PARWICH.ORG

By Mark J.

One of our band of supporters brought to my attention last night that it had been some while since I’d donned my Reporter’s Hat.

Maybe, by way of an excuse, I could offer that the profusion of headgear we’d been forced to wear over recent weeks had caused that confusion. Cranial protection has had to include the stormproof, the sunproof, the hailproof and the mere mistproof. There were Boaters at Baslow, Toppers at Tideswell, Mitres at Matlock and Chupallas at Chatsworth There were Whoopees at Wirksworth and Beanies at Bakewell.

Tuesday millinery choices have proved rather successful of late. We currently sit 2nd in the table at what is now the halfway point of the season with a record of five wins out of nine, including no less than three maximum point victories. Most of these though have been at home, as the only recent success on the road to date was a very pleasing conquest at Wirksworth. If we can maintain this current form into the second half – and I see no reason why this shouldn’t be the case – then surely we’ll be well placed to take the plaudits of promotion come the 20th August. There have been blips along the way: arriving at a somewhat waterlogged Matlock Bath, “Pitch Inspections” indicated the game should have been off, but discussion between captains concluded that as everyone had travelled we’d give it a go. An enjoyable encounter, but we didn’t adapt to conditions as well as our opponents. We were once again humbled on the North Face of the slope of Youlgrave this week, but stand the chance of a speedy revenge this Tuesday as a quirk of the fixtures list dictates that they visit us in the return fixture. Things are looking good!

Thursdays have not seen such joyful outcomes. Though not for the want of trying one win in ten with only eight to play sees us still effectively rooted at the foot of the table and even the most optimistic of us must start to wonder if our position in the top flight can be assured at the end of the campaign. The win when it did come, though, was worth all the heartache. A magnificent home victory saw us wear the Crown against our old friends from Wirksworth was, it must be noted, heralded with the appearance of the bunting throughout the streets of Parwich.

But we’ll press on. We won’t give up. We’ll battle in good-natured combat with our friends from throughout the Peaks, and whilst writing this I’ve suddenly realised where things have been going wrong….

….We need to be wearing our Bowler hats!