DISMANTLED BY DEDRIE

Thursday 29th August 2024

LEYLAND & DISTRICT LEAGUE DIV-3: Eagle Reds 145-203 Hoole Village Hall 'B'

v JOHN DEDRIE L 13-21

John Dedrie belied a patchy season in this division by his standards and dismantled everything I chucked at him in this final match of the season. The Hoole bowler seemed to save the best until last.
I didn't start the game well mind you, John's steady bowls were consistently good but beatable in my view, however length, land or both were frustratingly evasive as I suffered towards a 1-10 deficit.  Despite a much better season all round this year, on the occasion I've got off to a bad start, I haven't done it by half measures and particularly on home soil.
I did start to get my game together and went about finding a way back in to the contest, but John found another level and three ends in particular made the difference with incredible, perfect bowls put up as my best efforts weren't enough.
A lovely two, with one guarding the other looked at least a single no matter what, but John found a way in somehow, tapping my closest and stealing in. Even my scorer Jimmy Sloan gasped in disbelief.
Regardless, having still recovered to trail by just four, I had a round pegged toucher up in front of the clubhouse, should have made it two but overran and yet again, John tapped them up and rolled over nearest the target. A real sucker punch at that stage.
A few ends later, having tried to chuck John long, a decent lead bowl a couple of feet behind looked good enough. Regretfully, I should've gone in again but was fearful of knocking John's first one up so I turned over peg but didn't quite make the distance. John has to land something inch perfect to take the end and by now there was an air of inevitability that he would do, resting on the jack in front of his purring teammates in the visitors end.
I didn't help myself next end, possibly being greedy going for two in a close cluster but trying desperately to ignite some momentum. I was barely an inch over and glanced the wrong side of the jack to knock my opponent in.
At this point, the most remarkable thing to leave my right hand all night was the mat, which I flicked high in to the air in utter disbelief at that previous end. Amazingly, it cut in to the greenside and landed upright! A rubber disc making a two inch incision in to turf is surely an extremely rare event. For starters, not many plonkers whizz the mat like that. I'm just grateful it landed far from any tender human tissue in attendance. 
John played very well and thoroughly deserved the win. He pointed out afterwards at being keen to make a good start having thrown a few games this season by giving silly leads away. Me and him both, but John's way certainly prevailed this evening.

TERRY-BLE PIES JUST TIP OF THE ICEBERG 
A couple of beers had in the pub across the road to mark the league season's end, our team with only two winners at home finishing the season with a bump. The rawness of my own defeat soothed by sips of chilled San Miguel.
Season ticket holder Terry Grayston begins to discuss all things Preston North End as I find myself sat in on an unofficial Lilywhites fan club discussion.
Terry ridicules the terrible £3.75 pies at Deepdale. But as the second pint went down, bold claims that North End could finish top six in the championship were muted.

Hmmm?

Then again, what do I know? I've lost football, or at least professional football has lost me over the last couple of decades with the exception of following Dunfermline Athletic. 

The evolution of legitimised cheating by means of players feigning injury and diving has mainly ruined it for me. Players are even being trained how to "go down" these days. It's actually quite pathetic.
When you compare how both professional rugby codes still go about their business on the pitch, football has lost much of it's integrity.
I've heard a quote from various sources, that "Footballers spend ninety minutes pretending they are hurt, whilst rugby players spend eighty minutes pretending that they're not." That pretty much sums it up.
I was barely investing much interest in the game anyway, when there was a final straw moment earlier this year. The ridiculous VAR decision that denied Coventry City a place in the FA Cup Final was absolutely it. If being 'level' is ONside, how in the name of sanity can a player be judged a mere toenail OFFside over the horizontal expanse of fifty-odd yards and from a frame frozen by one hundredth of a highly dubiously selected second??
What an absolute pile of utter nonsense. It's not even sport anymore.
It costs a load of money to watch (even in your armchair at home) club owners are self-interested and unaccountable, governing bodies make incomprehensible decisions and even the pies are crap as verified by Tez... I could go on all day. Even modern stadiums are generally a soulless clone of each other and why the hell have we got generic box nets at every ground? What ever happened to a good old hooked stanchion in the top corner? (Or should that be "top bins?" - Don't get me started on that either!)

I understand what being a football supporter is about and the loyalty and love felt for a club, I was a proper supporter once and yes, the pies were still rubbish, but the game was more affordable and fairytales could happen - fairytales were allowed to happen.

I digress somewhat.
I only popped in for a pint!