2025 – 2026
Marion Addendum
You think its all over, but something else comes along. Marion’s further end of season adventures continued as she was part of the winning team in the Ladies Presidents invitation event at Dumfries. The team was Ann Redpath, Marion, Caroline Mclymont and Ann Burgess. Not half bad and I think that must now be a wrap for the season.
End of Season Bonspiel
And its a final success to celebrate for John Sinton and Mike Stevenson as they still had enough energy left to power their way to win the EoS Bonspiel. Together with Mark Andrews and Dawny Calder, they got of to a great start and, well, just kept adding to the score to record a very convincing win. Congratulations to them.
Rhymers Reel
Crikey. The end of the season is nigh and we’re on the last dance on the club card. We welcomed eight guests this year, including six Gateway members who would experience for the first time, the dizzying format that is our bonspiel. It proved to be a really tight affair with top score being tied with two teams on +5. That had Graeme Wilson’s and Bill Byers’ teams equal but Graeme edged things with five ends won against Bill’s three. Congratulations go to Graeme, Richard Smith, Tracy Ross and Thomas Ewen on their win. But wait. There’s more. With a booby prize being awarded, there was a post ceremony Stewards enquiry on the accuracy of the score sheet. This determined that Phil Brand and John Stevenson’s teams had actually also tied with a -7 score. They had also tied on winning two ends each. So, how did the head-to-head end go? That went to John’s team who scored a single shot. Can’t get closer than that. That meant the booby prize had correctly been won by Phil’s side. That really took the biscuit. A great night was enjoyed in the clubrooms afterwards. Appreciation to everyone for making it so.
Coldstream Bonspiel Winner
Richard has found further success before he rounds up his season by being part of the winning team in Coldstream Bonspiel. Playing in David Tait’s rink with James Stark and Kyla Porteous and delivering the final stones, he delivered the goods. Congrats Richard. W
Auld Yins Success
Big dog in the Auld Yins this year was undoubtedly our own Richard Smith, winning both the League and the End of Season Bonspiel. Aided and abetted by fellow Rhymers, Luigi and Russet and Margo Harper (and maybe the odd sub along the way), he plotted a steady course and ended up top of the league. Well done to them. He also bagged the Bonspiel playing with Harry Dodds, Peter Johnston and Anne Brown. Well done Sureshot Smith.
Finals Night Falter
Our other interest in Finals night was the fate of the Ladies league final between Marion and Judith Dixon. Marion, with Isla Forsyth, Liz Martin and Liz, got of to a great start bagging the first couple of ends but they were up against a very strong Judith’s team who were very much on song and they fought back hard to lift the pair of candle sticks trophy. Really hard luck after a great campaign for our girls.
Border League Winners
Yep. You read that right. We’ve only gone and won the trophy which has been most elusive to the club. Since the Ice Rink opened in 1964, Earlston has never won the Border League. As it turned out, the finals were a re-run of last year where we defeated Coldstream in the page playoff and progressed to our big day only to have a rematch against the same team after they had won their second playoff. Oh well, this year, we set to with a steely purpose and took two shots in the first and second ends. The Streamers took back a single, then a two and our hearts were in our mouths as the spectre of last year’s defeat loomed. Time to knuckle down and we took a single, then another and another, to sit 7-3 up going into the last end. We managed to keep things tight and Coldstream ran out of stones to enable any comeback. That was the final score then, 7-3, and Jim, Graeme Wilson, Bill and John Burns could finally relax and enjoy the moment. Congratulations to them and to others who played in the league through the season and helped us get there. Brilliant.
Oakroom Bonspiel
The Ladies end of season jamboree, The Oakroom Bonspiel, was held the other day in which we had Marion, Lesley Cowe and Lynsey taking part. Marion found success with her team of Brenda Lathangie, Ann Tait and Anne Brown, up against Brenda Robertson’s rink. It seems like it must’ve been an uncomfortable encounter for Brenda’s Belles as Marion started round the board again to record a 16-2 win. A fabulous end to her Season.
