Our fourth game was away to the Red Lion in Coltishall and they’re a new venue and a new team to the league. I’ve also never been to the pub before and I really liked going somewhere new, so I’m all in support of having more non-Norwich venues in the league. Or at least I was until we lost heavily, at which point my commitment to rural expansion became rather more nuanced.
Still, I suppose I had better write about it so I do not look like a bad loser, which is important because I am obviously a gracious and reflective loser, provided nobody mentions the score. Many thanks to Luke for getting me to the pub safely and nice and early, so we could have a proper look at their table and begin forming opinions that would later prove tactically irrelevant.
The table is up against the wall which is an interesting location in quite a large room, although I quite liked making shots whilst having a little sit down on the window ledge. Bar billiards is a sport of immense physical endurance, so it is important to conserve energy wherever possible, ideally before missing. Here’s Luke getting warmed up for the big event.
I had a practice with the final game shot and then had a sit down with a pint of ThreeOneSix from Grain Brewery. This was a fruity, hoppy and slightly toffee flavoured beer, all very agreeable.
Here’s Luke and a lion. Luke’s on the left.
The anticipation before the draw.
And the completed draw, what could possibly go wrong? We soon found out in the rather comprehensive way that someone might discover a roof leak during a thunderstorm.
PJ and Vaughan started us off and let’s just say that we lost the first two games.
The Red Lion kindly provided us with some free sandwiches and when they were placed down I pretended that I wasn’t desperate to start eating them. I waited for a reasonable period, I think around twelve seconds, and started in the hope that no-one noticed. I tested a lot of these on behalf of the team as leadership comes in many forms and this week it involved bread.
It was a friendly pub and they had three real ales available, with the two I tried being well-kept. This was a decent distraction during the controlled demolition process taking place in the bar billiards room.
The set-up requires some short cues….
My second beer was the Best Bitter from Grain, malty and good with my third helping of sandwiches.
Luke the Lion won his game, I didn’t doubt him. That brought it back to 3-1 and it was me up next against Jon. My normal tactic of getting to 1,000 was a success, indeed, I got 1,260. Unfortunately, Jon scored 1,710 so that tactic didn’t bring us to 3-2.
It’s evident that my enthusiasm towards this blog must have waned, this was my only other photo of the game. We lost quite a few of the games after Luke’s success. Well, actually, all of them. Bloody game….
Luke and I have no further statement to make and we will not be responding to any further media enquiries about the situation.
But back to the pub, which is a really quirky shape with lots of character across a couple of different levels. The staff were friendly and many thanks for the beer choices, the free sandwiches and the welcome. The Red Lion team led by Tom were also great fun and it was a very enjoyable evening out. Well, quite enjoyable, that score was sub-optimal.
But, from failure comes strong leadership and we hope to lose by less when we play the King’s Head next week in the cup.