Happy Xmas and New Year

 Hostilities will resume in the Rennie on 6th January 2025

Rennie @ 33%

As in the Wingate, no team has a 100% record.  The top of the table is Karen's team, however they only hold a slender advantage of two ends over our new skip Ian's rink.  Meanwhile at the other end of the table with 1 win a piece are the Dads Teams Munro and Nicoll.  Team Nicoll currently holds the 'strong man' position with a five end deficit to make up.

Still early days with a lot of games to go. 

East Lothian Pairs

Hamish Logan

 Well done to our team of Andy McDiarmid, Dave Munro and Hamish Logan who retained the Low Road
title.

Andy and Dave lost their first game and were in last place but went on to win their second match to haul themselves into the Low Road Final against  East Linton.  Tactically Dave Munro was left out of the Final (OK He had somewhere else to be!) and Hamish Logan stepped in for the game.  The 'goodies' took a 2 in the final end to score a 3 - 2 victory.

Wingate @ 33%

 The first round concluded with a poor turn out of five players.  Fortunately, an underfed Graeme (in early for the next session made the numbers up.

After the first round Andy McD's Rink and James Pate's Rink top the table with two wins.  (James leads by 11 ends to 10) with Team Sandy nipping at their heels one point behind.  There is still plenty of time for Team Andy A to get it together and move up the table.

Point, Points --- No Points

Following on from the Swan in the afternoon the field for the Points was sadly depleted. The field of 8 players, all being male, would ensure that Lindsay Nicholl remains the 'reigning' Ladies Champion.  (All the other ladies in the club could have achieved unopposed immortality, just by turning up - Get it in your diaries for next season!)

To quote one club skip, "The ice was awfy tricky" with big swings (with dropped weight), one straight ice and one half sheet with very stiff ice.  Despite playing all 10 exercises only one player achieved a new high score while two others, both former champions recorded 'all time' low scores.  (One putting forward some kind of feeble excuse)

Not one player managed to score an 8 for any exercise, the best being a 7 from Mr Munro in the 'inwicking'. Dave, along with Richard and Graeme were the only players to score with all four attempts at any exercise, Richard and Graeme doing so in the 'raising'.

Despite all this, it was another fun (if sometimes painful fun) filled evening.

Swan Championships Rnd 1

Short and sweet, our players will not need to save up for ice fees for Round 2.  

We were paired with strong Oxenfoord teams who successfully took both games, on comfortably and the other in a tight game.  We wish them luck in the next round and commiserations to 'our boys' AND SUSAN !

New Stones Challenge

 A daunting task faced our New Stones Players as they faced off against the, ever competitive, James Pate. James had John Good in good for at third and our New Stones Recruits from 23/24 Heather Harpur and Sally Brown.  Resident coach, Graeme, floated up and down with his hand in a cast dispensing encouragement and words of 'wisdom' (Some mistake, surely?)

The New Stones team, with the exception of Joanna (who is already on our reserves list), were first year players and did very well against a team that was in form.  Alastair, who was skipping for the first time played great shots in the first and last ends for a score of 1 and 2 respectively.  Jennifer and Trish playing very able supporting shots.

Unfortunately, the intervening 5 ends did not go their way and Haddington came home comfortable 10 - 3 winners.

All the New Stone Players enjoyed the game and agreed to be added to our reserves list for the season.  NB Trish and Alastair are not currently on WhatsApp, so may need contacted by phone.

Pairs Competition

Despite another 'limited' turn out resulting in frantic format changes the Pairs was an enjoyable event.  The
five teams ran a full round robin with the top two teams heading to the final.

CONGRATULATIONS to Sandy Nicoll and John Harcourt who took the High Road win and to the runners up (Low Road winners) Morgan Nicoll and Jeff Lewis.

Club Apparel - Excellent Xmas Gifts

 XMAS IS COMING (sorry).
Now is the time to order your new curling clothes.
There is still a small stock of jackets but everything else seems to be available.
Costs include embroidery.  If you only want the club logo and not your name, you can deduct £5.
Jacket  (slightly different with red collar/cuff trim and extra chest pocket) £40
Sweatshirt (red) £30
Sweatshirt w collar and 1/4 zip £35 

Cotton button polo shirt in red or black £25 (approx).