Birlin Broom
The Birler whirled round to an exciting double header conclusion with both Marion’s or John Stevenson’s rinks, contenders for the top spot. John was up against Graeme Cowe’s rink and managed to pull off another win in the competition but Marion’s team was pegged back in her match against Bill’s rink, to record her second peeled game. One point was not going to do it in this league so the spoils went to John, John Burns, Richard and Mike. Congratulations to them on their win.
Club Points Challenge
We had 12 competing clubs for the Challenge this year and with eight disciplines played, it appeared as though a tie-breaker was needed to sort out the winners. Preliminary indications were three clubs were on the same score but after a re-count it turned out Roxburghe were the best of the best on 36 points with St Boswells and Coldstream following up on 34. Phew! Congratulations there to Johnny McCririck, Calum Potts and Douglas Redpath. The best Individual score and winner of the Open Points trophy was Stuart Craig (Coldstream) on 22 points and Kyla Porteous (Ayton Castle) showed just how good a curler she is becoming by being top lady with a score of 17 points. Always a fine spectacle seeing all those players working their way across the four sheets. Thanks to all for taking part and to the various helpers for ensuring things ran smoothly. Already looking forward to next
The Dram Doorway Ajar
As one door closes, another opens for Cammy. It seems. Paired with Andy (again, this year) they set off on a trail of devastation as they nailed the treble 7. In each of their three games in the competition, they won them by scoring seven shots. The final was more difficult than last years though. Up against the Graeme and Lesley Cowe pairing, the first two ends went as singles to Graeme. That must have poked them with a stick though as Cammy won the next three ends to bag 5 shots. Graeme then got a 1, Cammy took another 2 and the final end went to Graeme with another single. For those not paying attention, spoiler alert – Cammy and Andy ended up with a score of 7-4 in their favour. A great final and congratulations go again to Cammy and Andy for winning The Quaich. Dram Draw
Cullen wins Cullen
After a pretty sterling and consistent campaign by Jim Cullen’s team, they gain the plaudits for topping the Cullen Cup league. Winning four of their five games, it game down to the final couple of matches to determine whether Jim would lift the trophy but in their final game against Ewan, Jim’s team took the full two points to leapfrog Cammy and head the table once again. An exciting league. Congratulations to Jim, James, Richard and Linda on their success. Cullen Cup.
Marie Curie
Congratulations to Mike for his success in the Mary Curry Bonspiel this year for winning the Glendale Bowl playing in Willie Johnson’s team. Nice to see Mike winning this trophy for second year in a row.
Directors Takeover
By that I mean there was virtually no one else in the running for the top spot in the Directors this year than Graeme Wilson’s team comprising, Ewan, Cammy and John Burns. Their first game was a rematch of last years final against John Stevenson, Bill, Bruce Porteous (Ayton) and Graeme Cowe but this was a comprehensive win for GW and his crew. A similarly grand win against John Sinton’s team in the final gives you some idea of how they bossed the tournament. Also in the competition this year was Mike Stevenson playing in Andy Robbins team who were an earlier casualty to John Sinton’s bid.
A source deeply embedded in the winning team alerted me to the wee nugget of info that Graeme and John have participated in the winning teams of the MT, Swan and now Directors competitions this year. not a bad claim to fame at all.
Points Competition
We had nine members up for the annual tilt at the Points title. Lynsey, John Burns, Liz, Graeme Wilson, Bill, James, Marion, Cammy and Andy had a go at the eight disciplines with a couple of shots on each and therefore 32 points on offer. Place your bets. Place your bets. 1st in the running came Graeme with 20 points, a photo-finish between Marion and James for second place with both on 18 and 4th slot was claimed by Cammy on 15. Unless any of the runners withdraw, Graeme, Marion and James will go forward to the Club Points Challenge to be held on 24th February and we wish them all the best for that.
