JUST THE TONIC TO START THE MONTH

Thursday 1st Augist 2024

LEYLAND & DISTRICT LEAGUE DIV-3: New Longton 'B'  175- 139 Eagle Reds

v DAVID DAWSON W 21-9

After another cheeky long weekender camping, missing another Monday night match left last Thursday's defeat to fester long and hard.
It must have done some good though. This felt like a return to the form I've been struggling to rediscover.
For the second week in succession I was drawn a rematch from this season's corresponding fixtures. David is a very composed player who can bowl well so I knew this was going to be a challenging game and especially on his home patch.
Following concentration issues last week, in the build up to waiting to go on at number ten I was determined to keep my head in the right place to maintain a readiness and eagerness for a tough game ahead.
Not allowing too many distractions, a bit of time around the green on my own, making sure I had some periods sat down after a full day on my feet, enough water consumed to go for a pee at least three times... basically anything I thought I didn't get right last Thursday when I started sloppy and allowed Mr Darch to dictate.
Greens are finally running a bit now after a period of much less rain than we've been used to over the last twelve months. Without a win yet at New Longton's Windsor Avenue expanse, I set out to keep things simple. Straight peg, nowt too complicated and send a good lead.
Typical then that it was a switch to the more risky strategy of round pegging that swung the match in my favour.
There was little in it early on and I was satisfied with that. I was playing fairly soundly and not letting David dominate possession of the jack.
If my opponent was trying to find a mark that I couldn't get to grips with, I actually managed to do that myself with a short lead bowl and an overly pinged second that conceded a cheap two. I should've known better to lead out where I did, it was an area of the green I was hopeless with during practice but I was trying to get out of the way of the other game still on. There was a lot of noise coming from the Banksy v Farrington affair. Sending those two clangers proved to be a turning point though.
Livid at the sheer pantsness of those two wayward woods, I did something else I didn't do last week and take a nice deep breath. I've noticed when I get worked up I might not actually breathe at all, so I thought I might make a point of doing so!
David led well to the corner, I was on a better road andl yet just shy but knocked it up with my next one which I think was a winner anyway had it not made contact, so I wouldn't concede it was fortuitous.
From here I decided to round peg to the social club corner, given that David had tried to send me there twice himself but not succeeded. Then retrace our steps along the side of the green towards the other corner. Back and forth, I seemed to get more and more accurate and put the heat on David who started to strike. One hit splattered the lot, but luckily I still held two. I got to nineteen and then sent another toucher in to the club corner. Surprisingly, David had a go at it with his first wood but missed. I turned over straight peg to try and block, but such was my feel for a length I sent another very close one and made a slightly bigger target.
Once again though, David's power wasn't quite matched by precision and I ran out to win. This latter half of the match is as well as I've played all season. I feel like a free spirit away from home this season and have produced most of my best performances on the road.
This game is as much a state of mind as it is of technique and skill. One bad game doesn't make you a crap player overnight, any less than a very good game turns you in to King Brian Duncan II.
Aside from playing better this year, I've learned that when I can settle in to the right balance of focus and relaxation and really enjoy what I'm doing, I can give most folk a game.