Next time...

I'm playing the club's top player this evening in the Men's 4 Bowls Singles. He's won this competition a previous eleven times and has won all the other club singles competitions more times than anyone else. He's also won multiple county titles. Gave me my biggest lesson when he beat me in last year's Handicap Singles final.

Since there are three club competition matches being played this evening, we draw for rinks. I get rink 6. That's a positive omen.

Unfortunately the match gets off to a sour start when he questions my request for trail ends, two woods up and down. He did this the first time I played him in a club competition. Our marker looks nonplussed. My opponent backs down when he sees I'm not going to be intimidated. An email will be going to the competitions committee for clarification and a request to put the ruling on the competitions board.

By end seven I'm trailing 1-7. The disagreement hasn't affected me, anything but. Just taking longer to find the lines. When I do I score two consecutive threes. It's seven all.

The thirteen end and I've got him on the ropes, leading 10-9 after a string of single wins. I'm playing long ends and he's bowling short. Could have been further ahead, but his last bowl seems to save him from losing two or three.

He soon corrects his length and is winning 13-15 by the nineteenth end. I then drop three, then one. Things are look serious on the twenty-second end. I've got two bowls closest, but his last bowl nudges into the count. Looking at the head, it's a measure but I think he's just got shot bowl with his last delivery. If I can give him a nudge I could win two. My bowl is accurate and delivers the nudge. Alas, I hit slightly off centre and it's two to him! Game over.

As the marker said after, the game was much closer than the 21-13 score. Many times he had difficulty telling who was holding shot. The difference was use of last bowls. When he was in trouble, invariably his last would score or reduce my count. Mine was less of a weapon when I was in trouble. But I know I can beat him. Next time...

Here's the scorecard.