Broken Dream part 1

First semi final of the day, the Men's handicap. I've got to get to 25, my opponent, an in-form B Team player, to 21. He also has two semi finals today, the first already played. Says he got thrashed. Sounds a good omen for me.

We're late starting at 4.20pm. My second semi final starts at 6.30pm and our marker is particular. So I'm trying to hurry things along. The first five ends not going to plan, all singles to him. On most I'm sitting with three or four bowls in close to the jack. He keeps getting one bowl in as shot, often his last bowl. But I'm calm and know we've got a long way to go.

Having caught up, it's a bit of a set back dropping three on the eleventh end to go 9-5 down. But two consecutive threes see me in the lead after the fourteenth end. Swings his way again, then back to me. By the twenty-fifth end we're at last all square. It's 22-18 to me and we both need just three to win.

I drop one, then two on the next end. Game over and I've lost 22-21!

Not sure what I else I could have done. Those single winning bowls in the early ends really saved my opponent. I could easily have been twelve up by end five, which would have been psychologically damaging for him.

But no time to ponder. We finish at 6.20pm and my next opponent already has his bowls on the green and is ready to go. Here's the scorecard from this match.