January 3rd 2013 away v Crooked Billet

So with Christmas and the New Year celebrations well and truly behind them, seemingly washed away by the heavy rains that swept in across the Atlantic for what seemed like an eternity the Rose & Crown resumed their faltering season with the distraction of a 1st round cup tie away to the Crooked Billet.
For those of you that are not aware, the Crooked Billet lies in the village of Colney Heath, one of St. Albans furthest outposts that until recent times was only accessible by horse and cart and in extreme weather only by the river Colne (if you had a suitable inflatable device) so you never know what awaits you. The half time spread could sometimes consist of carrot and Celery Sticks, the odd pickled onion and even an ear or two of corn. None the less this was a chance for the Rose & Crown to put the troubles of 2012 behind them and lay down a marker for the rest of the season.
With Skipper Alan Turner struck down by illness along with the Director of Darts and the whereabouts of Neil "the dude" Crosby unknown it seemed the troubles of last year were not banished as one hoped. But with Dave Noble making his own transport arrangements as did Big Ron, club secretary John Goode was hopeful that a full team of six would be available and with that along with the reappearance of the Dude it was decided that we would set sail for Colney Heath.
Stand in skipper Paul Mullins pulled no punches selecting the pairs and indeed the first single. Sending Brothers Grimm off first followed by John and Neil then Paul and Big Ron.
The Rose & Crown were aiming (I use the term loosely) to secure their first pairs victory since November 22nd, an unprecedented run of some seven consecutive straight pairs defeats. First up The Brothers Grimm but Wally has been in great form of late and saw off the challenge with ease to give the home side the advantage. Next up Neil and John who faired no better, 2-0 the home side. Mulls and Big Ron next up hoping to turn the tide and perhaps would of done so had Mulls nailed the double 8 in the second leg, 3-0 the home side. So, ten straight pairs defeats for the Rose & Crown, there are no records kept but I suspect that this is one albeit an unwanted one and with the Blackberry Jacks up next (formerly Inn on The Green) its difficult to see where the next one is in fact coming from.
So if the Visitors were going to get anything out of this match they would have to do it the hard way. So when Dave Noble defeated Ashley Ralph in a thrilling first singles I think for the first time in a few weeks there was a slight flicker of belief that they could earn something out of this game even of this was self respect and it wasn't doused even when the dude came back empty handed for even the Dude showed some fight and spirit going down 2-1 to Derek Ralph and perhaps could consider himself unlucky not to come away with the spoils. Mulls chalked another one on the board for the visitors with a straight forward 2-0 victory which was followed by Ian Oakman who ran out the victor in yet another thriller to reduce the home sides advantage to just one leg. The belief now was coursing thoughh the veins of the visitors who were producing by far the most noise of the two teams.
So with two to play it was a choice of Kev or an out of sorts Big Ron. Stand in Skipper Mulls opted for Kev opting to save Big Ron to face Wally. But despite a brave performance from Kev it was not to be and the Rose & Crowns unlikely comeback was over.
Far from being down hearted the visitors should go away heads held high, for it would have been easy to throw in the towel at 3-0 but spurred on by Dave Noble who got them off the mark the visitors seemed to grow in confidence and began to fight for every leg that was on offer. If the same fight can be carried forward surely they will avoid the fate in the league that currently awaits them.