There was consternation at the start because as the bell rang, John Mac was standing there with only one other team member, new boy Donny. We knew James would be doing his customary cutting it fine and sure enough he whistled through the door moments later, but where was Colin? A quick phone call ascertained that a calendar malfunction meant he would be taking no part in activities that night and the team were therefore facing a three stone penalty.
Meanwhile Team D was at full strength – on paper at least. JW skipping, Dougie at his usual third, Kay playing second and Steve at lead. However, whether all present would be contributing in the normal way was moot. Steve had arrived straight from a long and obviously very liquid lunch in town and was clearly feeling particularly bullish about the forthcoming game. And as it turned out, he channelled his uninhibited mood to the good and under the watchful eye of Kay he threw himself into the sweeping to great effect – on several occasions proclaiming that the sweepers had swung the end for the team.
As to the contest itself, to use the old cliché, it was a game of two halves. Team MacConnachie had a strong start but sadly faded towards the end. Although Team Waterlow took the first end by one stone it was clear that they were up against strong opposition. All three of Team Mac were on the brush and looking dangerous, and they quickly evened things up with a single in the second end.
In the third end, Team Mac built up a couple of stones in the house and a guard up front – all in a neat line. Try as they might, Team W couldn’t get in – two shots to Team Mac.
But that was the last scoring end for Team Mac. Their accuracy waned and although they didn’t allow Team W any big scores, the subsequent ends were a succession of twos and ones against that led to an 8-3 score-line after seven ends. With the penalty added, the score looked more one-sided than it really was.
John W.
Holyrood Curling Club 