Each item has a link to the Catalog

Polo shirts come in Red body with black panels or Black body with Red panels.

I want to be placing an order in the next couple of weeks, so please let me know.  I will have some samples with me at the next few games.

Busy few days - Catch up

 First up, The Rennie is now underway and the first leader is our "new" skip, ,Ian Donald.  Ian has missed both games so far but his team is topping the league by a single end from Karen's Rink.

The Rink Championship has been and gone for us this season.  We lost our first game to an in form Barbarians side ... but we did manage to take 1 !!!! end. (They were very good!)

Following requests we have now started a second WhatsApp group.  The first group is for requesting subs/reserves and for players answering the call ONLY.  The second group is for general chat and for important information (and anything else)

Finally !

WELCOME to Joanna Hull, Debbie Belcher, Sean and Louise Blinstone and Joanna Hull who have all joined our reserve roster for the season.

Opening Bonspiel

Team Sandy v Team McDiarmid

This was a tight game through to the sixth end when Team Sandy scored a big 5 .  Vice President Andy fought back with a 3 in the last end but the balance of power remained with Sandy earning his team an 8 - 5 victory

Team Aberdein v Team Maguire

Things were looking comfortable for Team Maguire right up until the last end.  With a lead of 4 shots Graeme was left, with his final stone facing a 4 for for the peel.  A wide strike resulted in a lucky resuly cutting the deficit down to 3 and a win of 6 - 5.

THE WINNERS are therefore Sandy Nicoll John Harcourt and Euan Forbes (3 man team).

Wingate is Go

 Season 24/25 is underway.

The first Wingate game saw one team missing its titular skip but to make up for that there were 5 other skips/former skips on ice and one team being led by someone who usually prefers to lead (It was explained as a 'tactical issue' !).The game itself was a cagey affair  with Andy Aberdein taking the 'man of the match' award for some excellent shots against, at times, significant pressure.

The final score of 7 - 7 seemed a fair result and bodes well for the upcoming season.

Pairs Competition & EL Bonspiel & Waldie-Griffith

 Thanks to an ever vigilant President it was noted that there was a further error (conflict of dates) on the Syllabus.

The club PAIRS Competition is on 9th NOVEMBER from 12.45, as per the right panel in the syllabus not october as per the left hand panel (Sorry).

This has now been updated on the 23-9-24 update on the fixtures tab.

Also confirmation that the EL Bonspiel on 16-3-25 is a SUNDAY, not friday as previous years.

Finally the Waldie-Griffith is on Saturday 8-3-25 from 14.00 against Border Province and is at KELSO

Update 17-9-24

The Syllabus (inside) has now been updated , this update includes most of the details for Province competitions. NB. The Bonspiel is on a Sunday, not Friday as per the issued version.  The date for the annual Dinner and Prizegiving has also been brought forward a week to Friday 4-4-25. 

A copy of the latest version has been included on the fixtures page and should be printable.  If anyone needs the current version of the syllabus sent to them (electronically) please email graeme and ask.

The Draws for External Competitions have also been added to the fixtures page.

Season 24/25

Preparations are well underway.

We are currently updating the website and the syllabus (and requests for payment) should be issued shortly.  If you want advance notice of your ice dates please see the Fixtures Tab, above.

More information and draws for external competitions will be added as soon as the draws have taken place and information mad available to us.

In the meantime, we welcome the fact that we have manged to return to 4 rinks in both competitions and as a consequence welcome Ian Donald as a 'new' skip in the Rennie League.

Skins 23/24

With the usual change of a few members, some for being unavailable (Skip James and John H) and others through being in both league winning teams (Ian D) the usual wrangling over the rules ensued.  Dave Munro, an experienced wrangler of the skins (playing for James Pate) against Skins newcomer Sandy.

