With sickness kicking in once more for the unfortunate Rose & Crown the account of tonight's match has kindly been written by John Goode.
Mercifully Badger showed up which just made 8 players.
Myself, David Noble, DD and Scotty went directly to Waverley as the last two had just got back from Heathrow after their Portugese golfing break, and David had collected them from the airport (at 1730!).
Although I recognised most of the Waverley players, I don't know their names, so this report will be a bit lacking in that respect!
Our first pair were the "tactical" DD and Alan Turner. Unfortunately DD's head was still somewhere between Lisbon and Heathrow, and they lost in straight legs, admittedly to reasonably good players. One down.
Next was myself and Wavy Davy. I wasn't as good as I should have been, and David wasn't as good as I should have been either. We lost 2:1. Two down.
Third pair was Scotty and Kevin. After a shaky start, losing the first leg, (with Kev struggling as he'd left his darts at home) he borrowed a lighter set (mine!) and things improved. They managed to win 2:1. Waverley 2, R & C 1.
Finally, The Dude and Badger. They won in straight legs (I think) with the Badger doing some great finishing. That man is proving a great asset to us! So, after a dodgy start it was 2 - 2 after the doubles.
In the singles we started with Kevin, who was back on form with my spare set of darts. He won 2:0 I think, with a final flourish (if that's the word)... requiring 55, he went for 15 and got 2; then went for 17 and got 3, leaving 50! There was a pause while we all offered a silent prayer, then BOSH, a bullseye! Wav 2, R & C 3.
Next, The Dude, who won, despite moaning that he was playing rubbish! Wav 2, R & C 4.
Finally, I went on and managed to win the first leg despite my opponent beng on 40 before I got a double start (Singles were 301).I lost the second leg, but managed to win the third. That made it Wav 2, R & C 5, and as it was gone 11pm we called it a night.
Monday 15 December 2008
Monday 8 December 2008
Sandridge Rovers (away 04.12.08)
It was another week of despair for The Rose & Crown as they crashed to yet another humiliating defeat, this time 5-3 at the hands of struggling Sandridge Rovers.
Having lost 6-2 in their previous two encounters and being continually plagued by injury and illness, the sparkle that was all so evident after brilliant performances against The Crooked Billet and The Inn on The Green was no where to be seen. The impetus had gone and along with it the confidence and the enthusiasm, replaced by a nervousness and edginess that would have a stadium full of Arsenal supporters salivating at the prospect of humiliating yet another unfortunate underachiever. But Sandridge Football Club was no place for jeering supporters. The harrowing sound of whistles and boos sent down to greet such individuals could not be heard on this cold (for some people) winters night. Instead the only audible sound to greet the players of The Rose & Crown was the eerie silence that trailed in the wake of a certain Grim Reaper as he scythed his way through the team.
This was the evening the lid was firmly nailed down on a plain and simple wooden casket that contained not that of the lifeless body of the Rose & Crown dart team or indeed the shiny tungsten barrels that they plied their trade with, This was the evening the notion of darts, the mere idea of darts, the pure thought of darts died for the Rose and Crown and there in lieth it’s soul.
For this we offer a small prayer.
Our Father who art made of tungsten,
Taylor be thy name.
Thy dart team come,
And victories won,
In St.Albans as well as in Harpenden
Give us this day our full team of eight.
And forgive us our missed doubles,
As we forgive those who miss doubles against us!
And lead us not into the second division,
But deliver us from relegation.
For thine is the dartboard, “The Power” and the oche.
For ever and ever. Amen
Having lost 6-2 in their previous two encounters and being continually plagued by injury and illness, the sparkle that was all so evident after brilliant performances against The Crooked Billet and The Inn on The Green was no where to be seen. The impetus had gone and along with it the confidence and the enthusiasm, replaced by a nervousness and edginess that would have a stadium full of Arsenal supporters salivating at the prospect of humiliating yet another unfortunate underachiever. But Sandridge Football Club was no place for jeering supporters. The harrowing sound of whistles and boos sent down to greet such individuals could not be heard on this cold (for some people) winters night. Instead the only audible sound to greet the players of The Rose & Crown was the eerie silence that trailed in the wake of a certain Grim Reaper as he scythed his way through the team.
This was the evening the lid was firmly nailed down on a plain and simple wooden casket that contained not that of the lifeless body of the Rose & Crown dart team or indeed the shiny tungsten barrels that they plied their trade with, This was the evening the notion of darts, the mere idea of darts, the pure thought of darts died for the Rose and Crown and there in lieth it’s soul.
For this we offer a small prayer.
Our Father who art made of tungsten,
Taylor be thy name.
Thy dart team come,
And victories won,
In St.Albans as well as in Harpenden
Give us this day our full team of eight.
And forgive us our missed doubles,
As we forgive those who miss doubles against us!
And lead us not into the second division,
But deliver us from relegation.
For thine is the dartboard, “The Power” and the oche.
For ever and ever. Amen
Monday 1 December 2008
Townsend Bowls Club (away) 28.11.08
After a weeks rest from the Hurley burly of the league, the Rose and Crown resumed their campaign with a tough encounter away to Townsend Tennis and Bowls club. The visitors have in recent times enjoyed some success against the former league champions, but the early season promise that saw the Rose & Crown competing for top slot has disappeared under a blanket of illness and injury. This perhaps was about as weak a performance as the visitors have produced in recent years and against a side that had to concede a game for not having the required amount of players, leaving unbeaten pairing John Goode and Paul Mullins on the sidelines.
The visitors looked a shadow of what they were early on in the season and the home side were quick to capitalize and were the much happier side having gone into the singles at two apiece, despite having to concede the final encounter. But this was only the start of the Rose and Crowns problems. Neil "The Dude" Crosby was woefully out of sorts as was "veteran" Tony Scott and each went down meekly both unable to recapture some of that early season promise. Paul Mullins so often this season able to produce the darts when in mattered fell short having had three darts to try and keep the visitors in the encounter and when Kevin Woods too succumbed the visitor's misery was complete.
A black day for The Rose Crown.
The visitors looked a shadow of what they were early on in the season and the home side were quick to capitalize and were the much happier side having gone into the singles at two apiece, despite having to concede the final encounter. But this was only the start of the Rose and Crowns problems. Neil "The Dude" Crosby was woefully out of sorts as was "veteran" Tony Scott and each went down meekly both unable to recapture some of that early season promise. Paul Mullins so often this season able to produce the darts when in mattered fell short having had three darts to try and keep the visitors in the encounter and when Kevin Woods too succumbed the visitor's misery was complete.
A black day for The Rose Crown.
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