Match Report:
Don’t take a tip on a horse from this man
This was the first game of the new season for both teams so it was very much a case of tentatively getting the feel of the ice after the summer break. Both teams have a residency of five players so each has a rota of stand-down games for their team members. In the case of Team Herd it was Keith W’s turn to be absent, although Billy was also away, taking in the spring sunshine in South Africa and therefore replaced by the Club’s super-sub, Bob Cameron playing at lead. Fiona was second and Geemo was at third.
For the opposition, Steve Laux had requested to be stood down from Team Waterlow so the line-up was Dave Dunsire making a welcome return to full-time play at lead; Kay Wilson at second; and Dougie at third, the latter looking particularly relaxed at being freed from the weight of command for this season.
Once the greeting of long-lost pals had been completed and the bell had rung for the start, we tottered gingerly on to the ice to find out whether the muscle memory was still there and if so, would it ensure that we could make a contribution to the team’s success.
But even if you can remember what to do and no matter how honed your skills at delivering the stones might be, the other thing you always need is at least a fair share of any luck that is going. And in this case for Team Herd, Lady Luck wasn’t just occasionally looking the other way; she had packed her bags and left the building.
For end after end, nothing would go right for Team Herd. The first end was always going to be shaky for both teams but to be frank, Team Herd were in not-hitting-a-barn-door territory, dropping a four and giving themselves a hill to climb from the start. But not to be daunted, stones started to head in the right direction – only for it then to become clear that luck wasn’t going to be their lady tonight.
Team W kept chipping away with ones and twos so by the fourth end they were nine points up and Team Herd still hadn’t got on to the board.
Particularly out of favour was Team H’s third, Geemo, who managed to pull off some astonishingly ill-fated moves. Particularly memorable was an excellent stone in the fifth end aimed at clearing a blockage at the front of the house which instead passed straight through a gap seemingly narrower than a curling stone and clean out of the back of the house. Just leave buying the lottery ticket for another day, George.
Things finally came right in the sixth and the granny was avoided with an excellent two. But that was it and another single for Team W in the seventh end brought to a close a game that Team Herd would probably rather forget.
John.
Holyrood Curling Club 