AWKWARD FRIENDLY

14/4/22 
Pre-season Friendly - Eagle & Child v Bretherton
v MICK HAWORTH W 21-6 (Off 3-3)

The return leg at home of the two-legged roll-off friendly against the villagers of Brethertonia. Playing against Bretherton as much as I have in my short stint in the bowling leagues (this was the seventh time in a year) there was an inevitabilityI would match up against Mick Haworth at some point.
I was hoping this meeting might come about, not just because I've known of my opponent on and off for about 20 years in various circles of work and recreation, but because I thought it would be a tight match played out with some good humour. As it turned out though, it felt like an awkward game as a fairly straightforward win came about. 
Mick, who beat my sparring partner Sloany in the reverse fixture last week, didn't play well at our Eagle green and I soon got in to a lead without really bowling consistently well myself. So by the time I did get my act together, the game was sewn up quite speedily.
The win was comfortable, but somehow the nature of it wasn't. It's a friendly, I know the chap, you just hope for a decent match and I suspect this one will be soon forgotten by both of us.