AROUND THE RINKS: 8th – 13rd MARCH
Scottish Schools Championship, Ayr, 8th – 10th, March
For the second year in a row the Scottish Schools Final was contested between St Joseph’s College from Dumfries and Kelso High School. The Borders rink, skipped by Angus Bryce, were able to avenge their loss of last year and deny St Joseph’s a year repeat by a score of 7-2 in the final. 23 teams gathered in Ayr to contest 4 groups ahead of quarter finals at the conclusion of the weekend. Curlers enjoyed the hospitality of Ayr while taking pride in representing their schools in what was some competitors first competition of this kind.
Section A saw the all-Gallacher team representing Sanquhar Academy finish in top place after an unbeaten run. They finished one point ahead of Kelso High School who were returning hoping to go one step further than their second place finish last year. The Kinross playoff winners, Beath High School, topped section B and were also undefeated. They just edged out a team from Forfar Academy skipped by Adam MacDiarmid. The remaining two sections were dominated by teams from the South as Stranraer 1 won all 5 games in their group and Dalbeattie High School joined them in the quarter finals. Lockerbie Academy were the fourth group winner, defeating all the teams in the group and were joined by last year’s winners from St. Joseph’s College, Dumfries who were edged into second after losing to Lockerbie Academy 6-4.
Sunday morning saw the beginning of the playoff stages with some tight and exciting games coming down to the final stones. Kelso High hit their stride in the playoff stages and comfortably beat Beath High School by 11-3. A strong succession of steals was capped off by a score of 5 in the 7th end and early handshakes followed. Forfar Academy also had a big score in the seventh end as they saw through their quarter final against Sanquahr Academy after a 4 in the seventh end. Lockerbie were pushed all the way by Dalbeattie but two successive steals in the middle of the game meant they took a 2 point lead into the final end. Dalbeattie could only score 1 and fell 5-4. St. Joseph’s were pushed all the way in their quarter final and rallied from 4-0 down after three ends to trail by 5-4 in the last end. They successfully stole both the 8th and 9th ends to secure their semi-final place after an extra end.
After some nerve-wracking battles, the semi-finals were more one-sided as firstly St Joseph’s saw off Forfar 6-1 after taking a 4-0 lead after three ends. The final repeat was secured as Kelso High School stole their way to the final against Lockerbie Academy. After exchanging single points, the Borders team stole 7 points in four ends to complete a 9-1 victory. The final saw a tense start and scores were tied at 1-1 after three ends. An aggressive end followed and came off in spades for Kelso as they scored a game-winning 5 in the 4th end to shoot to a 6-1 lead. St. Joseph’s couldn’t make use of the hammer in the second half of the game and early handshakes were offered after 6 ends with the score at 7-2. Kelso had secured the title and Angus Bryce emulated his brother’s achievement of 6 years previous.”
Pictured – TOP – Winners, Kelso, then underneath Runners Up St Joseph’s
The Maxwell Trophy, 12th March, Lanarkshire Ice Rink
Teams from Stranraer, Borders, Dumfries & Lanarkshire met at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink to contest the 2019 Semi-Finals & Finals. The Teams had qualified from their respective sections against some very tough opposition, so a very competitive semi-final was anticipated.
However, it quickly emerged that Stranraer had found their mojo against Borders, comfortably winning all three games. In the other half of semi-final Lanarkshire heavily defeated two of their three Dumfries opponents, though drew the other fixture.
This saw both teams through to the final and a much cannier, cat and mouse game initially by both protagonists, with single scores and blank ends prevailing. The Lanarkshire team skipped by Lockhart Steele against Stranraer’s Fraser Hare seemed to have shut the door when they scored a 5 in the 5th end making it 6 – 1 and seemingly all over. However, Fraser’s team dug in and got a 3 back in the 6th, subsequently to no avail as Lockhart got a further 3 in reply in the 7th. Not to be outdone, Fraser scored a 2 in the 8th but it was too little, too late.
Elsewhere, Hugh Neilsen’s Lanarkshire team seemed to have grabbed the initiative when they scored a 3 in their 6th end to go 4 – 2 up against Norman Brown’s Stranraer team. However, a single & a 2 in the remaining ends by the latter saw the game finished tied at 5 – 5. So the competition came down to the game between Stranraer’s Phil Wilson & Lanarkshire’s Willie Baird.
