Friday 1st August 2025
BROWNEDGE CLASSIC FIRST ROUND QUALIFIER
At Bamber Bridge Catholic Club
v MICK PRESCOTT (Chorley) L 20-31
Memory storage of my two games in the bag at Brownedge before this one were hardly of any use really. Unlike those evenings when the green was stiff and a bit bobbly, for the start of the Brownedge Classic it had been rolled, cut hard, so bowls pegged like bloody hell in places and just wouldn't stop on some of the bare patches.
Inspired by watching some of last year's Finals Day I thought I would throw myself in the fire this year and have a go. One of just eight players on the night I felt my name stood out like a sore thumb. Perhaps only one of this qualifying pool had the potential to go all the way, but otherwise still seasoned top division and regular competition bowlers as one would expect.
I'm not quite as green as I once was in this sort of environment though and despite the disappointment of a weary start and threat of humiliation, I stuck at it and salvaged some respectability. I've never played 31-up before but I was grateful of it! It gave me chance to settle down and make a reasonable account of myself, which ultimately was the bottom line of my ambitions.
Chorley St Joseph's bowler Mick Prescott has been around for many decades and unfortunately I can't write a justifiable profile on him as I've no idea what he has won and done, but what I do know is that he is still a damn good player.
Initially I struggled and particularly on some corner to corner marks as my bowls embarrassingly got wrong side along a ridge and were so off they threatened to intervene in to other games. Mick was pretty solid and if one wood failed the other certainly didn't. I drifted off in to a 5-16 deficit after leaving Mick an easy two. "Taxi for Sutton", I said to myself. Matt and Henry Hoyles were familiar faces watching and I suggested to Matt as I walked by disconsolate, "Call four and five fives for me will you?" (Classic Leyland Taxis number 455555!) I don't think Matt clicked on to where my head was at, but then who does most of the time? 😆
I just needed to vent a bit of frustration and suddenly the taxi was on hold. I found a bit of fight and started playing much better, competing closer for most ends and finding a few marks on the green that I understood, making a credible comeback to 19-24.
Sadly I wasted the chance of getting closer, overshooting by a couple of feet on the slope towards the middle doorway to the clubhouse. I did it a few times during the match down there and Mick punished me for it. By the time I scratched twenty, Mick had already approached the finish line and the Prescott pressure intensified. It wasn't for the want of decent woods, I was on a few times but got tapped out by some great bowling from my opponent.
The lasses in the scoring shelter, Mary and Gillian, were lovely and most complimentary saying I played well but left it a bit too late. I'll take that as a fair match summary, but just now an experienced bowler like this on a green I've still to get to grips with is too much.
RUNNING HIT THE BUFFERS WITH LATEST NIGGLE
Brownedge Friday also marked my first jog out after two weeks nursing a calf strain. I got a bit happy whilst on holiday in Somerset running a fourth consecutive day and bombing down a keen descent from some woodlands when it popped on me.
Really annoying. I had been going well for a few months. The Monday morning Pendle runs had helped me get stronger, I was doing some good sessions on the bike and it's often when you are feeling good that something stops you in your tracks.
Since then, on another camping break away, I was guilty of the same mistake. I'd taken it easy on a gradual uphill meander through Gisburn Forest and then let myself go too much on some downhill rough stuff. Not quite back to square one, but a reminder that I need to keep a lid on my enthusiasm and keep doing the boring steady plods and suitable stretching exercises until I really know my calf is right again. I've been characteristically slack on the stretching and strength exercises and maybe something had to give.
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