I was looking forward to relaxing with my team mates on Friday night – and even knowing we were likely to be trounced by the team 2nd from top, didn’t spoil the thought. We were playing the Ex-Service B1 at home and though we are not familiar with their players, we’d had an OK time when we played them away.

Billy had gone straight to a leaving-dinner from work but intended coming back home to pick me up and then we’d go to the pub. However, his dinner ran late so I walked with Simon and Claire and met Billy there. Everyone else was already in – as were the away team and the darts area was pretty crowded. I had to almost fight my way in to have a few practise throws.

The pub was already populated by loud, drunk idiots, and it soon became apparent that the away team had also had a skinful - which all served to make me very uncomfortable and I couldn’t relax at all.

One of the other team was the most obviously merry, and at one point he stood close to me, with me sitting on a bar stool behind him and he backed into me. Normally you’d expect someone who did that to quickly move away and maybe apologise. However, he pushed himself back further so that my knee was wedged firmly between his legs at the level of his groin. UGH! For the rest of the evening I felt unclean. He even tried it again later, but luckily Claire spotted what was happening and leaped off her bar stool next to me so that I could swiftly turn sideways and avoid him. Thanks Claire.

All this, coupled with my bad week, made me very on edge all evening and I hated every minute. It definitely affected my darts though I wasn’t awful – I was just aware that I could maybe have done better if I’d been relaxed. Paul shared my feelings I think and his darts were uncharacteristically poor. Roger was not on form either though Simon and Claire were good – thankfully!

We lost every game bar Simon & Claire’s doubles, and Claire’s singles. Well done both – at least it wasn’t a whitewash. We all left the pub pretty early – it says a lot when the pub’s own darts team can’t bear to drink in there afterwards!

It was a thoroughly horrible evening to round off my week