And now the Mid Season Break

 That is our 2021 schedule complete and the Thirds Competition hangs on a knife edge.  The defending champion, David Wyllie sits atop the table with a two end and three shot lead over his only challenger, Mike Wood.  Meanwhile, at the more precarious end of the league Team Howard also have a two end, but one shot, deficit to Team Niven.  The crucial first round top and bottom of the table clashes are due to be played Thursday 20th January.

BEFORE that is our annual POINTS COMPETITION on Saturday 15th January.  This is an individual competition and is open to ALL members, including reserves.  This would be a great chance to brush off the rust and prepare yourselves before the vital clashes.

 

Have a great Christmas

See you in 2022

Aberlady Xmas Bombshell 2021

After emergency Covid Committee meetings the Christmas Bonspiel/Bombshell was held with diminished numbers.  Big thanks go out to David Wyllie who not only agreed to skip at very short notice but was then lumbered with only one teammate.  Big thanks also to Rachel MacRae who made her club debut at this much anticipated event - A daunting task ?

This years theme was the NHS and I can report that No-one was fined for the lack of 'fancy dress', although one player claiming that their outfit was as a hospital visitor was perhaps stretching it a bit! (As was the President's attempt at gluing 'prescription bags' onto her lab-coat)

The usual mayhem ensued while skips tried to interpret Graeme's rules.  It was perhaps alarming to find out that some of the regulars seemed to perform better with the delivery sticks and once again different skips took aggressive or passive interpretations to the rules.  Perhaps the most amusing 'new' event was the 'silent' curling with players trying to make their opposition laugh.  John Good became unstuck when he could not avoid an audible exclamation (Arthur Conan-Doyle would have said 'ejaculation there but I don't sink to those depths) after a good shot had been played.

Team Good let Team Wood have a four end head start before they started scoring, then mad something of a late recovery taking 3 out of the last 4 ends. Meanwhile, the Maguire and Wyllie squads were trading ends.  The final scores were the closest in recent Bombshell history with both cards showing 7 - 3 wins for the Wood and Maguire trios.  Graeme generously didn't disqualify the Wood Team for their incorrectly completed card and declared Mike Wood, Pam Clark and David MacKay as winners (They had failed to deduct 0.5 shots for the above mentioned John Good utterance).  The runners-up were Graeme Maguire Rosie Clark and Ian Campbell.  

It is often said in events like this that there are no losers and that 'curling' was truly the winner, however with these rules, I'm not sure that would be fair.

The afternoon was concluded with the usual enjoyable drinks and first club supper this season.

Thirds - underway

 With one skip, 'doing a Mike' and arriving late the Thirds got underway with the three 'man' Howard Squad being skipped by Julia against the enthusiastic (All were at the ice rink at least 15 minutes before the game) Team Wood.  Even though he was early, the skip had misjudged the start time and was still tucking into his soup when the rest of the team were on the ice.  After cancelling his main course, he arrived in time to play his first end stones and take an early one shot lead.  

Team Howard then rebounded as Mike digested his tea taking the next two ends before the wheels came off. Two BIG ends to Team Wood (and the arrival of Stan) saw the sacking and demotion of the interim skip.  The remaining two ends were shared between the rinks.

The final score was recorded as 10 - 4 to the Wood rink.

The Trophy Pie Dilemma

 The final (and deciding) game of the Trophy Competition saw Team Mackey with an interloper, the skip of the Maguire squad playing lead.  As the Mackey team was the only team with a (very slim) chance of beating Graeme's rink to the pies there was a fierce debate about whether he would help or hinder Julia's chances of another pie.

With Julia needing 7 ends and a 14+ shot advantage, she made a good start.  Graeme was behaving himself but started to get worried when after 2 ends Team Mackey was well on target.  All speculation was calmed, however when the Good Squad took two vital ends.  From then on, with the Trophy Competition decided the skips thoughts then turned to the Peter Allen Shield race.  Team Julia, wrapped up the game by taking a further three ends, thus restricting Graeme to a two end advantage in the Shield going into the final round of games.  These wont start until 5th March as we now take a break with the upcoming start of the Thirds Competition.

At the other end of the table, Team Good's two ends were not sufficient to leaver himself from the 'strongman' position, i.e. holding everyone else up !  His team are, however, only 4 ends behind Dale's team, with three games to play.

So, its congratulations to Graeme Maguire, David Wyllie, Alasdair Robertson, Karen/Sheena Munro and various reserves for securing the second lot of pies for the season.  (For the record this is the first main league win for Graeme since 2012/13)

Christmas Bonspiel

 The Bonspiel will be on 11th December at 2.30pm.

THE THEME - - -   THE N.H.S.   

Fancy dress should be anything to do with the NHS, medical services or Covid.

There will be a club supper after the game to which partners/friends are invited.

Trophy Competition nears conclusion

 Last night saw narrow leaders, Team Maguire, playing their final game against Team Callander.  Graeme had a game plan and largely managed to stick to it, that was to win and take as many ends as possible.  This saw a defensive game consisting of a lot of guarding of single shots.  Team Callander failed to conjure up their normal consistency and with the help of one long angled raise and a draw to the button saw the Maguire squad take an 8 - 1 victory.  More importantly, they also kept the end count high.  They now have one hand on their steak pies.

In the final game Julia's team face off against Team Good. To claim their second pies, Julia needs to win 7 ends AND increase their shot difference by 26 ! (or play and win 8 ends).  A BIG ask but if anyone can do it Julia can.

Meantime, at the other end of the table, to avoid the wooden spoon, the Good Quartet require a peel or better.

Even More New Reserves

Thanks to some fabulous poaching by past president Sheena Munro, no less than 3 new reserves have been added to our roster.  Hopefully they will be added to our WhatsApp group in the next few days, but in the meantime their contact details are:

Annabelle Martin 07940 882 185

Rachel MacRae  07928 851 552

Sarah Ford           07513 597 013

I will be adding them to the syllabus, along with David, which can be found and downloaded from this website.  - Alternatively add them to your copy of the syllabus (that's why we leave a blank section for notes!)

New Reserve - David McKay

David joined us for our Swan Trophy game and is now on our reserve list.

Hopefully he will shortly be on our WhatsApp group but in the meantime, he can be contacted on 07720 899 048.

Aberlady - The Swan Raid

 At a certain persons suggestion, we entered the Swan Trophy competition for the first time in at least a couple of decades.  Finally, with the inclusion of David McKey (neither a relation to any of our other Davids or Mackeys) a friend of John Good's from 'The Vets' our 8 players took on a very impressive Mid-Calder team.

Our, and their, teams were split almost on an ageist basis.  Our youngsters go off to a bad start while the older contingent held on to the oppositions coat tails, even forcing them into a blank end in the third.  But things were not going to stay like that for long.  The youngsters (no, I'm not going to say who was in either team!) tightened their game up, a bit, but unfortunately not their scoring rate, while the oldies started running out of puff.  Soon it became an internal contest to see which or our teams would receive a smaller beating.

We ended up, surprisingly, in second place and not qualifying for the next round. 

Despite the scores all of our valiant eight seemed to enjoy themselves and some got to see an entirely different style of game from our club leagues.  Some drinks were had with the opponents and I wouldn't be amazed if we repeat the experiment next season.

Knockout Final

Last night was the Knockout Final contested between the Mackey and Maguire squads, or at least so we thought....

Julia approached it as mission Steak Pie ! 

I'm not sure I can remember a club game that was played with such an attacking style.  Every end contained so many 'take-outs' (or attempted ones) that we should have opened a restaurant !  Anyway, I can't delay the pain much longer.

Team Mackey got off to a great start, taking a four from their opposite numbers before Team Maguire got their heads in the game.  They struck back, but with a barrage of hits, were restricted to singles in the next two ends.  The contest turned and it was then Julia and her crew to be restricted to singles.  By the end of the fifth they had restored their four shot lead.  At that point a poor hit and roll attempt backfired and left Graeme having to play a wide hit and diagonal roll with his last.  The hit was made but the stone rolled just too far and left Team Julia with another four.  

With the score at 10 - 2 the game was conceded.

Overall, with the exception of the actual scoreline, it was a close fought match, with some excellent shots being played.  Especially from the winners team who deserved their victory having hardly made a mistake (or even miSTEAK) all night

Congratulations to Julia Mackey, John Niven, John McOmish and Adam Hicks for winning the first meaty goodness of the season - AND the Knockout crown.

Trophy at 50% point

Last nights bout between the Maguire and Callander squads was looking like it could be Graeme's third 'game of two halves'.   With great support from David Wyllie, Karen Munro and super-sub Susanne Udall, they powered into a five shot lead, taking the first three ends.  The balance then swung with Dale, Julia Mackey, Daniel Peart and Ian Campbell securing the next two but being held to single shots in each end.  Unfortunately the come back stalled and Graeme went on to take the final two ends and run out, a flattering, 9 - 2 winners.

Despite discussions as to how Julia could turn last nights game to her advantage, she backed the wrong horse.  Her position at the top of the league would have been secured had she and Dale won.

In the league it is very tight with three teams all having won two and lost one game, then there is the other team !  Graeme's and Julia's teams have both also won the same number of ends and are therefore separated only by Graeme's superior 'shots up'.  The steak pies are still up for grabs and could still be won by any of the teams.

Ding Ding..... let round two commence.

Confusion and Revenge

 More Covid call-offs resulted in confusion once again, with reserves skipping and others swapping team part way through the game.  A good game was had none the less and Raymond Preston, subbing for John Good, (eventually) taking his team to a last end win 7 - 3 against the defending champion, Dale.

Meanwhile, this time playing as himself, Graeme took on John McOmish in a 3  v 3 battle, for the second time in a week.  Revenge for his severe beating was sweet for Graeme, aided this time by David Wyllie and Sheena Munro, running out 10-4 victors.  (John still has the bragging rights with a score of 15 - 13 over the two legs.)

Pinged by the bell

 With both teams suffering 'ping' absences six players took to the ice.  Neither skip was present and only three out of eight regular players perhaps gives us a flavour of the topsy turvey season we may have ahead.

OK, I can't delay this longer, Graeme (skipping John G's rink) made a fatal mistake in the second end, chipping his shot stone out leaving John McOmish's team with a FIVE !  Things went downhill with John McOmish, having learnt a lot from his skip Julia taking a 10 - 0 lead after five ends.  If the game had started at that point, Graeme would have won, taking two of the final three ends and a 3 - 1 score, BUT IT DIDN'T.   John McOmish, Adam Hicks and Sheena Munro took a well deserved 11 - 3 win.

Pairs Competition

 Due to clashes with holidays and school vacations we have taken the decision to POSTPONE our Pairs Competition.

We will try to arrange an alternative date for later in the season.

Swan Trophy

 The draw for the Swan Trophy has now been added to the Fixtures Page.

The First Round will be against Mid Calder on Thursday 18-11-21 at 15.00 (3pm)

The Semi Final will be on Thursday 6th January 2022 @ 15.00 (3pm) 

The Final will be on Thursday 13-1-22 @ 15.00.

Our teams are:-

M Wood, G Maguire, D Callander, R Clark, P Clark PLUS 2

If you would like to play, please let Mike Wood know asap.

East Lothian Province Competitions

 The draws for our Province Competitions has now been added and the syllabus updated.

And we are Underway

Following a successful 'Practice' session at the weekend, all four rinks were out fro the first round of the Knockout Competition.

There were excellent wins for Julia's and David's rinks (That should have been Graeme's but he forgot to tell David that he was on holiday, but had arranged for a sub!).

Julia's game was against John Good's squad and was a pretty balanced affair, with the exception of one loose (for loose, read BIG  !!!) end.  The Wyllie squad did well to beat the powerful Callander quartet, although maybe made a bit easier without Graeme.

THE FINAL will be held on Friday 5th November at 6pm, when we can no doubt expect fireworks.  (I'll get my coat on the way out.)

Syllabus

 This season's syllabus has been added to the 'Fixtures' page.  This has been amended since the issued syllabus and now includes the date for our Knockout Final (5th Nov at 18.00 in case you are interested and too lazy to click the page).

This online syllabus will continue to be updated as more information is received.  Please take note of the revision dates on the 'live' syllabus.

Season 21-22

 The lights are green and it looks like we will be getting back to curling again soon.

We welcome Rosylynn Clark as our new President and she is joined by Julia Mackey as her Vice President.  Pauline, is taking some time off curling and we are very grateful to Pam Clark who is standing in as our secretary (play nice, we need her to stay!)

We welcome Ian Campbell as a full playing member,  Ian actually joined us last year but never got the chance to play !  We also welcome Susanne Udall as a reserve and I have abused my position and already arranged for her to sub in the Knockout game, which starts our season on 28 September.  This means that our members can welcome both Ian and Susanne that night.

In the meantime, the website is going through it's spring clean.

COVID Precautions,  pending an update of the Covid Risk Assessment, as long as we remain at or beyond 'Level 0' actual curling can be played as normal i.e. 2 sweepers.  Although if anyone is unhappy with this please let their skips know and arrangements will be made to accommodate their fears and concerns. 

Physical distancing, on and off ice is encouraged and the changing rooms will still have limited capacity, so arriving ready to change shoes and play is also encouraged.

Session times are still staggered and the one-way system will still be in operation ie separate entrance and exit doors.

Masks should still be worn, unless exempt, indoors EXCEPT when on ice or drinking/eating upstairs.  It should be possible for each rink to share a table.

Fingers crossed for a smooth and full season without any hiccups.

Stay Safe

Stanley Simpson

 It is with deep regret that we mourn the passing of another former club member.

Stanley was always amiable and an absolute gentleman.

Here he is winning the High Road Pairs competition with Sandy in 2017/18.

It's Official & other news

 

 As you may have seen.  It is now official that Murrayfield will not reopen this season.

Ice fees will be refunded in due course.  Murrayfield have requested that you consider making a 20% donation of your ice fees, which will be arranged through the clubs.   More news when it is received.

Please note, refunds will be for ice fees ONLY and will not be for any affiliation or membership fees - sorry!

Finally, It has been announced that the skating rink will not be renewing the lease for the bar and cafe area after 31st December 2022.  This means that the balcony extension WILL be carried out before that date.  A further announcement on this is expected before the end of March.