Two wins on consecutive Tuesdays have now catapulted Parwich on a dizzy upward spiral in the Matlock Tuesday League. We are now up to fourth and within touching distance of the leading pack; members of Matlock Park, Wirksworth and Bakewell are, as we read, looking over their shoulders and quaking at the very mention of our name. 

Indeed it was at our old friends Wirksworth that we enjoyed a particularly gripping victory last night; a long, close and tense encounter that went on long into the night through warm sunshine, howling gales and squally showers. Did that dampen our spirits? Not a bit of it! On their finely prepared (credit to Phil the groundsman) and large green we all strained every last sinew and came away rewarded with a 75 to 60 triumph. The storm clouds had cleared and a fine, clear but cool dusk evening was settling as we cheered our final pairing of Edith and Rick home to victory.

Last week’s was a 63-49 thumping win at home over Hope Works, with a little controversy adding spice at the end, when the final jack lodged on the corner tuft of grass (all perfectly legal and above board.) The end was played out after agreement of technicalities with the opposition and Tony and I won a four-wood margin to secure the match. “Stewards’ enquiries” followed but it was decided the match had been won and the result stood. 

Fortunes not so great, though, in the Thursday competition, where we haplessly came up short again against a spirited Baslow outfit to lose on the day by 133 to 113. However under current League rules Baslow found themselves on the wrong end of a directive that docked them 25 points for fielding an incomplete team and thus an ineligible player appearing twice and so the official record gives us what may be termed as a hollow victory to count as our first win in nine attempts. Call me old-fashioned but I’m a sportsman, I’ve much sympathy with Baslow over this and to me and it doesn’t feel like a conquest, (shades of the recent Derby County syndrome perhaps?) – however that is my view only and may not reflect those of all in the Club or the League.

No bowls this Thursday due to the start of Her Majesty’s celebrations and the planned visit to Whitworth Park has been postponed until September, and so our next outing will be at home to Youlgrave on Tuesday evening when we will pull out all stops to avenge our recent Thursday trouncing at their place. An evening of excitement and electrifying stimulation awaits any of you who would turn out to support us.  …

Mark J.

Well, yes, okay, it was one game from ten,; and we scraped a win by one point last Tuesday at Whitworth Park (Darley Dale,) but the headline had to be upbeat to excite you Dear Readers.  

The poor run of form continues, yes, but we do have injury concerns which we’re all sure will improve markedly over the ensuing weeks. We’ve also had some close matches with fine individual performances, so I’m sure that further successes are just around the corner. The two home games of last week against Burbage (Tuesday) and Hathersage (Thursday) I am unable to comment on as we were away on holiday – but checked the results from afar before breakfast on each occasion the following day. 

So on to the away travels again this week. A thrilling match Tuesday evening at Whitworth went down to the wire and having tight games throughout, finished in the pouring rain with Parwich having a 72-71 advantage. The trip to Bakewell on Thursday was a glorious affair on a warm summer’s afternoon, again with some exchanges ending as mere single point margins, however Bakewell came out on top this time and fully belied the 143 to 93 scoreline. The jaffa cakes were welcomed but the chocolate digestives melted as we ate them….

So, two home games this week, support down at the Club would be much welcomed; 6.00 Tuesday v Hope Works and Thursday 1.45 against Baslow. Despite the recent losing streak and events on the greens seemingly conspiring against us, fear not, as certainly my resolve, for one, will not be dampened! …Mark J.

Apologies for late posting of Mark’s report but for some reason our email system has decided to treat Mark’s posts as junk [can’t think why! 😉 ]