Men’s
1 made the trip to Fir Vale school for the first of 2 trips a week
apart. This time it was to play the return leg of the match we had lost
5-4 at home against the PMC 1 men. With the hosts having one player
back who had missed
the first encounter and having to make one further change we were
pretty familiar with the majority of our opposition. Our team was at
full strength with Dave H playing his last game before going under the
knife for a season ending shoulder operation.
Dave
H/Rich started against the best player from the first game and Rich set
about getting under his skin as our boys tried in vain to take the tie
into a 3rd end but could not quite sneak the 2nd
end in losing 21-19,
the first end having gone 21-13. Dave W/Andy were making a slow start
in losing out 21-10 & 21-17 against the second pair, making a slow
start but coming back to be in contention. Sam/Mark at least took their
opponents to a decider in 3 tightly fought ends
with 2 and 3 going either way to 19 but the home pair having won the
first.
In the second round of games Dave
W/Andy came up well short in losing 4 & 7 against the strongest
pair, never really getting going and performing well below their own
expectations. Sam/Mark were also struggling to take on their opponents
in losing out tightly first time before not stringing enough points
together in losing the second to 9. This time it was the turn of Dave
H/Rich to take a deciding end but once again we couldn’t quite get over
the line in losing to 17 in the decider.
With the match well and truly gone the final round of games saw Dave H/Rich play the 2nd
pair and come out on the losing side in straight ends. Mark/Sam made
it to 12 & 13 in losing to the strongest pair on the night. In this
round it was Dave W/Andy who went to 3 ends (against the same pair as
both others) winning the first 22-20 before falling 12-1 down and
fighting back to eventually be 18-18 only to throw it away. The decider
didn’t go their way either in losing to 14 so a
final score of 9-0 to PMC 1.
A
season of learning is now half way through, with PMC 2 next up we at
least have had a look at the venue in advance as we try to notch our
first victory in division 1. The team and the entire club wish Dave H
all the best for his operation
and look forward to welcoming him back once his rehabilitation is
complete.