Well, this was a very peculiar game!

The ice was playing very erratically, perhaps from fierce usage over the previous three days of national mixed championships.

Also, Jim was apparently somewhere between Southampton and Edinburgh airport, and possibly arriving, but meanwhile Deemo happened to be at the rink so stood in.

Unfortunately, with Deemo on great form, it created a big mismatch in the leads, and Richard and James were playing nicely to capitalise on that.  So, with many shots behaving strangely, the early ends became rather one-way traffic and Team Auld raced to a huge 11-2 lead after four ends.

The fifth end was developing similarly with plenty of stones in the house and two blue counters.  But with the final stones we had to risk going down the strange right-hand side, and with good sweeping it did run weirdly straight, to pass the guards and then swing in, knocking several stones about.  After a measure, it proved a score of four yellow stones.

Next end, firing away from the gallery, there developed two pairs of blue stones lying left and right of centre, but John got some yellow stones inside them.  My stones similarly nudged in, promoting and guarding, so this time against the hammer we scored another four.  Game suddenly on!

Final end saw a couple of early stones from Fiona and Billy lie nicely in line behind a guard, looking safe.  Then one of Richard’s stones was going a bit wayward down that same right-hand side, only to nick a wick-in off an outlier and trundle left, to lie exactly on the button, guarded! Jaws dropped.  The bell had now gone, and we were playing in a quiet empty rink.  Dougie laid a nice short guard on the left, looking safe, but my last stone somehow worked past it, curling in for a nudge on that counter, and took over the button!  Dougie’s last stone could not do anything, so it finished at an 11 – 11 peel (4-3 on ends), to the delight of team D, while Dougie headed off so quick he didn’t sign the scoresheet.

A very peculiar game!

Rob.

This was the second game of the season for both teams and more than that for some individuals playing with the VETS CC.  So, the cobwebs should have been well blown away by now.  Not that you would know it by the way the game progressed.  There were a number of high scoring ends which pointed to a certain unpredictability to the standard of play by both teams.  In the end though it was the five points dropped in end three that did for Team MacConnachie – try as they might it was a blow from which they would not recover.

Team MacConnachie was all present and correct – no substitutes.  The three-handed Team Garner had enlisted Donny, playing at lead, to make up the full complement.  Things started well for Team Mac with a two, despite wayward shots from both teams as they struggled with weight.  Then Team Garner fought back with a single in the second.

But the third end was the disaster for Team MacConnachie.  As the end progressed Team Garner managed to clear the few stones team B had got near the button, leaving their skip to guard the openings.  Five shots against is painful (see my report on our first Province game – External Fixtures!) and a blow to team confidence.

Although bloodied, they remained unbowed. As the game continued it was notably Team MacConnachie’s lead, Dave Dunsire, who was on excellent form.  In the next end his stones provided a solid groundwork for the team to claw back a valuable three to bring them to within a point of their rivals. 

After that though it seemed Team MacConnachie’s solid front end performance was not being capitalised on. Another three stones sat against them in the fifth, and then despite recovering a single in the sixth, this was matched by Team Garner in the final end.  A good result for Team Garner, pleased to have played two, won two.

John.