2012 – 2014

2014

END OF SEASON BONSPIEL

Sadly we reach the end of the season and get set to stuff the curling gear to the back of the cupboard. But wait. There’s one more hurrah.

Russet, Jim, Bill, Barbara, Marion and Lesley & Graeme Cowe, were there to enjoy the final fling. Whilst some good overall scores were posted and looked pretty good, the competition was ranked firstly on ends won and it was June Swan’ s team which claimed the prizes with 5 ends and then the most shots. Runners up were none of us.

Now where’s that cupboard.

SOMETHING FROM THE WEEKEND

Getting towards the end of the season and the Weekend Trophy was here and gone in a day. Bill, playing in Gary Craig’s ‘Coaches’ team, won their first round match against Colin McNab with a convincing margin and lined up to meet Colin Jeffries’ team, who had had a similar good win, in the final. The runaway Coaches however rattled in a fair number of shots and had the opposition conceding the match after 4 ends!!!

BIRLIN BROOM

The Birlin Broom final played out on Thursday night there with Graeme Wilson’s rink of Ian & Margaret Sands and Lesley Munro up against Jim’s David Mitchell, James Morison and Lesley Cowe.

We were off at a great rate of knots with a 4 for Jim in the 1st. Rapidly undone with a 4 for Graeme in the 2nd. There looked to be an El Classico in the making with shots traded in the next 3 ends going into the 6th with Graeme 1 up. Everything to play for. Things hit the buffers in a train-wreck of an end where Graeme picked up a 5. Hands were wrung and then shaken.

Congratulations then to Graeme, Ian, Margaret & Lesley.

LADIES LEAGUE WINNER

Congratulations to Marion on her winning in the Ladies League on Tuesday. Her rink of Margaret Robertson, Nina Clancy, & xxxxx came out winners exerting firm control over their game against Venetia Scott’s team.

Really great to view amongst the other finals being played out. Well done

COWDENKNOWES

Graeme Cowe’s rink of David Mitchell, Robert Laidlaw and Lesley Munro won through to the hallowed trophy in this years CK Cup. (Bet Jim wishes he had thought of that abbreviation).

Up against Wendy’s rink of John Burns, Cameron and Lesley Cowe, things started off pretty tight. It was 3 – 2 to Graeme after four ends at which point he claimed a 3. Wendy grabbed one back next but in the 7th, Graeme bagged another 3 to seal the game.

Some really fine shots played by both sides, thrilling the gallery. Well done.

THE DRAM

8 curlers, 4 pairs, having a slug at the Dram this year. 1st into the ring were Lynsey & John Sharp in a tag match against John Burns and Lesley Cowe. JB/LC came through to face the winners of the second bout. Graeme Cowe and Gerry were up against Cullen-J and Mitchell-D and I’m afraid I have no idea how that unfolded having no first hand experience of the competition this year and I’ve winged it this far. Didn’t get down to see the final on 12th March either, suffice to say it was the greatest and anyone who can provide a commentary please get in touch.

Congratulations to John and Lesley for winning the coveted quaich.

DICKINSON

The Dickinson Trophy came to an end on 23rd but unfortunately for our lads and lassies, our end came sooner. Ewan’s rink of Marion, Bobby & Lesley Cowe had seen off the BIR President’s Select in the 1st round but came unstuck against Michael Sutherland’s Foulden team playing on the trickiest sheet of ice this side of the Rockies. What an aberration that was for this year. I know, ’cause I couldn’t get the hang of it either, later that same night.

Hmmmm! Tough one.

CLUB POINTS CHALLENGE

TUESDAY 19th, Phil, saw the club hosting the club points challenge and attracting a larger entry this year. It all went pretty smoothly and once we got to the business end of the night, there was a lot of shaking of heads at how difficult the ice was and just how many wee zeros were on the score sheets.

Surprisingly, the club team of the two Graemes and Cameron were 4th equal. Equal, even more surprisingly, with the Province president’s team – Bill & Jim + Niel McLain. The event was won deservingly by the Young Curlers in which Ewan was playing, with a load of points. Congratulations to him & his team.

