TEAM KENNEDY CLINCH 2023 SCOTTISH SENIOR MIXED TITLE
Many congratulations to Team Kennedy (Neil Kennedy, Margaret Agnew, John Agnew, Sheila Kennedy) (Ayr) who secured the Scottish Curling Senior Mixed title. They overcame Team Clark (Robert Clark, Alison Cunningham, Murray Stevenson, Gail Thomson) (Ayr) in an all-Ayr final to become the 2023 champions.
Team Kennedy dominated Section 1 with three wins and one draw to their name. The only side even remotely able to keep up were Team Murray (Neil Murray, Louise Kerr, Douglas Telfer, Marjorie Christie) (Stirling) who were the opponents in the aforementioned draw and additionally collected two wins and one defeat. The drawn game would prove crucial in deciding who would progress to the play-offs. Despite beating Team Murray, Team Horton (Ken Horton, Dot Moran, Jim Stirling, Liz Horton) (Lanarkshire) had to settle for third and didn’t make the cut on a two-in-two record.
Section 2 was a slightly tighter affair. Although Team Clark progressed as top of the table, their position came down to margins. The Ayr side were defeated in their opening game by Team Wilson (Philip Wilson, Kate Adams, Billy Johnston, Elspeth Johnston) (Stranraer) who claimed the top position early. Team Clark went on to win their remaining three games while Team Wilson collected a loss to Team Cormack (Iain Cormack, Angela Wilcox, Steve Wilcox, Julia Cormack), meaning they both sat on three-in-one records. The ranking went down to ends with Team Clark prevailing on 20 to 19.
The semi-finals were next and turned into astonishingly clean-cut games. Team Kennedy opened the scoring with a two against Team Wilson and stole in the next four ends. After five ends and 8-0 on the board, Team Wilson conceded the match. Meanwhile, Team Clark started their semi-final versus Team Murray with a blank but made up for it with a big four points in End 2. They too went on to steal in the next four with their opponents admitting defeat after six ends and a score of 9-0.
And so everything was set for an all-Ayr final. Indeed, all but one curler even hailed from the same Ayrshire club, Sorn CC. After a blank start, Team Clark were first to strike with a stolen single in End 2. Another blank followed and this time it were Team Kennedy who subsequently collected points, adding a three to the board just before the break. The scores were mirrored at the restart with Team Clark taking one before Team Kennedy took three. A blank seventh did nothing to change the 6-2 standings and when it became apparent that Team Clark wouldn’t get the four points they needed, they shook hands without the final stones being thrown.
