Congratulations to Aberlady and East Linton as the winners who will go forward to play each other in the Semi Final on 16th Feb at 3pm. There they will join Yester and Dirleton who got byes and will play in the other Semi. The Final will be played straight after at 5.15pm.
The very experienced Athelstaneford side, played aggressively were beaten by a much younger and laid back team from Aberlady.
Good luck to the surviving four teams.
Being competed for two sheets away from the final of the "Crabbie Trophy" meant that Graeme in his celtic/rangers outfit was unusually restrained with his VERY LOUD "vuvuzela" . This years winner of the best costume (or supplies) went to Jillian for providing her team with their horses (which looked positively demented when attached to their brooms and sweeping action applied!).
There was the usual amount of confusion / befuddlement / arguments while interpreting the rules (and a few rules and changes being applied on the fly) but the event was enjoyed by all. It was particularly good to see so many of our new members in attendance including some returnees from last season. We hope the mental scarring will heal soon. It was also very gratifying to see John Niven return as a spectator and kindly supply the first round of drinks.
Quote of the Day/Season goes to Mike Wood with "I didn't expect Julia to strike" - It closely edged Julia's comment of "I think I will strike"
The afternoon was rounded off with an enjoyable Xmas dinner.
All events must produce a winner and this year it went to the aforementioned 4 Horsepersons, namely Julia, John G, Gillian and Susanne. Sorry there no pies (or out of date chocolates) on this one but they each got to make off with the now traditional re-cycled Salvers.
New Stones Challenge.
Our challengers from the New Stones, Iona Hill, Simon Rice, Lesley Paterson and Gillian (with a G) Robertson being mostly first season curlers played extremely well. None of them having any skipping experience, they were helped with the patience and generosity of Daniel, in the head and Graeme acting as 'floating coach' (Very fortunately NOT in his 'Seaside' Bonspiel costume)
The eventual score was a sporting 4 - 4 peel but most importantly the new stoners enjoyed themselves and have agreed to be added to our reserves list. (Simon has also agreed to take part in the Xmas Bonspiel).
A hearty well done to 'Team David' Wyllie & McKay in the Province Pairs Championship.
They battled through their first round game with a 6 - 3 win which paired them up with past winners and very experienced Athelstaneford pairing of Johnny Shedden and Frank Ross. They played well and managed to peel the game 3 - 3 putting them through to the High Road Final.
In that game, they faced, Athelstaneford (again). This time they fell just short and were beaten 3 - 1. A very creditable effort and beating a lot of very good teams on the way.
Congratulations again to Team Peart who have won the Trophy Competition with a 100% win record.
With a win for Team Maguire/Wood, on paper, they can still win the Shield but will require to win BOTH their games in the Shots Competition, with Daniel's squad losing both.
Similarly, the Maguire/Wood squad can still wrest the wooden spoon from Team Mackey, with similar results.
