Team Paterson are the 2022 Scottish Curling Men’s Champions
Congratulations to Team Paterson (Ross Paterson, Kyle Waddell, Duncan Menzies, Craig Waddell) on becoming the 2022 Scottish Curling Men’s Champions. The competition at the Dumfries Ice Bowl developed into a face off between Team Paterson and Team Whyte who met each other four times on the ice with the Stirling rink having the edge in the final to secure the title.
| All game results HERE | Re-watch games HERE | Event brochure HERE |
DAY 7 – Men’s Final
Nothing could separate Team Paterson and Team Whyte for the best part of a tight game as the sides traded single scores. Team Paterson finally got the first multi-score on the board in End 7 and followed it up with another deuce after forcing the one off Team Whyte. Heading into the final end with a two-points gap, both rinks were still within contention.
The decision came down to the last two stones as Ross Paterson did the double take-out to lie two, one on the button and one behind guard on the eight foot. Ross Whyte had one stone biting the 12 foot but needed the double take-out and lie to take the game to an extra end. Although he managed to move the two yellows, he also took out his counter and only secured the one point and the game finished on 6-5.
Skip Ross Paterson was feeling ‘great’ after the final: ‘We’ve had a really good week, so this game just finished everything off on a positive note. We’ve played really consistently and the boys have been fantastic, so I couldn’t be happier and I’m really proud of what we achieved. I think because we performed so well all week we knew that we just had to replicate as much as we can. We didn’t have to change anything, we just had to concentrate on ourselves and concentrate on making the simple shots well and we did that.
‘Team Whyte are a fantastic team, a team that we’ve probably struggled a bit against over the last wee while and it’s nice to get a win over them, especially in a final. Ross [Whyte] had a bit of a mistake with his first [stone in the last end], so that gave me a chance. Still, in that last end we said to ourselves, even if they are going to make a shot for two and we’re going to play the extra end, that’s fine. Our game plan was to keep it as tight as we can and, thankfully, he didn’t make his last shot and we didn’t have to play the extra end.
‘We had a pretty intense training period, we had a really big focus on this event. We train at the national curling academy, we’ve been up there for double shifts four times a week just to make sure we are getting in the hours as a team; working on communication, working on the simple shots and this [Scottish title] is just an end result of the work we have put in – we’ve done a lot of really hard work and it’s nice to come away with the win this week.
‘I’m a little bit calmer this time than I was [when winning the 2016 championships]; when I played with Tom [Brewster] in 2016 I played second and it was just a lot of emotions and just getting it over the line. With this team in the last few years, we unfortunately got knocked out in the semi-final stages, so this week we just knew it was all about consistency, trying to play as well as we can and we got into a mindset where we managed to do that.’
DAY 6 – Semi-Final
Having lost out on a direct ticket to the final earlier in the page play-off, Team Paterson bounced back in the perfect fashion. Deuces from Ends 2 and 3 saw them lead Team Craik by three points at the break and they kept their form to edge a 7-2 win. ‘We knew these guys were going to come out strong , we’ve had tight games with them in the round robin – it’s the semi-final so we expected a tight game,’ skip Ross Paterson said post-game.
‘We managed to get a two early and controlled from there. After the disappointment this morning, we knew that we had to come out and fight hard tonight to get that final spot and we managed a good performance which is great. We played well this morning, we were just on the wrong side of a few shots and came on to a different sheet tonight; they’re all a bit different, but they’re all running well and the ice was great tonight.
‘We are just going to concentrate on what we have been doing; we got in a good flow this week, we’re making a lot of good shots and we’re controlling the majority of the games we’re playing. I think if we look after ourselves and concentrate on what we’re doing we have a really good chance.’
DAY 6 – Page Play-Off
A tight game had Team Whyte and Team Paterson sit level six ends in, before a big score of three gave Team Whyte an advantage. The gap proved to much to overcome for Team Paterson and the final results stuck on 7-4. ‘It was a tricky game,’ skip Ross Whyte admitted after the game. ‘We started off not our best and Team Paterson put us under a lot of pressure, but thankfully, we managed to get it going and we got the end result.
‘When you lose a two in the first end that’s tough to come back from, but we managed to stay composed and changed things after halftime. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing, it seems to be working well and hopefully that will roll nicely into the final tomorrow.’
DAY 5 – Men’s Draw 10
Team Strawhorn looked in control during the first half, countering Team Watt’s deuce with multiple singles to hold the lead at the break. The momentum swung with Team Watt scoring three in the sixth end and followed up with a single steal. Team Strawhorn responded with a two-points score, but Team Watt copied the feat to secure an 8-5 win.
It took three ends for a point to finally go on the board on sheet A courtesy of Team Whyte. Team Paterson responded with a deuce and a steal to lead at the break. Two points in End 7 were enough for Team Paterson to balance out Team Whyte’s singles and bag a 6-4 victory.
