Jacks Off are a mean machine

Another year of league fixtures was brought to a close in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling Club with a set of fixtures involving three of the leading four teams.

Delayed due to snow some three weeks earlier, the afternoon saw eight time champions Jacks Off drop just six chalks as they completed 2017 in dramatic fashion.

First into the fray were leaders Jacks Off against fourth placed Outsiders and even though the latter took two games, they went down by a 28 point margin in a 120-92 scoreline.

Also in this clash one of the remaining individual unbeaten records was halted, with the 21-13 defeat of Stuey Garrett (Outsiders) at the hands of Alan Moore.

Third placed Seven-Up were also in action, they were pushed hard by Govags in an encounter that ended three-all on games and the title challengers dropped 13 points in the process.

The westerners went one better in their next outing, after another share of the games; they beat opponents Outsiders by the closest of margins in a 104-105 result.

Finally the sides in first and third positions went head to head and I don’t think for one moment that anybody could have predicted the outcome as Jacks Off swept aside Seven-Up to record the season’s 16th maximum score to leave their rivals trailing with a total of just 78.

Results for Saturday, December 30: Jacks Off 120 (4), Outsiders 92 (2); Govags 96 (3), Seven-Up 113 (3); Outsiders 104 (3), Govags 105 (3); Seven-Up 78 (0), Jacks Off 126 (6).

The top four sides have now played 12 apiece and the leaders have an impressive margin of 58 points over second placed Mooragh Lakers.

New third position team Outsiders have a slender margin of just four points over Seven-Up, but are in turn now 45 adrift of Lakers. Waiting in the wings are Louie’s Angels in fifth.

As mentioned earlier the leader of the individual merit lost a game, so this leaves Stefan Kelly (Jacks Off) at the top with his unbeaten run intact after 12 wins.

In second spot is Rob Monk (Lakers), just ahead of Matthew Keggen (Jacks Off), with Stuey Garrett now down in fourth. Making up the top six are Brian Kelly (Lakers) and Glynn Hargraves (Jacks Off).

Leading three for the ladies trophy, in this order, are Janet Monk (Lakers), Marg Tasker (Angels) and Jenny Moore (Lakers), while top junior is Austin Hart (Jacks Off).

A gang of 25 took part in a midweek round robin with the pairing of Ken Karran and Alec Taylor being hailed as winners along with the trio of Stefan Kelly, Alan Moore and Lyn Bolton.

Just missing out were Jenny Moore and Kevin Firth in the doubles and Derek Allen, Derek Cadamy and Lil Smith in the triples.

Another session was held on New Year’s Eve with just 17 braving the elements, the victors being Glynn Hargraves, Steve Parker and Ken Karran, along with the duo of James Teare and Peter Kelly.