Hijacks 13 d The Bowling Shanes Prem. Def. 10

We lost our first end, (as usual). We romped back into it, taking a 7-1 lead (as usual). We had a little wobble (as usual) and gave them a sniff at 7-5. What wasn't usual was that they took the game right away from us, and we failed to reel them in.

We were one shot down going into the last end. Even Marcus William Murphy [filling in for Dean], the most relaxed man in Southern Tasmania, felt a little tense. Hunter [who has settled in as regular skip] was sending contradictory smoke signals from the far end.

Hijacks' lead sent down a long, long jack, and followed it with a great shot that just touched it and moved on a little. My shot was pretty good but not good enough. His second was almost as good as his first, and they held two shots. I decided I needed to use force to wedge us back into it, and proceeded to completely duff my second shot. It thumped into the back wall way off beam. Dave and Marcus sent down four well-aimed but unsuccessful shots. We were three down by then. Hunter drove and cut it back to two. His second drive was close, but no banana.

Hijacks bowled well all night, and as soon as their luck turned they proved too consistent for us. It was the loss we had to have. Perhaps it was complacency, perhaps it was the absence [at the Gabba] of our gritty No 3 Dean. Marcus gave his all in the Shanes cause, and cannot be faulted. His second shot for the night was his best - see the blue/yellow bowl below. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and get back on the bucking bronco that is Twilight Lawn Bowls. If we don't master its awesome power, it could destroy us.