Tom Francis team-mates inspire each other - from eight miles away

Haywards Heath & Beech Hurst 39-31 Newick

They say sport is played largely in your head, and if ever there were proof of that, it came in our inaugural Tom Francis matches on Sunday, June 28.

The matches are played simultaneously at each club's venue, and the outcome of matches is determined by the aggregate scores.

And while our home side struggled for much of the match to come to terms with Newick's initial onslaught - and a tricky Beech Hurst green - eight miles away, our away side remained comfortably on course throughout.

And the turning point came when we began to learn how well our "other half" were doing.

It was looking ominous for the home quartet of Jacquie, Mark Gooch, Bill and me as we trailed Newick 0-10 after five ends.

It looked even worse after 11, when we had slumped to 3-13 down. But the mood lifted after we were informed that our away four - Anne, Clive, Stephen and Bob - were 13-7 up - meaning we were only 16-20 down overall.

It transformed our bowls, gave everybody a lift - and seemed to have the reverse effect on the visitors from Newick, who, up to that point, had mastered the tricky green much better than we had.

Our home team actually fell further behind - 3-16 after 13 - but we won four of the last five - including fours on each of the final two - to narrow the gap to 15-17. And there followed an agonising wait before we learned that Anne's side had won 24-14 to make it 39-31 overall.

The eight points difference was precisely the number we gained on those final two ends at Beech Hurst, making our victory very much a complete team effort.

We now play Buxted Park - subject to confirmation - in the semi-final on July 12.