From Phil
Seismic events. Cataclysmic outcome. Momentous result. Yes, it's true: on Tuesday evening the brave Natives A team went head to head with the high-flying Bottles from Eastry for the first time and beat them by 4 games to 1.
With all the stormy weather yet to come the well drilled battalion of Bottles arrived in good time for their league match against the Natives and appeared to take to the piste in a confident and jaunty manner.
However, their apparent optimism proved to be short-lived as they found the Natives in no mood for footling, determined as they were to erase the memory of the previous week's setback. The triples were played first and saw the formidable combination of Alan, Robert and Robin continue their run of dominant victories on the near piste as they cruised to a 13-2 win. However, as the Bottles are an experienced and highly capable outfit this was to be the only one-sided game of the night. The other triple featured the now settled side of Peter, Phil and Duncan playing against a trio of Bottles that included Alan Creegan, who is a county player and their captain. However, they reckoned without the contortions and convulsions of Whitstable's far piste and the Natives raced into a strong early lead. Despite finding their feet and mounting a determined comeback the Bottles were unable to catch the canny Natives and the home side emerged with a well crafted 13-10 win.
The doubles games were next on the agenda and these saw two very close encounters and one that was competitive but ultimately a comfortable win for the Natives. This was the game played on the near piste, which recent rain had made reasonably pliable, with a a sort of wet cement patty in the middle. It involved Alan and Peter, who used all their wily skills to carve out a 13-9 victory and give the Natives an unassailable lead in the match.
On the middle piste Robert and Duncan played one of those very closely contested, nip and tick kind of games, rather like a referendum, that could have gone either way. In this case, it went to the opposition by 13-12 after many ends in which winning points were measured in mere millimetres.
The final game, on the far piste, pitted Robin and Phil against the aforementioned Alan C, primarily a shooter, and his partner, predominantly a pointer. To say that this game began badly for the Natives would be similar to Emperor Hirohito saying, "The war in the Pacific has not necessarily developed in Japan's favour" in the immediate aftermath of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. After two ends we were 6-0 down. With Alan shooting at 100% for his first 8 attempts any decent Native point went for a Burton and, if he didn't particularly like the prospects for his team in any end, he just knocked the coche into the trees or the pavilion or the middle of next week. Thus, we found ourselves 9-2 and then 12-4 in arrears. To be fair to ourselves the Bottles also enjoyed more than their share of outrageous good fortune in this game. But all storms blow themselves out eventually and when we'd reached the point at which no further concessions could be afforded Robin simply said to me, "all we have to do is win the next nine points in a row."
So we did.
The Natives are by now fairly famous for their comebacks and, although it seems immodest to say so, this was probably the best in which I have been involved; largely because of the quality of the opposition. And it was all done quite quietly, with careful and considered play. No fireworks - points were just carefully accumulated with what Robin calls "tenacious endeavour." And in the end we got 13 of them and they got 12. Job done. Match score 4-1 and 64-46 to the Natives.
Everyone then trooped back to the pavilion for a light supper of chicken and lettuce sandwiches, scotch eggs, sausage rolls, cheese and bacon quiche, salami and chorizo with crusty rustic bread, pork pies and I think there was some caviar on blinis but the Bottles probably scoffed it all!
So on this occasion, the Natives broke the Bottles:
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