Swan Trophy - CHANGE OF DATES

The Semi Final of the Swan will now take place on Friday 27th January 2017 @ 12.05pm and will be followed by the final.
This was previously supposed to be held (and is in the Syllabus as) 6th January 2017.
The teams are:
M Nicoll, J Pate, J Good and G Maguire and
J Logan, D Munro, W Kerr and S Nicoll
We will be playing Mid-Calder in the Semi-Final.

It was the Rennie before Christmas

Christmas spirits may have been running high, but both Rennie games produced 'interesting' results.
In the absence of Andy Aberdein, his team went on (partially due to timing) and issued Sandy with his first defeat of the season, on the final stone of the final end.
Meanwhile Colin Baird was administering a major beating to the Pate squad (the granny being shoved on the bus in the last end) to register their first win of the season.
These results, though interesting have had minimal effect on the standings, with Sandy still leading Karen by three points, although Karen has a game in hand.  Colin is also marooned at the bottom by three points although, he too, has a game in hand. 
This league could still have some twists and turns in the final three rounds.

E.L. Pairs

Well done to Shelagh Main and Lindsey Nicoll, who represented our club in the Province Pairs Competition.  They were beaten in the battle for the 'Nicoll Trophy' by Athelstaneford in the High Road Final.  I am assured that the score was not representative of the game.

Murrayfield Proposals - Launch

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

Wingate @ 2/3 Distance

With 2 rounds out of 3 now completed in the Wingate the teams seem to be drifting slightly further apart.  It is now a table of 2 halves (unlike our game last night) with Dave battling it out with Willie.  Dave seems in imperious form and has a one game lead and as a result of him producing a granny onto the ice last night (oops) also has a good lead, should it come down to ends.  One hand on the trophy, perhaps ?
At the other end of the table, James Logan is one game ahead of Simon's rink and despite last nights result also has a slight edge in the end count.  On paper, James Logan's team could still top the table but some huge results would be required.

Edinburgh Area Bonspiel

Johnny and Morgan collecting the 'Black Bull'

Congratulations to Morgan Nicoll, and Graeme Maguire, who along with six 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 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 !

The Juniors are taking over

With the first games in the second half of the Rennie completed, the results both went to the 'Junior' Rinks (by impressive margins) - with their designated Skips being on their 'rest' rota too.
This leaves Sandy's rink leading the league, still without a loss while Karen's rink now takes over second slot !

Rennie - Mid Term Report Card

Last night saw the completion of the first round matches in the Rennie.
On paper, the pick of the matches was that of Sandy's Rink v Andy A's Team.  Sandy took an early lead then Andy tactically (that's all we are admitting too anyway) blanked the second end.  This badly misfired when Sandy stole a big 4 in the third.  Fortune then swung with Andy's rink taking three of the last four ends.  The early ends however saw Sandy run out 7 - 4 winners.
Meanwhile, Colin was looking for his first win against James Pate's quartet.  Colin and his team took five of the seven ends to make it close, BUT team Pate's two ends were mighty ones and they ran out the victors with a scoreline of 8 - 7.
This leaves Sandy sitting at the top of the table having only dropped one point, in the first game of the season, against the Pate rink.  Two points behind in clear second is the recovering James P.  Only one point behind and separated by ends are Karen and Andy A, with Colin having a lot of ground to make up in the second half of the season.

Traffic Alert

As from Monday 21st, there will be no access to the rink from Corstorphine Road for the rest of the season.  Access will be from the west end of Riversdale Crescent only.

Come January, the road bridge into the rink will then be closed and access will be via the Saughtonhall Bridge only i.e. the one into the rugby overflow car park.

Swan Trophy

Congratulations and well played to our two teams that took on Penicuik on Thursday.  Both our teams secured decisive victories and will now play Midcalder in the semi-final on 6th January 2017.

Points 2016

As predicted last year Lindsey Nicoll was the player to beat, not just in the Ladies but she also captured the Overall too, humbling some of our finest, including her brother and father.  Lindsey if only the second Lady to take the Overall having been beaten to that particular record by Kath Dun in 2010.

Lindsey amassed 37 points from 9 routines and took her win by a margin of four clear points from Vice President James Logan and Andy Aberdein who shared second place on 33.

Fourth place with 29 points went to Sandy Nicoll who was well below his usual score due, perhaps, to him playing for the first time with new shoes! Father Morgan had no such excuse for scoring one less than Sandy and could only secure third place in the Nicoll family.

