Leyland & District League Div-1: Longton VM 'A' (175) 4-9 Eagle Blues (195)
v TIM SLINGER L 20-21
The bold and positive approach continued and looked set to make light work of the very experienced Tim. No pushover and certainly not on his own patch at Longton, I was playing really well but ended up absolutely bloody furious with myself for not cutting this game off before the sheer disbelief of it finally slipping away.
16-7, then 18-8 and it's not as if my mentality was to blame. Not for a fleeting moment did I prematurely think I'd bagged it, I remained focused but just couldn't find the big shot or even a bit of luck at times to break my opponent's steady fightback.
Cursing my own part in this demise, I shouldn't omit to compliment Tim's own part in grounding out a victory from the jaws of defeat. He led well and kept putting the bowls up which is all you can do in that position. Short marks across the middle were Tim's building blocks of putting me under pressure and whilst having no trouble understanding what was required, I was putting a little too much in and at times a bit unlucky not to hit something to benefit me. The green surface was a little saturated earlier on and had soaked up by this time, so perhaps the lightbulb hadn't pinged and frustration started to creep in to cloud my rational thinking.
18-19 now and finally I broke the spell and landed one. Next end I round peg to the far corner and land a toucher, but Tim had put in a close second to make it a little risky going for two on the same road. Now bowling for the match with jack in hand, I could blame my subsequent short lead or overcooked second that on another day might have tickled the jack my way, but ultimately it was the decision making that cost me the game. Reverting to straight peg and in a direction of the green where I had been latterly struggling for pace, there was a lack of wisdom on my part and with only myself to blame, easy pickings for Tim who mopped up with two length bowls.
The mat went flying (fortunately just shy of the social club roof) the jack got a booting and so did my bowls. Talk of shoving my head through the nearest window began, although anything nearby was triple glazed by the looks of it. Whilst such reactionary talk remains purely hypothetical, I later discussed the realities of window tupping with Nigel, saying there's only one winner against triple glazing and as a former glazer himself at one time, Nige warned that a single pane might well lacerate my neck and recommended wearing a scarf. Never a dull conversation on a bowls night.
Once the rage subsided a bit as I was distracted by marking Margy's card, the piss taking began with Colin reporting flying saucers during his match (the mat) and Phil announcing, "Helmets off lads! It's safe again", when asking if I'd calmed down 😆
They know what I'm like and I think they understand.
Fortunately my personal disappointment had little bearing on our team's successful evening with six winners and chalks scooping an excellent nine away points to leave us with every chance of holding on to eighth spot.
At the top of the table meanwhile, Chorley St Joseph's had a fantastic 9-4 win at leaders and double champions Lostock Hall Cons. Just three points separate the two sides with one to play. St Joe's host Bretherton and with so much at stake you would fancy them to stack some points up. Lostock visit relegated Hoghton, but that's a tricky place to go with the pressure on. It could end up very close indeed.
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