A GOOD START SETS UP A VERY GOOD WIN

24/8/22
Eagle Members League Div-1
v TREVOR BIBBY W 21-18 (Off 3-3)

Tough game up against top of the table Trevor. Recent rainfall has been a blessing in many ways and not just for nature, river levels and reservoir stocks, but also my bowling confidence. After a couple of wounding defeats, I managed to press the reset button in my complicated head and the prospect of a less lightning-quick green helped to churn that process.
To slightly misquote Feargal Sharkey from 1985, "A good start these days is hard to find". No such problems this evening though as I ran away with the first seven points and then added to this unlikely dominance to lead at 15-6 against a prominent local player.
I was playing quite well and although Trevor wasn't really on his best form from what I've seen and heard of him, he came back well and eventually drew level at 18-18.
This season I don't seem to lose many games when there's a close finish though and I got myself back in to the match just in time.
Trevor was catching me out on short pegging marks that I strongly suspected might have been shy of the minimum nineteen metres on occasion, but whether or not, in this league just playing for myself I'd sooner just try and play the shot than ask for long tapes. Trevor seemed a bit arsey with me early on just asking for measures (even though they were valid calls that went my way!) so I daren't get the big boy long tapes out. 
At eighteen across I finally landed a decent delivery on one of these said short marks and took us longer and to the edge of our tricky corner to the right of the visitor's end. My lead bowl wasn't a bad effort and counted but I was a bit annoyed not to sew the game up as a repeat effort would have been enough, but I sent short. Rolling for the match, it was a risk going back over to the base of Trevor's successful short marks, but felt confident of landing something good enough to win. My first was on the road but just passed by a yard, then surprised to see Trevor drift rightwards of the target, my next was a good bit closer and I was relieved to see my opponent's last bowl just carrying a little too much weight.
Trevor 'The Strike' Bibby lived up expectations, absolutely splatting a tidy twosome of mine and sending the jack on to the concrete flags, then unlucky to take his own bowl out and thankfully leave another tidy two alone.  He was then ludicrously fortunate with a wide strike that cannoned off his stray first bowl and took out the jack from almost a ninety degree angle. I went for one less pacey jack strike and succeeded. I'm gaining confidence to do it and if my head's in the right place I tend to hit something.
A fast green and Bibby on his mettle would be a different proposition, but a good win all the same. There's been a bit of something between us at times, I've detected. He was coming across as a bit of a knob at last year's club President's Day. Perhaps I misunderstand the chap, for Trevor absolutely insisting on buying the drink when traditionally it's the winner's duty was a very sporting gesture.
With one thing or another forcing the reshuffling of fixtures, this was only my third Members League match in the last two months and I had dropped to eighth place, but the games in hand will hopefully be enough to get back in to the top five or six, if I can keep winning of course.