Yours truly was runner up in the individual highest scoring stakes by 1 point, missing out on one of the fab baking prizes provided by our sponsor for the evening – Maid by Marion. Thanks for the support Marion.

Thanks also to John Burns and all the club members for turning out to officiate on the ice, do the scoring and keep it all running well.

MARIE CURIE

Friday 14th. St Valentines Day & luvin’ to curl. 6 club members set sail this year ‘pon the good ship Maree Couree. Bill, Marion, Wendy, Russet, Ewan & Jim. All in different teams except the 3 ladeees.

Bill & Ewan were all at sea and cabin boy Jim foundered on the rocky shore short of the treasure.

The girls however were in the hunt for the prizes and but for winning one more pesky end were pushed into 3rd spot. A count back on shots scored put June Swan’s rink into top spot and James Stark, runner-up.

Very, very close and what a great event.

CLUB POINTS – POINTLESS? MY A**E

9 folk in for the competition wondering how the ice would play this year and the first thing to throw us was we were on sheets 3 & 4. This is like the flooding. Been here mair’n 30 years and never seen that afore!

We played it in groups of 3 with 2 stones up and 2 back on the same discipline. Bill, Graeme W & John Burns were first off, then Marion, Phil & Cameron and Jim, Ewan & Graeme C, closed out the troupe. Right enough, the ice was tricky but some decent scores were posted over the 8 disciplines played.

Phil ended up the winner on 42 points. Graeme Wilson, 2nd, on 41. Cameron and Bill were 3rd equal with 35. Phil, Graeme and Cam will now play in the Club Points next Tues, 18th Feb.

CLUB BONSPIEL

The club Bonspiel was held last night where we enjoyed the company of 11 guests in a Rhymers Reel.

The rink led by John Stevenson (Greenlaw) of Phil, Brenda Robertson (Selkirk) & Russet won the match gathering a very healthy score of +8. Runners up were Wendy, Rosemary Scott (Lees), Ian & Julie with +5. The only other rink to end up on the positive side of zero – surely worth a mention, was Graeme Cowe’s team of George, Margaret & Bob Morris (Guest) with +3.

A very enjoyable evening was held in the club rooms with an excellent meal, some fun games and a generous raffle.

Thanks to everyone for making it such a good event.

DIRECTORS TROPHY BID FALLS SHORT

The club again this year, had a fantastic level of participation in the Directors Trophy competition. 11 members playing in various teams but sadly, no one reached the finals.

Jim, Wendy & Bobby were stung with an extra end defeat, as were Marion and Lynsey. Both teams departing the competition at the end of their 2nd game. Graeme Wilson’s team of Phil, Ewan & Cam were pitched into the low road but were undone at Semi final stage against Michael Sutherland.

Bill and Graeme Cowe just missed getting into the final of the Trophy, losing to the Directors team. Ho Hum – memories of last year’s final are now just that.

WALDIE WINNERS

The Border Province hosted this year’s Waldie Griffiths challenge against East of Fife Province at Kelso. The four Borders teams each won their matches, some more stylishly than others, amassing a grand total of 57 shots to 8. That averages out at 12.25 points which is a pretty good tally and fingers must be crossed to see how it fares against the other matches across the Country. Well done to Bill, Graeme Cowe and Bobby who took part.

LADIES PAIRS

Congratulations to Lynsey on winning the Ladies Pairs. Teamed up with June Swan, they met Margaret Robertson and Gillian Smith in the final yesterday to lift the prize. Also playing, but in different teams, were Liz and Marion.

Good stuff.

QUIZSPIELERS

With all the curling out of the way from the Bonspiel, we allowed our brains to do the work. Maybe not unsurprisingly, it was close but no cigar.

The ‘Auld Rhymers’ (can’t think why they chose that name) – John Burns, Jim, Liz and Russet and ‘Byers a drink’ (can’t think why they chose that name either) – Bill, Sheena, Phil and Lynsey, coincidentally, ended up 3rd equal on 59 points.

Winners were Swinton on 61 points and someone else was second on 60.

