Club Bonspiel 2016

It's going to be a White (and Black) Christmas

As news slowly trickles in from the Bonspiel, it seem that all the members have decided that 'what happens at the Bonspiel, stays at the Bonspiel. Very little information has reached my ears except that the winners were Team Good.  John was backed up by, probably the only man who understood the rules, Dave Munro and further assisted by Craig, the future Mr Lindsey Nicoll, and elder statesman Stanley Simpson.

Time to start thinking up rules for the 2018 Bonspiel.

E.L Pairs Competition

Well played by our team of John Good and Karen Munro in the Province Pairs Competition who lost out to Athelstaneford in the High Road semi-final with a close 3 - 2 game.

Murrayfield Proposals - Launch

Below are the current proposals from our curling rink and an invitation to the official launch

Edinburgh Area Bonspiel

Johnny and Morgan collecting the 'Black Bull'

Congratulations to Morgan Nicoll, Graeme Maguire and Cathy MacLean, who along with five other curlers helped East Lothian Province win the Edinburgh Area Bonspiel and the 'famous' Black Bull Trophy.  Their team played solidly to finish the day on  +3 Shots and in joint third place.
Overall, East Lothian came out the clear winners on +14.  Our nearest rivals, The RCCC, came second on +3.  It should be noted that our Ex President, John Good was playing for the RCCC.

Murrayfield Upgrades ?

Just an idea.
Actually, as a Christmas competition, there is a frozen centipede in the ice at Murrayfield.  A bag of non-diabetic sweets to the first person that can find it and tell me where it is !

Two from Two

Congratulations to Sandy.  After a hard fought game against John G, which turned one way and then the other, Sandy pulled it back in the final end to earn himself and his team a peeled game.
This leaves himself with his second Aberlady trophy of the season and means that he has successfully defended his title from last season.  The records show that since 1963 no-one has won the Trophy three times in a row, so he still has something to play for next year.
Sandy has been assisted this season by his rink of Karen Munro, Mike Wood, Cathy MacLean and Stanley Simpson

E L Province Competitions

The full draws and confirmation of dates is now up on the Fixtures Tab

Congratulations to Sandy

Sandy is the first entry on our list of club winners for the season.
On paper the two teams looked well matched, the problem was the game was played on ice not on paper.  The final scoreline, looked a comfortable win in the knockout final for Sandy's rink of Mike Wood, Cathy MacLean, and Stanley Simpson but in practice it was a much closer game than that.  There were some excellent shots and playing from both teams, requiring much thought and delicate play.
Graeme's rink, in truth probably lost the game in the first 2 ends.  Graeme was looking for an early lead and asked for some risky shots from Karen (substituting for Stan Howard).  Their loss was limited to a single in the first end but a four in the second end was a major blow. Two excellent draws through a narrow port put Graeme on the scoreboard.  Sandy, riposted with a brilliant wide strike and angled roll against a possible four to get take a two.  With the game lost Graeme had two stones counting and his last stone to come opted to try for a three, again drawing through a narrow port, but like the first ends was a millimeter off and popped Sandy in for another single.
Final score 9 - 2 for Sandy and a well deserved win for his squad.

....... and now for the Club Trophy

Knockout start to the season

Traditionally the Knockout marks the start of our season.  This year saw Morgan's team, led by Lindsey take on brother Sandy, while the reigning champion John Good took on Graeme.

Sandy, playing with only three players took some time to adjust to the reduced sweeping power that has become his hallmark.  This allowed Lindsey, aided by George, Pauline and Pam to take a 4 - 0 lead after three ends.  Sandy, with Cathy and Stanley, was not to be denied and recovering his form took two shots in the next three ends to run out a 6 - 4 victor.

Meanwhile, Graeme got off to a good start and was 3 - 0 up after two ends (despite the opposition removing stones during a measure, and leniency being dispensed).  John G, aided by Dale, Dave W and Karen, came back with a two in the third end.  The fourth end was decisive with Graeme, Stan and John S getting off to a poor start leaving Graeme facing a well guarded five with his final stone.  The shot having been decided, a draw weight taking a roll off one of John's stones was played, and succeeded, albeit, rolling off a different stone from that originally intended.  Graeme then stole a single and left John needing a four to win.  John piled the stones in while Graeme guarded second shot, leaving John with a tricky double take out to take his four and win the game.  The wide strike was an ask too much and went wide giving the final score 5 - 3 to Greame's rink and meaning that there will be a new Knockout champion this year.

The game was followed by a supper in the bar.