Team Bryce had a great start to the match with two points from the first end. Their advantage disappeared in End 5 when Team Craik secured a three and the momentum firmly swung in the junior champions’ favour with a three-points steal in the sixth end that put them on course for a 9-3 win.
DAY 5 – Men’s Draw 9
Sitting level with Team Watt after four ends, Team Paterson stepped up their game from End 5 onwards. A score of two set the basis for a series of steals that culminated in a 10-2 result after eight ends.
Team Whyte had an even shorter stint on ice, beating Team Bryce 10-3 after six ends. Four points from the second end offered a taste of what was to come with another big score of five following suit that took the sting out of the game.
Team Strawhorn were leading Team Craik by two points at the break, promising a tense second half. Two blank ends were followed by a one for Team Craik who, after a blank from Team Strawhorn, levelled the scores in End 10. Team Strawhorn had hammer for the extra end and used it nicely to secure the vital point for a 5-4 victory.
DAY 4 – Men’s Draw 8
Team Paterson gradually ground out an advantage, scoring deuces while limiting Team Bryce to single scores. Two points in End 9 briefly looked like a way back into the game for Team Bryce, sitting two down with one regular end to go. Although they managed to steal, their single could not stop Team Paterson from securing a 6-5 win.
Three points in the first end got Team Whyte off to a flying start and they continued to stretch out their advantage with multi-scores. Team Strawhorn only managed to get single scores on the board and conceded after eight ends played, the final result reading 8-4.
Team Watt opened the scoring and held Team Craik in check in the first half, trailing by only a point at the break. Team Craik found an extra gear after the restart and were the only side to score, eventually bagging an 8-3 win after the full ten ends.
DAY 4 – Men’s Draw 7
Team Whyte were pushed all the way to an extra end by Team Craik. The reigning junior champions got the first score on the board and forced Team Whyte to play catch-up. The lead changed for the first time in End 8 and with hammer in the extra end, Team Whyte secured the vital point for a 6-5 finish.
Trading singles for four ends and a blank fifth, Team Watt and Team Bryce sat level at the break. Team Watt took the first score of the second half and built up their advantage for a 7-3 win.
Team Strawhorn kept Team Paterson in check for the first four ends, but End 5 saw a score of three that brought Team Paterson in the lead. Henceforth, Team Strawhorn did not find a way back into the game and the final scoreboard stood on 10-5 after nine ends.
DAY 3 – Men’s Draw 6
Team Craik responded to Team Paterson’s opening deuce with a score of three and led by a point at the break. The momentum changed in the second half with a score and a steal for Team Paterson who would not let go of the lead again and secured a 7-5 victory after 10 ends played.
Scoring twos in contrast to Team Strawhorn’s ones, Team Bryce were able to grind out an advantage in the first half. Team Strawhorn were forced to play the chasing game, but not giving away any steals, Team Bryce managed proceedings for an 8-5 win.
Finally reunited with their skip, Team Whyte stormed to a 10-3 win over Team Watt. The game swung firmly in their favour in the second half when a score of three followed by a steal of three and brought the game to a close after eight ends. ‘I came back at 8.30pm last night and seen [some family], so that was nice but only for a short period of time. Then packed this morning and came straight down,’ Olympic returnee Ross Whyte said as he returned to skipping duties.
‘[Not being on location during the start of the competition] is not nerve-wrecking, but it’s not nice not being able to do anything. But I had full faith in the boys going out there and putting out a good performance. It’s good to be back and see them – it feels like I never left! We’ll try to take it game by game, but we’ve got ourselves in a good position so far and hopefully we can keep going through the motions and get a few more wins.’
DAY 3 – Men’s Draw 5
It was much of a tale of two ends for Team Whyte who took the lead with a big four in the second end only for Team Paterson to gradually chip away on the gap. Team Paterson took the advantage with a deuce in End 7, but Team Whyte responded instantly with another four and navigated to a 10-8 win. ‘We knew that Team Paterson would give us a strong game and that is exactly what we got,’ reckoned interim-skip Greg Drummond.
‘We had a pretty solid start to the game, but we leaked a couple of ends afterwards and it made the game a little bit tight which wasn’t unexpected, but we’re happy to have ground out a solid win. We were comfortable with where we were on the scoreboard and we’ve been pretty comfortable with aggressive play all week, so we knew we didn’t have to do anything different than what we have done already. It got a little close at the end, but I think we were deserving of the result.’
An extra end was needed to decide the fixture between Team Bryce and Team Craik. Going into the eleventh end with hammer, Team Craik used their advantage nicely to score a vital point and secure a 10-9 victory.
