The Crooked Billet November 29th

If life it is a vaudeville

And we the crowd it entertains

And the skies they are the set

Then the earth it is the stage

And if time it is the script

And we the willing players

Then hope it be the answer

To all our dreams and prayers.

Hope indeed, The Rose & Crown certainly went into this intriguing encounter with hope in abundance. On the back of an unbeaten five game streak hope was certainly high. Thoughts were even harboured of curtailing a runaway Crooked Billet side who find themselves in the higher echelons of the first division, a position it would have to be said that they are very much unaccustomed to.

But this was a different Crooked Billet side, one that has not been seen in recent years and one that now boasted the mercurial talent that is Bob Williams and the incomparable Linda Searle.

The truth was that on paper this should have been an even match up, reality though is something very different and this was a no contest. Linda Searle weaved her magic and almost single handed dismantled the Rose and Crown as if tearing it down brick by brick, barely leaving the skeletal wooden framework behind.

Chris Wilson on his final competitive match for the Rose and Crown managed just one leg from both his doubles and singles encounters, one more it has to be said than his father Tom who failed to even get off the mark during one leg of his doubles with Tony Scott and then encountered Linda Searle at her brilliant best and was duly dispatched two straight legs in the singles.

So with the usually dependable Wilson's managing just one leg from a possible eight all hopes of a result had long since departed and the Rose only had pride to play for.

Even pride was proving a difficult obstacle to climb though, as Skipper Alan Turner found out as he to fell short. Only John Goode offered any Resistance as once again he put in a solid performance to claim yet another victory by two straight legs but then was cruelly overlooked for a singles slot in favour of the out of sorts Neil Crosby!!!

So with just the one bright spot the Rose went down 7-1, one of their biggest defeats in recent memory and one that they will no doubt be looking to put behind them as they go into the mid season break.