The first blood was not taken until the third end ensuring a 4 skin (stop it!) start to team Pate/Munro.  By the time that the Nicoll Jnr squad got their first score in the sixth end they were in arrears by 9 skins.  Wins in the next two ends though meant that Team Sandy picked up 7 skins.  The winners were therefore Team Pate/Munro.

So Final Congratulations of the season go to James Pate (Dave Munro), Euan Forbes, Ian Donald and Frances Donald.

The 2023/24 Leagues are complete

With Sandy sitting confidently in the clubhouse, it was always going to be a big ask for Morgan to overhaul him for the Rennie Quaich.  Needing at least 8 ends and at least 12 shots he started to make it happen by taking the first couple of ends from Wee Andy's Team but they fought back in the next tw0 ends to ultimately deny Team Nicoll Snr the trophy. Courtesy of a 2 in the final end the evenings game went to Team Aberdein, which also meant that they finished in runner up slot in the Rennie League,

So it is CONGRATULATIONS to Sandy Nicoll, Ian Donald, John Good and John Harcourt.

They will now go on to play Team Pate, winners of the Wingate League in the Skins Competition on Mon 25th March.

It is also CONGRATULATIONS to James Pates Rink for managing to average 7.38 ends over their games, narrowly ahead of Team McDiarmid's average of 7.25 ends.  At the other end of the scale are our new trophy holders Team Nicoll Jnr who came in with an average 7.0 ends.

Wingate - The Decider

 The final game of the Wingate and the winner was still to be decided.  A peel from Team Pate was required while the McDiarmid needed a win.  The first five ends saw the in form Team Pate take a 5 - 1 lead, then the nerves kicked in (?).  A 3 in the sixth saw Andy McD's rink trailing by a single shot going in to the final end of the league.  Could things get more tense ?....... err, YES.  

After all the final end stones had been played Big Andy's crew had stolen the end ..  but wait.. there was a measure for a steal of 2.  That would mean a loss for the long time leader and a trophy for Andy...

There was only a millimeter in it but James P had secured second shot which meant that the game was Peeled and that was enough for James Pate, Euan Forbes, Ian Donald and Frances Donald to take The Wingate for season 23/24.....  CONGRATULATIONS !

This is the first time since season 2010/11 that James has lifted the silverware.  It is also only the second time since season 2015/16 that the trophy has not gone to Dave Munro.

Final Crucial Games

One game to go in the Wingate and it sees the leader James Pate's Crew against Andy McD - The winner lifts the Rosebowl !  (Actualy James P only requires to peel the game but it is  a must win for Big Andy).

The Rennie sees only Hamish out of contention, After 7 of 9 Games Wee Andy, Sandy and Morgan are all on 4 wins but Morgan has a game in hand.Meanwhile Sandy and Andy are also sharing 27 ends a piece and can only be separated by 3 shots up to Andy but only 2 for Sandy.

Young v Old

The 'Young' Team from 1995 ?

 Following supper at Murrayfield the combatants took to the ice, supported by Andy McDiarmid who had
forgotten that he wasn't due to play (but had even paid for his ice !!)

Despite the wealth of experience in the 'Young' squad of Karen, Sandy, Gavin (Hay) and Hamish the 'Oldies' had considerable guile and their Skip (?) and lead James L also used his delivery device to the maximum.  The scoring was kept tight but it wasn't until the fifth end that the 'Kids' managed to get off the mark. The eventual score was 7 - 6.

So, it's congratulations to James Logan, James Pate, Andy Aberdein and John Good for continuing the Old Folks run.  

This was the first time that we have managed to run this competition in the last 4 years and it is not since 2014 that the Youngsters have won, although it was peeled in 2016 but in Ryder Cup fashion the Oldies 'retained' the title.

Wingate at 75%

The last end of the third round matches saw an interesting change to the tables.

Our top two skips are now tied on 4 wins with Andy McDiarmid holding off James Pate by a margin of 2 ends!  The only thing that has now been established is that Dave Munro, winner of six out of the last seven years (It was Sandy that halted his run) will walk away with the wooden spoon.

