We went; we saw; We didn't conquer!

RCCC Double Rink Competition, Stranraer

As always at Stranraer, a good weekend was had by one and all but the proximity to Christmas and the relative distance of the venue from the rest of Scotland is making this weekend more and more difficult to sell.  In C & B's case, for example, we had to draft in Catherine Dodds as a temporary club member this year and there were a couple of late call-offs from other clubs who found raising eight players too  much of a struggle.  The Royal Club needs to have a serious think about the future of a great event, otherwise it may die on its feet and that would be a great shame.

Anyhow - onto the competition itself and it all came down to the last game in a six-team round-robin, with C&B playing Dalry.  Basically, C&B had to win one of the two games to qualify for the final against the runaway leaders (and eventual winners), Kilsyth.  C&B 1 found themselves five shots down after two ends and finished up losing 13-1.  C&B 2 had a really tight game in which they had fought back from two shots down.  They ended up playing the last end peels without the hammer.  At this point, I will let Raymond Preston take up the story.

"...we were lying shot with backers and a bit of a guddle in front.  Their third player plays his second shot way tight of the brush and hits the inside of the centre guard, pings over and hits a winger at the front of the twelve foot which, in turn, re-directs his stone onto our shot lying (guarded!) on the pot lid.  Unbelievabubble! 

Niall (Gunn) played a good shot to tap them back; their skip does the same to us.  Niall is now left with a difficult tap-back round a guard to get the shot, but it hung straight - in fact maybe even sat back slightly - and did not hit their shot at the right angle.  They lay shot and their skip did not have to play his last shot and we were out of the competition."

I do wonder at a double rink competition being decided on points won; it is supposed to be an aggregate shots-up competition - in other words, league placings should have been decided on shots-up, period.  In the event of a tie, then you would go to shots-played and only in the extreme circumstance that teams could not be separated that way would you go to ends.  Number of games "won" (not the point!) only after that.

But I suppose that's too easy.  Note to the competition organisers: the clue's in the name - "double rink".