Asham Under 17 Slam, Greenacres 4-5 December
Thank you very much to Chief Umpire, Stew Sutherland for the report below:
Calm and sheltered skies greeted the players, coaches and parents of the 13 teams presenting for last weekend’s latest round of the Asham Under 17 Slam – The Baljaffray Trophy.
On the face of it, that turnout was only one team down from the Lockerbie venue at the end of October.
However, missing from this line-up was Perth’s Arran Thomson, Layla Huntly’s D. Dynamos from Dumfries & Finlay Rutherford’s Kinross squad.
Local interest was in the Greenacres teams of Amy Mitchell & Callum Grant, both much fancied by the local Howwood supporters.
Bolstering the team lists though were new participants Victoria Torrance and Freya Hadley-Stove (Stirling), who would prove worthy replacements. Freya’s team ended up being skipped by Phoebe-Rose Gornall as a last-minute change meant Freya had to withdraw.
Many competitions have been subject to numbers changing this season and in no small part due to issues related to the pandemic. It is a great tribute to all the organising committees, local development officers and Rachel Ireland, Scottish Curling’s new Competition Manager that these events have still managed to go ahead.
Strong starts in their first 3 games by Section A’s Team Carson was pretty much mirrored by some great results by Section B’s Team Jackson, both beginning to emerge as strong contenders. In Section C, Amy Mitchell’s local Greenacres team wasn’t having it all her own way, but some great and gritty performances by her team ensured what in the end was comfortable qualification.
The Sunday Semi-Finals produced head-to-heads in the Low Road between Grant v Watson and Jahn v Archibald. Both very tight and exciting games, with Owen Watson’s team & Katie Archibald’s (skipped by Erin Stewart) emerging as finalists.
The High Road semis however proved to be more dramatic with a convincing 5 – 1 win by Team Carson over Team Mitchell.
Not to be outdone, Ewen Jackson’s Stirling side administered an 11 – 0 defeat to Stewart Kyle’s Dumfries side. A poor display by Team Kyle? Absolutely NOT, just look at their great results in the previous Asham Under 17 Slam round, simply put, Team Jackson were clinical, resolute and simply unbeatable!
And so to the Finals, with Team Grant taking on Team Archibald in the Low Road.
Winning the first 3 ends in a 6-end competition would (you’d think) make things a mere formality for Callum Grant’s Greenacres team, but the Dumfries team weren’t having any of that and fought back in what proved to be a much tighter game than the result suggests. However, it was perhaps too little, too late, and Team Grant (pictured above left) emerged victors 4 – 2.
The High Road Final was, as expected, a cagey affair with blank ends involved meaning Orrin Carson’s team went into the 5th end 2-1 up. However, in what proved to be a death-blow to Team Carson’s efforts, a stupendous score of 4 by The Peak’s Team Jackson (pictured top left) left no way back, & handshakes followed leaving the 6th end unplayed.
Once again, the Asham Under 17 Slam provided high skill levels, unpredictability, and great entertainment to all of us watching.
And the Winner is: well, of course, Curling’s the Winner!!