The encounter between Team Watt and Team Strawhorn too went all the way to an extra end. Team Watt were trailing for most of the game, but threes in the seventh and ninth end got them back in the game and gave them hammer for the extra end. ‘I was a little bit nervous, but it was good to hit the four foot with my last [stone] to win,’ admitted skip Mark Watt who secured the decisive point for a 9-8 win. ‘It was a bit of a struggle, but we knew we had to stay close because we knew we would get our chances eventually in the second half – which is what we did!’
Team Watt second Blair Haswell confessed there were ‘a few strong words at half time as well and that really got us going. We played a lot of good stuff [so far in the competition], we got ourselves in some really good spots and some of them just haven’t come off. But we know what to do know in the second half [of the round robin].’
DAY 2 – Men’s Draw 4
An inspired comeback did not quite come off for Team Bryce in their fixture against Team Whyte. A big score of four in the fourth end put the latter in control and the Team Whyte quartet managed their advantage for an 8-7 win after 10 ends played.
Team Strawhorn were leading Team Craik by two points at the break, but the momentum changed in the second half. Although Team Strawhorn managed to counter a score of three with a deuce, consecutive two points from Team Craik tipped the game in the junior champions’ favour at a final result of 10-7.
The only match that didn’t go the full 10 ends was between Team Paterson and Team Watt. Multi-scores and single steals had Team Paterson sitting comfortably and they killed the game early with a three-points steal in End 8, the final result being 10-2.
DAY 2 – Men’s Draw 3
Team Paterson dominated Team Bryce, scoring in the first three ends and not allowing their opposition on the scoreboard until End 5. Returning to the ice after the break, a blank end was followed by two scores for Team Paterson prompting Team Bryce to concede with the scores sitting on 7-2.
The fixture between Team Whyte and Team Strawhorn too concluded after eight ends. Team Whyte held the advantage throughout, scoring twos while forcing ones off Team Strawhorn and the players shook hands at 8-3.
Team Craik were pushed hard by their former third Mark Watt’s rink and the challengers eventually took the lead after eight ends, courtesy of two consecutive deuces. Keeping their nerve, Team Craik copied the same feat and secured a 10-8 win. ‘We got off to a really good start, played out really sharp. We got away with not losing a big score in End 5 and then managed to grind out the win,’ skip James Craik said after the game.
Facing two ex-teammates – and good friends – in Mark Watt and Blair Haswell, the fixture was a special one for Team Craik: ‘It’s never easy playing against them; they know all your tricks and you know all theirs. I thought it was a really great match out there and lots of really good shots played. [The competition] is going okay for us. Two in one is where we want to be, we’re happy with that. There’s two games left in the first round robin and hopefully we can make them two wins as well.’
DAY 2 – Men’s Draw 2
Team Strawhorn sprung a surprise on Day 1 with a 10-7 win over Team Paterson. Team Strawhorn led by small points-margins throughout the game and kept their nerve to seal the deal with a score of two in End 9 followed by a steal of one in the last end.
The encounter between Team Watt and Team Bryce went all the way to an extra end, despite a big score of four for the former early on. By the break, the rinks sat level and an exchange of singles in the second half could not determine a winner. Having last hammer in the extra end, Team Watt played their advantage and secured a 7-6 win.
It took four ends for Team Craik to get a score on the board in their fixture against Team Whyte, but henceforth, the Forfar outfit were unstoppable. Gradually building up their advantage, Team Craik kept their opponents at bay and bagged a 7-3 victory after nine ends.
DAY 1 – Men’s Draw 1
Title favourites Team Paterson got their championships off to a winning start with a 7-6 victory over Team Craik. No more than two points separated the teams at any point throughout the match and the decision came down to the last end. Team Paterson used the final stone to perfection to score the crucial point needed. Skip Ross Paterson conceded afterwards that ‘it was a tight game’ against his fellow title contenders. ‘[Team Craik] are a good side, young boys who are fighting every end. It’s important for us to get a tough game at the start to see where we are and to get that first win on the board.’
In a similarly tight game, Team Whyte edged Team Watt with the final score 7-6. Team Watt were trailing by two points after eight ends, but a score of three brought the encounter back to life. Needing a multi-score to win, interim-skip Greg Drummond made no mistake with the last stone to put two points on the board.
Team Bryce decided their fixture against Team Strawhorn in their favour after just seven ends. A three in the second end followed by a steal and another three-points score had Team Bryce well in control as they navigated towards a commanding 9-3 victory. ‘We just started off really sharp, got a couple of mistakes of [Team Strawhorn] early on and capitalised on them and that helped us settle into the game,’ skip Cameron Bryce said after the game. ‘We’re one of the underdogs going into this competition, so there’s not much pressure on us. We just play our game and will hopefully get some results.’
Draws & Final Images: Scottish Curling/Jayne Stirling; Page Play-Off Images: Scottish Curling/Sandrine Wyrich
