Maximums hit 14
At the end of a week that saw the weather throw just about all it could at the Island, the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter League Bowling Club enjoyed two fairly good afternoons of dry but cold conditions.
Both sessions produced maximum wins, one on Saturday, a first for Parkers, and two the following day for Rule Breakers. This being a second double this season and took their tally to seven and the overall total to 14.
The action began with two very close results, one of which saw Parkers win by an advantage of two points when then beat Louie’s Angels, who are currently two places above them.
In the other Erin Porters defeated Castletown Cannons with a margin of just one, both fixtures ended three-all on games.
Unfortunately Porters and Cannons were a player short and this didn’t help either team in the final two clashes.
The Castletown side reached just 69 as their opponents Parkers notched up a maximum, while Porters faired slightly better and took one game of the Angels who notched up 118.
Both winning sides did enough to improve their averages and close the gap on those ahead in the table, whilst Porters slipped down two positions.
Results for Saturday, January 17: Parkers 110 (3) Mike Thomas, Louie’s Angels 108 (3) Alison and Matthew Keggen; Erin Porters 104 (3) Chris Dent and Caroline Whitehead, Castletown Cannons 103 (3) Peter Curtis; Louie’s Angels 118 (5) Margaret Tasker, Erin Porters 73 (1) Caroline Whitehead; Castletown Cannons 69 (0) John Alderson, Parkers 126 (6) Jo Smith.
Sunday saw current champions Rule Breakers take another step towards retaining the title and with four fixtures remaining are firmly in the driving seat to secure their seventh league crown.
They were pushed all the way in some of the games with four scores of 18 and over against them, but nevertheless they raced through the 2000 points mark, firstly defeating Bits n Bobs, then Roller Bowlers.
Also playing were Castletown Corkers, who are presently sixth, they took on Roller Bowlers and kept the pressure on Louie’s Angels, with a score that saw them drop just three points.
Corkers then hit another above average result, as did their opponents Bits n Bobs, who have yet to record a win this season.
Results for Sunday, January 18: Bits n Bobs 86 (0) Geoff Mayles, Rule Breakers 126 (6) Alan Moore; Roller Bowlers 104 (2) Sylvia Kennaugh, Castletown Corkers 123 (4) Dave Faragher; Rule Breakers 126 (6) John Kennish, Roller Bowlers 91 (0) Rosie Winckle; Castletown Corkers 112 (4) Dave Hollingworth, Bits n Bobs 104 (2) Kim Hargraves.
The Wednesday round robin outing saw a small group take part in a short contest with the main objective to finish ahead of the heavy rain that was forecast.
They were almost done when the wet stuff arrived and the victors were Jo Smith and Allan Cromwell, ahead of Peter Daugherty and Alec Taylor; third place went to Derek Clarke and Doug Allan.