Masters Blasters
You ask me, am I happy? Well as a matter of fact I am. Returning from the Masters having exited the competition with a defeat in the semi final? That wasn’t too shabby at all for Jim’s team with Bill, Paul Jess and Colin Martin (both Duns club). A career best after a good few years in this competition. With wins against team Neil Murray (5-4) and team Keith Wilson (8-4) on Friday, they found themselves top of their section (A quick screenshot of that was grabbed too, for posterity). A narrow 6-5 loss against team Sharp on Saturday morning was a bit sore but a later 7-6 win against Keith Prentice’ team compensated a bit setting up a Sunday morning match against group leaders, Peter Wilson. Don’t you know it, that ended in a draw giving each team the necessary points to head into the finals. The semi final in question was against Group A leaders, Neil Fyfe’s team of familiar faces – Bill Gray, Tommy Campbell and Alastair Fyfe. Well this was a real toughie which ended or boys’ run on a 7-3 score. Blast. Neil’s team went on to a blistering 9-1 win though, in the final. As I say, not too shabby at all. Well done to Jim, Paul, Bill & Colin on their run.
Open Pairs
We had five members taking part in the Pairs – Luigi, John Burns, John Stevenson, John Sinton and Bill in an eight team draw for the competition. With three games each in a two section round robin to show what they were made of, it was only John Burns, paired with Andrew Sim, who had the chutzpah to get into the final. Albeit, the Low Road final. What they did next was nowt short of amazing since they had suffered heavy losses in the first two ends in their five end game before they smelled the coffee. Roaring back, they managed to gain a peel which took it to an extra end. Before the final stone was played by Robert Walker, John was lying two biting the four foot. Robert however, drew in to grab the pot lid and the prize. Well done though, John.
4 Nation Army
Ok. Not quite a song title, I know, but with the Ice Rink hosting this year’s Four Nations competition, it did indeed involve an army of folk to organise and co-ordinate things to ensure it went off well. I think its safe to say they achieved that in spades, showcasing just what we can do at Border Ice rink. From the club we had Jim playing for Scotland and John Burns for Ireland and both enjoyed success in the games they had. As I’ve said in previous years reports on this competition, there are trophies being fought for almost anything you can think of and even being this close to the action, I still found it difficult to track which games contributed to which trophy. Good news is though, Scotland won three and Ireland won two of the eight on offer, so well done Jim and John respectively for doing their bit in the Tom Ballantyne and Marshall Millennium trophies. Overall, there were 20 BIR players on the ice over the three days and it was a grand spectacle to see, both in the ice hall and in the clubroom. Fantastic event and well done to the organising committee.
Gala Cup
The Gala Cup campaign started way back in October and it requires teams of two men and two women in a knockout format and in this, we had two teams. First to take to the ice was Graeme Wilson, John Burns, Russet and Lynsey against an Ayton Castle team which was won, putting them up against a Jedburgh team. Regrettably, in shades of last year’s competition, Jed won. Bill, Cammy, Rosie and Liz were our other entry and they bagged their first game against Selkirk before going into a second round tussle with Kelso. Winning that game handsomely, they were up against that self, same Jed team. To add to the building tension, the tie was postponed from November to January and it was a pretty exciting affair. Jed got off to a flier being 4 up after the second end but our team pulled that back with a 4 in the very next end. We were 2 up entering the sixth end, then they got a single leading to a nail-biting last end. They got two stones in and covered and that was how the game ended. 7-6 to Jed. A very good game.
Border Bonspiel and Quizspiel
Gosh. All of a sudden we are into the Border Bonspiel and all that jazz. Our first players were Phil’s team who were up against Foulden. Well that was the plan but with a ‘no show’ from the opposition, our team were awarded the tie and 6 shots. Kuh! Nice result but it did us absolutely no good whatsoever, because in these circumstances, it doesn’t count towards a combined score. We stood or failed on the efforts of our second team – Graeme Wilson, Bill, John Burns and Russet who were up against Coldstream. As it happened we were kept well in check and ‘failed’, having to post a -6 result. Well. A big fat zero for us in this year’s competition then, which was won by Roxburghe.
