HOME AND DRY JUST ABOUT

Thursday 15th June 2023
Leyland & District League Div-3: Eagle Reds - Hoole Village Hall 'B'
v PAUL CAFFERKEY W 21-18

It's still weather for idyllic thoughts of spending a whole afternoon sat under a mature English oak tree, munching luscious wedges of Moroccan watermelon with a wandering mind as one stares in to the hazy mid-distance.
As such, our green has turned in to an arrid plain again in which the expected and the unexpected outcomes of bowling deliveries sometimes produce role reversal.
This game marked my 100th official bowls match in all competitions. But more than that, it was a home fixture. With a decent home record at the Eagle & Child to maintain, they say sometimes that extreme conditions on the green can be more favourable to the opposition who take it as it comes. The pressure is certainly on the home bowler, whose green knowledge can be compromised by the unexpected.
Tenth man, I faced Paul Cafferkey who I came up against at their place in my first season. At the very least, I expected myself to run him a bit closer two years on. But Paul's not a bad player and I figured he might well have improved himself over that time.
A left hander with a short flick of a delivery, Paul's not easy to follow when he's got the block and early on, neither of us could keep hold of it for long.
I didn't start particularly well and was seriously irritated as soon as the very first end when inexplicably missing my land on an uncomplicated straight mark.
A good match evolved though and whilst there's always going to be some wild ends at our level when the green's so quick, there was some very good bowling from both of us at times. When I heard the scores at ten-across, I was surprised to hear I wasn't behind because it certainly felt like I was. That seemed to be the spur for a decent run of ends in which good leads and sometimes a good second too, stretched Paul and I found myself breathing much easier at 19-12.
Perhaps I breathed too easy, for I didn't quite land the next end with satisfactory accuracy. Two good bowls got Paul back in and he then ground out four solid singles to come back to eighteen.
All of a sudden I'm right under the cosh and need a bowl of perfect length to save another two and the Hoole player from taking the lead. Fortunately I landed one when it mattered. Then rolling for the match, despite my lead bowl slipping from my hand, completely off line and down the ditch, Paul surprisingly didn't take advantage and my second bowl won despite not being excellent by any means.
For me, it was an intense game overall and with another near 10pm finish, no chance of winding down or managing to nod off any time before midnight I suspected.
Team mate Malcolm Jones keeps telling me to believe in myself. He thinks I can do well. He was a player in his day and so his cooments do give me a lift.
There is a belief there overall, otherwise I wouldn't have come this far or continue to practice and think about the game the way I do.
But sometimes on the green I do just lack that killer instinct, which either makes victory much harder for myself or costs me a chance of victory in the latter stages.


100 UP!
Stats up for a century of crown green bowls matches:

LEAGUE MATCHES
Home - P 30  W 23  L 7
Away -  P 27  W 7    L 20
Total  -  P 57  W 30  L 27

OPEN SINGLES COMPETITIONS
Neutral - P 14  W 3   L 11

EAGLE & CHILD CLUB COMPETITIONS
Eagle (H) - P 22  W 14   L 8

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
Home - P 3  W 3  L 0
Away - P 2  W 1  L 1
Eagle (H) - P 2  W 2  L 0

OVERALL
Home - P 33  W 26  L 7
Away - P 29  W 8   L 21
Eagle (H) - P 24  W 16  L 8
Neutral - P 14  W 3   L 11
Total - P 100  W 53  L 47

EAGLE & CHILD
Overall - P 57  W 42  L 15

NOTES TO SELF...
I've got to be pleased with my home statistics. Given that I could still get better, there is scope to become a very strong home bowler at some point.
My away record has simply got to improve though. During my first season of 2021 in particular, opposition greens were to be feared. Since then, a positive transition has taken place in that two years later I now go away from home and relish the challenge.
I feel progress is being made in that I'm getting closer in most away games and becoming more difficult to beat. But it is about time I started finding a way of picking up more wins on my travels.