HOME HELP

Monday 29th April 2024

CHORLEY &DISTRICT LEAGUE DIV-2: Eagle & Child 'A' - Hilltops 'B'

v ANDY ARROWSMITH L 13-21

Still not coming to terms with the condition of our home green, the plan was to play as straight and simple as possible in this first fixture of the Chorley league.
The Problem was, Andy Arrowsmith had the same idea and more importantly, the away player starts with the jack.
The aptly named Mr Arrowsmith continuously sent two woods as near as damn it to the target and a game has never got away from me so quickly. Five ends in and it's 0-10!
Seven ends in and mercifully I manage to count for second and slow the brutal barrage to 0-12. I don't feel like I've even been on the green very long and that the game is almost over!
It didn't help that I wasn't playing any better than my scatty pre-match practice, but that's to take nothing away from Andy's intense start to the game. Yet another left-hander I've faced this season and a crafty one, a good player who adapted quickly to the trials of our green and set an example that should stop me whinging about it and just get on with it.
Andy's game did break up a little bit and I also scored a few good ends at least, hearing I'd got double figures was a sense of relief. At 10-16, I send a good lead and Andy goes short twice to let me off for two.
At 12-16 suddenly I'm thinking I could give myself a chance. Feeling wild enough to round peg for the first time in the match, I thought I'd got another on the board but Andy's second bowl was just too good and order was restored from the Blackrod bowler. At all-but, my last bowl somehow found a small gap rather than smack the jack or his holding wood out but I doubt I could have held him off much longer anyway.
I suppose it could have been a lot worse and I did alright to salvage some respectability.
Despite being one of three players in the first four to be defeated, our other five players turned the match around in to our favour and although a depleted side compared to last year's promotion chasing squad, we start the season with a win. 

Team leavers are talisman Chris Miller, vastly experienced Kevin Bibby and Trevor Bibby, a threesome that are worth many wins a season between them. 

Whilst I will miss admiring the silky left handed bowling delivery and dry wit of Chris, and Kevin who I have got to know a little better over the Winter league, suffice to say that from a personal point of view I won't miss Trevor quite so much.  

I've got two more matches at the Eagle this week in the Leyland league with a catch-up match on Wednesday and at home again the following evening. 

The feeling of helplessness on home turf needs dealing with. Andy Arrowsmith was first hand evidence that good play is possible on there and so I've got to clear my head of negativity, be absolutely in the zone and be more aggressive early on if an opponent threatens to dominate.

CRACKING WIN SHOWS PROMISE

Thursday 25th April 2024

LEYLAND & DISTRICT LEAGUE DIV-3: Farington St Paul's - Eagle Reds

v COLIN RAWLINSON W 21-20

I think it's fair to say that I was drawn against the opposition's best player, so it was as well that I came with a plan; to keep it simple and find the head space that served me well in that recent trophy winning practice match!
This was executed very well and I won the first six ends or so with the sort of lead bowling that I've been craving to produce. The level of intensity didn't wane much throughout the match and even when Colin did break my run, there wasn't much in it for a while and I'd sustained my lead with some very good bowling at times, notably when knocking the jack out with a bit of pace to deny Colin two to make two for myself.
Scoring again for me, Terry Grayston, who seems to be my personal card marker this season, asked me if I wanted to know (the score)... I was 18-9 up and in fairness there was nowt flukey about it.
However, perhaps I should have said "No thanks", to Tez. Thinking now that I just need to carry on what I'm doing to see the game out, from that moment Colin put the squeeze on me and found a mark to beat me up on. Although often good enough to save one, I just couldn't land something to match his efforts and the lead slowly drained as Colin found a renewed confidence with a long run in possession of the jack.

