NO DISGRACE DOUBLING UP WITH NEXT DOOR

Saturday 16th September 2023
HESKETH BANK OPEN DOUBLES 

Paired with AARON HAYHURST 

First Round

v STE BAXTER & FIN BAXTER W 21-8

Second Round

v STEVE ANDERTON & MIKE OPIE L 8-21

Earlier in the year, young Aaron Hayhurst next door asked if I fancied joining him in a doubles competition some time. Honoured as I was by his consideration for this, I didn't think it would actually come to fruition until about a month ago when I got a text message asking if I fancied this Hesketh Bank affair.
"Cheers Aaron. Yes, definitely!", to precisely quote my bite-his-hand-off reply.
An honour and a privilege indeed to partner this chap. A cracking bowler with a great future ahead of him in the game, as I have surely mentioned before in these scriptures.
Drawn early for a 9:30am start, our first round game was on the 'back green', which looked very interesting to say the least. A sloping, undulating surface and a triumph in that the groundsmen of Hesketh Bank have toiled hard to recover this playing surface which had become completely overgrown until three years ago. That said, it wasn't in bad nick at all really and I personally found it fun to play on. I took to it straight away and my lead bowls put pressure on our first round opponents from the off. The father and son team of Ste and Fin were probably inexperienced doubles competitors even by my own standards and Aaron and I were fairly comfortable throughout this match, going through with a 21-8 win.
Round two on the contrasting silky grass carpet of the front green, we eventually discover we are to face Steve Anderton and Mike Opie who had a tougher first round test than ourselves. 
Only recently I saw a photo of these two winning a prestigious doubles competition at the Globe in Accrington, and subsequently discover they also won the Fleetwood Waterloo Open Pairs this Summer. Bloody hell, tough draw!
Mike was scoffing a sausage butty just before going on and I wondered if that might sit a little heavy and affect his game for a while? Erm, no.
For half an hour or so, it was a game though. Not a lot in it at all, very close, low scoring ends and a sense we were earning the respect of this champion double act. 
Trailing 8-9, it was clear we were having to punch hard to stay in it, but in it we were until a few unfortunate ends made a huge difference and tilted the balance.
Firstly, my head didn't quite recover after sending both woods off in to the tricky corner that I'd regretfully chosen to go for myself and a bit of confidence was sapped from this, even though Aaron sent a wonderful second bowl to save three and make one to spare my blushes.
After a few more tight ends didn't go our way though, holding two and then losing three off Mike's calculated last bowl was pretty hurtful. An end or two later and we concede what Steve and Mike themselves acknowledged as a cheap four. Neither of us pushing wide or hard enough and of seven bowls narrow and short, our four were furthest away unfortunately. That was a real wounder and belief drained from both of us after that I think.
We swapped around, with Aaron going first but sadly he didn't have an opportunity to get hold of the jack and lead a fightback.
Eight on the card felt harsh, but slip-ups against doubles partners of this calibre are always going to be punished.
I played Steve last year at Sabden's Floodlit Singles, whilst I've seen Mike play a few times here and there. Two quality bowlers but really grounded chaps with it. A less difficult draw might have suited our chances of further progression on the day, but these two were a pleasure to play against.
Politely, Aaron said I played well and he tends to see the good stuff in others whilst being more critical of his own game. I've seen him play better of course, but he still landed some brilliant shots and particularly in the match against Steve and Mike which helped contain that formidable pairing for as long as we did.


THE ALAN HODSON(S) SHOW
I stuck around for another hour watching other matches and not for the first time at such events, the pairing of Alan Hodson Snr and Alan Hodson Jnr caught my full attention. Two very good bowlers, but also natural entertainers.
This father and son team are both boisterous on the green and the dialogue between them... you just couldn't write the script. Alan Jnr falls out and then makes up with his Dad almost every other end! It was so funny at times. Northern humour straight from the tap.
They just make me smile watching them and for that, brilliant characters of the game.

BIG IN SINGAPORE! 🇸🇬
In it's current guise as a blog, only six people had ever viewed these pages. This consisted of five people that I know personally and the brief curiosity of someone in Finland.
Last week, suddenly lots of views in one day and most of them from... Singapore?!
That trend has roughly continued for a week now, with daily views increasing and pretty much all of them traced from this tip of South East Asia.
A glitch in Blogger's statistical engines perhaps, or maybe somebody out there is actually reading these tedious accounts of middle-aged sporting endeavours?
Lawn bowls is definitely a thing over there, so a connection maybe. But still without official followers or comments logged, the sudden spike of views all the way from Singapore remains a mystery for now.