WALLACE EDGE OUT MORAY MAGPIES IN NATIONAL GATEWAY CLUB CHALLENGE 2024
Many congratulations to Wallace (Jamie Roy, Mark Dainter, Paul Boggan, Mark Brember, Robert Hutton) (The Peak, Stirling) who won the National Gateway Club Challenge 2024. They beat Moray Magpies (Cameron Smith, Mike Morgan, Gerald Winkler, Steve Valentine, Luke Hedges) (Moray) 6-4 in the final at Curl Edinburgh to clinch the title.
Wallace had an excellent start to their campaign, opening with a 10-1 over Ayr Disnae 1 (Susan Cloggie-Holden, Louise Macdonald, Norma Lambie, Janey Muirhead) (Ayr) in Section A. A tight 6-3 result over New Stones 3 (Andrew Ormiston, Jennifer Reynolds, Kristin Crombie, Louise Davidson) (Curl Edinburgh) followed, but if there was any doubt about Wallace topping the table and progressing to the play-offs, they did away with it in an 11-0 success over Glasgow A (Joyce Whitaker, Ross Wilson, Emily Townsend, Calum MacLeod) (Greenacres).
Things were tighter in Section B. Forfar (Avril Aitken, Frazer MacDonald, Emma Sinclair, Tracey Collie) (Forfar) recorded two wins in their opening games while Chill Thrillers (Stewart Gracie, Craig Kyle, Andy Alston, Martin Crawford, Alison Gracie) (The Peak, Stirling) were on one win, one defeat. However, with them facing each other in the final fixture, progression was at stake for both teams. With the game ending in a four-all draw, Forfar secured top of the table and a spot in the semi-finals while Chill Thrillers had to settle for the Low Road.
Both Moray Magpies and Glasgow B (David Thomson, Graeme Lashley, Andy Ward, Anne Marie Daly) (Greenacres) were off to winning starts in Section C and went two in 0. Set to face each other in the final group fixture, it was a straight shoot-out for the play-offs. The game was all square with one end to go, but Moray Magpies played an excellent finish to steal two and take the win as well as a spot in the semi-finals.
Section D was the tightest group of the lot with the decision eventually coming down to stats. Borders 1 (Katie Smith, Chantelle Paisley, Rupert Townsend, Sara Boulton) (Borders) won their first two games before falling to a narrow 3-2 defeat at the hands of New Stones 2 (Andrea Battini, Heather Harpur, Lorna Lettice, Zach Thompson) (Curl Edinburgh) in their last game. Meanwhile Borders 2 (Mike Stevenson, Andrew Sim, Eric Halquist, Lynsey Cullen) (Borders) won their opening match and bounced back from defeat to their rink colleagues to win their final fixture. Thus, the two Borders sides were matched on four points each, but head-to-head sent Borders 1 on to the play-offs.
The semi-finals were set between Forfar and Moray Magpies, and Wallace and Borders 1. The first semi-final was tied after two ends before Moray Magpies took the advantage with a two in End 3. Forfar could only respond with a single and a 3-2 win went to the Northerners. Meanwhile, Wallace were well on top of their semi-final and stole three times to record a 5-0 success over Borders 1.
On to the final where Wallace had an excellent start with three points in End 1. Moray Magpies could only respond with a single and when Wallace got another three on the board, the game looked firmly in their corner. Moray Magpies finished strongly with a three themselves in End 4, but the damage was already done and Wallace took the title with a final result of 6-4.
In the play-off for third, singles were traded until Forfar found an edge with a deuce in End 4 that earned them a 3-2 win over Borders 1.
Full results are available here.
