Last night saw the end of season playoffs for the divisional titles in the Province League. Penicuik, having topped the Division III league, played second placed team, Stewarts Melville.  Your Web Master was given the opportunity to join the Penicuik ‘Young Guns’, substituting for team captain Dave Anderson.  The ice was very keen for a 5.30pm start, and this led to a lot of play at the back of the house in the initial ends.  Stewarts Melville took the early initiative with a two in the first end, followed by a steal of a single in the second end.  A well controlled strike with his final stone by skip Murray Hope gave Penicuik a single at the third end.  This proved to be the turning point in the game; Penicuik went on to take threes in both of the next two ends, and a two in the sixth end.  The game was concluded when Penicuik took a four at the seventh end.  Iain at lead, and John at second, both played well to set up each end and when necessary deal with threatening early shots by the opposition.  Murray led the team well and restricted any opportunities for the opposition to regain a foothold in the game.  Final score 13-3.

For my part it was a good opportunity to play with the guys and to see how they worked as a unit.  They may face harder opposition in Division II next season, but they can build on the experience gained this season to do well.

Update from Team Captain Dave Anderson

The final game in this league was played on Thursday of last week, skipped by Murray Hope with Dave Anderson at 3, Iain Scott at 2 and John Jacobs at lead.  We managed to maintain our winning run by beating Boswell Curling Club by 10 shots to 2 and by 5 ends to 2, thereby finishing at the top of the Division III on the same points as Stewarts/Melville but with a better ends and shots difference. This means that we are promoted back into Division II, which will be a much harder task for us, but hopefully the experience of playing together this year will help in our endeavours in that Division. Many thanks go to Murray, Iain and John for making this season so successful and enjoyable to play in.

We now have the prospect of a play-off match against Stewarts/Melville to determine who takes the Division III title.

Midlothian played Ayrshire  in the Waldie Griffith inter-province competition at Murrayfield on Monday 9 February at 3.00pm.  Penicuik provided one of four teams representing Midlothian in the fixture.

Overall, Midlothian won the match by 2 shots.  In their game, Penicuik beat Troon by 4 shots.  The Penicuik team was Walter Brown, Dave Anderson, Keith Morris, and John Jacobs.

Penicuik were drawn as the away side in a two-rink District Medal tie this season, against Glasgow Ladies at Braehead.  The game was played at Braehead on Monday afternoon 19 January. Traditionally our President and Vice-president raise the rinks for this fixture.

Match Report from Jim Ramsay.

The Glasgow (Girls) gave us a friendly, warm welcome.

Once on the ice both Penicuik teams won their first end.  By the fifth end, the end that usually changes, the game saw President Jim’s rink with 3 ends and 5 points.  Andrew Lambie, who was skipping the Vice-president’s rink for Dave Carr, also had 3 ends but were 1 down against the Glasgow side who had 5 points.

Jim lost a 2 in the 6th end which brought their game to 5 each.  Andrew gained 1 in his 6th end to also display a score of 5 to each side.

Nail biting stuff!  The Ice was very fast and gave huge draws.  The Glasgow sides were both playing at high levels and they, of course, knew the ice.

The game was to be played over 8 ends.  At the end of the 7th end, Jim’s rink scored a 1, while Andrew pulled away with a 3, leaving his team at 8 – 5!

End 8, and the President’s rink managed to secure the front of the house but Jim’s last stone found its way to the centre of the house.  Valerie, who had skipped her side well had an open house to draw to the Penicuik stone for a 1.  She was light and with the big swing on the ice, failed to reach the house, giving Jim, Dave A, Liz A and Pam a four.  OOPs, Andrew dropped a single in the 8th end but still won by 2 shots (Andrew, Dave C, Reg, Margaret).

Final Result Jim Ramsay(S), Dave Anderson(3),Liz Anderson(2) Pam Ramsay(1)

10 Points to 5 with 5 Ends against 3

Andrew Lambie(S), Dave Carr(3).Reg Dunbar(2),Margaret Carr(1)

8 Points to 6 with 5 Ends against 3

A worthwhile trip, well played,  in good spirit and The District Medal awarded to Penicuik!

Twelve members turned out on a cold and snowy night to contest the medal for the First Points competition on Thursday 11 December.  The match was played out on sheets 6 & 7 which turned out to be a little trickier for some of the disciplines than on some occasions.  As the competition moved to a conclusion, 5 players were in close contention, but 4 points with his last two stones at ‘Wick and Curl In’ ensured that Ken Hunter took the medal with a score of 32 points (6 disciplines).  John Jacobs and Walter Brown were tied in second place on 28 points, followed by Dave Anderson and Keith Morris on 27 points.  On his debut at Points, Ian Neil made a creditable 15 points.  Well done to all of the members who turned out to test their skills.

The 2014-15 Knock-out competition was concluded on Monday 1 December with Team Hunter meeting Team Ramsay in the final.  First blood went to Team Ramsay who defended two stones in and cutting the four foot circle.  This was reduced to a single shot, and being denied the opportunity for a raised take out with the last stone Hunter opted for a difficult double through a port that would have yielded a big score.  The target stone was struck but not on the inside, so no coconut.  Team Ramsay applied pressure in the second end with most of the play but were not able to remove a lonely looking second shot by the opposition.  Hunter was relieved when his final stone drew to the four foot for a single.  The third end was perhaps the decisive end which feature quite a number of strikes.  Ramsay was left facing three shots and was disappointed to see his last stone hit the target first shot but roll out without clearing the hit stone.  Team Hunter consolidated by stealing a single at the fourth.  Team Ramsay were under pressure in the fifth end but JIm delivered a fine out-turn draw to freeze on the first shot and take a single.  Team Ramsay pressed the play in the sixth end on the right hand side of the house and were in a good position until Roger Scott put a in a draw to the four foot from the left.  This stone was then defended for a single.  Team Hunter went on to take another single in the seventh end and win the match by 7 shots to 2.

Congratulations to Ken, Roger, Iain, and Jan;  commiserations to JIm, David, Pam, and Jean.

The 2014-15 Singles competition was played out on Thursday 27 November.  The entry was limited to 12 players.  In the top half of the draw there were wins for Walter Brown, Ronnie Hope, Ken Hunter, and David Ballantyne in the first round.  In the bottom half of the draw there were wins for JIm Cowper and John Jacobs in the second round.  In the other second round matches Ronnie beat Walter, and David beat Ken (draw to house).  Into the semi-finals; Ronnie won through to the final after a very tight game with David; and Jim ran out of steam in the second semi to lose to John by a single shot.  So Ronnie Hope and John Jacobs went back onto the ice to contest the final.  By this stage the ice had changed and had become somewhat more difficult.  Never-the-less John quickly seized the initiative with a three in the first end and despite some good play Ronnie was unable to turn the tide in his favour.  Congratulations to John on winning the medal, and well done to all the participants for making it a good evening.