Lead role

Another demonstration of the importance of a good lead player. Playing our Club Pairs fixture this evening over eighteen ends against one of the best pairs in the competition. We won this competition last year, beating the favourites in the semi-final, a cracking match. If we're on form should be another classic.

But we're in trouble from the start, 0-7 after just two ends. Never recover, losing badly 5-25 and winning only four of the sixteen ends played before the stage is reached we can no longer catch them. 

What really made the difference was their lead. Probably the best lady player at the Club and someone who has knocked me out of two competitions this year. Bowling with a high level of accuracy, she got at least two bowls right up to the jack, often three. Any others were pretty close too. My partner was giving her a good challenge but the pressure was relentless.

Rarely did I get a chance for a clear draw when it was my turn as skip. The jack was usually surrounded by bowls. The opposition skip was either knocking more bowls in or drawing up to his partner's bowls. I was faced with trying to somehow squeeze a way through, or play with weight to scatter.

Now left in two Club competitions. Still got a chance of making Finals Day. Just. Here's the scorecard from this evening.