BORDER BONSPIEL

3 teams in the Bonspiel enjoyed mixed fortunes in their games to bring the club an average score of 4.33 shots. 1st up on Wednesday was Bill, Graeme Cowe, John Burns & Lesley Cowe who posted a +9 against Duns. On Thursday, Marion, Gerry, Douglas & Russet had a toughie against Foulden ending up 2 down and Graeme Wilson, Phil, James & Lynsey finished +6 against the Young Curlers.

A respectable enough score getting us 4th place but nowhere near the kings of the mountain, St Boswells, who ended up +10.

KETTLERS SCUTTLED

The 1st games of the new year came in the form of the Tweedmouth Kettle on 4th Jan. Greame Wilson, Bill, Marion and Lindsay & Jim, Wendy, Liz and Cameron faced up to the Ayton Castle curlers to start the day and both sheets managed good wins to see us safely through.

The second round against the Coldstreamers was a different kettle (Ho Ho) of fish though and they had us under the cosh until the second last ends where we saw a swing in fortune by gaining 4 shots across the two boards. Jim’s rink ended up 1 shot down by the end of the 7th end and Graeme was 1 up. GW had just scraped into an 8th end however and was lying 4 shots by the time Stuart Craig played the last stone of the game. With some mighty 4 cylinder sweeping they just got it in to peel the game and win the tie.

Tough indeed.

PATE POLISHES OFF PAIRS

The finals of the Pairs and Plate were played out on Monday night. First off was the Pairs with Ewan & Robert battling it out against Lynsey & Liz. The ladies got off to a great start with a 3 but the boys worked their way back into the game with a 2, another 2 and a 1. it was squared up on shots at the end of the 5th but with the lads having more ends, they lifted the silverware.

Next up was the Plate and again, a 3 was taken at the 1st end. Graeme Cowe and Cameron were off to a good start but Bill & Leslie Cowe dug in to retrieve 2 singles. With hopes of a peeled game in the air, it came to pass that Graeme & Cam picked up the final end to finish it 4-2.

Two good games for club spectators – and there were a few. (Good to see the bulging gallery). Congrats to the winning teams.

SWAN EEE HOW I LUV YA….

A few Earlston folk participating in the Swan trophies competitions this year. All in different teams and some even winning it, them. Er?

Jim and Bobby in the Gents winning rink, ably assisted by Balfour Stewart & James Dixon in the final against Colin Martin’s Duns dingers. The dingers dung in John Stevenson’s rink in the semi-final in which Bill and Graeme Cowe were playing.

Serenely working their way to Ladies final was June Swan’s rink in which Liz was playing 2nd.

Good fun to watch and a very successful afternoon for Mr & Mrs C.

AARGH TERRIBLE C

You’ll take it from that we didn’t win then.

Both Earlston teams met their same nemesis on Friday in the RCCC Rink Championship, namely Keith Prentice’s rink.

Bill, Marion, Graeme & Lesley Cowe had the misfortune to meet Keith first in the semi-finals having won over Teviotdale and then Kelso in the earlier rounds. The game started well and was held to peels going into the 5th but a sore 4 and then a 3 meant the road was too steep and hands were shaken. Jim, Wendy, Bobby & Liz, who had eased past Greenlaw, Swinton and then Yester in the semi’s, met up with the Ayton Castle team in the Final. Jim snuck away with a series of singles in the first few rounds ’til Keith struck, pulling a 5 out the bag. All of a sudden it was really tough going until the last few stones where it too, became a matter of simple arithmetic and impossible to claw back.

Jim’s team however has got through to represent BIR at the National Finals at Forfar in March. Weeel done!

MIXED INVITATION WEEKEND

We had eight curlers taking part in this year’s Mixed Invitation weekend at BIR – Jim, Wendy, Bobby & Liz and Bill, Marion, Willie & Lynsey.

Played on the schenkel system, it brought the two teams together for the last game in the round robin stage with the result being a closely fought draw. That put Jim on 2 wins and a peel and Bill 2 peels and a win. The last games on Sunday were won by both teams but unfortunately the glitterball went to a visiting rink this year. Jim ending up with the 2nd place and Bill’s rink in 3rd. (Thanks to Isla Forsyth from St Bos for stepping in to play for the Saturday & Sunday games for Marion).

A really good weekend’s curling

PATE SWIPES THE LEAGUE

Congratulations to Ewan’s rink of Ali, Sheena & Lesley Cowe who have emerged as winners in the League. Having progressed through their 7 matches with 5 impressive wins, they could have been pipped at the post by Jim and it all came down to a final game between Wendy & Jim.

As with all good stories though there was a twist and the twist here was that Wendy couldn’t play and Ewan had long since agreed to take the skip’s place. Douglas Stewart was also subbing for Lynsey and the teams set to, for a tensely fought match. Final score of peels at 6-6 meant Ewan secured the Yuill Trophy.

A very exciting conclusion to the League. Well done to everybody who made it such a tight run-in.

BERWICKSHIRE BONSPIEL

The club won the Berwickshire bonspiel on Saturday 23rd November with both Graeme Wilson and Jim’s rinks posting good wins. GW, up first with Bill, John Burns & Lynsey recorded a good win of +8 shots against Chirnside but with Greenlaw already in the driving seat with a huge win it didn’t look too promising. JC, Wendy, Bobby & Liz however, managed a win of +12 shots against Duns. All added up, we took the silverware by one shot.

First full set of commemorative glasses for the club and a nice bottle of wine each. Bootifull.

BISH’ BASH BELLES

The ladies Henderson Bishop playdowns were held over 20th-21st November. Lynsey’s team of Liz, Sheena & Lesley Cowe won their first match 7-6 but came unstuck in the next round against June Swan’s rink. June had unfortunately also seen off Margaret Robertson’s rink in which Marion & Wendy were playing.

MATHEW TEMPLETON

A fair contingent of Earlston curlers took part in the Mathew Templeton over the past week. Graeme Wilson’s rink of Phil, Ewan & Cameron had an impressive start to the competition drawing their first match with Keith Prentice’s team. Winning their section they just went under in the semi final on to the eventual winners. Jim Cullen’s rink of Wendy, Bobby & Lynsey went one better but also lost in the final to Graeme Baxter’s team.

Marion, playing in June swan’s team, contested the final of the Bibby but lost out to Jim Lawson.

Bill & Graeme Cowe also played, in John Stevenson’s rink, but ended up mid table in their section.

The 4 semi’s and the 2 finals were all great games to watch for the packed gallery. Great shots played. Great turnout from the club.

TRY CURLING

We had a sheet of ice booked on Friday 22nd November at 7:15 for anyone wanting to try curling. Invite out to any friends and acquaintances who have shown a hint of interest and would like a go – bring them along. Unfortunately…. unable to get enough folk interested for this night – try again in Feb…

LADIES SWEDISH TOUR

We’d all like to wish Liz good luck as she joins the Ladies tour to Sweden.

16 Scottish Ladies set off on 1st November to Uppsala and other Swedish places to have an abbasoloutely fabba 10 days curling. She is joined by two other Border curlers on the tour – Margaret Robertson & Nina Clancy. We hope they have a great time and make it safely to Stockholm.

Follow their progress on their blog here: Swedish Girls

LADIES CHALLENGE – 24 OCT

Congratulations to Marion for her win in the Ladies challenge and for nabbing her second BIR 50th celebration ‘chalice’. Great news.

Good to see Earlston members – Lesley Cowe, Wendy and Liz lined up in various rinks to make it a good competition. Sorry to hear though that LC had to withdraw through feeling unwell.

PATE TROPHY

Well the Pate trophy’s stay in the Borders was short lived. Having won the competition in February by 17 shots, the match on Saturday was won by Midlothian Province by the same margin. For the club, Graeme Wilson, Marion, Ewan and John Burns had a tough game against Duddingston and only lost at the last end by a shot.

As Province President, Bill’s rink of Jim, Wendy & Liz also came up short against the Midlothian President’ s team, losing by two.

OPENING BONSPIEL

Marion”s rink won the opening Bonspiel on Thursday 3rd Oct. Congratulations to her for claiming the first 50th celebration glass. Wendy was in runner up spot and Sheena close behind with the difference being counted on ends won. Great to see the girls getting the year off to a winning start.

SEASON 2013-14

We had a pretty good turnout for our first night on the ice on Wednesday25th September. Two new members and three come & try guests joined a nice rounded 10 stalwarts to iron out their wrinkles and become finely honed athletes. That took about an hour and a quarter then we repaired to the bar. A shuper shtart.

The big news is the ice looks like it’s going to live up to expectations and be much different to previous years. It was really quite fast and had loads of swing. Congrats to the new Ice Master and his Ice Technicians for getting it ready and for setting up the new stones. It is going to take a bit of getting used to but everyone was keen to get into proper games and the League.

And they’re off already- 1st matches on 26th September, 1st, 2nd & 4th October.

Best wishes for a new season. I hope you all enjoy your curling.

AGM

The Annual General Meeting was held on 16th May in the Black Bull in Earlston where a fair number of members received various reports and other exciting news. Happy to report the club is in good heart and sound of finance. Liz & Ian came to the end of their tether term on the committee. Liz was re-nominated and was joined by Sheena to take up the vacant positions. Other main news is that the subscription will remain unchanged for the coming year and we will repeat the format and timing of the club competitions since that seemed to go well.

Nominations were accepted for skips in the coming year and there will be a vote at the next General meeting, in August, to decide the actual line-up for next season. Please make sure you vote when the papers are issued.

Have a nice summer.

END OF YEAR SOCIAL

The annual social and presentation of trophies was held at Carfrae Mill on Saturday 18th May where some 25-odd (not wrong there), members enjoyed the glitz and glamour of Jo’s hot nightspot.

Mr Pres gave a summary of the year’s achievements and described the very heavily laden trophy table to the gathering. Earlston teams won, or members were part of teams winning an unprecedented 16 competitions outwith club competitions and the silverware on display was impressive to see. Fantastic.

The Earlston Curler was distributed and Mr Treas gave his own unique insight into the year just ended. The raffle was generously provided and some people won stuff. It was a good night.

END OF SEASON BONSPIEL(S)

Graeme Cowe led a mixed rink to victory in the End of Season Bonspiel on Saturday. With Cathy Brown, Ian Hill and Jock Craig on their game, they emerged 10 shots up from amongst the matches held over two sessions.

Gerry, Barbara and Lesley Cowe also took part in the Bonspiel.

( PS – Marion also skipped the winning rink in the ladies Oakroom Bonspiel. Brilliant)

Time now to pack away the gear until September. A terrific season.

THE DRAM

A big final was played out over 6 ends on Thursday night. Graeme Cowe and Sheena played Jim and John Sharp keeping the gallery on the edge of their seat.

One got a one then t’other got a two. One got another one making it two to two. A threeeee was next then another threeeeeee squared it up to make it hi fives all round after five ends. It could only end with a tight last end and the game was won with a one. 6-5 was the score with Jim & John the winners. Congrats to them and commiserations to Graeme & Sheena.

Mine’s a double. Cheers

LADIES LEAGUE WINNERS

Great piece of news for the finale to the season. Marion’s rink of Margaret Robertson, Nina Clancey and Liz Cullen fought through a great final to win the Ladies League. They beat Glynnis Lauder’s team by 7 shots to 5 which is a fantastic win for our Earlston Curlers. Enjoy the success ladies.

BIRLIN’ BROOM

The Broom finished off on Monday night with a final flourish from four teams although neither match made an impact on the destination of the trophy. The rink skipped by Jim were clear winners on 10 points. Jim, Liz, Kath and Gilllian/Neil won 5 of their six games over the course of the competition. Well done.

COWDENKNOWES

After the no nonsense way the finalists dealt with their respective semi-finals, a great final was anticipated between Graeme Cowe’s and Phil Brand’s (formerly Wendy’s) rinks. Delivered in spades.

Phil, Ewan, Ali and John Sharp and Graeme, Gerry, Liz and Gillian served up a closely fought final with some truly excellent shots played. Some ends looked to be heading for a sizeable score before a final stone snatched the winner. A series of singles and twos saw the final end being played out with Graeme 2 up. Phil built another good end but Graeme kept it pretty precarious and played a blinder with his last stone, through a tight port to lie 1 amongst them all. The fat Lady hadn’t sung yet though and Phil fired down his last to nose Graeme’s short-lived special one out the back door to finish the game 8-6.

