Province Bonspiel Monday 31st January

The Province Bonspiel is always a bit of a hoot! It is run on traditional bonspiel lines although there is a modern twist. Not all clubs can raise three teams; in order to let smaller clubs still take part, they can enter at least two teams and have their results pro-rata'd using some complicated formula or other that is well beyond the arithmetical capabilities of your scribe. Is it even arithmetic? Who knows - and certainly pas moi! Anyhow, this is all a long-winded way of saying that President Niall wrote a report about a month ago that has sat on my to-do list all that time - apologies Niall! The first game of three involved Brian Fleming, Jenny Barr, Robin Copland and Mike Wood. They played Haymarket CC and found themselves 13 shots to the good by the end of their game. A great start, writes Niall.

Next up were Susan Kesley, Andrew Galloway, Joe Barry and Lois Copland. The ice had slowed up and was a bit tricky. It was all a bit tense as they went into their last end but a big score of six steadied the nerves and secured a four-shot win against a strong Stew-Mel rink.

This left the evening game in which president Niall Gunn teamed up with Jennifer Marshall, Dave Munro and Angela Downie to take on the might of Dalkeith. As often happens, their main rivals, Barbarians CC were on an adjoining sheet and their challenge was to try to keep pace with them. They were behind Barbarians in the last end so really had to go all out for a big end which, to be fair, they scored; a five took them to a 16-3 win. C & B were plus 30 in total which, divided by three meant a plus ten average score. Barbarians pipped us by one shot; they were plus eleven. Still - a great team effort and as two of our teams were plus 13, we thought that we were in with a shout at the Colin Black trophy. Even that was close though! There were in fact four teams on plus 13 but because my team had scored one more total shots than the others, that was good enough for the Colin Black trophy.

Thank you to Niall for the comprehensive report and congratulations to him, Jennifer, Dave and Angela on winning the Colin Black trophy.

Lymphoy Cup and Glenbrook Quaich Final Results and League Table

Well, it's been a rollercoaster of a competition and the final league table tells its story of success and gallant failure. Many congratulations to Katie Wood, Andrew Galloway, Joe Barry and Richie Anderson, this year's winners of the Lymphoy Cup. Team Wood came good towards the end of the competition, starting with a great win over Karen Munro's previously unstoppable team. That took them to level on points. They finished their competition on Friday with the draw that they needed - aided by Louise Edwards who helped Aunty Katie out by subbing for her. Congratulations to them! Oh, and an aside, they drew with Brian Fleming, giving him the point he needed to, well to get a point! Here's the score grid showing the results of all seven rounds in the competition.

The race for second place and the Glenbrook Quaich - well, the only certainty was that the skip's name was going to be Munro - but which one - faither Dave or daughter Karen? You've got to feel for Karen and her team, Morna Aitken, Douglas Burns and Angela Downie. They were riding along on the crest of a wave for four rounds before meeting Katie Wood and her troops. They lost that one, but at the time were still leading the field on ends won. Covid struck Karen though and the team lost to faither Dave in round six, so it was all to play for in round seven. Both Karen and Dave won their games but Karen's superior ends total (30 ends won in the competition) meant that she took the Glenbrook Quaich - congratulations all. Bad luck to Dave Munro, Rowena Steven, Sarah Ford and Susan MacFarlane who came third with a creditable 10 points. Here's the final league table.

Gina Aitken Wins the Scottish Women's Curling Championship

Playing third in team Morrison, with team mates Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson, Gina Aitken has added to her Scottish Championship successes with her maiden win the the 'Blue Riband' Scottish Women's Curling Championship. Many congratulations to Gina from all members of the club! The team was selected to represent Scotland in the World Championships in Port George but very sadly some members fell ill with Covid and team Scotland has had to withdraw from the Championships.