Season 2016/17 starts at the very Beginning.

It was a successful  'Beginners' night, with four new faces being coached by Karen, Graeme, Sandy and Rosie.
Following a brief introduction and description to and of the game a 4 end game followed, with an Old v Young format being decided by Sandy.  Despite a few protests, along the lines of 'Who do you think you are calling old'  the game got underway, with our 'coaching staff' playing lead and skip of the two teams.  It wasn't until early in the first end that Skip Nicoll started asking his beginners for strikes.  The other team led by Rosie, who learned a lot about the game by performing as skip, played a more traditional game.  The result was, in the end, immaterial as ALL the players enjoyed their first session.

Updates for 2016-17

There have been a couple of alterations to the Syllabus since it was initially posted here, mainly telephone numbers.
I have updated the syllabus on the 'Fixtures' tab to the newest version.

There are still a couple of places available for the Come & Try on Friday 23rd September at 5.30pm.
If you know of anyone who is interested please let Graeme or Sheena know asap.

NB. Haddington are running a Come & Try on Saturday 1st October at 3.45pm, so if you know anyone that is interested but cannot make the 23rd, again let Graeme know and he will arrange a place for them.

Season 2016 - 17

Now that the syllabus (and demands for ice payment) have been issued by our efficient secretary, I am getting round to doing my pre-season spring clean of the website.  Already all our seasons fixtures have been added to the appropriate tab and other bits and bobs will be tidied up, in readiness, over the next few days.
In the meantime I hope everyone has enjoyed our three days of summer and look forward to seeing everyone on the ice soon !!!

Annual Dinner 2016

Photos taken at the annual Dinner and Prizegiving are now on our Flickr Site

Sandy's Team - featuring 2 Pies Callander

The Last Post

After a long delay, I am getting round to writing up the final game of the season. 

President v Vice President
In the headline game Vice Pres Graeme took an early lead of 2 against President Sheena's rink (skipped by John Good)  What followed, while amusing, definitely did not go to any script.  Graeme has probably never made so many doubles (and treble) take outs in his life, unfortunately many of them were his own stones.  George his second was even scolded at one point for removing one of his own stones being told, 'that's our skips job'. Graeme's shots left both skips and thirds confounded by some of the outcomes.
Lest too much be made of this I have to say that Sheena's rink were also not immune from the 'odd' shot.
Amid the laughter the President's rink of John G, Morgan, Dave W, and Sheena were still being pegged to a one shot lead with one end to play.  Finally some luck went with the VP's team of Graeme, Josh, George and John S and they stole a three giving them a two shot win.

Meanwhile - on the other sheet:-
Mike W, playing for the President with Stan, Cathy and Pam were giving the youngsters, Sandy, Karen, Dale and Rosie a tight game with all ends except one going by a single shot.  With one end to play Mike was leading Sandy by one.  By the time the other other game was finished, Sandy only had the last stone of the game to play and was lying two down.  With a rowdy audience and Sheena & Graeme limbering up for 'Draw the Shot' Sandy (and Karen) kept his nerve(s) and played a take out through a port and lay for one, resulting in a peeled game.

The aggregate scores then record a two shot win for the Vice President.

The game was then followed by a swift little AGM and the serious business of a convivial supper.

Thus endeth the 2015/2016 playing season. 

Don't forget the Club Dinner on 14th April.

Tension in the Final Ends

Sandy v John

A Happy Chappy

With two ends of the 'regular' season remaining Sandy struck, what he thought was a decisive blow by stealing a three from John.  This result saw the Shots Competition going in Mike Wood's favour and the Peter Allan Shield heading towards Sandy.
John, however, aided by Sandy's dad, had other thoughts and kept playing to the very end.  The final end of the competition saw them strike back with a three of their own, finishing with the first peeled game of the season at seven shots a piece.  This result was enough to ensure that John Good and his team of Morgan Nicoll, Dave Wyllie and Sheena Munro, had enough points to take the Shots Competition.  As if their night couldn't get any better they also finished tied with Sandy on seven points for the Peter Allan Shield, but take the title on having won twenty five ends throughout the season compared to Sandy's twenty two.
This caps a good season for John who also won the Knockout at the start of the season and was Dale's team which took the Thirds Competition.  Yes, we will be seeing John a LOT at the annual dinner and prize giving.