A very strategic and shrewd game from the outset with blanked ends and singles leaving it too close to call going into the final end. But looking at the big picture: due to the format of the competition, if Phil scored more than 3 at the last end, Stranraer would win equal on points with Lanarkshire, but ahead on shots up. A score of 3 by Stranraer would tie with their opponents on shots up, but their greater number of ends would ensure victory for them! Guards were laid, guards were removed, Phil was looking good for a victory with enough stones in the house and useful guards, but some clever stone re-positioning by Willie’s 3rd, Gary MacFarlane, left Willie with a very skilled angular double takeout. With his last stone Philip was able to draw for a 2, but it was not enough & Lanarkshire claimed the trophy by a single shot!!
Report: Courtesy of Stewart Sutherland
Pictured: Winners, Lanarkshire
The Morton Trophy, 12th March, Kirkcaldy Ice Rink
The four regional winners gather at the Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy to contest the finals of the Morton Trophy. The semi-finals saw South v West and North v East as Ayr took on Braehead and Forfar played Borders in the semi-finals. The Borders started strongly in two of their games and one game was practically out of reach by the final end with an 8-1 lead. A succession of steals sealed this victory 8-4. The Borders started as strongly in the second game jumping to a 5-0 lead. Forfar pegged them back but gave up steals in the 6th and 7th ends before succumbing ultimately to a 9-4 defeat. The final game was the tightest of the lot and came right down to the final end. A back and forth game saw the Borders lead almost all the way before a crucial steal in the 7th end tied the scores at 5-5. The Borders held their nerve, scoring a single point to head through to the final with three wins.
The other semi-final saw things come down to the final game. Ayr took control of one game against Braehead leading by 11 shots after 4 ends and ultimately won that game 14-3. A strong stealing performance by Braehead in the second game saw them steal 5 points in three ends to take a 7-1 lead after 6 ends. A big four in the 7th end kept Ayr alive in the game but Braehead kept cool and completed an 8-5 win. The third game saw momentum swing back and forward as Ayr’s initial 4-0 lead was pegged back by Braehead and the scores were level after five ends. Ayr came strong at the end however and stealing the 7th and 8th ends completed an 8-4 win and saw them return to the final.
The first game of the final was a tight one where stealing ruled the day. The Borders raced into a 4-0 lead but Ayr regrouped and responded in style by scoring in 4 successive ends and leading by 6-4 coming into the final end. Their quest for three points came up short and a single score gave Ayr their first win by 6-5. The other two games of the final saw Ayr control from the start with early 5-0 leads. The used hammer well and restricted their opponents to finish those games 11-2 and 9-3 respectively. That meant a clean sweep in the final and Ayr claimed the Morton Trophy once more.
Pictured: Winners, Ayr
Ayr Teams:
Gail Thomson (Captain)
Alison Cunningham
Fiona Mc Ginnis
Corrie Lawrence
Margaret White
Morag Evans
Beth Rowley
Mary Shaw
Sheila Kennedy
Susan Middleton
Eilidh Templeton
Carol Simpson
COURSES
Sunday 10 March 2019, Introduction to Mixed Doubles, NCA, Stirling
This is proving to be a very successful course for coaches who are keen to learn about how to coach the increasingly popular game of mixed doubles. It was a full workshop at the NCA on Sunday with elite athletes Jayne Stirling and Robin Brydone delivering classroom and on ice elements to the attendees.
Monday 11 March 2019, Key Principles of the Delivery Model, Dundee Ice Arena
The Key Principles of the Delivery Model has been one of the most popular courses this year. Delivered to another full capacity class, the workshop includes theory and practical sessions for over 2 hours. The emphasis is on longevity so that curlers can slide for life. The focus of the workshop is on balance, line of slide, weight control, release and assessing a delivery through the use of technology.
Safeguarding and Protecting Children – Virtual, Kirkcaldy and Aberdeen
Three courses have taken place already this week and almost all have been at full capacity once again. The virtual courses are proving to be the most successful due to the convenience of being able to attend in the comfort of your own home without having to travel. Twenty-three coaches from rinks all over the country attended the virtual course on Monday 11 March. A mandatory component of the coach re-validation, it looks like these courses will see healthy numbers attending in the future.