President v Vice President

The battle of the Andys started with adjusting the teams as 4 of the 16 were subs. 

James Pate's team (representing El Presidento) were plugging away Dave Munro's rink, in a way that was starting to alarm the Vice Pres.  Fortunately a 3 in the penultimate end brought the game back to a 2 shot victory for the President's Men.

Meanwhile, The Vice Pres was having a tough time of his own. Mr McD seldom had to play his last stone against less than a three.  Seeing the game slipping away from him (in aggregate) he elected in end 5 to play a risky shot for a three rather than a safe draw for a two.  He failed and walked away with only a single.  In the final end, needing a 2 to win (in aggregate) his final draw was slightly off picking up only a single for a 2 shot victory, peeling the game in aggregate.  Facing a Draw Shot decider, he was regretting his decision in the fifth end.

The President played first and slipped through to the back 4 foot.  The Vice President, despite desperate sweeping could only manage a marginal touch at the front of the house.

So it is Congratulations time to the President Andy Aberdein and his rink consisting of Sandy Nicoll, John Harcourt and Avril Anderson and his other rink of James Pate, Ian Donald, Shelagh Main and finally Elinor Logan in her first game of the season.

Waldie Griffiths and Chanty News

 

The Province defense of The Waldie Griffiths this year will be against Angus Province will again be held over two sessions.  The first will be held at Murrayfield on Sat 9-3-24 @ 15.00 and the second will be held at Forfar on Sat 23-3-24 @ 11.30.  Two rinks will play in each game and the Rinks will be selected by Morgan Nicoll.

The Chanty will NOT be held this season as Border Province have been unable to obtain the appropriate ice and facilities.

Haddington Pairs

 With a depleted entry a full round robin was played with the finals being contested based on the results.

Both deciding games were based on 3 - 2 wins

The winners of the 'High Road' Medal were .... drum roll..... Richard Taylor and Shelagh Main.

The winners of the 'Low Road' Medal were ...... Keith Anderson and Roy Black.

Congratulations to the above and to the other players, Keith, Roy, Andy McD and Heather.

NB This post was corrected and the Low Road winners amended on 4-2-24.  Apologies to Andy A and Jeff.

Province Knockout - Rnd 1

Commiserations to our team who went down 7 - 4 to Dirleton.

Wingate at 50%

 The last game of the first half saw Team McDiarmid suffer their first defeat to the Pate Squad.  This tightens the league up slightly, however serial defending champ Dave Munro still holds the league 'strong man' position,  ie holding it up, on a single win.  James Pate is in striking distance with two wins and our Vice President still has it all to lose on three wins.

Swan Trophy

 Our semi final against Corstorphine was a tight edgy game.  Just at the point where it looked like it was slipping away, Morgan came in with a big 5 shot end.  With that in the bank Andy McD on the other sheet, played his last end safely to lose by a narrow margin to see Haddington progress on aggregate score to the final.

The final was against the defending champions, Oxenfoord.  Morgan knowing the Oxenfoord men well elected to blank ends two and three but was only able to take a single with his next end.  Meanwhile, Mr McD was also keeping his game tight.  Things progressed well until the fifth end where the wheels seemed to come off both our teams and eventually allowed Oxenfoord to win back to back titles .

 With it being over 40 years since we last won the Swan, we need to get our act together next year, but another defeat in the Final, against strong opposition should be commended.

Happy and busy 2024

January is a very busy month and hostilities resumed with a Rennie between Hamish (in absentia) skipped by Lindsey against Andy A (with Andy McD guesting as third).  On tricky ice it came to the last stone where Lindsey played an angled raised double takeout (sounds as good as it looked) for a three and the game.  Team Logan Jnr is off the mark (helped by his excellent sub Gavin Hay)!

On Wed there is our first Wingate of 2024 followed on Thursday with the Semi Final (& Final?) of the Swan, followed by another Rennie game.  

Completing the week on Sunday we have the first round of the Province Knockout against Dirleton.

Good luck to all our teams.