With a slightly smaller field than usual, the pace of play was fast, with nine exercises completed. Due to the absence of the defending champion, President John, elected to play first and had a dismal start and couldn't get it together again, finishing with what he claimed was his second-ever poorest Points score of only 20  (Editors correction - Lowest Haddington score since 2010 John !).

Although the scoring wasn't high, six players had full scores in one or more exercises.

As always, it was a sociable and competitive competition which rewarded the better players and reminded the rest that they had a way to go to match or beat the best.

Wingate at 1/3 Distance

After the first two games, we saw all four teams on one win and one loss.  The final game of the first round saw big wins for Teams Kerr and Munro.  This leaves the current holder, Dave Munro, level on wins and ends with Willie Kerr.  Dave however takes the top spot as a result of having scored 1 more shot.
There is still barely a water biscuit between all the teams with two rounds still to play.

Haddington Skins 2016/17

David Finlay Munro recovered well from his weekends Rennie game, where he was defeated by his daughters rink, to take the first title of the year.
His victorious Wingate team from last season consisting of Graeme Maguire, Colin Baird and Richard Taylor (playing for Stephen Dyer) beat Andy McDiarmid's winning Rennie squad of Willie Kerr, Sandy Nicoll and John Playfair.
Due to a tactical error, Andy's team won the toss and elected to play 'last stone'.  This meant that Dave could steal the first two skins.  No skin's were won in the next two ends and so with Andy again having the hammer the fifth end was contested for a rolled over total of 7 skins at stake.  Dave was able to steal another end and put the result out of reach with a 9 - 0 lead and only 7 skins left to play for.  Fortune was not to change and Dave went on to take all the remaining skins for a decisive victory.
Despite the final score both teams played well but Dave's previous experience of the differing tactics for a skins game proved decisive.
Tactics were again discussed on and off the ice, with a view that in 'club curling' it is easier to steal an end than win with the hammer by two shots.  A decision was reached that for next years competition the team Losing a skin, will have the option to play first or second stone in the next end.
Once again, the confusion and consternation caused on the adjacent sheets by the score board was amusing at times.

Rennie - mid term report

With the competition passing the halfway point of the first round the 'Junior' squads are fareing well, Particularly in the case of Sandy's rink. His last game saw Rowena Kerr take the helm and in a high scoring game they defeated Colin's squad with an 11 - 5 scoreline.  They now top the table and along with Andy Aberdeins foursome, remain the only undefeated teams.
Karen Munro, also absent and being deputised by Lorna Nicoll took on James Pate's rink, skipped in his absence by Dave Munro, got her challenge going with a solid 6 - 3 win.  I dont think that Dave was trying to help his little girl (reports say that this was not one of his finest games).  Karen now sits mid table.

Who says that this sport is for dinosaurs ?

Province Draws

The Draw for all the Province Competitions has now been made and can be seen in full on the Fixtures Tab.

Our matches stack up as follows:-
Knock Out  (J Pate, A Aberdein, S Nicoll, E Logan)
Saturday 17th Dec at 11.30  v  Markle

Pairs ( S Main & L J Nicoll)
Saturday 10th Dec from 11.30 v Doo'cot

Bonspiel ( D Munro, M Nicoll, A McDiarmid, E Logan and
                  J Logan, J Pate, A Aberdein, C Baird)
Friday 20th January 2017 from 12.05 v Yester 1 and Dirleton

Names put forward for external competitions are:-
NB. Rinks will be selected by the Province Committee and not all nominated players will necessarily play)
Borders Challenge (C Baird, E Logan, J Pate, J Good)
Wednesday 16th November at 2.30pm - Kelso

Waldie Griffith (S Main, A Aberdein, M Nicoll, D Wyllie)
Wednesday 8th February 2017 at 2.30 - Murrayfield v Forth & Endrick

Area 5 (Edinburgh) Bonspiel (S Nicoll, G Maguire)
Friday 2nd December at 12.05pm

Wingate 2016/17 is launched

After a long wait, the Wingate for this season has had its opening skirmishes.
In the first bout Willie took on Dave in what looked to be a heavyweight match.  Willie took out some of his frustration from the weekends Rink Championship defeat to take an early lead.  Dave however doggedly plugged away at the gap but Willie's team managed their slim lead through to take a 6 - 3 victory.
Meanwhile, James Logan took on Simon Kesley in a high scoring game that included some superb shots (and the occasional stinker).  Going into the final end the game was all square and the end was a very nervy affair with a large amount of granite built up in front of the house.  This left James with an awkward hit and roll for the game, regrettably (For the Logan Squad) this proved to be another 'loose' shot which allowed Simon's team to take an 11 - 8 victory and lead the league.

