Team C (Deemo) vs Team D (Alice)  16th March 2022

Skips log : Star date 16th March 2022

Time        :  18.00hrs

Location  : Ice sheet 4

Rinks ‘The Fort’ Kinnaird and ‘Deemo’ took to the ice with ‘Deemo’ fielding ‘Round them up’ as a sub.

Sadly our last league game of the season and ‘Hi Dee Hi’ had to call off because of a ‘sniffle’ picked up on an extravagant skiing holiday – but, ‘Round them up’ stepped into the breach and did an admirable job (I would not have expected less).

The first end saw rink ‘Deemo’ get off to a solid start scoring a two (with the hammer) but all concerned commented on how keen the ice was BUT with some rather strange draws being evident.

Ends two and three saw rink ‘Deemo’ score single shots to secure a four shots to nil lead.

The fourth end saw ‘The Fort’ strike back but limited to scoring a single with the hammer (all those late nights and early mornings of Olympic curling persuaded rink ‘Deemo’ that this was a good outcome – no amount of Craming could make it seem otherwise).

Ends five and six saw rink ‘Deemo’ push onwards with skip rocks being used to guard and protect shot rocks that rink members had earlier played to perfection – scoring twos at both ends to record an 8 – 1 score-line.

The fifth end was notable for a fortuitous plan ‘B’ shot being secured with the help of that famous Irish curler ‘Rick O’Shay’. When it’s going for you, it’s going for you!

Unfortunately ‘The Fort’ decided that enough was enough and conceded before we could start the seventh end. The down side of this being the lost the chance of scoring a 7 to tie the game or even an 8 to win by one shot – what might have been we shall never know, the upside was that those of us of a mind to have a ‘wee libation’ made it to the ‘watering hole’ earlier than expected.

As four of us sat around the table, drinks in hand, we raised a glass to the end of another league campaign – the fun and laughter we have all had come win, lose or draw.

There is always next season when we shall do better.

Such is the spirit of Holyrood Curling club – long may it survive and prosper.  

Till the next time – I bid you all goodnight until we face the final frontier together again. The match as remembered by ???????? – I can’t remember who.

Team B (John Mac) vs Team C (Deemo)  3rd March 2022

With John Macc still injured, Team B was acting-skipped by Rob, with Billy at third, Fiona chose to stay at lead, and John Waterlow kindly stood in at second. Team C, already comfortably the season’s league champs, were at their full strength with Dee, then Richard, then James and skip Deemo.

Preliminaries began with the now-traditional game of rock/paper/scissors, as we all guess between an open handshake or a fist bump – usually something messy midway; and of coin tossing which Dee won. Then masks off and action got underway out on lane 7, shooting towards the gallery end, with team B in yellow.

The ice was surprisingly keen for a first end and a couple of stones sailed through, but after a dozen stones one yellow was counting half-guarded. Both of Rob’s stones were primarily intended as guards, but each ran on a bit and curled in, to sit into a neat line astern, which Deemo’s final stone couldn’t nudge, so team B got off to a steal of 3.

Next end Fiona’s lead stone sat virtually on the button, with a short blue largely guarding, onto which John laid a nice off-centre freeze to rule out any raise. Deemo switched attention to the left side, and a threatening group of blues developed in the house, but Billy laid a canny guard which Rob maintained, so that lead stone ended up as being the counter stealing another one shot.

Third end had some good draws behind guards, but Deemo played a dependable skip’s last-stone draw, to ensure one counter became two.

The next two ends saw continuing tight play, with a single scored with the hammer in each. One highlight was when Rob confidently asked John to draw though a port of a stone’s width + maybe 2cms, and the stone curled beautifully down plumb through, to smack out the counting stone and lie. Unenviably, it was James who was of course asked to ‘do the same’, but that one nicked against the gateposts.

Sixth end saw plenty of stones in the house until Deemo’s last stone fizzed down to crack an angled double takeout and lie, leaving four blues suddenly counting! Rob had some room down the right for last stone and line was good, but it ran on by a foot or so, though it did at least reduce the damage to two.

So final end 5 -5 …but Team B with hammer. It developed quite nicely with yellow having stones spaced around the 12-foot and an open centre. Then counters began on the left wing, with the third’s trading shot stones. Deemo’s first landed a counter, which Rob’s first knocked back to lie, but then Deemo’s last came up just short, so the final stone wasn’t needed in the end.

6 – 5 in the end to Team B, really excellent game. Rock/paper to finish off, masks back on.

Rob Garner.