Seven-Up close in on top two

Seven-Up closed the gaps to the two teams above them in the only session played over the weekend in the Manx Petroleum sponsored Outdoor Winter Bowls League and in turn also opened the gap to fourth-placed A-Team.

Saturday’s fixtures fell victim to the weather to become the first delayed games of the season; they will now be played on Sunday, December 23.

The afternoon started with Seven-Up needing two maximum scores to draw level on average with second-placed Mooragh Lakers and they were half way there after the first outing against opponents Castletown Cannons.

Also competing were Parkers who are currently sixth in the table; however they were beaten 118 to 102 by next to bottom-placed Castletown Corkers who recorded only their third win to date.

Parkers next had the task of trying to halt a Seven-Up outfit who are in a good reign of form and they managed to take two games and 13 points from the challengers to prevent them from completing the double maximum challenge.

The battle between the two Castletown sides brought the session to an end, with Cannons completing the double over Corkers having also beaten them earlier in the campaign.

They are now separated by just 0.7 of a point with the victors holding a slender lead over their stablemates near the foot of the table.

Results for Sunday, December 16: Seven-Up 126 (6), Castletown Cannons 81 (0); Castletown Corkers 118 (3), Parkers 102 (3); Parkers 95 (2), Seven-Up 113 (4); Castletown Cannons 117 (5), Castletown Corkers 96 (1).

The midweek round robin attracted an entry of 29, which was split into two groups with the winners being Steph Swift and Brian Corner in the doubles and the trio of Lil Smith, Derek Clarke and Jean Thackrah.

Taking second spots were Kevin Firth and Terry Bates; Allan Kennaugh, Andy Sykes and Mark Kelly.

The J&M Lee memorial doubles competition will be held this Saturday with a 1pm prompt start. A change of plan will see pairings selected prior to kick-off. The format will be run as a round robin and all proceeds from the event, which will include the tombola, will be donated to the RNLI.

As mentioned earlier the postponed fixtures from last Saturday will be played this Sunday, with the next scheduled event being a round robin on Sunday, December 30. In the meantime may I take this opportunity to wish all members a very Merry Christmas.