January 17th 2013 Home V White Lion

With the country gripped by fear of what could possibly by complete whiteout, the Rose & Crown were taking on the White Lion and hoping to avoid another whitewash as befell them the previous week when they went down at home 9-0 to the Inn on The Green. Souls were searched and memories checked in a bid to try and recall the last time they had received such a hammering. The stalwarts of the team all just shook their heads unable to think of such an occasion but most likely their grey matter was unable to recall events more than 6 months prior, in fact when quizzed most could not remember what they had for tea that evening never mind a result against the flights in 1996. And so it came to pass that never before had The Rose & Crown lost by such a margin.
The run of straight pairs defeats now extended to a record thirteen however and was most certainly undisputable, as is a run of 7 league defeats stretching back to September 27th.
So with the unwanted stats stacking up the very real possibility of relegation to the second tier of St. Albans darts the Rose were going to have to try and turn their season around somehow. This they did and they did it in style, The Brothers Grimm (Kevin and Ian) finally chalking up a pairs victory not only ending a miserable run but unwittingly in the process giving the home side a 1 leg lead. This was quickly followed up and before the Rose knew what was happening the unthinkable had happened and they had raced away into a three leg lead. Neil Crosby was an early casualty in the singles and must now surely be contemplating a life off of the oche and closer to the chalkboard. But this was just a minor setback and when Ian went on to secure the victory the relief could be seen coursing through Skipper Alan Turner’s veins after masterminding an if not memorable victory but certainly one of the most important.
And so the Rose kick off the second half of the season with a victory, only their second victory of the season but this is the time now to build on that success and try to gain the momentum needed to push away from the foot of the table. It’s not all been doom and gloom as some would have you believe for the most part the Rose & Crown have given a good account of themselves and but for a fair wind and a bit of good fortune could have had more points on the board but as the great Syd Wardell said “They’re just like long John Silver, unlucky and short of a leg.