Sometimes the curling gods smile on a team while their opponents wonder just what it is they have to do to prevail over their opponents. Tonight those gods most definitely cast their favours on Team Waterlow while Team Auld’s best efforts eventually came to naught.
Team Auld were at fighting strength whereas Team Waterlow were short of Richard Willson who was feeling considerably below par having disagreed with something he ate. Fortunately new super-sub Niall Macintosh was available at remarkably short notice to keep the numbers balanced.
It was an exceptionally close and hard-fought game which concluded with Team Waterlow just one point ahead at 6-5. It could so easily have gone the other way. For so many ends, Team Auld held the clear advantage only for their opponents to pull something out of the bag.
After Team Waterlow had taken a comfortable single in the first, Team Auld was turning the tables in the second with a well-stocked and well-guarded centre to the house. But a nicely-judged tap up from NJW was inch-perfect for once leaving Dougie with nothing to go for. Another point to Team Waterlow.
By the third, Team Auld had their dander up and scored a strong two points to level the game, their confidence growing by the minute. And although they lost another single in the fourth, their curling prowess was showing through.
So it was particularly frustrating for Team Auld in the fifth end after having confidently built up a well-guarded five with not a single opponents’ stone in the house, to have Team W still manage another tap-up to reduce their advantage for the end to just two points. Still, Team Auld were working well and leading by four points to three.
But the sixth was perhaps the most galling for Team Auld as once again they approached the conclusion to the end with two stones at the centre and considerable protection at the front. Surely this end was in the bag? NJW had little option but to try running a heavy stone through a narrow slot to push up one of his own stones lying just at front of centre. The odds were against but my goodness, it worked! It was a real team effort thanks to the laser-precise guidance with the brush and spot-on calling from third, Jim, and heroic and disciplined sweeping from Fiona and Niall. It gave the team an invaluable three. 6-4 to Team Waterlow.
So the seventh and final end was a tense affair. With Team Auld still rampant, it looked quite possible that they could level the game, if not sneak a win. But in the end Team Waterlow managed to foil those ambitions, albeit losing the end by a single point. It was as close a victory as they come for Team Waterlow, an honourable defeat for Team Auld.
John W.
Holyrood Curling Club 