Time for a team talk

Men's 4s league match at home against Huntingdon B. Division 3 is so close that, although we're halfway at fifth out of ten teams, a 7-0 win this evening would jump us ahead of our rivals, currently second and in line for promotion. Should have high hopes since we drew on two rinks at their green. But our home form is dismal.

Time for a team talk before the match. When I tell the players I was seriously considering arranging for us to play the unfavoured direction away from the clubhouse, one exclaims 'you must be mad'. Hmmm... very supportive! Decided against since we played Huntingdon in that direction yesterday in the Over 60s, and some of those players might be here tonight. I explain doing that would be my attempt to make us feel more like we were playing away rather than at home.

We've won four out of six away games, grabbing twelve out of fourteen points from the last two away matches. At home we've only won two out of six. If we had the same home form as away, we'd be top of Division 3 by some margin and heading for back to back promotion to Division 2!

Pretty obvious early on that we're not going to win all seven points from the match. On rink 1 we are soon well behind. It's the opposite on our rink. Starting with a five in the first end, we build a good lead. Looks like it all might hinge on rink 2, where both are close. As we come into the final ends rink 2 is all square, and on our rink we need a good result to ensure the bonus point for highest total bowls.

The result? We lose 2-5. Rats! It could so easily have been 5-2 in our favour. Another home loss!

Must be doing something right. I'm lead on our rink and playing well. Most bowls rolling near or up against the jack. After both land against, one of the opposition says jokingly 'you're a right pain'. My best performance ever for the team.

Retire to the clubhouse for a quality ploughman's lunch. Our ladies really do put on a tasty post match meal. Here are this evening's scorecards.