Team A (Dougie) vs Team B (John Mac) 18th January 2022

This was a close game with Team Auld taking a strong lead for the first two ends.

But some very difficult calls and rogue deliveries, especially by yours truly, allowed Macornerkicky to chip away the lead to a one point win in the final end.

A good game as always and great to see John back on the ice.

Dougie A.

Team B (John Mac) vs Team D (Alice)  12th January 2022

Alternate skips were acting for both teams.  With John MacConnachie still hors de combat, Rob Garner had moved up to skip.  The consequent vacancy in the rink was filled by Dee Williams who deserves mention in despatches as she had come straight off the ice from a game with another club in the previous session.  That she was seen nibbling at an energy bar halfway through this game indicated the level of dedication that she was showing to the sport.

Meanwhile, Alice’s schedule for her five person rink meant it was her turn to stand down, with John W. stepping up to the skip’s mark.  Kay was unavailable and ably subbed by Bob Cameron.  However, a senior moment for recently-retired and hence relaxed Steve Laux meant the team ended up short-handed on the night with a consequent three point penalty incurred.

Despite the penalty, Team Kinnaird still prevailed, taking the game 8 points to 5 after adjustments.  Theirs was the steadier performance while Team Mac’s was the more erratic – the latter struggling to place their stones where they wanted and skip Garner having somewhat of a blue period.

It started well for Team Kinnaird with a two in the first but then with Team Mac pulling back a single in the second it looked like an even contest was in prospect.  However, things became increasingly one-sided.  Sub Cameron was playing a strong lead for Team Kinnaird by getting stones in the house while second/third Walker’s accurate drawing was helping consolidate the position.  Skip Waterlow was generally guarding and even when failing to do so adequately was not being punished by the opposition. 

Team Mac scored another single in the fourth end at which point skip Garner was determined to have the scoreboard show the post-penalty result as a boost to his rink – so at this point they were leading by five points to four.  Unfortunately this piece of sports psychology failed to have the desired effect as the team were unable to add anything further to their score for the rest of the evening.  With a two in the fifth followed by another couple of singles Team Kinnaird finished strongly, relieved to come out clear winners in spite of the penalty handicap. 

John W.

Team A (Dougie) vs Team C (Deemo)  11th January 2022

Skips log:             Star date 11 Jan 2022

Time:                     17.30hrs

Location:              Ice sheet 2

Rinks ‘The Young Yin’ (Rink A) and ‘Deemo’ (Rink C) took to the ice with a full complement of rink members with Richard ‘I don’t believe it’ Willson making his come- back after a bout of COVID.

‘The Young Yin’ with ‘Round Them Up’, ‘Hard Core’ and ‘Newsprint’ came out fighting and were off to a solid start in the first end notching up two shots.

The next three ends fell to Rink ‘Deemo’ with two singles and a double to take them into the lead four shots to two – did they think they had weathered the onslaught?  Think again.

 ‘The Young Yin’ had other thoughts and ends five and six saw them claw back two shots to even the scores at four shots apiece.  At this point the casual observer could not miss the point that when skip shots were being played ‘Newsprint’ was in close proximity to ‘The Young Yin’ giving some ‘motivational input’ !!!!  Every rink should have one – it was working.

Keeping an eye on the clock ticking down we had time for one last end but this time Rink ‘Deemo’ had the advantage of last stone – would it prove pivotal?  The end progressed with as large a gathering of stone in the house as we had seen all night with a ‘Deemo’ shot lying shot with two opposing stones either side.  A guard shot was called by rink ‘Deemo’ with their penultimate shot and it landed just where required to give ‘Round them Up’ and ‘The Young Yin’ some head scratching and deliberations on their redemption.  Their last shot pulled up short with ‘Deemo’ lying shot – much to the consternation of Rink ‘Deemo’ it looked as if Deemo was going to play his last shot.  We had been there before and come unstuck!!!!!  Deemo steadied himself on the hack and the last stone was played – well off line and very short.  A collective sigh of relief from Rink ‘Deemo’ but what did they honestly think he was going to do?

A single shot win by Rink ‘Deemo’ and the quest for glory continues – some of us found time to go to the bar for a wee swally and a bit of banter. The bar being closed for COVID regulations the cup of coffee was just what was called for – thank you Dougie aka ‘The Young Yin’.

The match as remembered by ????????              ‘Deemo’