The Pairs competition was played on Sunday (6 Mar).  The early stages of the competition were beset by unexpected transport issues which left some players gridlocked in Baberton Estate and regrettably arriving late.  As we play four ends of three stones per player,  the lost ground was made up in the course of the event. 

Games were played on sheets 6 & 7.  Sheet 6 had a big swing on one side but was quite consistent.  Sheet 7 was a lot trickier, with a slight fall back near the centre going to the bar, and largely straight or negative ice on the wall side going both ways.  Unfortunately both finals ended up being played on this sheet.

In the first round matches, Morris & Carr just pipped Hope & Gillespie, and together with Alexander & Lambie, Hunter & Carr, and Lambie & Scott, progressed to the High Road.  In the Low Road semi-finals Hope & Gillespie went through against Jacobs and partner, and the Ramsays enjoyed a good victory over Dunbar & Ballantyne.  In the High Road semi-finals Morris & Carr ovecame Alexander & Lambie in the final end, and Hunter & Carr carried the day against Lambie & Scott.

The Ramsays dominated the game in the Low Road final, making life very difficult for opponents Ronnie and David, who got close on a number of occasions but just failed to gain any advantage.  The Ramsays ran out winners by eight shots to nil.  Congratulations to Jim and Pam.

In the High Road final, Morris & Carr were fast out of the blocks taking a three in the first end. They added to their opponents problems in the second end when a measure between two stones cutting the four foot went their way.  Hunter & Carr came back in the third end with a two, and then stole another two in the fourth end to tie the game at four all.  In the fifth end, Keith was left with a draw against three opposition counters (all in the outer circle), and with excellent sweeping by Margaret just managed to take shot at the front of the house by the narrowest of margins.  Margaret’s first stone in the sixth and final end picked up and skewed short well to the right hand side of the house.  The front of the house was then dominated with short stones.  Ken attempted to remove the nearest of these, the only opposition stone, but played too heavily and the stone fell out to just nick the target stone and move it right across the house to count in the outer circle near the tee line.  Margaret’s first stone that had picked up was covering a direct out-turn strike option.  Morris and Carr decided to place a shorter stone on the straight side.  Hunter & Carr attempted an in-turn tap back from the centre on the singleton opposition counter, but too much ice, too fast, whichever, it caught a front stone.  Keith then played to cover that side of the house but went deep ending inside and slightly behind his original counter, widening the potential target.  With his final stone, Ken played an in-turn, back ring, tap back to take shot and tie the match at five all.  So onto the sudden death of drawing the house.  Hunter & Carr played first, and a killer shot to the pot lid left Morris & Carr with the difficult task of having to cover the centre hole on the pot lid to force a second round of shots. Their draw shot did not achieve this, so after a very close match Ken Hunter & Dave Carr carried the day.

On Saturday afternoon (27 Feb) the Club organised an introductory session for members interested in trying Points.  Eleven members attended and they enjoyed the opportunity to experience this different format.  Participants offered mutual support to each other and generously cheered successful shots from their peers.  It was not a formal competition, but for the record the leading scorers were Margaret Carr, Ian Neil, and Janette Lambie.  In line with the desire of the participants, the table of results has been lodged in the Club’s records.  The enthusiasm for some kind of competition next season will be forwarded to the Committee. 

Two games critical to the outcome of the Thirds League took place tonight (Feb 25).  Team Beaton took on Team Jacobs on Sheet 6, whilst Team Carr took on Team Scott on Sheet 7.  In the first mentioned game, Team Beaton having taken a single in the first end, had their hopes torpedoed by loosing a three in the second end and conceding a single in the third end, Team Jacobs running out winners by 7 shots to 4.  In the second game, Team Scott weathered the loss of singles in the first two ends before recovering to go 4-2 up after five ends.  They then lost headway, conceding a two at the sixth end to tie the game, before taking a three in the final end to snatch victory.

Although there are still two games to be played, Team Scott having completed their games cannot be surpassed.  Congratulation to Iain, Alex, Barbara, and Les on winning the league.

Nine members assembled on Wednesday evening (24 Feb) to contest the medal for the Second Points. Fastest out of the blocks on the first two disciplines was Jim Ramsay followed by Tom Alexander, and Reg Dunbar.  Jim easily kept his place as front runner over the next two disciplines followed by a chasing pack of Walter, Reg, Tom, John J, with David B and Ken closing behind.  The next lap involved Chap & Lie;  Ken and Tom made decisive moves and closed the gap behind Jim and Walter.  Wick & Curl In was probably the decisive lap, with Ken scoring a five to gain a three point lead over Jim, Tom, and John. A late surge by Jim in the final discipline (Raising) just failed to get him to the tape ahead of Ken.

Scores after 7 disciplines ; Ken Hunter 31, Jim Ramsay 30, John Jacobs 27.  Some good scoring across the board on ice that was tricky at times.  The stand-out performance of the night for your reporter was that of David Ballantyne who finished on 24 points.  Well done David.

