TEAM GRANT MAKE IT THREE SUCCESSIVE ASHAM U17 SLAM WINS IN FORFAR
Many congratulations to Team Grant (Callum Grant, Ben Rankin, Gregor Troup, Fraser Rankin) (Greenacres) who clinched their third successive Asham Under 17 Slam victory in Forfar. It took an extra end to decide a tense final between them and home side Team Scanstone (Calum Skea, Donald Robertson, Jamie Jones, Ben Watson) (Forfar).
The first fixture in Section C already was a crucial one with series leaders Team Grant facing high-flying Team Soutar (Callie Soutar, Eva Hare, Holly Clemie, Alison Hamilton) (Forfar). Only a single point separated the sides at half-time, but when Team Grant opened the restart with a two to extend their advantage, there was no way back for Team Soutar. Both rinks went on to win their next two fixtures, meaning Team Grant progressed in the High Road while Team Soutar had to settle for the Low Road.
Meanwhile in Section B, Team Scanstone had a difficult start to proceedings, losing out to Team Morris (Carla Morris, Megan Hutchison, Katie Keagan, Maya Dear) (Dumfries) in their first fixture. However, they fought back to beat Team McCallum (Isla Fleming, Morven Brolly, Hannah Young, Connor MacCallum) (Stirling) by a single point before a great win over Team Sharp (Jessica Sharp, Cara Thomson, Lucy Craig, Rebecca Hamilton) had them right back in the running. Although they sat on equal records with Team Morris, Team Scanstone edged it based on S/U and T/S numbers.
Section A was a tight affair with only single points separating places one, two, and three in the end. Team Zen Curling (George Walmough, Oliver Ablett, Declan McCann, Ollie Johnson) (Preston) eventually had the advantage on a two in one record. Team Halliday (Jack Halliday, Zac Trotter, Owen Kennedy, Edward Hanna) (Dumfries) were in contention until the very end, having started the competition on a win and a draw, but another draw in the final fixture wasn’t enough to qualify for the High Road.
Elsewhere, both Team Cullerton (Elliot Cullerton, Islay McKenzie, Jamie Gorman, Julia Broadwood) (Edinburgh) and Team Rutherford (Finlay Rutherford, Tom Cormack, Cameron Lindsay, Rory Stevenson) (Kinross) started Section D with wins and faced each other in a crucial second fixture. It was all square after five ends, but Team Cullerton stole one in the last to sneak victory and get themselves in an ideal position to qualify. Although Team Cullerton only drew their final game while Team Rutherford won theirs, they had done enough to secure a spot in the High Road.
On to the semi-finals! Team Cullerton opened with a single steal versus Team Scanstone but the lead changed when the latter took two in the second end. Team Cullerton swiftly equalised before only blanks went on the board in the second half. With the sides level, proceedings went into a tense extra end where Team Scanstone, coming down with hammer, took the point they needed. The other semi-final between Team Grant and Team Zen Curling too was all square at the break. However, the former stole twice at the restart to achieve an insurmountable advantage and a spot in the final.
The final started with the sides trading singles in the first half, meaning Team Grant led by a point at the break. When they stole one at the restart to extend their advantage, the game looked in their favour, but when Team Scanstone answered with a single score followed by a single steal, things were level again after the scheduled ends. Extra end it was and Team Grant used their hammer advantage to take a point and the win by 4-3. In the play-off for third, Team Zen Curling got the better of Team Cullerton with a steal in the last end and a final result of 4-3.
Full results are available here.