RCCC Rink Championships

This competition is always a difficult one, so we went into the first round, against Corstorphine with a strong rink, headed by the might of Willie and Rowena Kerr.  Unfortunately due to some summer 'rust' they were unable to prevail.

Opening Bonspiel 2016

Now that we have got the season started it is obviously to catch up and play the Opening Bonspiel.

Firstly thanks to Shelagh for all her hard work to ensure that there were 16 players on the ice (Remember, it is your responsibility, if you cannot play, to find a sub and to tell your skip)

James Logan with a strong team of Colin Baird, Rowena Kerr and Helen Walker, must have thought that by playing quickly and getting 8 ends in that a score of 11 - 3, would have him in the winners enclosure.  This was to ignore what was going on on the adjacent sheet though.

This saw a father/ son clash (not the usual Nicoll affair) of Jack and Willie Kerr.  Willie and his team were obviously showing signs of summer rust because Jack, along with Super Sec Shelagh Main, Elinor Logan and Richard Taylor romp through the game and secure a winning 12 - 3 victory.  This was good enough to claim the Bonspiel by a single shot.  Congratulations.

The game was followed by a supper.

Rennie Quaich 2016/17 is Go

The first games in the new format Rennie commenced last night.  The introduction of the two 'youthful' teams into the competition made for an interesting opening night.  Both Karen's and Sandy's teams were looking to make an early mark and started off well with Karen taking a one against Andy Aberdein's team and Sandy taking a four from James Pate's team (led by Andy McDiarmid).  The old-er guys and gals however looked to endurance and came back strongly.
With two big ends under his belt Andy Aberdein's rink ran out nine to five winners while Sandy after his great start was pegged slowly back by the other Andy, ending the night with a peeled game at seven all.
While the table will show Karen in fourth place, on wins, however,  if the results were taken on ends her team would top the rankings with four.
It looks like it will be an interesting and tight season.

Come and Try Sessions

Supper Nights & Fixtures Updates

PLEASE AMEND YOUR SYLLABUS

Following the issue of the Syllabus, we have found it necessary to change the nights for the Wingate and the Rennie Supper Nights

There will be club supper nights at the ice rink following the following games:-
13-10-16 Thu - Opening Bonspiel (as per syllabus)
23-11-16 Wed - Rennie Competition  - Rinks A, B, C & D
9-1-17 Mon - Pres v Vice (as per syllabus)
26-1-17 Thu - Wingate Competition - Final Game - Rinks 1, 2, 3, & 4

As usual we would encourage all the players and anyone else that wishes to come along for an informal supper consisting of a main course followed by cakes and coffee after these games.

SWAN TROPHY
The draw for the Swan has now been made and we have been drawn against Penicuik.

The full draw for the Swan and the changes to the supper nights have been included on the 'Fixtures' tab. 

New Member

A big welcome to Helen Walker, who will be joining our club as a reserve this season.  Helen is the daughter of George Playfair and until recently has been curling with Beith Curling Club.

Anyone looking for a reserve should contact her on :-
home - 01875 815611
mobile -  07866 133468

Members
Please add these numbers to your syllabus.

Fixture List - Update

A revised fixture list, which includes teams etc has now been uploaded onto the Fixtures Tab.  This should be pretty much finalised. - whew !

Fixture List 2016 - 2017

The draft fixture list has been added to the Fixtures tab along with draws for Province and External Competitions (where known).
PLEASE NOTE :- this is a provisional list and anything in BLUE has yet to be confirmed.
Teams etc will be added/ subject to change after the Skips meeting

Playing Status Forms

The Playing Intentions Forms have now been emailed to all members.
THESE SHOULD BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED BY 22-06-16.

If you have not received a form, please contact Shelagh Main.

Forms can be returned by post to Shelagh or by email to our club email address (see panel on the right)

Summer Evenings

On the evening of Saturday 11th June a total of 19 members and their families turned up at Gifford Bowling Club for our annual summer bowling (chatting) night.  The large turn out was down to the hard work of Shelagh and John on the phone, so thanks to them.

Fortunately the rain held off and the players dragged themselves from the bar and onto the green, where the team of Morgan & Muriel proceeded to wipe the floor with the other teams, winning nine of 12 ends and finishing the night with a total of 8 shots (are they called that in Bowls?) up.  Another Nicoll, Liz this time, came second with Dave Munro with a lowly +3.  Third place was shared by Team Nicoll (Lorna) / James Logan and Team Kinnaird assisted by Becky Young on +2. 

