Regular readers will already know about the marvellous performance of three of our junior members, Emma Barr, Gavin Barr and Rowena Steven who, as members of the GPYC team managed a great win in the Midlothian Bonspiel.
There has been a lot more going on in the juniors though, whether at competitive or club level. Watch out for some news put together for us by Andrew Barr, who does a marvellous job as one of the "parent-helpers" with Gogar Park Young Curlers on a Sunday morning down at Murrayfield - that's when he is not giving up his time coaching Team Davie on the junior curling circuit. Team Davie just missed the play-offs in the recent Scottish Junior Curling Championship up at Aberdeen and, had they been playing a few years ago, their 5-3 record would have secured them a play-off place to get into the semi-finals.
Anyhow. More of that later. Watch out for more on the juniors from Andrew during the next week or so.
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Monday, 12 February 2018
Midlothian Province Bonspiel
C&B Give a Spirited Account of Themselves!
The Midlothian Province Bonspiel is always a highlight of the curling year at Murrayfield with almost every club that plays in the rink involved throughout the day. The format is simple; it's a good, old-fashioned bonspiel and the club with the highest shots-up total is the club that wins. Originally, each club put three teams in, but as that became more difficult for some of the smaller clubs, the format was amended to let some clubs enter only two rinks. There is an element of "pro-rata-ing" of the scores (if you see what I mean) - but the fact that allows the competition to be even more inclusive is a good thing and the basic format and philosophy remain in place. All good!
So C&B had three teams entered with the 12 noon session being covered by Brian Fleming, Andrew Galloway, Betty Gibb and Morna Aitken, our 16.00 game looked after by John Steven, Dave Munro, Joe Barry and Donald Kennedy, leaving the 20.00 session with Niall Gunn, Robin Copland, Bob Barr and club president Lois Copland.
John Steven takes up the story.
It is always hard for a club with three teams to win against a club with two teams. When I arrived at the rink for our 16.00 game, I was met by Betty Gibb telling me that they had won their game by ten shots - a great start for C&B. We won our game by nine shots, giving us an average score of 9.5 and leaving us in third place. To put this in some perspective, C&B won the trophy two years ago with an average score of 6.67. However, by the time Niall came to play his game, GPYC had set an awesome target of 14.5 average after their two games! What did this mean for Niall? He and his team needed to beat Duddingston by 24 shots - a near impossible task.
Well, from our game's perspective, our challenge wasn't helped by our going four shots down by end two! We eventually went on to win our game but only by the odd shot. But it wasn't all bad news for C&B - oh no! For a few seasons now, the Gogar Park Young Curlers Club has entered a team and taking part this year were three club members, Gavin Barr, Rowena Steven and Emma Barr. Gavin Barr has written a report - let him take up the story in his own words.
GPYC Win Midlothian Province Bonspiel!
With some big scores posted earlier in the day by teams from Midcalder, Carrington and C&B, David Baird's rink of C&B member, Emma Barr, together with Andrew and Adam Keron knew they would have to be on top form to get their club into the running. Facing a side from New Stones, they started off very strongly, picking up multiple scores throughout the fist half of the game. This relentless pursuit of points continued in the second half of their game - even drawing a small crowd in end six when the team nearly pulled off a tricky in-wick to sit eight, albeit without last stone. The final score was 18-3 - enough to put GPYC in the top half of the leaderboard with one game remaining for them.
The second rink of C&B members Gavin Barr and Rowena Steven, playing with Chris Morris and Holly Davis faced a strong-looking Midcalder team skipped by Stewart Barr, along with Scott Baird, Graham Wood and Allan Graham. The GPYC team started strongly and was seven shots to the good after only three ends. Midcalder fought back but the tricky ice made it difficult for both sides and a few lucky breaks helped GPYC to increase their lead - it finished 16-3 in GPYC's favour! This was a result that surprised both teams, but gave GPYC a very strong chance indeed of at least a "podium" finish. We had to wait on the results of the Carrington and C&B games to be absolutely sure of victory, but as both of their games were tight affairs, GPYC picked up its first win as a club in the Midlothian Bonspiel with a net shots difference of +14.
We all took home a bottle of Glengoyne single malt whisky, much to the delight of our respective fathers, all of whom reminded us of their upcoming birthdays!
We don't have a picture of Emma with the trophy, but here is one with Rowena and Gavin! Congratulations from the older members of the club - much deserved and very well done!
 |
| From left: Rowena Steven and Gavin Barr, winners of the Midlothian Province Bonspiel |
Lymphoy Cup Round 3.2 Results
The third round was finished off on Friday last and both Shona Watt and Bob Barr kept their hopes very much alive with two great wins over Jenny Barr and Susan Kesley respectively. Here is the results table with their two games highlighted in fetching shades of viridescent and caerulean (or green and blue to you and me).
Of much more interest to regular readers is the "state of the nation" assessment and predictions that have become such a regular feature of these, typically, weekly postings.
The only team in whose hands sits its own fate is Shona's strong line up of Andrew Barr, Caitlin Penny and Sheena Munro. For them it is simple; win all your games. Shona plays Robin Copland on the 23rd February, John Steven on 2nd March and finally, Brian Fleming on 16th March, when all eight teams are out on the ice and when all could still be up for grabs.
Now, let's look down the table at the other contenders.
Robin, Betty Gibb, Josh Kellock and Susan MacFarlane are also in a strong position - especially if they manage to win their encounter with Shona on the 23rd. Robin goes on to play Bob Barr on 2nd March and finishes his campaign against Jenny Barr in the 16th March shoot-out. Win all three and he damages both his nearest rivals, Shona and Bob, though Shona could still sneak the Lymphoy in that event if she wins her other two games and keeps her ends total above his.
