TEAM COWIE WIN FORFAR ASHAM U14 SLAM WITH LAST END NERVES OF STEEL
Many congratulations to Team Cowie (Matthew Cowie, Lukas Mason, Leo Gudgeon, Ben Lamb) (The Peak, Stirling) who triumphed at the second Asham Under 14 Slam of the season. They edged out Team Skea (Morag Skea, Amber Perras, Charlotte Brewster, Rachel Grant) (Curl Aberdeen) in the final at Forfar Indoor Sport.
Team Cowie’s progress to the semi-finals could not have been more straightforward with three wins from three Section A fixtures. Interestingly though, all of their matches were level with one end to go and time and again, the Stirling side played things perfectly to secure a point, scored or stolen, when it mattered.
It was a similar story for Section B where Team McDonald (Anna McDonald, Iona Skea, Fiona Jolly, Eilidh Webster) (Forfar) ran away with three wins and sat pretty at the top of the standings.
The same could not be said for Section C though. With more sides competing here – six compared to four each in the other two sections – but still only three fixtures per team, things inevitably were tighter. Team McKenzie (Islay McKenzie, Stewart Hamilton, Hannah Lindsay, Isla Clemie) (Dewars, Perth) started out with a narrow win by just a single point. Two more victories followed, their advantages gradually increasing, to confirm them as table toppers.
Team Skea had to settle for runner-up in Section B due to a draw versus Forfar Boys (Dougal Jolly, Ruaridh McCartney, Fraser Lindsay, Angus Lindsay) (Forfar) that spoiled their perfect win record and saw them finish two points shy of Team McKenzie. However, it was formalities only as the top two from this section progressed to the High Road semi-finals.
Up against Team Skea, Team McDonald opened their semi-final with a great score of three, only for their opponents to level an end later. Team McDonald got back on the board in the third end with a deuce that regained them the advantage, but Team Skea remained cool, calm, and collected to once more score three in response and edge the win 6-5.
In the other semi-final Team McKenzie struck first with a single steal to open, but Team Cowie answered with a two to take the lead. Team McKenzie scored their deuce in turn to lead by a point going into the last end and put the pressure on their opponents. However, Team Cowie once more braved the final end nerves and this time bagged a magnificent three to claim victory.
And thus the final was set between Team Cowie and Team Skea. The former had the superior start, stealing a single each in the first two ends. Team Skea were far from done though and responded with a deuce in End 3 that levelled things again. Coming down with hammer, there was no stopping Team Cowie though who scored two to win the slam by four points to two.
In the play-off for third Team McKenzie edged it 4-2, scoring deuces compared to Team McDonald’s singles.
Full results are available here.