On Thursday evening (17 Dec), ten members turned out for the last fixture before the festive break.  The event was played out in a grand atmosphere of mutual support with participants eager to learn from the shots played by colleagues and to garner any information that could be passed on.  Time passed quickly as our ranks were marshalled by orders from Ronnie Hope,  taking on a sergeant-major’s roll (his next booking is as Goldilocks! at the ECC Christmas Bonspiel).

Eight disciplines were completed, and the contest remained pretty even until the seven discipline (Raising).  Ken Hunter took the medal with 44 points, Walter Brown was in second place (37 pts), and Dave Anderson and Ronnie Hope tied for third place (33 pts).  There was a good standard of play overall which was reflected in a relatively high average score of 28.5 on the night.  David Gillespie made his debut and set a good opening benchmark for the future.

The final of our KO competition was played on Monday 7th December. It turned out to be a very close and exciting game. The teams were Jim Ramsay, Roger Scott, Kirsten Mauchline and Alister McDonald, against Ronnie Hope, John Jacobs, Barbara Gillespie and Margaret Dalgleish.

It was very nice to see some of our newer members playing in the final.

The standard of play was excellent, although both teams had problems with wide, out-turn shots going away from the bar.

Ascendency swapped from side to side, with good strikes and raises to win ends.

Ronnie went into the last end 2 shots up.  His first shot (on the difficult out-turn) was slightly over swept and then he was slightly heavy when he tried an in-turn draw onto Jim’s back stone. He hit the stone but rolled away from it, leaving Jim with 3 shots and not having to play his last stone.

Well done to both teams for a great game and congratulations to the new champions, Jim and his team.

Final Score:  Team Ramsay 7  Team Hope 6

Dave Carr

In some respects the 2015-16 Singles may well be remembered more for the weather conditions on the day than the competition itself. Road conditions were extremely bad, resulting in some late arrivals. Modern communications allowed some adjustment of the proposed programme to keep the event on track.  After it was all over, participants faced a difficult and tedious journey home.

As to the curling, your web master was amongst the late comers and missed the preliminary round altogether.  Those progressing to the quarter finals were David Ballantyne, Walter Brown, Keith Morris, and Ronnie Hope.  In that round Keith, Ken Hunter, and Dave Anderson ran out winners.  The closest tie was between David Ballantyne and Walter Brown.  David took a single followed by a two to lead by 3 shots.  Walter played a fine strike with his last stone in the third end, removing two opposition stones to take a four and lead 4 shots to 3.  In the final end David’s attempts to tap back or rest on Walter’s stones failed, and Walter took the tie.  On to the semi-finals;  Walter proved too strong and eliminated Keith, and Ken overcame Dave A.

As you might expect, the final was a fairly tight affair.  Ken led in the first end, and ended with a counter at the back right hand side of the house guarded by a biting stone at the front of the house and a shorter stone. Walter could see a fair proportion of the house and took a single with a finely judged draw.  After a number of draws and strikes, the second end resulted in a single for Ken after a final strike.  Ken then managed to keep two stones in play for most of each of the next two ends, and Walter was only able remove one without staying in the house with his final stones.  So 3 shots to 1 for Ken after four ends.  In the fifth end Walter’s first stone drew past ken’s stone on the outside, so Ken tried to remove it but only managed a fresh air hit (technically a horrible attempt) .  Walter went on to extract the maximum penalty for this miss and took a two.  So game even at 3 shots all after five ends.  In the final end Walter opted to play just short of the house on the right hand side; Ken replied with a deep draw to the other side.  Walter played a second stone just short of the house but nearer the centre, and Ken played a strike on the out turn to remove it.  Walter then drew around his short stone into the house for second shot, his stone only gaining marginal cover from his short stone.  Ken drove but only removed the guard leaving Walter to attempt a take out on his counting shot.  Walter’s final stone only just touched the counter and Ken took the tie by 4 shots to 3.

The semi-finals of the 2015-16 Knock-out Competition were played out last night (19 Nov).  In the top half of the draw Team Ramsay eventually prevailed over Team Morris (7 – 4); whilst in the lower half of the draw Team Hope enjoyed a comfortable victory over Team Anderson.

The Final is scheduled for Monday 7 December at 7.30pm.

In the quarter final matches on Wednesday evening Team Ramsay, skipped by Roger Scott, ran out winners against Team Lambie by 12 shots to 8; and the three-membered Team Morris overwhelmed Team Alexander (12 – 2).  In the second group of matches on Thursday evening,  Team Hope, skipped by John Jacobs, pipped Team Brown at the last end (7 – 6); and Team Anderson came back in the last two ends to win against Team Hunter (7 – 5).

Please remember that the semi-final matches are at 5.30pm on Thursday19 November. 

The Knock-out competition got under way on Tuesday 20 October with a preliminary game between Team Anderson and Team Dunbar.  First blood went to Team Dunbar with a two in the opening end.  Team Anderson responded vigorously, taking a 6 in the second end and a 4 in the third end, to lead 10-2.  Team Dunbar pressed hard and won all of the remaining ends, but were unable to make up the deficit.  Final score Anderson 10 Dunbar 8.

Team Anderson will play Team Hunter in the quarter finals on Thursday 29 October (5.30pm).