Corkers move above Cannons

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.