DEAD DOGS DOLDRUMS – Nov 26

The dogs blooded a new member again this week, taking the playing group to 8 faces for the season thus far.
DDD elected to stay on the bench – a groin strain injury, while PDF had pulled a hammy. This left an opening for EB (emerging businesswoman) Tracy to take her place on the green, playing behind LOL, again as decoy, with D-Mac at no. 3, and Andy Zee, trying to hold the pack together as skip.

This was a tall order, our opposition being the dastardly foes, “Biased” by name, and “Bastard” by reputation, (otherwise known as The Molders of Future Adelaide Establishment (TMFAE)). They took a familiar arrogant stance on the green, daggers drawn, moustaches twirling – pity the male members were not similarly equipped.

Enough of the idle chitchat – you want to hear about the game.

It was a perfect night, the greens hard and fast, and a hint of moisture in the night air, which delivered nothing (there is a drought in Adelaide you know), and the wind a bare whisper, which failed to stir even the golden locks of our skipper.
We won the toss, which was a bad omen, and we were held scoreless until the 4th end, when the ladies demonstrated how to place the bowls, giving us 2.
This effort wiped the smirk off the faces of our opposition, and they attempted to “colonise” the dogs. They soon realised this was a pathetic effort as D-Mac was able to outscore them on academic points, and they turned their attention to settling the score on the green.

Despite the Grasshoppers being given an airing by the DD, they failed to work their magic. D-Mac had been handed a pair of number 13’s, which in hindsight, may have jinxed the night, playing on the 13th rink on the 26th November – Triskaidekaphobia was not in his wordbook. The opposition, playing with their own bowls (they would, wouldn’t they?) had better success on the night.

All 4 opposition members inflicted damage, despite some brilliant play by the dogs, which failed to deliver on the scoreboard. As you might expect, the dogs were instructed in the finer points of the game – its number 3 who does the measuring, number 2 ……etc. etc. We appreciated their efforts. However there was tension in the opposite side with their skipper on the night being a hasty fill-in for the late- arriving captain. “She is playing well isn’t she” was heard on more than one occasion, which makes for a promising cat-fight in the future.

EB gave a stellar performance on her opening to the season, always looking threatening, but the 3 regulars were lacklustre in performance with only a few bursts of dazzle and delight. Our most successful end was the 10th, when we manage to give them a left, right, and centre biff, scoring 3, but this run was too little too late, going down 19 – 6 at the final call.

The raffle yielded more luck, with LOL getting the numbers – a choice between the Pickled Onions, the International Roast, and a packet of appropriately named Devil’s Delight Mixed Nuts – with a Quiz Night looming on the Saturday night for EB and Andy Zee, it was a no-brainer.

An after-match de-brief with archenemies “The Bowls Bags” gave some comfort to our night. The Bags had faced our erstwhile opposition the previous week, and we take some Perverse Pleasure that Pip had Pipped our Scotch friends on the last bowl of the last end, to take out a tightly fought and aggressive game.

Note to DD Dandy - the Mystic Mauve Roosters were available last week, but following your write up of the previous match, no one was prepared to touch them!!!