Match Report - Westbury

Editor's Note: We've come a long, long way since the opening fixture, both on and off the field. This time we're even selling stuff!

Just two short months ago, TSJ Ladies Rounders opened their season with a right royal hammering by Westbury. As skipper Michelle commented in her extensive match report "oh dear!!! it can only get better!!". And, folks, it quite clearly has. Not only did that heavy defeat spur on the girls to turn their season round in quick time, the match reports have since taken on a life of their own. And this one will be no exception.

After the massive success of Sunday's gala and the monstrous Heroes v Marvels clash, spirits at Totty are very high, and it was with renewed optimism that we welcomed league leaders Westbury. There was plenty of pre-match entertainment, with 6 people, a chisel, 2 hammers, and a passer-by with flip-flops required to knock the poles into the ground ... and then the official turned up and promptly asked us to move two of them! To add insult to injury, skipper Michelle was also under the weather with some vomiting bug. Ally meanwhile was turning everyone else green by constantly pulling up her top to show off her sunburn.

Westbury are clearly a well-drilled outfit that play to a plan. Totts batted first and right from the off fell under intense pressure. The Westbury fielding was tight and efficient, and our girls found it difficult to score their usual clutch of rounders. Indeed the first innings saw only two girls round the bases, the increasingly-ashen Michelle and "Mrs T", Vicky Turner, scoring back-to-back efforts. With plenty of 1s and 2s scored, the girls totalled 56, which initially seemed a pretty low score, but one which proved quite competitive. There was one fantastic comedy moment where Jane rounded all the bases, but then bizarrely chose to stand at 4th base for the next ball, as though there was somewhere else to go ...

In the absence of Byron, Jemski and the lovely Luxton Ladies, it was left to the glamour duo of myself and Sara to cheer us on from the sidelines. Totts fielded like demons - Westbury's plan was clearly to knock 1s and 2s and they gave very few chances, but despite their cautious approach, the girls put the league leaders under the thumb. Some corking fielding from eventual Mars bar winner Olivia and continual massive throws from Alex prevented any rounders, and when Michelle completed a brilliant late bowling spell by cleaning up 4 very quickly, Westbury had totalled just 52 to give Totts an unlikely first innings lead!

Our traditional second innings batting strength has started to wane in the last couple of games, and yet again it deserted us at a crucial time. Jane and Trish (who clearly plays better when massively bladdered) departed to the first two balls of the second innings and we were right up against it. Despite some brave batting by Suzanne, the by-now-almost-white Michelle and Vicky, Westbury managed to keep us down to about 60 second time up. Would such a small total prove defendable? It was going to take a remarkable effort to hand Westbury their first defeat of the year.

And it just didn't happen. The girls gave it their all but it wasn't to be: the visitors played cannily and stole bases and points with some speedy running, and the fielding started to deteriorate. Ally was having an uncomfortable time at tips - along with one memorable moment where she managed to whizz the ball about 50 feet straight up and back down to herself - and despite trying Jane, Michelle and Vicky with the ball, we just couldn't dismiss the batters. Having secured the game, a late flurry of rounders gave the scoreline a slightly uneven look, and Westbury eventually ran out winners by a good 60 points.

Back in the pavilion, Ally clung to the salad bowl as though her life depended on it - perhaps she was scared that Shell might vomit into it. The post-match analysis went on long into the evening, with Vicky, Michelle, Jane and the Fluffster all speaking at some length about tactics, and some interesting ideas were thrown into the mix. Fluffy suggested a change of coach, to which I retorted there would also be a change of coach's favourite if that happened! Outrageous. There was also time for a quick reworking of the current batting averages; there's now just one hundredth of a run separating Jane and Mrs T at the top!!

We can take a lot of heart from the performance, there were plenty of positives, and with some new ideas to mull over and some more aggressive batting, this could have been our finest moment yet. It wasn't to be, but now we can put Westbury behind us for the season.

As we've now passed the halfway point of the competitive season, it's time to unveil this year's brand new range of club merchandise! Enjoy ...