Alternate skips were acting for both teams. With John MacConnachie still hors de combat, Rob Garner had moved up to skip. The consequent vacancy in the rink was filled by Dee Williams who deserves mention in despatches as she had come straight off the ice from a game with another club in the previous session. That she was seen nibbling at an energy bar halfway through this game indicated the level of dedication that she was showing to the sport.
Meanwhile, Alice’s schedule for her five person rink meant it was her turn to stand down, with John W. stepping up to the skip’s mark. Kay was unavailable and ably subbed by Bob Cameron. However, a senior moment for recently-retired and hence relaxed Steve Laux meant the team ended up short-handed on the night with a consequent three point penalty incurred.
Despite the penalty, Team Kinnaird still prevailed, taking the game 8 points to 5 after adjustments. Theirs was the steadier performance while Team Mac’s was the more erratic – the latter struggling to place their stones where they wanted and skip Garner having somewhat of a blue period.
It started well for Team Kinnaird with a two in the first but then with Team Mac pulling back a single in the second it looked like an even contest was in prospect. However, things became increasingly one-sided. Sub Cameron was playing a strong lead for Team Kinnaird by getting stones in the house while second/third Walker’s accurate drawing was helping consolidate the position. Skip Waterlow was generally guarding and even when failing to do so adequately was not being punished by the opposition.
Team Mac scored another single in the fourth end at which point skip Garner was determined to have the scoreboard show the post-penalty result as a boost to his rink – so at this point they were leading by five points to four. Unfortunately this piece of sports psychology failed to have the desired effect as the team were unable to add anything further to their score for the rest of the evening. With a two in the fifth followed by another couple of singles Team Kinnaird finished strongly, relieved to come out clear winners in spite of the penalty handicap.
John W.
Holyrood Curling Club 