DUNNING WIN 2024 RINK CHAMPIONSHIP
Many congratulations to Dunning Curling Club (Paul Martin, James Craik, Mark Watt, Iain Watt, Blair Haswell) (Dewars, Perth) who triumphed at the 2024 Rink Championship. They overcame Ardclach 2 (Ruairiadh Greenwood, Neil Macarthur, Neil Campbell, James Greenwood) (Inverness) in the final.
A total of 16 teams, split into four sections, contested the Rink Championship at Forfar Indoor Sport.
Remarkably, both eventual finalists, Dunning and Ardclach 2, competed in Section C. They each won their opening two fixtures versus Crosshill (Robert Ireland, Liam Scott, William McHarg, Robert Andrew) (Ayr) and Corstorphine (Colin Beesley, David Beesley, Mhorag Heger, Neil Wilson, Colin Baxter) (Curl Edinburgh) before facing each other in the final group game. On this occasion, Ardclach 2 had the clear upper hand, taking a 7-0 win to progress to the quarter-finals as table toppers while Dunning went through as runners-up.
Competition was fierce in Section A where all four teams ended up separated by only two points. Avondale Heather (Hugh Neilson, Don Frame, Alex Fleming, Stewart Anderson) (Lanarkshire) started their campaign with a defeat but bounced back to collect two successive wins that saw them top the table on four points. Mid Calder (David Baird, Graham Young, Scott Baird, Ewan Barr, Dougie Wood) (Curl Edinburgh) and Fothringham 2 (Adrian White, Bruce Keillor, Martin Gregory, Anne Shaw) (Forfar) though concluded proceedings on three points each. Having started the championship with a 5-5 draw against each other, head-to-head couldn’t decide the ranking either and the sides were tied on 10 ends each as well. Finally, superior S/U and T/S numbers gave Mid Calder the advantage and they progressed out of the group.
After a draw to start the championship, Galston Haymouth (Billy Morton, Jay McWilliam, Gavin Morton, Robert Anderson) (Ayr) took control of Section B with two successive wins and went to the quarter-finals as table toppers. Stewarton Heather (David Reid, Craig Reid, Alex Wilson, Fiona Reid) (Greenacres) did the work early with a win and a draw to secure a play-off spot, defeat to Kilsyth (Billy Johnston, Neil Murray, Dougie McKenzie, Madge Christie) (Peak, Stirling) not changing the qualifiers.
Airleywright (Calum Kinnear, Alastair Schreiber, Kenny Kinnear, Andrew Brown) (Dewars, Perth) dominated Section D with three wins that saw them uncontested in the Q1 spot. Fothringham 1 (Jill Donald, Jo Fletcher, Fraser Crosby, Gavin Walker) (Forfar) were best of the rest, bouncing back from an opening defeat to Airleywright with two successive wins.
On to the quarter-finals! It was all square between Fothringham 1 and Avondale Heather at the break, but the former played an excellent second half, scoring threes while forcing singles, for the win. Ardclach 2 opened with a big four points in End 1 and though Stewarton Heather responded with a three, they kept the upper hand to bring victory over the line. Galston Haymouth were first on the board versus Dunning, but the Perth side fought back, outscoring and stealing, to prevail after seven ends. Airleywright never looked in any doubt and saw off Mid Calder after the minimum amount of ends played.
In the semi-finals, Airleywright were first to score versus Ardclach 2, but the Inverness side responded with a big three points and a single steal to take the advantage. Singles were traded from there and a 6-3 win went to the Inverness team. Dunning and Fothringham 1 exchanged deuces to start with before the former took a slight lead with a steal of one. Dunning went on to force Fothringham 1 and followed it up with a score of two themselves which gave them an advantage they brought over the line for a 6-4 success.
The final was set between Ardclach 2 and Dunning. While Ardclach 2 were first on the board with a single in End 1, Dunning made sure they had the brighter start, responding with a three and stealing in the next two ends to extend the gap to five points at the break. Ardclach 2 started into the second half with a single, but when Dunning answered with a two in End 6 to increase their advantage further, handshakes were exchanged and 8-2 stood as the final result.
