Perfect session for Jacks Off
Eight-time champions Jacks Off had the perfect afternoon on Saturday in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowling League with two maximums to extend their lead at the head of the table.
They began the session with a very slender advantage, but left with that margin stretched to 1.8 points on average as they sit on 968, with second-placed Seven-Up on 954, both setting a high standard at the top.
Bowl Rollers were the first opponents, but they could not stop the rampant Jacks Off; putting up the best fight were the pairing of Sylvia Kennaugh and Terry Bates who fell short on 20.
Fifth placed Erin Porters were next for the leaders and they were left with a total of 82, way below their average. Just failing to take a win for the southerners was Derek Allen who reached 19.
The Porters had earlier won a close battle with Govags, a fixture that finished three-all on games and with a seven point winning margin.
Last clash of the day saw the closest outcome, after another three-all Govags took the victory by just three chalks over Bowl Rollers who were just one place behind in the standings.
Results for Saturday, November 18: Jacks Off 126 (6), Bowl Rollers 80 (0); Govags 108 (3), Erin Porters 115 (3); Erin Porters 82 (0), Jacks Off 126 (6); Bowl Rollers 109 (3), Govags 112 (3).
No pressure on current champions and fourth placed Mooragh Lakers on Sunday then – not half, as their challenge was to stay in touch with the top two.
They began with a tough encounter against Parkers, which finished all-square on games and just one point between them in favour of Lakers.
Also in action were the bottom two teams Castletown Cannons and Bits n Bobs, with the Cannons coming out on top to register their first success, both sides recording their best scores to date.
The last two fixtures of the weekend went to form, first to finish were Cannons and Lakers, with George Peach closest to a win for the southerners when Lakers recorded their third and the campaign’s 11th maximum.
Shortly after Parkers just missed out on a full-house when Andy Morgan (Bits n Bobs) scraped home by the narrowest of margins to deny them, they did however do enough during the day to jump up two positions in the table and are now hot on the heels of Erin Porters.
Results for Sunday, November 19: Mooragh Lakers 118 (3), Parkers 117 (3); Bits n Bobs 104 (3), Castletown Cannons 112 (3); Castletown Cannons 81 (0), Mooragh Lakers 126 (6); Parkers 125 (5), Bits n Bobs 84 (1).
Could I urge that all captains please double check the result cards, there have been a number of mistakes in the totals over recent weeks. We can only presume the individual scores are correct and the totals are not – we have no way of checking the players results.
The Wednesday afternoon gang of 49 battled it out in three groups, with the winners in the black group being Hazel Hughes, Pauline Worrall and Carol Kaye, just missing out were Mark Kelly, Janet Monk and Elaine Moore.
Also played as triples the yellow jacks saw Steve Parker, Mavis Franks and Alan Phair emerge as winners ahead of Marg Tasker, Kevin Firth and Maureen Quiliiam.
The remaining section was won by the pairing of Dougie Allan and Rita Callister, with second spot going to Vicky Lloyd-West and Alan Moore.