Well here we are. I must start this week’s match report by acknowledging the work carried out in the past on these reports by Kevin, but as this week Kevin played for the North East team (and was I was pleased to note a member of their only winning rink) at the same time I am reminded that “all good things come to an end”. Which as you will all know is a common phrase that reflects the understanding that nothing lasts forever and that things that are considered good or special are temporary. The phrase interestingly emphasises the impermanence of all things and the cyclical nature of experience, where periods of happiness are inevitably followed by periods of change or sadness….. anyway enough of all that and back to the bowls!
This was, to be frank, a crucial game in our Division 1 campaign this season and 8 points was the least that we wanted/needed from this game and the team delivered, well done 👏
On Josh’s rink with Calvin, Larry and Mark they started well being 22-6 up at 9 ends and did not let up finishing 31-13. Now for the purposes of this report I am a humble reporter and can only report the facts as they are told to me. So in the bar after the game Josh said to me what a great game he had had and that I should mention that in this report. Well Josh there is no “I” in team and speaking to your team mates the consensus was that the man of the match on your team was actually Calvin, so we’ll played Calvin keep up the good work…. 😁
With 6 points seemingly in the bag it was over to the other two rinks.
On Jim’s rink with myself, Nigel and Will at one point I thought Jim was going to need some sort of medical assistance as the number of “wicks” that the opposition skip had in the first few ends which resulted in them having shot when we were holding a count was simply unfathomable. (I know that wicks are, of course part of the game but when they are not specifically played for they can be very annoying for the opposition). So at 9 ends we were trailing 5-7 and to be frank we were all very frustrated. 😩
On end 10 however I gave up on the hand that I had been battling against and switched resulting in a much better result. (I don’t really blame myself here as Nigel, Will or Jim should have advised me to switch much earlier 😂 ). This together with some great bowling by the rest of the team, especially Jim meant we ran out 17-8 winners. 👍
So with 8 points in the bag attention turned to Roger’s rink with Jon (welcome to the team Jon), Mike and Keith. This was a real nip and tuck battle and at 16 ends the score was tied at 10 all. Despite Mike drawing a great close wood their two managed to dislodge it and move the jack and unfortunately despite valiant efforts by Keith and Roger we dropped a 2 to finish 10-12.
Next week GBs away which is sure to be a stern test.
Finally good luck to Josh in the Middleton Cup on Saturday. 🤞