D1 Report - Northwood H 31st May - Won 4-1

"So Fair and Foul a Day I Have Not Seen."

Thus speaks Macbeth in the aftermath of a battle won despite some very heavy weather. In this case it was fair because the Natives tasted success in their home petanque match against Northwood but also foul because there was never a glint of sun nor a glimpse of blue throughout the whole proceedings. And, while we're on Shakespeare, the air was still "as cold as a dead man's nose." (from, rather aptly, The Winter's Tale.)

The Northwood petanque team have been friends of The Natives ever since Finals Day three years ago, when they very graciously stayed to support them in the Final of the Plate after their own team had already been eliminated from the competition. So it was with great pleasure that we welcomed them to Whitstable for Tuesday's division one league match, albeit that conditions were not entirely benign. However, after heavy rain earlier in the day the pistes were a bit fudgy but perfectly playable, with even the near one holding up under a recently applied layer of sand and cement! 

As usual, Robin elected to play the triples first in order to try to establish a commanding lead before playing the round of doubles games. Once again, this proved to be a wise tactic as the brave Natives duly took a 2-0 lead in the match. The now customary combination of Pete, Duncan and Phil played on the far piste against a trio who looked as if they'd be more at home on a flatter surface than the one on which they found themselves. It was like playing on a crumpled blanket. But without the warmth. The Natives, however, are used to this sort of thing and they won 13-4. 

Meanwhile, on the near piste, the established team of Alan, Robert and Robin were having fun with the peculiar contours that are to be found over there. I didn't see any of this game, but apparently there were only five ends, despite which an impressive number of points were scored: 13 of them to the Natives and 7 to Northwood.

Peter the Pointer and Alan the Shooter then disposed of their opposition without much ado, by 13 points to 2, on the same piste in the ensuing doubles. Robin and Phil returned to winning ways on the far piste by beating a very tenacious pair of Northwood players by 13 to 7, with Robin firing a game-winning shot the entire length of the piste to remove a pesky Northwood boule that, had it remained, would have kept them in the game. Consolation then came for Northwood in the shape of a 13-8 win over Robert and Duncan, for whom the boules did not roll happily on this occasion. However, they were to more than make up for this defeat the following night. But that's another story. 

With an overall victory of 4-1 going to The Natives, both teams then repaired gratefully to the warmth of the pavilion for some hot food, expertly prepared by Alan. Tom Kerridge would have been purring with delight had he tasted the pulled pork on brioche buns that we enjoyed on Tuesday evening and they proved a perfect foil to the miserable conditions that we had just endured. It was also a pleasure to be able to offer this affable team such tasty morsels as these.

However, while the Northwood team may be congenial, they are also competitive and I'm sure they'll be fighting hard on their home terrain when we play the return match later in the Summer and when we hope that the playing conditions will be a bit more user-friendly. Here's one of the Northwood players shaping up for a shot on Tuesday night: