2022 – 23

EoS Bonspiel

I said it was over, it is now. For sure. The End of Season Bonspiel was played out on Saturday with a single full session marking the last curling at BIR for this season. We had two members playing this year and unfortunately, both Bill and Sheena featured in matches that failed to trouble the leader board. Sheena winning her game by a single shot and Bill losing his by the same margin. Separate games, I might add. Hoo well. It was a fun time and it was good to end the season playing ice that was keen and had swing, in sharp contrast to what we had at the start of the season – barely curling ice at all. Remember those bumps, slippery underfoot and the stones needing a terrific heave? A different world right enough. Here’s to next season.

Final Fling

In a match billed as ‘The one you wouldn’t want to miss’, we managed to muster up just enough to play with fully staffed rinks. Graeme Cowe stepped in as late cover to play for John Burns who had succumbed to some sort of bug being blamed on a dodgy sausage roll (Get well soon John). Anyhow, we had a fine match between the two rinks, skipped by Andy and Luigi with Bill, Graeme, Sheena, Lesley Cowe, Linda and Eleanor taking part. The first three ends were single shots shared alternately, then we graduated to scoring two’s each until Luigi’s lot edged ahead. Ultimately the winners of the big(ger) Easter eggs were Luigi, Graeme, Sheena and Linda. Minor eggs were won(?) by the others. Good game, good fun but that’s it folks. The sun is due to come out for summer activities now.

Dickensen

Things were going well in this competition with both our teams edging past their first games with decent margin albeit Graeme Wilson’s rink did so by managing to bag a 5 in the last end against Ayton Castle to end 10-4. Jim’s rink saw off the President’s select in an 8-4 game. Onwards to the semi finals and with Cammy taking the rink for Jim, they were edged out by Duns in an extra end thriller. Graeme had a bit of a coast in their game against Greenlaw however, which turbo-charged them into the final. The turbo gave out though and it was Duns who sort of free-wheeled to the finishing line. Hard luck guys.

Fun Curling. A Bit Dicey

Well we had some spare ice, so what are you going to do? Play Dice curling. Obviously. We had two sheets to hold a ‘club’ gathering and there were nine members up for the fun. That worked in nicely because there were seven Gateway curlers looking to play some games before their team set off for the Gateway Club Challenge in Forfar. Excellent. Four rinks were formed and once we understood how to roll the dice, off we went. Depending on which number came up on the dice at the completion of each end, there was a rule as to whether or not you scored points – or gained your oppositions shots? Oooo! That swung things a bit. Good job too. Bill’s rink of Russet with Chantelle and Mike from Gateway, gambled like they knew what they were doing and came up trumps with 18 points. The golden egg prize turned out to be the chocolatey kind suited to the season and every bit as welcome. It was definitely a good fun night and we wish the Gateway team all the very best for their championship games on Sunday.

P+VP=?

What a formula for a classic contest between two great sides. Mmm? Maybe not. A classic, I mean. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the classic formation of rinks for this President v Vice President encounter and had to go with three players each. Ewan’s rink had David Mitchell and a guest player, Kirsty Veitch, whilst James drew Graeme Wilson and Linda to play in his team. Fair to say, it turned out to be a tough road for President Ewan’s cohort and what with all the hard sweeping and shots to play an’ all, the game was conceded after a respectable playing time in order to repair to the bar and enjoy a drink and chat. Classic. Congrats to James, Graeme and Linda.

Birlin Broom

The Birler league final whirled round all too soon and we had Bill’s rink’s unbeaten campaign being upended by Ewan’s rink giving a very fine display of shot making. It was all going pretty much tit for tat through the first four ends at which point it was 5-3 to Ewan and then they took off. Ewan, Tommy, Sheena and Luigi (in for Steven) then took a 5 and a 3 and conceded a single to end up with a 13-4 victory. Bill, Andy, Lesley Cowe (in for Richard) and Tracy, swept up their shattered dreams.

Oakroom Bonspiel

Getting towards the end of the season and the Oakroom is the final competition in the Ladies Section. We had four club players taking part, Liz, Sheena, Russet and Lesley Cowe, all playing in different rinks in a full session. We had Liz coming closest to the silverware being runner up within Isla Forsythe’s team. The prize went to Debbie Higgins’ team.

Hendy Bi(sssssh!)

You may recall back in November I reported that Lesley Cowe, playing in Judith Dixon’s rink, won through to the Henderson Bishop finals which were played in Stranraer this weekend past. It was a tough time for the Borders representatives through in the West and unfortunately, West was as far as they went. Hard luck ladies, we’ll look forward to seeing you in the play down next season.

Marie Curie Bonspiel

Who ordered the curry? That time of year again and the MC got underway with a full eight teams featuring three club members, Bill, Jim & Liz. Bill and Liz were drawn in the same rink and won their first game against Tim Price’s rink. Jim also had success in his first game against George Whiteford’s team and that set up one of the high road games in which they faced each other. Don’t you know it, it ended up peels and even worse, there was no way to separate the two sides on ends, shot difference or shots scored so the team members had to be dragged back onto the ice to play swept stones for the honour of being second. Kuh! Jim won that and the accompanying Glendale Bowl. The big prize, The Claret Jug, went to the other high road game winners, John Sinton’s rink and the Hamish Wilson trophy for third place (Low road winners) were Peter Brewis’ rink. A really good supper and evening was held in the bar afterwards.

District Medal

We hosted a district medal game against Kinross Curling Club on 22nd February there, and Ewan’s rink of Marion, James and Russet found them to be a pretty formidable opposition. We were first to score an end but the Kinross guys quickly had the measure of the ice and went on to score four shots in the second. One back for us, then another two to Kinross and it was hard to get back into the reckoning. Upshot was the Kinross team were picking up the medal and we were runner up. Nae silver for this gig.

Pate Trophy

Although the club were not on the roster for participation in this year’s Pate Trophy up at Murrayfield, Border Province President, Liz Cullen needed to field a team and four of our number took to the ice against the Midlothian President’s select. Jim, Bill, Andy and Liz managed to win their game with a 3 shot margin but unfortunately, the other three games being played that day were all won by Midlothian teams. More unfortunately, three other BIR teams were unable to make the scheduled date and those games will need to be played before the end of the Murrayfield season before the destination of the Trophy is determined. We did our bit.

Club Points Challenge

A somewhat curtailed list of runners in the first playing of the competition since the pandemic hit event in 2020. Twelve clubs entered this year and it was great to see the rink buzzing with the curlers and scorers exchanging banter on the ice. As with our own club points, the ice was pretty challenging to play across the four sheets. Having said that, the top scores were 38 and 35 points which is not far off the winning scores (43 & 42), achieved in 2019. Winners were Roxburgh with Earlston’s Ewan, Cammy and Jim coming second, which is pretty good going. Running concurrently was the contest for the Open Points trophy and James Stark won that with 22 points and Cammy pitched up a very close runner up with 21 points. Congratulations to them both and to Roxburgh. It was good to get the support for the competition. Thanks to everyone for that, to the mystery sponsor and the helpers on the night.

Dram Polished off

An exciting competition for Donnie’s Quaich this year. It was a close run thing identifying the finalist from section A with the teams only separated by a single shot. That put Graeme Wilson & Liz in the frame to face Ewan & Tommy who quite comfortably navigated section B. The final wasn’t quite so close with Ewan and Tommy bossing the game from the start and only adding more and more pain on their opposition as it progressed. Just as they clearly won their section, they clearly got their hands on the shiny trophy (Well they will, in May, when it is all polished up). Congratulations boys.

Open Pairs

…….or an episode in The Adventures of Alf Tupper. The event was running along fine with a couple of Pair entries from the club headed by Jim Cullen and John Burns. Alf meanwhile had been beavering away from the crack of dawn trying to get the ice into some sort of shape suitable for this prestigious competition. Working on his tod, cutting ice, pebbling, nipping and hauling a rack of stones across the sheets. It was a hard shift but the competition started ok and round 1 was duly completed. Blimey! An injury was reported and there were no sub’s available, maybe Alf could join Colin McNab’s team to keep the competition going? Alf had no snappy curling togs though and managed to rake out a pair of old shoes from the cupboard and played in his work togs. A great fun game was had and a win for Colin was the result. Good stuff and the competition continued on. Alf returned straight away to his task of prepping the ice for the finals – A high road and low road sheet was needed and just completed in time to let the players take to the ice. But what’s this? Alf is needed back on the ice to play the big final coz Colin had gone and qualified. Another blimey, or words to that effect. Well. Another very good game, this time of six very tough ends against John Hodge and Judith Dixon, but Colin and Alf were sadly defeated by a single shot. There was a prize but Alf had had a grand day and was off for some fish and chips and a snooze.

Directors Trophy

A pretty fair club representation in the Directors again this year with 12 curlers playing across the eight teams. Graeme Wilson, with Ewan, Tommy and Marion, were up against the returned Borders based Canadian tourists in which John Stevenson was a feature. Playing on sheet 1, the home based team had a much better understanding of the intricacies of the ice and came out the winners of that round. Jim, with Paul Jess, Bill and John Burns had their first round game against Colin Martin and prevailed in that wee tussle. Graeme Cowe with Robert Laidlaw, Isla Forsyth and Leslie Cowe, met Lucy Tile’s rink and also managed to get into the semi’s. On day two, with Phil substituting for Robert, they had to contend with James Stark’s team who were on a mission and unfortunately, Graeme’s journey came to an end there. The other semi final was of course Graeme Wilson v Jim Cullen and in that, Cullen’s curlers had the edge and held a fair grip of the tie, putting them into the final against team Stark. James’ team were in fine form and whereas ends were traded, they limited our wins to single shots. A good game but tesult was that in the eight ends, we ran out of stones and options to end the game 6-4 down. Oh well. We can dream again for next year.

Points

It is Points season again and the club were down to test their skills. Eleven members pitted their wits against the ice which was very ‘challenging’. We had trimmed down the ice allocation to a single sheet this year to suit anticipated numbers and being Sheet 1, it was truly difficult. Enough excuses. The scores may have been less than in previous years but the triumphant winners were Ewan with 14 points and Cammy and Jim both on 13. Ewan winning the Points medal as reward. All three will go on to to represent the club in the Club Points Challenge next week.

Cullen Wins Cullen

After a very tight league where there wasn’t much to separate the four teams behind Ewan’s leading rink, Jim Cullen’s team stormed up on the rails and edged ahead of the field into the final. In a repeat of the last round robin game, Jim, Phil, Tommy and Eleanor (with Richard playing lead in earlier games) were up against Ewan, Cammy, Liz and Linda. It was nip and tuck all the way with the score tied going into the final end. Without hammer and with three opposition stones clustered round the button, Ewan attempted a triple take out with his last which was so close but left the opposition lying one. A fittingly tight game to finish it all. Well done to Jim’s team.

Four Nations – Oops, sorry. Three.

We had one club member taking part in the tournament this year and that was for Ireland. Any guesses? Yep. Step forward John Burns. Coincidentally, it was the turn of Ireland to host the Four Nations which took place at Curl Aberdeen. With Wales not present this year, only six trophies were contested. Scotland were involved in five of them but this is about John. I’m not too sure how many games he played, or for which particular trophy but Ireland ran away clear, clear winners of the Marshall Millennium Trophy, retaining that in some style by accumulating an incredible 111points against the Scot’s 38. Wooo! They also retained the Turnbull Trophy and bagged the newly created Guy Dingle Trophy presented for competition between all the competing nations in mixed teams. I’m sure he will be happy to tell of their exploits, but congrats to John and Ireland for a very successful event.

Club Bonspiel

The club bonspiel was held on Saturday 28th taking the form of our Rhymers Reel. We were joined by eleven guests and as you would expect, the session went with a great deal of fun and chat going on, on the ice. The winners were Graeme Cowe’s rink consisting of Isla Forsyth, Sheena Byers and Iain Gibson. Two guests helping Graeme to a pretty close win +7 shots. Second spot ending up with +6. Hard luck there to Ewan, Luigi, Lesley Cowe and Wendy Stevenson. We had a fine supper, raffle and a couple of fun games afterwards too. Thanks to members and guests for making it such a good night.

Herries Maxwell USA Tour

The USA men’s curling tour of Scotland arrived at Kelso on Friday past to play two of their matches. We had six club members taking part – Ewan, James, Graeme Wilson, Luigi, Jim and Bill. Should say though we had, Prince Harry-like, a couple of spares waiting to jump in (G Cowe & David) should any curlers fail to appear. It was a tough session in the morning where Scots lost 5 shots but Graeme’s rink, which included Ewan and Luigi grabbed some glory by being biggest winners on the day: 10-4. (That was the score. Not a CB radio response.). Tougher in the afternoon where the tourists bagged a further 11 shots. Best we could muster in that session were two peels .Pretty good showing from the club. Well done guys for that and to Liz and helpers for making sure the day went well

Tweedmouth Kettle

The kettle was again on the boil when our two teams managed to squeak a 1 shot win over Swinton. Both teams had very close games with Jim, Ewan, Andy and Liz managing to grab peels with a fine last stone draw while Graeme Wilson, Phil Graeme Cowe and John Burns sitting on 1 up, watched the drama. The semi final against Foulden saw some subbing with Marion in for Jim and Bill in for Phil. That went well enough with GW’s rink down in their game but a very sizeable lead in Ewan’s game saw us safely through. The final against Duns was a different kettle of fish though and both of our rinks found it difficult to gain any foothold in their matches. They both ended with Duns firmly in the lead and we were landed with the Crawford cup for being second.

Border Bonspiel

A tricksy competition this is. Two teams playing against different clubs aiming to get a high enough combined score average to lift this splendid big trophy. There’s no room for average though. First game was Phil, James, Andy and Lesley Cowe up against a Foulden team. They got us off to a positive start being +2 up at the end of play. Wots this though? Ayton Castle up +13, THIRTEEN!!! Oh dear. Second game was Ewan, Marion, John Burns and Russet playing Jed. Chasing the dream they managed to get 8 shots up in their final score. That gave us a combined average of 5 points which was already insufficient to overtake Ayton who won the trophy with a score of 7.5. We won second place. Well done folks. It is always an interesting event.

Did I say second? The Quizspiel took place after the bonspiel prizes were presented and in this, we had John and Eleanor with Jim and Russet making a bid for the winners rostrum and after 8 rounds of equally tricksy questions, they ended the session……..well, second.

Strathconna Cup Tourist

It is almost time for John Stevenson to step off on the tour to Canada. There are 60 guys flying out to take part in the Strathcona Cup and he is part of the 20 man team covering the Central area. Away from 10th January to 4th February playing some 33 games, I’m sure he will have a thoroughly amazing time. He is joined by three others from Border Ice rink and you can follow their tour progress on the website http://sct2023.scot/ . Our best wishes John. Hope you return with the Trophy.

Cowdenknowes Cup

As a prelude to Christmas we had the final of the Cowdenknowes offering up a very tasty offering. An all-ticket affair, it was a sell out with the three tickets available being snapped up before demand led pricing could take a foothold. Marion, Phil, Sheena and Ian, champs from last year, were in the final stretch of their defence against the young pretender, Jim Cullen and his rink of Cammy, Richard and Harry. The starter saw the first two ends shared with a shot each but Marion was quick to cash in a 3 as we got to the meaty courses and Jim took the same back in the fifth which edged his team into the lead for the first time. A two in next end put Marion back in front which she cemented with a further shot in the seventh end. Oooo! Sufficient time for an extra portion of sweet, though and Jim was trying hard with a messy trifle of stones in the head which required some deft spoon work with his final delivery to get the two needed to peel the match. A single shot was all that counted however and our new champs were indeed the old champs. Congratulations to Marion and her team with thanks for a great final to both sides.

Yuill Trophy

The league decider was played last night with Graeme Wilson watching on with keen interest. The match between Marion and Bill’s rinks required Bill’s contenders to win the game and snag 3 ends along the way to pip Graeme to the prize. With both Marion and Cammy unwell, Jim was in as Marion’s sub and Tommy for Cammy. After starting out well it was unfolding favourably with the count of ends going well until a four was taken by Jim in the 6th to go a shot up. With Bill run out of stones and only able to grab a single shot in the final end, the match was peeled at 6 shots each. The guidance on the web page says that whilst remembering that Ends are the thing, the first requisite is to win your match. Dang!

Congratulations go to Graeme, Graeme Cowe, David Mitchell, Tommy Fairbairn and Ian Sands for winning the league and Yuill Trophy.

Swan Trophies

“Swans embody elegance, beauty and sophisticaton and are certainly visually impressive”. So says Birdfact, the definitive guide to Birdwatching around the world. Could just as easily been describing the games in the two Swan competitions this year. Although a much slimmer entry than previous years, the drama wasn’t diminished. In the Gent’s competition, there were four teams and Jim, Bill, Graeme Wilson and Andy Adams met a Harry Dodds rink in the 1st round/semi. With not a little elegance, our lot set off at pace gathering 8 shots before Harry clawed one back in the 4th. A further three was added to the tally and Harry shook hands at the end of the 6th on bagging a pair, to end the match 11-3. The final against Colin Martin’s rink started off a little more nervy with the score at 3-2 after 3 ends. However a further 4, 3 and 3 by the end of the 8th end saw a score line of 13-5 in our favour.

The Ladies competition saw two teams entered so, straight to the final and no messi. With Sheena in Lucy Tile’s rink and Liz in Judith Dixon’s, we had a match of great interest to keep an eye on as we played alongside. Judith seemed to pick up shots and had a clear lead by mid-match but then Lucy took a four to get back into things. Nip and tuck as the game neared it’s conclusion saw things peeled requiring an extra end. As that unfolded, some fine shots were traded and some unwanted wee rubs figured to see it all come down to Lucy needing a tap up to take the shot. Alas, one of those that just drew too much and the energy was robbed from her stone by one of those wee rubs. Dang! But there you go. Visually impressive game? Certainly was. Two trophies in the bag.

Mixed Invitation Weekend

With the weather not nearly as dramatic as last year’s windy weekender, all the drama was in the ice hall. The competition was blessed with two full sessions so that kept the games and route to the high road/low road finals all neat and tidy. Bill was our sole club interest in the weekend, playing in Paul Jess’ team with Helen Forbes and Isla Forsyth. By the end of the 3 games over Friday and Saturday, they had won two, to end up being one of six teams on 4 points. Sandy Nelson’s rink and R Pougher from Wales were clearly contesting the final with both being on 6 points. As it went, Sandy won the trophy (again), I forget who was 2nd but Bill won a Toblerone for being 3rd. The weekend went very well with excellent catering from Juicy Meats on both nights and the daytime cafe on Saturday, Well done to everyone involved in the organisation of the event.

Henderson Bishop

Five teams in the qualifier for the Hendy Bish this year. Sheena, playing in Lucy Tile’s rink won through their preliminary round tie on Tuesday to face Judith Dixon’s rink the following day. That match was the end of the road for Sheena but fellow club member Lesley Cowe, playing with Judith, took up the baton. Ultimately they came out winners after beating Gwen Prentice’s team in a hard fought match which ended up peels and going to an extra end to be decided. Judith emerged the winner and Lesley and her team mates will be off to Stranraer to contest the finals at the end of February. Keep an eye out for that. Well done.

Berwickshire Bonspiel

Border Bonspiel time again with Marion, Bill, Graeme Cowe and Sheena first up against a Coldstream rink skipped by Callum McLain. That started worryingly with losses of single shots in the first couple of ends but they came good and set off to bag the remaining six ends to net an 8-2 win. So, a +6 for our other team to build on. Led by our other Graeme, John Burns, David and Harry faced a Duns rink who were bouyed by the sizeable 14-2 win posted by their first team’s session. Graeme’s game was going to be no run-away for us and they were tasked with keeping things tight and only lost out to a final end pair giving Duns a 6-5 win. It all pans out that a 6.5 aggregate score meant Duns lifted the trophy. Our teams however, were runners up.

Matthew Templeton

Nine players from Earlston in the competition this year. I know, I know. Two teams and an extra for luck but I’ll get to that later. The draw wasn’t so kind to us this year in so much that we were never going to have the two teasm facing each other in the final like last year. That happened in the semi’s. Graeme Wilson’s rink of Phil, Ewan and John Burns won their initial game against Stuart Craig quite handsomely after being under the cosh in the first few ends, scoring a five at one point. Jim’s rink of Bill, Graeme Cowe and Liz meanwhile, had a pretty clear win over team Prentice with also scoring a five in mid match providing the comfort margin in an otherwise tight game. So. Nae Bibby competition for either team and as we might expect, the MT semi final was tightly fought, really coming down to the last end in which Jim’s side ended up with a single shot victory. The final was to be contested against a Glendale rink skipped by James Dixon. Their rink featured that ‘extra’ I mentioned where Tommy Fairbairn was playing second to Andrew Reed and an emergent superstar lead, Logan Hodge. Luck? Kuh! I said contested too, but that really is the wrong word as Tommy and his compadres took the game by the scruff of the neck and it was only when we salvaged a two in the 6th that the sensible step of shaking hands was taken. Congratulations to James and his team. Worthy winners.

New Season Pairs

The first club competition to come to a conclusion this year where a tough final between John Stevenson / David Mitchell and Graeme Wilson / Cameron Pate ended up with the GW/CP pairing coming out the winners. It started with a blank end which apparently was more to do with the inability to get stones into the head than any tactical decision. A three was taken by Graeme in the 2nd but by the time they were going into the final end that had been recovered by John and David to make it peels. It all went down to the last stone to be drawn into the head and since Graeme had the hammer, that’s the way it went. A really good final for the gallery to watch.

The Plate final was unfortunately rather more one-sided with Ewan and Tommy Fairbairn running away with the game against Bill and James. Ewan and Tommy bagged a four right off and continued to build their score over the next two ends. The storm abated a bit in the final end to allow Bill and James to snag a consolation two shots but it was a great display of ability to read the ice and play the shots from the winners.

Winter’s comin’. Honest

I know many will have checked out the website to see what’s going on and will be gobsmacked to see there’s nowt. As we wait patiently for the difficulties of the ice plant to be overcome, be assured that everything possible is going on at the ice rink to get the ice pad prepared as soon as it is physically possible. Unfortunately the notification from BIR today intimates the postponement of the Jubilee/Memorial Bonspiel from this coming Saturday to a date yet to be decided. Fingers and toes are crossed that there will be curling at some point during w/c 17th October.