You will watch many a game before seeing a better match or finer ending. Well done everyone.

CLUB POINTS CHALLENGE

The club hosted a very successful Club Points Challenge on Tuesday night sponsored by Maid by Marion. 15 clubs pitched up and played through 8 disciplines. Our own curlers – Graeme Wilson, Lynsey & Bill got us to 4th place but the event was won by The Lees club. Coldstream won second place after having to play a couple of deciding disciplines against Greenlaw.

Graeme figured amongst the highest individual scorers, nabbing 3rd spot.

Thanks to everyone who did a bit of refereeing, money collecting & score totting. It really does need a load of bods to make this thing go smoothly. Well done.

POINTS

The club Points trophy was won on Thursday night by Graeme Wilson. Whilst lots of folk must have been off getting luv’d up on Valentines day, 7 members arrived to do battle. Unfortunately that dropped to 6 about half way through as one of the stalwarts had to admit defeat to being unwell & a particularly heavy cold.

Thanks to Bill, John Burns, Marion, Jim, Lynsey, Graeme Wilson & George for making a go of it. Result after 9 disciplines, there & back, was Graeme (43 points), Marion (35), Bill (32) and John & Lynsey (26).

Representatives going forward to play in the Points Challenge are Graeme, Bill & Lynsey. Still need folk to help out on the night – 19th Feb. Please contact John Burns if you can at all be there.

RHYMERS REELY GOOD BONSPIEL

The club Bonspiel was held on Saturday night, played out in the Rhymers reel format. Winners were Jim, Ewan, Barbara & guest player, Dennis Wylie being 13 shots up on the session. Runners up were Marion, James, Sheena & Julie with 8 shots (Willie Pate’s rink was 3rd).

A good night was rounded off with a bite to eat and a couple of games hosted by Jim Cullen in his usual inimitable style.

Thanks to all for turning out and for their efforts in getting guest spots filled.

PATE ‘n PATE WIN IN PATE

Both young Pates playing for the club in the Pate Trophy on Saturday 9th, helped the Borders win back the trophy after 8 years. Graeme Wilson skipped the rink with Bill, Ewan & Cameron to a 10 shot win over an Abbotsford team from Edinburgh. 4 Borders teams won and 4 didn’t but overall the Borders claimed the prize being 17 shots up on the day.

DIRECTORS TROPHY

Friday night was buzzing at the Ice rink as Bill & Graeme Cowe, in the guise of John Stevenson’s Seniors rink, won the Directors trophy. The team won out in a tough final against the Directors rink. The gallery seemed to appreciate the quality of the game, which went down to the opposition’s last stone before being decided.

A superb turnout in the competition from the club with 10 members taking part.

DISTRICT MEDAL WON

The District Medal match against Clydesdale Bank was played out at Murrayfield on Saturday 26th. Bill, Graeme Wilson, Lynsey & Ewan won their match 12-4 and afterwards enjoyed a bite to eat with our hosts. A nice crowd and a good trip.

COME & TRY AGAIN….

We had a pretty successful night on 23rd Jan with 5 guests arriving to try out the game. Regrettably, none of the original tryers from the start of the season were able to come along for another shot but we had 4 newcomers + Megan Wilson along for the session.

The 4 newcomers seemed to enjoy themselves and Megan and club curlers had a go at lining up their delivery with the laser target. Hi Tech stuff. 4 ends rounded things off and hopefully we’ll see the guests back again.

Thanks to club members, 2 x Graemes, Laser Liz, Rusett, Sheena, Lynsey, James, Ali & Bill for turning out to help them along.

POINTS

The Points competition was provisionally set to be played on Friday 25th January. The date’s been Burnsed. (Ouch).

No No No. The ice rink will not have the sheets marked up for the Points by that date so in the meantime, enjoy a night by the fire and celebrate the bard…..

I kent her heart was a’ my ain, I lov’d her most sincerely-O, I kissed her ower and ower again, amang the rigs o’ barley-O

Ahem – or suit yersel.

The new date is Thursday 14th Feb at 9:15pm – Stick it in your diary

TWEEDMOUTH KETTLE RUNS OUT OF STEAM

We ran out of puff in the struggle to hold on to the Tweedmouth Kettle.