Bob Barr is also in a strong position. He, John Penny, Karen Munro and Graeme Maguire play John Steven on 23rd February, Robin Copland on 2nd March and Andrew Galloway on 16th March. Crucially for him, he is relying on Robin to do the business for him on 23rd February (or indeed Brian or John in the later rounds), for that would bring Shona back into the pack with one loss.
Tucked in behind those three sits John Steven alone on four points. John, Andrew Cargill/ Kerry Clark, Raymond Preston and Pauline Alexander have two crucial games - against Bob on 23rd February and Shona on 2nd March. If they win those two games, they put themselves in with a great shout for silverware - if not the Lymphoy cup itself, then certainly the Glenbrook Quaich.
Intriguingly, the other four teams are tied on two points each. Any one of them could leap from the pack by winning their remaining three games and moving to eight points. It will be clearer after the games on 16th February when, unbelievably, they all play each other. You really could not have made it up. I'll say this; there's a flock of flying geese for the losers of those games - indeed the same geese will still be quacking if there's a drawn match. It will all become clearer still by the close of play on 23rd February because, by then, the top four will also have played each other.
All to play for!
| 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 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| R Copland | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| B Fleming | 12 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| A Galloway | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| J Barr | 9 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| S Kesley | 4 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| B Barr | 8 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| S Watt | 10 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 5 | ||||||||||||
Of much more interest to regular readers is the "state of the nation" assessment and predictions that have become such a regular feature of these, typically, weekly postings.
The only team in whose hands sits its own fate is Shona's strong line up of Andrew Barr, Caitlin Penny and Sheena Munro. For them it is simple; win all your games. Shona plays Robin Copland on the 23rd February, John Steven on 2nd March and finally, Brian Fleming on 16th March, when all eight teams are out on the ice and when all could still be up for grabs.
Now, let's look down the table at the other contenders.
| Position | Team | Played | Ends | Shots u/(d) | Shots scored | Points |
| 1 | S Watt | 4 | 19 | 26 | 38 | 8 |
| 2 | R Copland | 4 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 6 |
| 3 | B Barr | 4 | 14 | 9 | 28 | 6 |
| 4 | J Steven | 4 | 14 | -4 | 22 | 4 |
| 5 | B Fleming | 4 | 16 | -1 | 27 | 2 |
| 6 | J Barr | 4 | 12 | -8 | 22 | 2 |
| 7 | A Galloway | 4 | 12 | -18 | 17 | 2 |
| 8 | S Kesley | 4 | 8 | -25 | 15 | 2 |
Robin, Betty Gibb, Josh Kellock and Susan MacFarlane are also in a strong position - especially if they manage to win their encounter with Shona on the 23rd. Robin goes on to play Bob Barr on 2nd March and finishes his campaign against Jenny Barr in the 16th March shoot-out. Win all three and he damages both his nearest rivals, Shona and Bob, though Shona could still sneak the Lymphoy in that event if she wins her other two games and keeps her ends total above his.
Bob Barr is also in a strong position. He, John Penny, Karen Munro and Graeme Maguire play John Steven on 23rd February, Robin Copland on 2nd March and Andrew Galloway on 16th March. Crucially for him, he is relying on Robin to do the business for him on 23rd February (or indeed Brian or John in the later rounds), for that would bring Shona back into the pack with one loss.
Tucked in behind those three sits John Steven alone on four points. John, Andrew Cargill/ Kerry Clark, Raymond Preston and Pauline Alexander have two crucial games - against Bob on 23rd February and Shona on 2nd March. If they win those two games, they put themselves in with a great shout for silverware - if not the Lymphoy cup itself, then certainly the Glenbrook Quaich.
Intriguingly, the other four teams are tied on two points each. Any one of them could leap from the pack by winning their remaining three games and moving to eight points. It will be clearer after the games on 16th February when, unbelievably, they all play each other. You really could not have made it up. I'll say this; there's a flock of flying geese for the losers of those games - indeed the same geese will still be quacking if there's a drawn match. It will all become clearer still by the close of play on 23rd February because, by then, the top four will also have played each other.
All to play for!
Tuesday, 6 February 2018
Reserve Availability at 6 February
There have been quite a few changes since yesterday's posting, so here is the updated list.
| Reserve Availability List | |||||||||
| P - Already Playing N - Not able to play | |||||||||
| Blank = worth a try | |||||||||
| Reserve Members | 09-Feb | 16-Feb | 23-Feb | 02-Mar | 09-Mar | 16-Mar | 17-Mar | ||
| 7.30pm | 5.30pm | 7.30pm | 5.30pm | 7.30pm | 5.30pm | 3.45pm | |||
| Richie Anderson | |||||||||
| Kerry Clark | |||||||||
| Annie Fleming | |||||||||
| Fran Stretton | N | ||||||||
| David Aitken | |||||||||
| Karina Aitken Jnr | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ||
| Gavin Barr Jnr Glasgow | N | N | N | ||||||
| Laura Barr Jnr | |||||||||
| Kirsty Barr Jnr Dundee | |||||||||
| Catriona Still | |||||||||
| Jane Barr Jnr | |||||||||
| Emma Barr Jnr | |||||||||
| Richard Alexander | N | N | N | ||||||
| David McCluskey | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ||
| Isobel Hannen | N | ||||||||
| Megan Priestley | P | P | |||||||
| Agnes Barr | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ||
| Barbara Wood | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ||
| Jill Gillard | N | ||||||||
| Douglas Burns |
P | P | |||||||
| Jennifer Marshall | N | P | P | P | P | ||||
| Gina Aitken | |||||||||
| Francis Kennedy | |||||||||
| Andrew Cargill | |||||||||
| Mark Munro | |||||||||
| Graham Milne | |||||||||
| Stuart Ronald | P | ||||||||
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