Phil maybe didn’t get to play in the bonspiel but the Quizspiel was a different matter and together with Russet, John Burns and Graeme Cowe, ‘Phil’s Faithfulls’ managed to grab the star prizes with a top score nobody else could beat.
Tweedmouth Kettle Capers
I imagine you have already guessed where this is going. Our starting point this year was a preliminary round against Ayton with our two teams skipped by Graeme Wilson and Ewan. Ewan, with Marion and Graeme & Lesley Cowe faced Peter Brewis’ team and signed off after a hard game with a 7-4 defeat. Graeme, with Bill, John Sinton and John Burns had a similar encounter against Bruce Porteous’ team where they just couldn’t get the ends to fall their way. Suffering a 9-7 defeat, the tie went to Ayton. Blast. Not even a sniff of the Crawford Cup this year.
Cowdenknowes Cracker
I’m not joking. A classic Pate on Pate final with Ewan, Graeme Cowe, David and Linda pitched against Cammy, John Sinton, Harry and Lesley Cowe. Just to add a sprinkling of more Pates, Willie was part of Ewan’s team on the way through the competition but subbed by David in this game due to illness. It was a close encounter. Ewan got off to flier with a 3 at the first end but was pegged back as Cameron took a single at the second and stole a 2 at the third and steal of a single at the fourth to give his team a one shot lead. The excitement continued as Ewan scored a 2 at the fifth to regain the lead but not to be outdone, Cameron scored a 2 at the sixth. The crowd (four, including an enthusiastic but studiously impartial Marion) were on the edge of their seat as we entered the last end with Ewan one down but with hammer which he used to his advantage, scored a 2 to secure the win 7-6. As I said, absolute cracker. Congratulations to Ewan, Graeme, David and Linda on their win.
Swan Win
Catching up a bit on this one and don’t know too much about it other than the Swan men’s trophy was won by Jim, Graeme Wilson and John Burns with Paul Jess in at No3. A kinda straightforward final by all accounts against Andy Robbins team meant that by completion of the fourth end, the Swan was headed straight into our boy’s arms. Congratulations to them all. A nice prelude to Christmas.
Hurreeee Hogg
Unfortunately our journey in the HH came to a grinding halt in the semi final against Ayton and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Ugh! Earlier, we had a couple of teams in the competition. First off was Jim, James, John Burns and Russet playing the Ayton team and they succumbed to a 7-4 defeat. Marion Bill, Cammy and Graeme Cowe, with a bye into the second round, had a nice 9-3 win against Greenlaw and went through to face the Ayton Team. As I said, that’s all I’m going to say about this comp. Move on.
The Yuill Trophy
Well that’s the first club competition come to an end and really quite a breathless affair. With Cammy in pole position, Jim in second and Ewan still maybe able to get there, the key match was the second last game between Cammy and Marion to decide how it all shook down. That went to Cammy in a big way, meaning Ewan would need 9 ends in the last game against Bill to upset the apple cart. Not possible, but they could manage runner up. Oh well! As it turns out, in a tightly fought game, it was Bill’s team who managed to get the win, propelling them from what had been a very sticky bottom placing into a mid-table finish. Congratulations to Cammy, John Burns, Willie and Lynsey on a well deserved win and worthy claim on the trophy. Well done. Yuill Trophy Results
Indoor Grand Match For Sooth
The much anticipated Grand Match arrived at Ice rinks all across the country as ‘North’ teams competed for the honours against their ‘South’ counterparts. We had teams playing at Aberdeen and at Kinross and folk locally helping out at BIR. Marion, James, Willie & David were furthest afield in Aberdeen and faced very stiff opposition in Lundie and Aucherhouse 2 (containing 2 Junior Team Skea curlers, I understand), suffering a defeat. Graeme Wilson and his team of Andy, Mike and Lynsey went to Kinross and faced Stirling Wheelies, ultimately pulling off the best score of the session there and lifting some wee prizes. John Burns, always up for a game to help out, got involved at Borders Ice Rink as a sub, playing for the North team of Inverkeithing. BIR managed to host a win for the South over the two sessions by posting a combined +6 result which was great, helping the Sooth win the day across the country. Well done everyone. Fabulous to play in these events and if you get the chance at the next one, grab it.
