How to beat yourself in two easy lessons

Another day of eager anticipation. This evening it's the first round of the Over 60s Singles. Four bowls each, played over sixteen ends. And having won this competition last year, I'm the current champion! Never been able to say that before. Sounds nice.

Will it make any difference? Don't think so. My opponent is the current best lady player at the Club. In the all-time top five of the player ranking of 241 players who've won anything at any level, with multiple County Championships. She beat me in the Mixed Singles final in 2016

Win the toss and off to a cracking start. Playing a short jack, bang on line and length. Four up after two ends. Lose the third. My opponent moves the mat up a few yards and plays a longer jack. Suddenly I've lost my line. Five ends to her and I'm 4-9 down!

The next three are mine. Pull it back to 8-9. But three to her in the eleventh is crushing. How could I not get at least one bowl close? Another single to her in the next end and it's 8-13 with four ends to go.

Pick up singles on the next two, but pressure is building. On the fourteenth miss a great chance to narrow the gap. First short by a yard, my second within six inches. There's bags of space to increase my score, her bowls nowhere near. Third short by two feet. Fourth short by two feet. Unforgivable! Missed a great opportunity to level the score. Did a similar trick on the tenth end as well!

On the fifteenth decide for the first time to try a very long jack. Need shake things up. It's a very tight head and I'm holding one. If I can just knock my opponent's second bowl out I'll have three. A few millimetres too wide, I clip her bowl in to be shot. I've done that before too, on the fifth end. My last bowl finds an impossible gap to go through the head, missing her shot bowl and the jack. Two to her and I concede.

Two fundamental mistakes. Knocking my opponent into shot when I was holding. Not too unhappy about that. A few millimetres was all the difference between losing two and gaining five or six. The more unforgivable is not scoring more when the opportunity was there. How could I play short? At least playing heavier might have been the right length, or knocked against an opponent's back bowl. But short? Absolutely no benefit in that! And a loss of three or four to me.

Reasons to feel cheerful? Still in five Club competitions. In particular, the premier Two Bowls Singles and Four Bowls Singles. And I've got another opportunity to do better against the same lady player. We're up against each other again in the first round of the Mixed Singles next Wednesday. Here's the scorecard.