D 2 Report - Horse and Groom - 10th May - Lost 2-3 54/60

From Desi
'DON'T CRY FOR US, DEAR SUPPORTERS' for we will rise triumphantly, eventually!

Yep, you've guessed it - we lost once again with a finishing score of 3-2.

The day didn't start well for our Captain as he was having problems with his waterworks, all sounds a bit fishy to me, but ponds will be ponds.  Anyway, we travelled to one of our favourite pistes in Ramsgate, arriving before the opposition who live there (not counting the fellow in the alleyway in his worn out duvet, who welcomed us to the area and wished us well!)  Unfortunately nobody had any spare change to give him because I had grabbed it from everyone for their Subs.  I know, unkind, but we do have our End of Season Curry to think about and it does have to be paid for. 

Back to the game.  The weather was dull and grey with heavy rain forecasted.  There were a few drips around but none of them bothered us, so we let them be!  We all had practice throws to get the lay of the land and my skills looked unbeatable, I was pretty chuffed with myself and thought that I might have a good evening. But sometimes, where do thoughts like that get you, you're exactly right -  NOWHERE! 

The Doubles were played first and Bob and Den were raring to go. First end they were down 4 points, second end down  another 4 points when Bob realised there was a problem, he wasn't playing with his own boules, he had picked mine up in error.  What a disaster.  Our boules are identical except for the weight.  They say similarity breeds contempt but this was going overboard and he was very 'discontent'.  Once sorted though, our Capi-tano and Den played magnificently and won their game 10-13. 

Steve and Patrick played their Doubles and were on top form, coming away with a winning score of 11-13. 

Mick and Jim's Doubles didn't fare so well, losing after a long and arduous game with a score of 13-11. 

Now the Triples.  I was teamed up with Alan and Den but, unfortunately,  things didn't go our way.  The Boys played some wonderful shots and I pointed a couple of nice ones too but it seemed like ages before we got a single point on the board.  The opposition's  lady player Sally, played a lot of useful ends getting her boules so close to the coche it must have felt it was being shaved by a  female Barber-ian! We played on even though it was a tough game for us and the final score of 13-9 though we managed to get some points, didn't really make us feel any better - that's just the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. 

So to the other Triple game being played by Bob, Patrick and Rodney. 

In the fading light the boys were unable to fend off the opposition's cunning left hander who consistently ruined their game by shooting their beautifully located boules into oblivion, in one case bouncing the coche off our boule and back to himself, resulting in upping the oppositions score by 4 points!  Our hearts were in our throats throughout the game (well mine was) and with our 'A' Team Hardy Boys, Rob and Hunky Dunky giving the 'B' Team lots of support and advice, I thought we might have a good chance of coming out on top, but despite Patrick's excellent pointing and shooting we ending up losing 13-8. 

In future I'll suggest prescribing extra medicinal Masterbrew  to oil their elbows before the start of play and possibly a small Wine and Soda for me, nope - make it a LARGE ONE! 

By now the overhead clouds had darkened just like our spirits, so we retired to the Horse and Groom to drown our sorrows. Upon seeing the Pool Table, Alan suggested that maybe we should take that up instead - I was prepared to give it a go but nobody wanted to play with me.

Our hosts provided us with sustenance, we paid for our drinks and left after saying farewell to them.  As we walked back through the alleyway we said goodnight to the man in the duvet but he ignored us (I imagine he wasn't impressed by us either - oh well).

 Our Captain hasn't yet found a winning combination amongst his fellow players and he's not pressurising us, but provided we only lose 2 more games, then promotion is ensured. 

Anyway we like playing in The Plate, so Dear Friends it is .......onwards and upwards!