East Lothian Draws and Representatives

The draws for all the East Lothian Competitions have now taken place and can be found on the Fixtures tab.
Congratulations also to Susan S, Hugh, Elinor, Colin B, Andy A, Sandy, Graeme, Morgan, John G, Roy, Ian and Frances Donald who have been selected for East Lothian Teams in various external competitions.  The rinks can be found on the East Lothian Province website

Skins

In the absence of our Rennie Winner The Andy Aberdein squad was anchored by Willie Kerr.
Despite the constant refrain that 'It is easier to win a skin by stealing than playing with the hammer' the game got under way in the usual utter confusion with only the skips and Graeme having any clue as to the rules.  Richard Taylor (Dave Munro's lead) therefore after winning the toss elected to play with the hammer !!!
A good decision, as it turned out, as Team Munro took the first 'skin'.  Our rules allow a skip losing a skin to elect to 'steal or hammer' and Willie chose again to steal.  For anyone following the above statements, they will get a flavour of the game by knowing that Willie chose to try and steal every end that followed !
Dave was assisted by some spectacular shots from Willie (wait a minute, is he not on the other side) Kerr.
It should be added that the only 'skin' not won was in the final end, with Team Munro winning all of them 'with the hammer'. So Dave Munro assisted by Graeme Maguire, Hamish Logan and Richard Taylor helped Dave successfully defend the Skins Trophy.

The game was obviously being appreciated by the gallery who were even filming some shots !
Thanks to Dave Wyllie for providing evidence of an excellent shot by the winning skip.

Rennie - Father v Daughter Challenge

With James Pate being unavailable third, Willie Kerr stepped up to the mark to compete against Rowena.  To add to Willie's confidence Rowena was a player short but she, together with Daniel Peart and supersub Kate Hall (John Good's granddaughter) got off to a great start taking the first two ends.  Thereafter, singles were traded until the sixth end where Team Daughter (sorry Daniel) took a big 4 for an 8 - 2 lead.  Celebrations were obviously in order because they allowed Team Dad to strike back in the last with their own 4, making the final score 8 - 6
Team Daughter 1 - 0 Team Dad

Meanwhile
It was Nicoll v Nicoll (well McConnell) - again
Morgan was playing slow and steady, while Lindsey was hammering any errors made by her dad.  Up to the penultimate end Team Dad were taking regular ones and twos meanwhile Team Daughter (Sorry Callum) were taking fewer ends but they were threes and fours.  With the score after six ends at 8 - 4 celebrations were obviously in order (sound familiar!!) and Team Dad were 'allowed' a 3 in the final end, making the final score 8 - 7.
Team Daughter 2 - 0 Team Dad

Could this have been a dress rehearsal for the Young v Old Challenge still to come???

Opening Bonspiel

And so, with Graeme (The writer) being safely away playing on his motorbike, the Opening Bonspiel took place.  I have the result cards and am not ashamed to make up, what I think happened on the night.
The Vice Presidents game saw Willie, still in his distinctive two tone shoes take on John Good and his deadly band (Any band is deadly with Dave Munro playing lead!).  While his shoes were still cooling down Willie gave away two shots at the first end.  With his shoes now down to temperature he then took 5 shots from the next two ends before settling down to swapping scores.  Team Kerr went into the final end 7 - 5 up but the might of John Good's squad (I Donald, R Taylor and D Munro) squeezed a 3 out of the final end to take the game 8 - 7.
Meanwhile President, James Logan took on Team A,B,C led by Andy Aberdein.  This game was an edgy affair with singles being exchanged through the first five ends giving Team A,B,C a 3 - 2 lead.  The President started thinking about dinner and the less experienced chargers slipped in to take a 4.  Team Logan, despite their best efforts could only strike back with a 2 in the final end leaving Team Aberdein, consisting of Andy (A), Roy Black (B), Susan Culverwell (C) and Jeff Lewis (who I would like to think was deputising for someone with a D surname!) the 7 - 4 winners.
Congratulations to All.