Despite Colin sapping the life out of my earlier good work, temperament remained pretty good for a change. Although it felt pressured because it was my game to lose having led handsomely, I was still playing quite well and that's all I need to do to keep the demons at bay.
The only time my discipline blipped was after the rather well worn mat slipped underneath my right foot for a second time in three ends and cost me another chance to save. Just for a fleeting moment, I was livid. Despite a splutter of expletives, hopefully not loud enough to offend the locals, it was channelled positively and geared me up to finally break Colin on the next end having just lost the lead at 18-19.
No surprises where Colin went next, but a surprise that he went a little tighter to the right than previous marks and even bigger surprises to see his lead fall short and off track and his second run a little far. A massive opportunity and siezed with a close first bowl which I tapped up with an identical second for a very big two. I could hear my captain Harry Glynn enjoying that one. 20-19.
After finally reassociating my right hand with that yellow block again, I mused, "I don't think I'm going to go over there finger peg", which got a little from my opponent and nearby scorers. Finally I was out of that trap and went back to where I began the game with a fairly uncomplicated short straight peg. I send a cracking lead and tap the jack, but not quite thick enough and so Colin could still see it. He sends a bloody belter, hits it thick and follows through by a foot. I didn't adjust well enough and fell short with my second, leaving Colin a chance for game but his second was also just short and so it went to the wire.
That twist suddenly switched my mindset. Having survived that scare, it was my game to win again.
Colin decides to play to his home gallery at the clubhouse end, round pegging over the the middle of the crown towards a perilous edge of the green.
Brave with his lead, that first bowl finds the slope and slowly drops off the green. A bit of experience came in to play here, as I aim to make sure I stay on and count, but get a real feel for it and what I might need to do to adjust. My land was spot on but it gave up a yard and a half short, then Colin has to pass mine with his second bowl and does so, running up just a couple of feet short.
Composure was everything now, as I tell myself, "Take your time Johnny Boy, hit that land again and give it a bit more ooof."
It felt good when it left my hand and flipping heck, it was perfect. Tapping the jack up and getting a vocal reaction from all watching. What a moment. A bit of fist pumping went on, but I couldn't help it. A big win and I played well.
It was a really good game and I would feel the same had I Iost, but winning makes it more memorable. One of the St Paul's players Peter Suart said he was distracted from his scoring duties elsewhere because he was too busy watching our game. A compliment indeed to Mr Rawlinson and I.
I thought I'd heard of Colin and seen him play, but just couldn't associate him with St Paul's, and that made sense as I'm later told he has transfered from Wymott, along with his wife Val who is no bowling slouch either.
It turned out to be a rare, but well earned away victory for our team. Of six winners, Arthur Parker came back brilliantly to beat Tony Peacock, who brutally kicked my arse here two years ago. Meanwhile new recruit Judith Farrell despatched very steady home bowler David Bridge.

THE MAJESTY OF ST PAUL'S
Farington St Paul's has not been a happy away trip as I have no doubt whinged about in previous reports.
It's a lovely set up and they're a nice bunch over there, but I've struggled on their green for reasons historically documented, but as soon as I saw it I knew I could play there this time.
I'd heard from that man Mr Suart again, who is a customer where I work, that much work had been done and that it was now in great condition. He's not wrong.
A fantastic job done there by Peter and the team to bring the green up to the standards of the rest of the facility.
Formerly one of my least favourite greens to play, now thinking it could be one of my favourites and particularly having now played one of my best away games there.


TOUGH GREEN, TOUGH DRAW, BUT GOOD EXPERIENCE
Saturday 27th April 2024
HESKETH ARMS SPRING DOUBLES
With STEVE MARGINSON
1st Round
v STUART HODSON & RAY BEVINGTON L 14-21 (Off 3-3)

Clubmate Steve asked me if I fancied a pop at this with him. It was a different green to play and only a fiver each to enter so why not?
It's a fairly small sized green with quite a pronounced crown and various other miniature crowns, gullies and channels to challenge us and on top of that, a few days without a proper deluge of rain and some strong Spring sunny spells meant it was running very quick. Exactly the opposite to what we've all been accustomed through Winter and this new season so far.
I'd heard of our opponents so I knew we were up against it, but we started quite well and there was not a lot in it going in to the teens at 12-13, and that despite conceding a very poor four from our point of view.
But once Stuart and Ray started trickling short round pegs towards the green edge, we were in trouble. They played these delicate marks very well, and whilst not perfect all the time and joining mine in the gutter occasionally, generally they were there or thereabouts. If we found land, we misjudged length and vice-versa.
The gulf in class and their previous experience on this green told in the end, but not before Margy landed a fantastic bowl to break them at all-but and knock us on for two.
Thinking we might still have a sniff here if we could get back to playing how the started the match, I then made a real hash of my lead and second bowl and disappointly allowed damage to be done that Steve couldn't this time rectify.
A good experience on a tricky green and no shame given that Stuart and Ray won a further three rounds to make it to a closely contested final, eventually beaten 18-21. 