Click to enlarge photos

Only one more of the remaining teams, despite containing multiple previous winners, managed   positive scores.
The bowling concluded, it was back to the bar for beer and food.
Thanks once again to Gifford Bowling Club for putting up with us and to Dave Wyllie who helped whip us into some semblance of order.

Last Match of the Season

The Canadian Ladies aka 'The Crispy Crunchers'
Gayle, Sharon, Susan & Kathy

Long after our brooms had been put away and a week after Murrayfield had closed for the season, Graeme, Morgan, Elinor and Karen set off for Kelso.  The game was against a very good quartet of Canadian Ladies from Ennismore Curling Club who had been visiting Scotland to take part in the Moray International, in Elgin (where they finished in Silver Medal position!).  Graeme and Morgan had played against their husbands during the Strathcona Cup Tour in 2013 and Graeme had even borrowed Susan's 'Pink' broom to play in that game.  This was our opportunity to return the hospitality that we had been shown while in their country.
With our season having been finished for several weeks and their coming off the back of a successful bonspiel, we anticipated a tough match.  Fortunately we got off to a flying start with the 'Crispy Crunchers' finding the Kinross ice a challenge.  I say fortunately because we went into the second last end with a 5 shot advantage but by this time the ladies had got their eye in and our lead, second and third all had their worst ends of the game leaving us lying 5 against with Morgan's last shot to come.  Fortunately he managed to cut them down to a four !  The final end went our way and we adjourned to the bar as victors (just). 
As a finishing touch we were able to intorduce the ladies to Bruce Mouat, the recently crowned World Junior Champion, who was enjoying a practice session with Gina Aitken before setting off to the World Mixed Pairs Championships.

Dinner & Grand Match Photos

Some photos taken at the Indoor Grand Match and at our Dinner/Prize Giving have been added to our Flickr account

Indoor Grand Match Album
Dinner/Prize Giving Album

Final Rennie Results

The final games in the Rennie saw Simon's team finally slide away from their mid-season purple patch back to their early season losing streak while John tried to make a late come back with only his second win of the season.  That said a 15 - 0 win was pretty uncompromising, if only they could have shown some of that form earlier in the year....
This left the Battle of the Andys which was viewed with interest by Simon and his crew.  A win for Andy Aberdein would have meant second place in the table and pushing Simon back down to third.  Despite some promising shot,s the might of our run away champions, Andy McDiarmid, Willie Kerr, Sandy Nicoll and John Playfair proved too much in the end, although an 8 - 4 scoreline flattered our champions.

Pairs Results 15/16

The full results for the Pairs competition have now been added to the 'Results' page.

Rennie Winner 15/16

Congratulations to Andy McDiarmid, who in his absence scored the curcial win against the Kesley
team to make victory assured, with one game still in hand.
Andy's team, led on the night by his third, Willie Kerr, James Logan (sub), Sandy Nicoll and John Playfair took a comfortable 10 - 3 win over Simon, Graeme, Hugh and Frances (sub) on very 'tricky' ice over on sheet 7.  While there were errors on both sides, Simon and Graeme never really got to grips with the challenge that the ice and opposition presented, thus halting their run of results.

On the other sheet John Good and Andy Aberdein had a game of two halves.  John won the first four ends and went into the fifth with a 5 - 0 lead.  Andy was to deny John and more shots and took the final three ends to leave the ice with a well earned 5 - 5 draw.

These results leave Andy McDiarmid as our winner and John Good heading for relegation.  Simon still leads Andy Aberdein by 1 point so the runner up slot is still up for grabs.

RCCC District Medal

Well done to our team of Graeme Maguire, Karen Munro, John Good and Simon Kesley, who on a rain lashed Saturday night went up to Kinross (not Kelso) to win our District Medal Game against Forret.
We knew from the first end that it would be a needle game when drawing against a three, Graeme made the four foot only to have the opposition insist on a measure (which we won).  All the ends went for a single with one steal to each side other than the fourth end when we took a big four.  The final score was 7 - 3.

A huge thanks to Simon who was called up at 5.30 for a game at Kinross at 8.20.

