Bowls Evening 2009
Bowls Evening, Risca 2009
On a balmy Friday late in May, Risca Male Choir took a welcome break from its strenuous but enjoyable Annual Concert rehearsals to have one of its many social evenings. The choir had taken up the challenge of Pontymister Welfare Club to play them in a game of bowls. The secluded and idyllic setting for this evening was perfect and their club is an oasis of peace and calm.
None of our choristers is a bowler but we did manage to persuade an old chorister, Trevor Everson, to guest for our team. You knew immediately he was a ringer because he wore a shirt emblazoned with Ystrad Mynach Bowls Club and he even brought his own bowls. Would he single-handedly prove to be our saviour?
When our rag-taggle outfit arrived, dressed in an assortment of M&S leisurewear, baseball caps, Panama hats, and ill-fitting shorts, we knew we were up against it. Not only were the Welfare Club players practising, but they were practising in their nicely starched uniforms. Each of their players was dressed immaculately in white with sharp green badges on their shirts. They even had their individual names sewn into their tops. The creases on their trousers glinted at us menacingly in the crepuscular light. Our resolve needed stiffening so we paid the first of many visits to their well-stocked, welcoming, and ludicrously cheap, bar.
The game was played in excellent spirits and I'd like to report that the Choir gave the Bowls Club a run for their money but alas this was not the case. We lost on all four rinks and by quite a margin in each. The closest we came to doing a lap of honour was when one of our bowlers managed to get the bias correct on one of his shots. There were High Fives all around when this happened.
However for once it was the taking part rather than the winning which was important. In the gathering gloom the matches came to an end and we shook hands with our opponents and then retired to the bar. Now the soft clack of bowl hitting bowl or occasionally bowl hitting jack was replaced by the loud chink of pint glasses colliding and the sound of melodious singing as the choir led the after-match celebrations. At last we were able to find two things that we are good at.
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