LEAD TRAINING REQUIRED

Wednesday 17th April 2024

At Euston Green, Fleetwwod Bowling Club

SPRING WATERLOO TROPHY

First Round Qualifier
v DARREN BITHELL (Freckleton) L *17-21 (off 3-3) *Although the official scoreboard only read 12, I know for a fact I scored at least 15 and Darren saw the card and said 17... so I'll take 17!

Practice time alone restored some faith for a recently fragile bowling state of mind.  Turning up at such occasions as a total rank outsider (if a bookmaker was on site, they probably wouldn't even grace me any odds whatsoever) it's always a relief to settle down and send a few ends that wouldn't look out of place on finals day.
Unfortunately I was fifteenth match on the card and so the good momentum gained from an hour's practice time had a further two hours to wear off before I went on.
The rarity of blue sky and full sunshine graced this day's qualifiers, but not without a strong cold wind and I ended up meeting my opponent a short while before going on as he invited me to join him in a small sheltered sun trap after he saw I was getting a bit chilly.
No introductions needed then as we finally got under way and I got off to a steady start and edged in to a small lead. Ultimately, once again my lead bowl just wasn't up to the standard required. Nobody kept hold of the jack for long until Darren's long marks over the middle of the crown had me on the rack for a while and proved costly. His left-handedness proved particularly more difficult to follow on that mark.
There was a chance in this match, I sort of realised later and I just didn't believe hard enough that I could come back. A super bowl to tap out Darren's toucher put me back in contention and broke his run of dominance, but again I didn't put the lead up. Weight was fine, I seemed to be just off my line a bit and even though Darren wasn't having a fully consistent game himself, he was easily good enough to mop up my mistakes.
With Darren all-but, he sent two woods that were too good, pegging across the middle of the green under the bar lounge windows. He left a big target and I sent a pacey one which should either hit the jack off the green or knock both his woods off. Instead I somehow found a bowls width gap that didn't seem conceivable even after it had happened.
The damage was already done though and whilst not a write-off of a game from my point of view, poor lead bowls let me down and it wasn't the improvement here that I was quietly aspiring towards.

BOWLING BOOK A-WARD
By the mere fact I was sat in the stand close to his kit bag, a chap who has just come off the green after winning through to round two starts chatting to me about some classic Waterloo finals of the 1980's.
It turns out to be Alan Ward, a one time Waterloo semi-finalist and author, no less, of a book called Bowling Legends
A history of great crown green bowlers and much about this greatest and oldest competition at Blackpool that has been recently kept alive ten miles up the Lancashire coast in Fleetwood.
I should get the book, he's plugged it as available on Amazon. I then wonder what he would make of my own self indulgent and insignificant bowling ramblings? 

It's probably best he, like everyone else outside Singapore, doesn't know about it!

CLUB SNUB DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
Also randomly sharing his thoughts to me briefly was the chief orchestrator of the new Fleetwood Waterloo, Mark Mills. Mark is part of a small team of dedicated volunteers who not only put up the Waterloo and Fleetwood Bowling Festival competitions, but their efforts have contributed to upgraded spectating facilities and a fabulously kept green which has improved every time I've visited over the last three years.
Even the back green, which looked to be in a somewhat neglected state last July, has been transformed and now looks an equally inviting surface.
If I heard correctly, Mark happened to point out though that all this kudos for Fleetwood Bowling Club is not just lacking general support from club members, but moreover deemed nuisance value by some. I don't get it. Maybe there's two sides to the story, but Mark, and his comp organising successor Heidi Sutton, are struggling for helpers. The lack of local bowlers popping down for an hour or two to assist does seem strange. They seem an ungrateful lot and it all appears to be a funny old fraught relationship with Fleetwood BC. Waterloo is still a very big competition and what it lacks in host club support, makes up for in terms of quality in depth of bowlers entering. Short term perhaps that's what's important.
It's still early days at Fleetwood and hopefully more acceptance, followed by some embracing of what's played there will come about in the years ahead.
The original Waterloo venue in Blackpool remains intact to a degree and just requires a bowler to win the lottery and return it to it's former glory. There doesn't seem to be any other way back there.
For now, every credit to those making a success of keeping the historic trophy going under ever increasingly difficult circumstances.

