Edinburgh International Senior Championships Successes for C & B Curlers

Apart from the Scottish Championships, the Edinburgh International Senior Championships are the foremost senior championships in Scotland.  Edinburgh curlers in general and C & B curlers in particular enjoyed a strong competition and four senior men (Brian Fleming, John Steven, Andrew Galloway and Dave Munro) made it all the way through to the men's final, John and Brian playing front end to Callum Harvey and Robin Aitken, while Andrew and Dave were in the team skipped by Basil Baird along with Jim Wylie.

Both teams did exceptionally well in their semi-finals.  Basil won a very tight game against the strong Don Stark rink from Forfar while team Harvey had an even more spectacular win against former winners and Scottish senior champions, the Gordon Muirhead rink.

The final was somewhat one-sided, with Callum taking an early eight-shot lead after three ends.  the Baird team decided that they had seen enough and shook hands!

Meanwhile in the ladies competition, Isobel Hannen played second in the Jackie Lockhart team with Christine Cannon and Margaret Richardson.  They successfully defended their title against the evergreen Barbara Watt in a tight 5-3 game.

Ladies Championship winners (from left)
Jackie Lockhart, Christine Cannon, Isobel Hannen and Margaret Richardson

Men's Championship Winners (from left)
Callum Harvey, Robin Aitken, Brian Fleming and John Steven



Junior News

Proud mum and club secretary Jenny reports that Gavin Barr won the Inverness junior title last weekend.  This is a big curling competition in the Scottish junior curling calendar and bodes well for the Scottish Junior Championship early in 2018.

 

Meanwhile, in the girls' event, cousins Kirsty and Emma Barr were coached to a runners-up spot by Andrew Barr.  The water obviously suits the Barrs in Inverness!

The previous weekend saw team Davie, with Kirsty, Emma and coach Andrew again involved were third in the EJCT event at Braehead in Glasgow.

 

Good to see that the next generation of C & B juniors is coming through full speed ahead!

Swan Trophy First Round

In the first round of this season's Swan Trophy, C & B found themselves up against the club they played in last season's final, Midcalder CC.  Tough opener - and it was even tougher when after two ends the two teams found themselves collectively six shots down!  Robin Copland, Andrew Galloway, Morna Aitken and Bob Barr all played well but so did their Midcalder opponents in a tight game; they were one up after six ends. 

Brian Fleming, John Steven, Joe Barry and Betty Gibb were fighting back after a difficult start and their game was getting tighter and tighter.  That's the beauty of the Swan!  You have to play your own game of course, but you need to look at what's going on next door as well and adjust your game plan to suit the circumstances.  The match was still wide open playing the seventh.  Basil's last stone against the Copland team went wrong and left Robin with an open hit for three.  This was a team stone!  He threw it as tight as the proverbial drum, the sweepers swept like dervishes and managed to hold the stone on target.  Four up coming home.  They played the last end well and managed a very flattering steal of four.  The game was a lot closer than the scoreline.

Meanwhile on the other sheet, Brian and company stole the last end to record a one-shot win.  Given where they were after two ends - a great result! 

The semi-final and final take place on the same day towards the end of January.  More on that later.

Kettle Trophy Round 6 Results and League Table

Well.  That was a bit of a night, so it was!  Here's the results table.

Team	1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8
	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E
J Steven				6	3	4	10	3	5	11	4	3	15	1	6	3	9	3	7	7	2
S Kesley	3	6	3				8	4	4	10	4	3	5	6	3	6	6	5				6	8	3
B Fleming	3	10	1	4	8	3				9	3	6				2	8	2	3	13	2	11	3	4
J Barr	4	11	4	4	10	4	3	9	1				6	8	4				2	8	2	9	4	5
K Wood	1	15	1	6	5	4				8	6	4				6	13	3	5	11	3	5	5	4
D Munro	9	3	4	6	6	2	8	2	5				13	6	5				11	3	5	5	7	4
N Gunn	7	7	5				13	3	5	8	2	5	11	5	5	3	11	2				7	3	4
M Wood				8	6	4	3	11	3	4	9	2	5	5	3	7	5	3	3	7	3

First, let's deal with the bottom of the table.  Mike Wood and his team lost a three in their first end against Robin, scored a two, then lost a two.  Then scored a four.  And that was kind of that.  Mike, Andrew Galloway, Graeme Maguire, and Susan MacFarlane all played really well and much better than their league position suggests.

Bob Barr played Jenny in the other bottom of the table clash.  They got eight ends in.  Just as well for Bob; he scored a three in the last and won the game!