Lymphoy Cup Round 6 Results and League Table

See that fan at the entrance to the rink - the brown one? The one that seems to be blocked and is smelling a bit? Yes, that one. It's Currie and Balerno wot done it - I'm telling you! There was Karen Munro, floating along nicely until round five when she came up against one Katie Wood (and company). Katie, whose company includes Andrew Galloway, Joe Barry and Richie Anderson won a 'must win' game, but was still behind on ends. Enter Covid; poor Karen (get well soon, Karen) was afflicted and her team played her dad (of all people) without her. 9-4 to dad! Apologies to Dave and team by the way; I got the game result transposed in the last update - it is corrected now. Katie and troops meanwhile accounted for Norman Nicol's team in round 6 and, from being two points down going into round five now find themselves in pole position going into the 7th and final round. Here's the table.

Katie is out front on her own - win or draw and she is our champion, but look at positions two and three - next thing we know, we'll all be mountaineers, climbing Scotland's tallest peaks! Karen plays John Steven's team; if John's team wins that game, they will overtake Karen and give themselves a shout at a podium finish. Dave Munro plays Robin Copland - an easy win for Dave, you would think, but Robin's not playing, so maybe not! If Dave wins by a barrel-load of ends and Katie gets gubbed - oh and Karen loses, he's not out of things either. Results grid follows.

For the rest of us, think tumbleweed; think dusty abandoned townships in gold country, USA. All to play for for some though. Good luck to all!

Team David Hogg Wins the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Association British Open Championship

This was a great win for David Hogg, skipping his team of Martin Sutherland, Owen Streeter and Carlyne McCluskey. David filed a report for the Scottish Curling website and, rather than write some nonsense myself, why don't I let David tell the story in his own words! Players from as far afield as Buckinghamshire and Elgin competed in an eight-team round-robin format with the final standings going right to the last session. Team Hogg won their final game to go through the tournament unbeaten and claim the title. Team Pimblett were runners-up with team Gault finishing in third place.

Many congratulations David from all your clubmates at Currie and Balerno CC!

Lymphoy Cup Round 5 Results and League Table

Round Five took place over two Fridays - 25th February and 4th March. That scrabbling sound you hear in the loft? It's the pigeons going mental because Topcat's been let loose. The pigeons (and I accept that the analogy is being stretched like a piece of German dough here!) are four other teams in the Lymphoy Cup league and the cat is Katie Wood and her team of Andrew Galloway, Joe Barrie and Richie Anderson. They took on the previously unassailable Karen Munro and, despite being three down after two ends, scored two, one, three and two in the next four ends to take an 8-3 lead into the seventh and last end. Karen managed a score of three in the last end to make the scoreline look more palatable, but still - big win for Katie and the race for the Lymphoy Cup is now well and truly open for business! In the other game on the February Friday, Robin Copland and Jenny Barr managed to get eight ends in! That's about it really - Robin scraped a win.

The next week saw the tightest game of the round in which Dave Munro, Rowena Steven, Sarah Ford and Susan MacFarlane come from one behind playing the sixth and last end to score a two and secure the win against Norman Nicol's team, this week skipped by Megan Priestley. The final score was 5-4 and each team scored three ends. In the last game of the round, John Steven's rink, skipped by Shona Watt, supported by Morag Wellman, Maggie Barrie and David Hogg had a good 9-4 win over Brian Fleming's team. They remain rooted to the bottom spot in the league. Here's the league table.

Game on, as a wiser man than I once remarked. Wide open now, though Karen's four-end advantage could prove pivotal. We shall see!

Lymphoy Cup Round 4.2 Results and League Table

Catching up here, sorry - a bit late. These two games completed round 4 and took place on 18th February. Betty Gibb skipped Norman Nicol's team with Morag Wellman at third and a rare outing for the Anderson combination, Richie and Anne. A big score of four in the fifth end of six against John Steven's rink, skipped by daughter Rebecca secured the points. Meanwhile, Dave Munro skipped his team of Rowena Steven, Sarah Ford and Susan MacFarlane to a good win over Mike Wood, who was skipping Brian Fleming's team. Here's the scores grid.

So - what does that do to the league table? Well, if you're Brian there is at least consistency! Norman's team moves up beside Katie Wood in their joint attempts to keep Karen Munro honest; Karen, it has to be said, is powering on...