ONE FOR THE ROAD
Monday 19th JuneChorley & District League Div-2: Farington Cons 'A' - Eagle & Child 'A'
v ANN YATES W 21-14
It would be fair to argue what benefits actually outweigh the sheer pointlessness of documenting my bowling matches in this ritual fashion. Sometimes though, it can be a means of sporting catharsis.
Last week I lectured myself that it's about time I started turning matches in to wins on the road and about time I ticked off a victory at Farington Cons.
First on against Ann Yates, who I know to be a good player having seen her win well in home matches both here and at neighbouring Farington club St Paul's, the stakes on the night ran four-fold for me and in no particular order: 1) Justifying a place in this very good team. 2) Repaying the captain's faith at chucking me back in last week and also risking me in this important away game. 3) Getting a good result that contributes positively to the team. 4) Proving to myself that I can go further than just give good players a game on their patch, but also see out the win.
Ann gets off to a flying start, rolling four very close woods for four points off the first two ends. My efforts looked exceedingly below average, but rather than winding myself up as usual, I managed to stay relaxed and concentrated on just trying to match Ann's woods. I knew I needed a breakthrough before she started to dominate proceedings.
At 3-6 I'd started to let her know I was there and a few ends later had an excellent spell and started to find really good length on a few marks to put Ann on the back foot.
Unaware of the score at the time, 15-8 had been built up until Ann fought back with some cracking woods, particularly over the crown towards the flowerbed end.
At 15-13 now, I managed a timely intervention and got back in, utilising a couple of marks that I seemed to hit well and push towards a winning position. I'd started playing with a bit of confidence.
Ann did get one back before I broke again to hit nineteen. I decided go somewhere different and round pegged in to the low sun, hoping it might bother my bespectacled opponent more than me. My two deliveries weren't world class, but there or thereabouts and thankfully Ann couldn't beat them and I'd played well, kept my composure and ticked off a good win. My first at Farington Cons in five attempts.
Since the dry weather has broken, green conditions everywhere are changing from day to day, even during a single day itself.
I turned up perhaps ten minutes in advance of our away team's allotted practice time and thought it really strange there was only one home player left on there when I arrived.
Then as the night progressed, I heard a few home players cursing their own green, saying it wasn't pegging enough, that opponent's lighter woods were stopping too quick, that it "wasn't bowling'" on there. Born of frustration rather than malice, nonetheless I thought this a slur on their own very well respected groundsman in my opinion.
In my all be it short experience of this green, it's always in impeccable condition whatever the weather chucks at it. The chap in charge clearly knows his stuff and given the extremities of the prolonged dry spell, followed by significant rainfall, the surface was incredible. It was a bit of a push, but it had rained earlier in the day. Not a bit of surface water though and velvety short grass consistent across the whole green... how's that "not bowling"?
Perhaps they should have utilised the entirety of their own practice time afterall?
One cliché that springs to mind is that it was the same for both teams.
Excuses are futile in this game, but here the implication from one or two Cons players seemed to be that they had lost their matches rather than our team winning them on merit. Case in point, I scored Michelle Anderton's match and she played an absolute blinder. In the aftermath I overheard her opponent blaming the weight of his woods, the way in which the green was running... utter twaddle. He had time to adjust, Michelle played very well from the start and that was that.
With six winners out of eight on the night as our team claimed an elusive away win in this league. Although, not that elusive as it turned out. Uncannily three other sides also broke their away duck that evening, but Eagle & Child hold on to second spot.
Unaware of the score at the time, 15-8 had been built up until Ann fought back with some cracking woods, particularly over the crown towards the flowerbed end.
At 15-13 now, I managed a timely intervention and got back in, utilising a couple of marks that I seemed to hit well and push towards a winning position. I'd started playing with a bit of confidence.
Ann did get one back before I broke again to hit nineteen. I decided go somewhere different and round pegged in to the low sun, hoping it might bother my bespectacled opponent more than me. My two deliveries weren't world class, but there or thereabouts and thankfully Ann couldn't beat them and I'd played well, kept my composure and ticked off a good win. My first at Farington Cons in five attempts.
Since the dry weather has broken, green conditions everywhere are changing from day to day, even during a single day itself.
I turned up perhaps ten minutes in advance of our away team's allotted practice time and thought it really strange there was only one home player left on there when I arrived.
Then as the night progressed, I heard a few home players cursing their own green, saying it wasn't pegging enough, that opponent's lighter woods were stopping too quick, that it "wasn't bowling'" on there. Born of frustration rather than malice, nonetheless I thought this a slur on their own very well respected groundsman in my opinion.
In my all be it short experience of this green, it's always in impeccable condition whatever the weather chucks at it. The chap in charge clearly knows his stuff and given the extremities of the prolonged dry spell, followed by significant rainfall, the surface was incredible. It was a bit of a push, but it had rained earlier in the day. Not a bit of surface water though and velvety short grass consistent across the whole green... how's that "not bowling"?
Perhaps they should have utilised the entirety of their own practice time afterall?
One cliché that springs to mind is that it was the same for both teams.
Excuses are futile in this game, but here the implication from one or two Cons players seemed to be that they had lost their matches rather than our team winning them on merit. Case in point, I scored Michelle Anderton's match and she played an absolute blinder. In the aftermath I overheard her opponent blaming the weight of his woods, the way in which the green was running... utter twaddle. He had time to adjust, Michelle played very well from the start and that was that.
With six winners out of eight on the night as our team claimed an elusive away win in this league. Although, not that elusive as it turned out. Uncannily three other sides also broke their away duck that evening, but Eagle & Child hold on to second spot.
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