President v Vice President

James Logan

The annual President v Vice President games were played last night it it was good to see Keith Stuart and Charles Young back on the ice for the first time this season.
Although the two games were heading in very different directions, after the fourth end James Logan's teams had an aggregate lead of 1 shot (the individual scores being 0 - 6 and 6 - 1).  Luck was definitely not going with the president and it wasnt until the sixth end that he managed to 'get Granny onto the bus'.  By this point, however, it looked like the only way he was going to get his name on the trophy was if the Secretary got the engraving instructions muddled up (again).
The final result showed a win to James Logan, the Vice President aided by Dave Munro by an aggregate score of  13 - 8 over John Good and James Pate.  (The individual scores being 1 - 8 and 7 - 5).  This is the first time that James has won this trophy since 1997/98.
The game was followed by an enjoyable dinner at the rink.

EL Bonspiel

Congratulations to our team who came a valiant SECOND to the Aberlady team headed by Sandy and supported by Karen and John Good.  (Could we claim this as our Haddington III team ?)  Well done to the young winners....... and John !

Wingate Final

Dave Munro must have been in confident mood for his teams title deciding game against the in-form Kerr Rink.  So confident that he turned up late (the last time he did that he was 7 - 0 down before he stepped on ice thanks to yours truly !). Fortunately, and despite the sledging, this time he inherited a 2 - 0 lead.

The game was a tight and slightly nervous affair with constant glances to see what was going on on the next sheet. Four of the seven ends played ended with steals, however Dave went into the last end, with the hammer and a lead of two shots.  A chance to Hit for Home (as opposed to Guard for Home - but that's another story) Another winning end and James Logan's chances of the title were gone.

Congratulations to Dave for winning back to back Rennie/Wingate titles a feat that he managed in 2011/2012, the only other time that he has taken the crown.  (NB to do that he was relegated in between titles, but maybe that was only so he could do the double again.)

Dave has been assisted - and sometimes hindered - during the season by Graeme Maguire, Colin Baird and Stephen Dyer.

Pairs Competition

Lindsey & Shelagh

Well done and thanks to Andy Aberdein for successfully running the event  on the day.  All reports say that it was a hugely enjoyable day and well run throughout.  If we can't persuade Andy to become the new Secretary (situation still vacant), he at least has a job running the Pairs next year.

Team (S)andy

The High Road final was contested, largely by the ladies with some family rivalry between L (Lindsey) Nicoll and L (Lorna) Nicoll being thrown  into the mix for added fun.  Lindsey was aided in a successful raid on the title by Shelagh Main, while Lorna and James Pate came up just short.  So congratulations to the ladies, who by all accounts played extremely well, hardly putting a foot wrong.  All bodes well for next seasons East Lothian Pairs !

Meanwhile, bonspiel organiser Andy Aberdein, took some time out to pair up with the other Nicoll (Sandy) to walk off with the Low Road.

Scores will be added to the results page when they are received.

Wingate - Penultimate Games

Un unexpected defeat for Team Logan by a resurgent Willie Kerr (in an 8 end game.... well done!)  leaves Dave Munro's squad sitting at the top of the table by two points with one game to go.  Dave Munro's last game will be against Willie, who could yet spoil Dave's parade.
To lift the title, Team Munro require to peel the game, or at least win as many ends as James Logan in his final game against James Pate, whose fate is already sealed and their bags packed for the Rennie next season.
Team Logan meanwhile will require to beat the Pate squad and hope that Willie can show the same form against Dave as he has in recent games.
Willie can still climb to second spot but will need to beat Dave by five clear ends (ie six ends to one), which may well be enough for James Logan to take the glory and demote the table leader to third.
All to play for on Thursday 28th January........

Young V Old 2016

The new year got underway with its now traditional Young v Old Challenge.  The Young rinks, spearheaded by Sandy Nicoll and Lorna Shaw were out for blood having been denied their 'hat trick' last year by a slightly desperate Old Team.
The game was conducted in a fun and competitive way with both teams aiming for the win. 
With one end to play, I think it is fair to say that all four rinks had experienced one bad/stupid end but over the two games the scores were tied at 12 each. The Willie Kerr/ Sandy Nicoll game was first to complete with a 2 shot victory for the Old campaigners.  This left the pressure on Lorna Shaw who needed to strike and lie through a port with her final stone.  There was never any doubt, the Youngsters scored two. 
With the game tied and the ice men waiting a dispute raged on how to decide a winner, with some calling for a 'draw the shot',  others claiming that the Oldies had won on ends and still some others saying that the Oldies retain the title by being unbeaten.
In the end sense prevailed (really !!) and in the spirit in which the games had been played and honourable PEEL was declared with the sport of curling being the winner (Oh really !)