MY FIRST SINGLES TROPHY!😆
A few more less wet days later and my home green was running a little quicker and I seemed to get to grips with it much better at last.
I played Aaron in our latest Hargreaves Cup bout, in which tongue-in-cheek pride of the avenue is at stake versus my neighbour.
I've mentioned on many occasions I enjoy playing against him, it's quickfire bowling and you've got to be on it or he'll thrash you. With Aaron I find myself in the right space of mind, playing very competitively but without fear or inhibition. Big note to self here; This is precisely the mode I need to transmit in to proper matches.
Remarkably this was a third close win in succession and Aaron is a bloody good young player, so if I'm scratching around for encouragement that I actually am a better player than when I started out, my games against this chap ought to be a standard bearer.
Upon this latest match, Aaron roots in to his bag and awards me a small trophy and it's made clear he wants to win it back in the not too distant future.
The Hargreaves Cup just got real!
What a nice lad, a lovely gesture and I'll enjoy it's place on our mantlepiece... for now. 

FLATTERING WIN CAN'T PAPER CRACKS

Thursday 11th April 2024

Leyland & District League Div-3: Eagle Reds - Farington & District

v JIM FINCH W 21-7

Despite another faultering home show, a very, very flattering win. I didn't send a single lead bowl that I was properly happy with and never settled down in to any sort of rhythm as our Eagle green once again got inside my head and left me scratching it at times.
With all due respects to my opponent Jim, out of a very strong Farington team at this level, he was probably an easier game than most of the others on the night. On this form, there's no doubt I would have got a spanking from most of their remaining line-up.
I'm pretty sure Jim's had better days as he was just as inconsistent as me. The difference on the night was that I stuck a decent second bowl up enough times to turn a game that was tight in the early stages at 8-5. It didn't feel like a well earned comprehensive victory and it certainly wasn't.
Whatever it was, it was one for the team though in a tough match against probable promotion material. Steve Loynd grabbed our other win and a well earned one versus John Steele.
Following this game, our captain Harry Glynn said I was playing better in my first season than the start of this, my fourth one. Even if that was a nod towards the fact I was playing more instinctively and with more freedom back then, Harry's observation was a tough one to consume.

Basically, I think I'm putting too much pressure on myself. I've earmarked this as a season to really improve and perhaps I should've buried that thought deeply and set our to just think humble but play hard.
Next up, and ridiculously, given my current form and fragile state of bowling mind... the small matter of Fleetwood Waterloo qualifiers (seemed like a good idea to enter at the time)
I don't see the point in cancelling. I've got some experience there now and enough to go with a clean slate intent on giving somebody a decent game. I need a shot of confidence and hopefully I can rise to the occasion and find a bit, then chill the bloody hell out and turn it in to some much better league form!

LESS OF A FOOL AT HOOLE

Thursday 4th April 2024

Leyland & District League Div-3: Hoole Village Hall 'B' - Eagle Reds

v MIKE HENLEY W 21-11

I was ready to pack my bowls away and forget where I'd put them. If I didn't play well tonight, no tantrums, just a quiet word with captain Harry to tell him I need a time out (even though the season has only just started!) It would be relatively free of guilt, for he's got new recruits this season and so it's not as if I'm going to leave the team short.
Any sort of repeat performance from Tuesday would have been punished by veteran left handed bowler Mike on his home turf, but I managed to get my act together as the rain began to pour heavily on Hoole's lush as ever turf.
I wouldn't say I played with a carefree attitude - I wanted to play well and of course I wanted to win - but the general apathy I felt after foolishly losing the plot two nights earlier helped me relax, concentrate on the basics and in the end I didn't send many woods worth cursing.
I got off to a good start but Mike produced some great shots to keep himself in it and at 15-10, although I felt I might have the upper hand, I sent my opponent longer than he liked to go and put up good woods to take two good two's and speed myself towards the finishing line.
Although there wasn't much grace in my winning bowl - a good length sent but around eighteen inches wide of the target and only counting after a tight measure - I was in a happy bowling place again and my fickle relationship with the game was favourably rekindled, not least because I simply played reasonably well.
A loss for our team on the night, but three points picked up against a good Hoole team. Briggsy and Banksy were our other two winners, the former playing as well as I've seen him play, the latter with an excellent comeback. 

COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME

Tuesday 2nd April 2024

Preston & District Amateur League Cup 

1st Round 
Eagle & Child "B' - Vernons BC
v ALAN McDOUGALL L 15-21

There have been moments when I've thought I might not be too bad at this game and was genuinely starting to feel I could settle down and start making some proper progress this season. Off the back of Winter, an air of confidence and deeper understanding of the game. 

Perhaps I've been kidding myself, for such thoughts were trashed after an impromptu call-up to help out the Eagle & Child's new 'B' team in the Preston League.

I generally played absolutely rubbish. The very basics went to pot and I just didn't seem to know what the bloody hell I was doing out there most of the time.
When finally put out of my misery and after chucking my bowls in to the laurel bushes with dummy firmly spat out, I did wonder whilst still in a huff and trying to retrieve them in the darkness of undergrowth, if it was time I just packed the game up.
It's a close call, but having calmed down I realise a second opinion would be the rational option so I'll still be making myself available as normal to start the Leyland League in a couple of night's time.
Honestly though, if you're not enjoying something and there's other stuff you're better at, it feels like a completely pointless waste of valuable time. 
This game sucks time up like a vacuum and so enjoyment is paramount. 
It's not about the winning and losing, I really am past all that crap. I just feel it's time that match performance hit a consistently satisfactory level I suppose, but tonight was just consistently bad.

Before this sounds like sour grapes, absolutely no offence to my opponent Alan. Nice bloke, proper firm handshake and he played well, particularly so at the business end of the match. Given that we were only 10-11 despite the disconsolate feelings about my own game, opportunity was there earlier on to get away from him and keep my nose in front, but I let myself down. 

Some really wayward bowls that were embarrassing, unacceptable and the reasons why I became increasingly irrate and distracted. 

Then outside influences started to get under my skin. Crossing bowls and players from other matches seemed to inadvertently time their movements against me to annoying precision. It pains me to admit that even the encouragement from our scorer Terry Grayston - who I love - felt clichéd and ill-timed at certain points and drove me nuts. I should've been appreciating the fully paid attention of Tez to my match, but I think it was just because I was having a shit game that silly stuff like this was bothering me. I'll tell Tez on Thursday and have the conversation. I want him to understand, because it's not him, it's me!

Although I actually didn't roll too badly on the last few ends, Alan absolutely nailed them. No doubt the Vernons man deserved to win.
In the aftermath, I question why my game went catastrophically wrong from my point of view. An inquest going on inside my head as I make the roughly seven minute brisk walk home.
Practice hasn't gone great since our green reopened. Although just getting the better of neighbour Aaron on that first opening evening to retain our Hargreaves Cup match, Aaron wasn't on his game by any means and I've spiralled downhill since. When I told a few clubmates I had a bad feeling about the match ahead, it turned out to be one of few things I got right on the night.

I really feel for the chaps at the club who have worked hard to get our green in shape, but such a wet Winter and pretty damp Spring so far, coupled with resident pecking crows has made it a different and funny old beast to tame and I just don't feel confident on there. It's probably just be me, but I'm interested to see how it generally pans out as a home green this season. I for one am finding it difficult. 

Green conditions aside, at times, releasing the bowl wasn't fluid tonight either and with my thumb still not fully functional after coming off my bike a couple of weeks ago, perhaps this is affecting my grip? I'm not sure my foot placement was correct either, my stance normally angled a little as I play across myself... I could go on...
Uh oh, this all sounds like clutching at excuses. I'm searching for reasons, but it's all just excuses.
The only bonified contributory factor for my downfall was temperament and in that department I'm simply flawed. If I don't bowl to what I deem a reasonable standard, the red mist descends and I get lost in a battle against myself. 

Confidence is on the floor after this. But if selected to play Thursday, I actually feel slightly better that it's away from home. That's not how it should be though.
There's a pressure I put on myself to perform and especially on my home green to make a decent show of myself. But if Thursday night turns out to be Tuesday night replayed, then I really could see myself taking a sabbatical from the game. To be quite honest, there's plenty of other stuff I can be doing. 
Alternatively, things might go well and all this confidence shrivelled rambling will seem ridiculous and insignificant.
Hopefully it's the latter, but my mood about bowls right now feels very fickle and a bit deflated.