A BLOODY NOSE AT ST JOE'S

16/6/22
Leyland & District League Div-4: Chorley St Joseph's 'B' 179-126 Eagle Reds
v ADAM WALSH L 6-21

Young Adam proved to be a very good home bowler who didn't give me much margin for error throughout the entire game.
"Good woods for nowt" is a well known phrase on the crown green circuit, and I sent a good few of those to be fair to myself. But as the scores rather brutally ran away from me and the odd knock of luck didn't go my way either, belief slowly drained away and my bowling got a bit more erratic as desperation set in.
It's tough away from home when your opponent is on it and you feel there is nowhere to go on the green for some respite. I was wishing we could have a half-time break where I could go away and talk to the fence for five minutes before trying again with a fresh outlook. But even then, the task would have been too much here, with a perfect wood required too often to realistically pull off.
This was an eye-opener, bearing in mind we are in this league's basement division. I didn't play badly but ended up with a proper bloody nose.
More aggression is required I feel in these instances. My striking shots are never far away but confidence to do it is the key. The one time I tried here I did make contact but not quite thick enough. In matches like this there is nowt to lose and it's certainly one way of trying to unsettle a superior opponent.
This was my first match for a month in the Leyland league after a holiday, then missing a game because I went on holiday, followed by a free week in the fixture list. Defeat for the team and a record defeat for me in the leagues was the grim outcome. I'm sure there'll be worse tonkings to come yet.
On way back though, Gideon Coe on Radio 6 Music was fusing none stop chilled modern jazz tracks and I was quickly soothed back in to a positive frame of bowling mind.