Hethersett SC Home 15 Jul
Priory v Hethersett Social Club - 15th July 2024
With the pre-match precipitation drifting away, the second home friendly of the season witnessed the visit of Hethersett Social Club to Priory Gardens on an evening when the slightly hardier players would complete the match shirt-sleeved without wishing for extra layers.
Recent sporting events in Germany had finished with disappointment for many but the Priory team was upbeat after achieving their first double of the season following a recent win against Great Melton.
There were a few anxious moments for the Priory team before the match started. The listed reserve had already been called upon as one of the leads had had to deal with other priorities away from the green, meaning that John Austin was listed as Pat for the evening, when with five minutes to go before the first jack was to be cast the team was still one player short. After Plan A, make frantic calls to the absentee, resulted in no response Plan B, ring John Moore and ask him to stop watching the news on TV and hurry to the green, was put into action. John responded without question but by the time of his arrival the absentee had arrived asking “Which rink am I on?” John was given the opportunity to play but was happy to sit it out and watch from the benches.
The match finally started without further delay with the visitors casting the first jack after having won the toss. By the mid-point there were only two shots between the teams and the Priory side were looking to gain at least a draw against a team who had beaten them both home and away the previous season. However it was not to be, out of the total 64 ends played the Priory team could manage to win only 22 of them and lost the match with the final score Priory 39 shots, Hethersett Social Club 63 shots. One positive to come out of the encounter was, whereas last season the games on all four rinks had been lost, the contest on rink four was won as Ivan Freedman, Bet Davies and Bob Smith who was playing his first friendly of the season managed to win 18 shots to 11 shots.
The match was completed without intervention by the weather and after the final bowl had been played, both teams retired to the clubhouse where hot drinks, and freshly baked scones and cakes were on offer alongside delicate finger rolls. Friendly banter was exchanged between the teams and a raffle was held before both Captains reflected on the evening’s events and outcome, thanked those who had worked quietly behind the scenes to provide the refreshments and agreed that they were looking forward to the return match later in the month.