This was the year the Holyrood Awayday came of age – our 21st visit to curling rinks across the country.  Over the years we have managed to experience a wide variety of venues, a good number of which are now sadly no longer in existence as smaller rinks have given up the unequal struggle against dwindling membership and rising costs (or is it just the curse of Holyrood?). In choosing where to go we are also limited by distance (a two-hour drive is about the limit for a day trip) and whether the venue offers weekend ice for visitors.

This year we alighted on Dumfries Ice Bowl which just about meets the distance criterion but previously hadn’t offered weekend ice. So, two sheets had been booked by Ken for mid-day on Sunday 23^rd March.  Despite one or two notable absences (I mean who goes abroad golfing in the curling season?) we raised 12 members and two guests which meant we were comfortably able to arrange four teams for a light-hearted bonspiel.

Dumfries is a fine venue with a dedicated six sheet curling rink and a separate ice-skating rink. After assembling in the café for pre-game coffees and snacks (and having sorted a slight confusion regarding our start time) we headed for the ice.

The ice hall was curiously warm. Within a few minutes of a little light sweeping the cosy Holyrood fleeces were being shed (although Billy was as ever already down to short sleeves). The warmth also had the effect of making the ice very keen. Even more notable was the amount of curl taken by the stones – far more than we are used to at Murrayfield. We were allocated the two outer sheets which unfortunately meant that we were somewhat far apart – however, the Scottish Curling Junior Mixed Doubles Championships were taking place on the centre sheets so this was understandable. However, the indications were that the heavy curl was a characteristic of the whole rink.

We played the same bonspiel format that we had pinched from VETS Curling last year: Only one take out allowed and a point for every stone in the house – and with a three-point bonus for the winning stone.  Team rotation means everyone gets to play every position.

Unfortunately, Richard had gone down with a bug so had had to call off at the last minute. This meant three teams of three and one team of four.  However, apart from the additional sweeping (good cardio exercise!) everything worked well.

The team of four (Colin, James, Fiona and guest Mike – see photo) came out as overall winners and received their magnificent miniature gin bottle prizes as well as the unique gold-painted wooden trophy (which we clean forgot to include in the photographs).

The winner of the individual prize (for achieving the highest points difference for the two skipping turns) was Billy with an impressive +10, just pipping Fiona by one.

Perhaps the least memorable part of the day was the catering but the craic was good and we all enjoyed the downtime after the exertions of the game.  A good day was had by all.  And let’s start thinking about venues for next season.

John.

From the perspective of the vanquished:

Well, we did it again. This really has become a feature of the latter part of our season.  We drop a large score early on in the game, then play well to claw back the deficit by the penultimate end, only to lose the cliff-hanger final end!

I am writing this too late to remember the specifics of the game but I do recall that our opposing third, Dougie, had a particularly good game, achieving a remarkably high percentage of his called shots.  Indeed, I seem to recall congratulating him through gritted teeth on his contribution to the last end – the end that sealed our fate as winners of the wooden spoon in the league. 

But it was a good game and everyone played well.  C’est la vie.

John.

Teams B and D were at full strength for this match, as the season gets towards the sharp end.  Team B lost the toss and chose blue stones.  My team D got an early yellow counter, though it felt very precarious as it became surrounded by four blues in the house.  Still, we managed to guard that lone counter, and it held on to score a single. 

We were on sheet one, and the ice was strange – playing generally dead straight down the north side, while in-swinging well but sometimes massively on the south side by the edge.

Second end saw the first two stones stop short before Fiona got to the button behind them, and that stone remained shielded to count one for 1-1.

Third end we’d got more of a feel for the ice, and Dave and James laid two well-guarded counters on the left, and with the hammer I could draw a last-stone counter down the right.

Fourth end was decisive, with a good spread of yellows developing while blue stones seemed to either stop short or go through, so in the end five yellows had the house to themselves.

John pulled one back next, but that was to be it, as things just wouldn’t go their way on the night.

This result means that our team D will now finish somewhere nicely mid-table, after a strange season distinctly ‘of two halves’!  Losing the first straight six games, often narrowly, but then winning seven out of eight, with good stats.   I’m really grateful to Dave, James and Ken for staying positive through that first half, staying with the rather different tactics, and just playing so well as a team, thanks guys.

Also (in case this is my last match report this season), to me it emphasises how surprisingly tricky it is to shift mind-set from being full-time third to being the full-time skip.  I think this may be the first season in years (ever?) that the skip emerging from the previous Thirds’ mini-league has then managed to stay on to skip for a second season?  It’s clearly tricky – but it could be seen as this good rotation scheme now working fully at last. 

Plenty of curling left, with a couple of games and the Awayday yet to come, on we go, cheers … 

Rob.