Masters Qualified
Once more onto the beach for Jim and Bill with Paul Jess and Colin Martin for this year’s Masters Qualifiers. Their games were nicely peppered over the three days with two on Tuesday and one each on the following two days. Thursday’s first game brought a defeat to Bryce Smith’s team and then their first win against Iain Gillespie’s. That win came with a bag load of ends and shots which were to stand them in good stead ’cause next up were the section’s top seeded team, Peter Wilson’s, and a start of loosing a three didn’t bode well. By the finish of the 5th end they’d recovered ground to sit 4-3 down but by the end of the match, that was as close as they were getting. Final game against second seeds, Willie Patterson’s team with Sandy Nelson skipping, was a do or die affair and they did indeed do. A very tight match ended 6-5 in their favour, giving them the third place qualifier spot. Bloomin’ hard going but what a buzz. Finals at end of January then. Our World Cup.
Matthew Templeton & Bibby Bagged
Well I suppose you have to start at the beginning for no other reason than John Stevenson’s rink with Bill, Graeme Wilson and Rosie were drawn to play the preliminary round against Judith Dixon’s team. This was a pretty tough game of single shot ends where a good few could’ve gone either way. Ultimately our crew got the win and progressed to the semi final with John Burns standing in for Rosie and where they met fellow club members Jim, Andy and Liz accompanied by Paul Jess. After a bit of trading ends at the early stage, John’s rink pulled away and secured the win. Onwards to the final where we faced John Sinton’s team containing Luigi, with Jim’s team slotting into the Bibby final to face Colin Martin. Jim had a good grip of the game, winning a couple of 4 shot ends on the way to securing that trophy. Well done to them. The tussle for the MT trophy was an engrossing encounter with each end being keenly fought. At the sharp end, John Sinton needed a two to win but the other John S managed to have a single shot in there, buried, to end the game two up. Very happy bunnies. Congratulations to John Stevenson, Bill, Graeme and John Burns on the win. It is a pity the competition has shrunk down to a five team entry but good to see we had ten members up for playing.
St Ronans Bonspiel
Well Time for a Bonspiel and the first of the year if I’m not mistaken. Arranged by Richard Smith with his other club hat on and the strict instruction it was to be played whilst he was off on holiday. We had John Burns, John Sinton and Bill playing in the event and it looked to be John Sinton’s team with t’other John at 3rd, who were making the running. It wasn’t to be however as Bill had been slowly building a score against Harry Dodd’s team to be 5-3 up and then bagging a 5 in the last end which took the prizes Well done to him and his team of Malcolm Ross, Aileen Pirret and Steve McNally.
Laidlaw Trophy
After a great start to the competition, our bid went a bit wonky to match the slightly listing trophy. Graeme Wilson, Bill, Phil and Rosie started off in a thrilling encounter with a very strong Ayton Castle team. That went to peels with 5 shots apiece at the conclusion of 8 ends, requiring a draw to the button by Graeme to better Keith Prentice’s stone in the four foot. Phew! Next up was Coldstream and we had Marion in for Rosie with the same order of play being retained. Another biggie, but surprisingly we stuck resolutely to the task coming out 11-3 winners. That meant our final was against Duns. In this we had to shuffle playing positions with Bill at skip and Graeme, Marion and Phil taking up the other positions. Off to a bad start losing a 5, we managed to get close where we were lying 3 in the 6th before last stone which would’ve squared the game at 8 all. The Jester laughed and spoiled our comeback by drawing in to sneak a single. Our final end was won but the final scorecard read 9-6 to the Dingers. Dang!
Ladies Challenge
Who’s up for a challenge? Well this was the first time this season we had members in the prizes. Marion’s team of Isla Forsyth, Rosie and Liz, managed to make a good job of things in this 2 day competition and were runner up in the LR final. Well done. The main prize went to Perth based, Ann-Marie Davidson’s team.