Parkers 110 (3), Louie’s Angels 105 (3).

Another bout of heavy rain and cold conditions overnight made things underfoot a little soft on Sunday, but this didn’t deter second-placed Seven-Up who began with the season’s 12^th maximum, against a Bits n Bobs outfit who scored a total of 69.

Leaders Mooragh Lakers meanwhile fought a tough fixture against Erin Porters, one in which they dropped 12 points, so their advantage at the top was down to only eight.

The contenders then swapped opponents, but unfortunately for Bits n Bobs things didn’t go much better when they suffered another whitewash, as their opponents Lakers pushed to gain back some of that advantage.

More bad news for Bits n Bobs as a consequence of the two heavy defeats, they slipped down a position and are now precariously close to bottom side Castletown Corkers.

Lakers meanwhile had completed their outing and watched as Seven-Up, with three victories on the card, tried to keep that deficit as low as possible.

However, a loss to 16 took the points difference back up to 13, before the final two games came off with wins for Porters to 20 and 19; this meant another three chalks in favour of Lakers. Well done to Erin Porters for putting up a good fight against both sides.

I think these four results all-but take current champions Unstopabowls out of contention for the title, but bearing in mind Seven-Up and Lakers were separated by just one point in the final standings in 2016, this outcome is just too close to call.

Also taking into the mix that teams can call upon players from other teams, providing they haven’t played six games or more for any one of them – watch this space.

Results for Sunday, February 5: Erin Porters 88 (2), Mooragh Lakers 114 (4); Bits n Bobs 69 (0), Seven-Up 126 (6); Seven-Up 118 (3), Erin Porters 94 (3); Mooragh Lakers 126 (6), Bits n Bobs 64 (0).

Interestingly in the individual merit battle, the top two, Jordan Cain and Jenny Moore, played the same opponents, both winning two, with 20 against.

The midweek round robin had a gang of 31 from which Alan Phair and Bernie McPhee won the doubles ahead of Derek Clarke and David Galbraith.

Whilst in the other group, played as triples, success went to Vicky Lloyd-West, Erwin Gelling and John Lightfoot; second meanwhile was decided after a roll-up, with Derek Allen, Julie Reilly and Steve Parker snatching the spoils.