..... and now the end is near

With one game of the regular season remaining there are still 2 titles up for grabs:-
Shots competition.
After a few big scores at the start of the competition, the results have calmed down.  Last nights game between Graeme and Mike (ok Karen) caused  an upset by producing Team Maguire's first win and Team Wood's first loss in this competition.  This lost Mike his lead in the standings with both teams now finished.  The final game between Sandy and John G  is now key. 
Sandy would require to beat John by 12 shots to be sure of taking the crown however should John win, the crown will be his.  If Sandy was to beat John by between 2 shots and 11 shots, Mike Wood and his squad would walk away the winners.
Peter Allan Shield
The remaining game will also settle the destination of the Shield.  With Mike on two wins, due to his poor start to the season he is destined to collect the wooden spoon and face demotion.  The remaining teams are all on three wins but with Graeme's season complete his team look destined for third spot.
The Peter Allan Shield will therefore go to the winner of team Good and Team Sandy.  In the event of a peel, John Good would be the likely victor with a superior 'ends' tally.
Good luck boys and girls....

RCCC - Medal Winners

Congratulation to Mike Wood and his team of Karen Munro, Sheena Munro and John Good, who hosted the game against Falkirk at Murrayfield last night.

Despite taking a four in the second end, things were going a bit pear shaped by the end of the fourth with the score 7 - 4 against.  After taking a single, with the hammer, in the fifth they stole another four in the sixth and a further steal of one in the last end meant they ran out the winners with a score of 10 - 7.

A good effort and we look forward to seeing the medal at the AGM/Dinner.

Shots Competition

The Shots competition is now underway.  Not only is this a stand alone competition but it is also the second round of games that contribute to the Peter Allan Shield.
Bearing this in mind, Mike Wood scored his first win in the shield competition, which still leaves him at the bottom of the table, but maintains his chance of securing the Shield.
The score of 11 - 5 also gives his team an early, and useful, lead in the Shots Competition.  The score against our 'Trophy' winner, Sandy stood to 5 - 5 after the fifth end but a big score of 5 in the sixth and a steal of 1 in the seventh got the win.

Individual Points

Winners:- Morgan and Karen

Another good turnout of twelve (the same as last year) to contest the Individual Points Competition, although it was disappointing that we only got through seven exercises compared to last year.  This and some tricky ice made its mark on the overall scoring which was slightly lower than last year.
After last years performance Sandy went into the competition with high expectations, however the penalty/pressure of being first to play took its toll and he had to relinquish the crown to his father, who made a huge improvement in his score from last year, when he had to play first.
In the ladies competition, Lindsey was looking for her hat trick and Karen had high hopes after a previous points competition this season.  Karen got off to a poor start but Lindsey was unable to capitalise on the situation.  Karen went into the last exercise with a comfortable lead and even with a strong fightback Lindsey was unable to make up the gap.
It should be noted by skips, not to ask any members to play 'wick and curl in' shots. From all the players there was a possible aggregate score of 96.  Only a total score of 10 was achieved, 3 of which were by club president Sheena.
The Full scores, and comments together with the 'All Time List' (well over the last three or four years anyway) can be found on the 'Results' page.

The ladies came in two by two !

Quiz time !

In the inaugural Edinburgh (Murrayfield?) Curling Club pub quiz, the team of Sheena Munro, Graeme Maguire, Craig Munro (yes, there is another Munro!) and Gill Daley came a majestic SECOND.

Who knew that there was so much talent in this club !
Quiz question, when was this photo taken ?
If you know the answer, and what's good for you, keep it to yourself.

EL Bonspiel CHAMPIONS

Belated CONGRATULATIONS to Sandy and his team of John Good, Karen Munro and Dale Callander who, in front of Murrayfields' new 'pink' wall were presented with the winners silverware for the East Lothian Bonspiel.  This is the first time that Sandy has skipped a team to this title which in the past has been won by his father and grandfather.
I understand that Dave Munro, as a representative of the sponsor and as EL Province President was handing out the prizes and not just about to swoop on his daughters bottle of whisky.

Thirds - Postscript

Congratulations to Dale and his team of Raymond/Pauline, Pam and John Good who, as predicted in the last posting triumphed in the Thirds Competition with a clean 100% win record.

Thirds Results

With one game left to play, our results league is complete showing Dale Callander as our champion for the third time in four years.  Although Dale still has a game to play he wins the trophy as a result of having beaten Morgan in their 'head to head'.  Similarly at the other end of the table George, last years champion, cannot be overtaken for third place and thus escapes the wooden spoon.

Well done to Team Callander consisting of Raymond Preston, Pam Clark and John Good.

Please note that this victory could be stripped as the match secretary has not received score cards pertaining to ANY of Dale's games !!!!