Now for the fun bit.  Dave Munro, who has been quietly amassing points under the radar, had a bit of a challenge against Brian Fleming but he, Gina Aitken, president Lois and Josh Kellock were more than up for it and had a great win.  Crucially, this takes them to nine points in the league table.

So what about the top of the table clash between Niall Gunn and John Steven?  Well, when John, Maggie Barry and subs Andrew Cargill and Richie Anderson scored a five in end 4 to take a three-shot lead, they might have been forgiven for thinking that was it.  Niall, Raymond Preston, Betty Gibb and Richard Alexander had other ideas.  Three singles in ends five, six and seven secured them the draw, pushed them forward to nine points and - this could be crucial - helped them to five ends in the game versus two from John.

Here's the new league table with only one round to go

Position	Team	Played	Ends	Shots u/(d)	Shots scored	Points
1	N Gunn	6	26	18	49	9
2	D Munro	6	25	25	52	9
3	J Steven	6	23	25	52	9
4	S Kesley	6	26	4	30	5
5	K Wood	6	19	-24	31	5
6	M Wood	6	18	-13	30	5
7	B Fleming	6	18	-13	32	4
8	J Barr	6	2	-22	28	2

In the last round, Dave Munro plays Jenny Barr and he is one end behind Niall.  That game is first up on Friday 8 December.  John plays Mike Wood.  He is three ends behind Niall.  Niall plays Susan Kesley.  These two games are the following week.  Conceivably all three could win their last games, end up on 11 points each and it would then be down to ends, shots up and shots scored.  Or they could all three of them lose their games, stay on nine points each and then again, it would be down to ends, shots up and shots scored.  Or they could all draw, end up on 10 points each and it would be - you get the picture! 

You've got to feel a bit sorry for Brian and Katie.  They're playing too - but it's a classic middle to bottom of the table game on the last day of the season.  Rearrange the following into a well known phrase or saying.  Monkeys gives a who?

All to play for in the other three games though.  Usual C & B league.

Kettle Trophy Results and League Table Round 5

Well, it was all a bit of a fankle on Friday 10th November and no mistake!  Something about a wedding at Balbirnie...?  And what a wedding it was; I could give you a full report - but that might not be appropriate.  Instead, it was a night for the C & B army of subs and friends of the club to turn out and ensure that the fifth round of the Kettle trophy went ahead.

So, what can I tell you about the games?  Cue tumbleweed scrolling across the screen.  Best not say too much about something I know nothing about, so here's the games results grid.

Team	1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8
	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E	F	A	E
J Steven				6	3	4	10	3	5	11	4	3	15	1	6	3	9	3
S Kesley	3	6	3				8	4	4	10	4	3	5	6	3	6	6	5
B Fleming	3	10	1	4	8	3				9	3	6							3	13	2	11	3	4
J Barr	4	11	4	4	10	4	3	9	1										2	8	2	9	4	5
K Wood	1	15	1	6	5	4										6	13	3	5	11	3	5	5	4
D Munro	9	3	4	6	6	2							13	6	5				11	3	5	5	7	4
N Gunn							13	3	5	8	2	5	11	5	5	3	11	2				7	3	4
M Wood							3	11	3	4	9	2	5	5	3	7	5	3	3	7	3

With John Steven's shock defeat at the hands of new dad, Andrew Cargill and not-so-new dad, Trevor Dodds, (playing for Dave Munro's team), Niall Gunn was able to climb his way onto points parity, but have a look also at Dave Munro's progress - 7 points, for heaven's sake and just 1 behind the two leaders.  Susan Kesley lost her game against Katie Wood, so she is in fourth place on five points.  She has Niall Gunn and Mike Wood to play - the same finishing games as John Steven.  Niall has Susan Kesley and John Steven left to play - both top half of the league teams - interesting.  Brian is miles behind on ends as well as 4 points; he has Katie Wood and Dave Munro to play.  What of Dave?  Brian Fleming and Jenny Barr.  Lots to play for!  Here's the table.

Position	Team	Played	Ends	Shots u/(d)	Shots scored	Points
1	J Steven	5	21	25	45	8
2	N Gunn	5	21	18	42	8
3	D Munro	5	20	19	44	7
4	S Kesley	5	23	6	24	5
5	B Fleming	5	16	-7	30	4
6	K Wood	5	15	-26	23	3
7	M Wood	5	14	-15	22	3
8	J Barr	5	16	-20	22	2