The two rinks of Graeme Wilson, Marion, Willie and Cameron & Wendy, Bill, Bobby & Liz managed to squeeze their way past two pretty dogged Greenlaw rinks by one shot to meet Ayton Castle in the final. That was a game too far however and both Ayton teams kept tight control of their games. With one sheet finished, we needed to conjure up 3 shots from our last 2 stones in a pretty open house which they were never going to let happen and so we ‘won’ the Crawford Cup. Our romance with the Kettle is on the back burner ’till next year.

Thanks also to Phil and Ewan who played in the first two games getting us to the semi’s.

BORDER BONSPIEL & QUIZSPIEL

Three rinks took part in the Border Bonspiel on Wednesday. First up was Graeme Wilson, Marion, Bobby & Liz winning over Chirnside. At tea time it was Bill, Ewan, Ian Sands and Russet with a win over Teviotdale and Phil, Graeme Cowe, John Burns and Lesley Cowe had a great game against Greenlaw to get a draw.

We had +10 shots which averaged out over the three games to be 3.3 getting us runner-up spot. Glendale won with 7.5.

Quizspielers John Burns, Liz, Phil & Bill similarly game in runners up (by 1 point) to a Roxburgh team. A really good night though.

STRATHCONA CULLEN – 8th Jan 2013

The time is nigh for Jim to depart on the Tour to Canada. With the other 60 of his intrepid party he sets off tomorrow in a bid to help bring the Strathcona cup back to Scotland. Jim is playing in the West section of the Tour.

We wish him well and look forward to reading of their exploits on the RCCC blogs. Good luck and even better curling.

RALPH BROOKS

Well who would have thought that in the dash to the end of the year we would see two Earlston rinks slugging it out in the final of a big Ice Rink competition. Graeme Wilson’s rink of Phil, John Burns and Lynsey rose to the occasion winning on the last stone of the game against Jim, Wendy, Bobby and Liz. Fantastic.

PAIRS FINAL

The finals of the Pairs competition were played out last night with Graeme Wilson and Ewan Pate carrying off the spoils.

The youthful pairing took a firm grip of the game at the start making it a tough climb for Graeme Cowe and Robert Laidlaw to come back. Try they did however and we saw some really good shots played on a tricky sheet 1. Final score 5-2 with two ends apiece.

In the the battle of the plate, Bill and Liz fought back from losing 3 shots in the first two ends to Jim and Sheena, getting singles in each of the other two ends. T’was a good game and Jim & Sheena were deserved winners.

MIXED INVITATION

Jim Cullen’s rink, ran out winners of the BIR mixed invitation weekend played over 30th November – 2nd December. With Wendy, Bobby & Liz in good form, they got off to a hugely impressive score on the Friday and kept up the pressure through the weekend. Their final game on Sunday bookended the weekend with another big score. Deserved winners.

Overall, there were 10 Earlston Curlers taking part in various rinks which is great club representation in the competition.

LEAGUE WINNERS

With the final game played out on Monday night we saw the league competition done and dusted. Congrats go to Jim, Lynsey, Alister, Mark & Lesley for steaming an unbeaten course to the Yuill trophy – closely pursued by Graeme Wilson’s rink who were one point behind.

Well done.

BERWICKSHIRE BONSPIEL

Two teams turned out for the Berwickshire Bonspiel on Saturday 24th November. Phil, Wendy, Bobby & Ewan and Jim, Lynsey, Liz & Russet almost made it but came in Runners up to Foulden.

PROVINCE CHAMPIONSHIP

After a successful league campaign finishing runner up to Glendale , the finalists Jim Cullen, Graeme Wilson, Bill Byers and Wendy Henderson travelled hopefully with their band of supporters to the Province Championships at Greenacres.

A good win against Murrayfield in the first game and an overnight walk over against Moray who called off gave the team a flying start. Only a double raised promotion by Colin Howden was the difference in the second game against East of Fife with a loss by one shot. The third and must win game was always going to be tricky against Scottish Champions Lee McLeary and Judith MacFarlane representing Central and was not helped by the loss of a five at the second end with Earlston going down 9-4.

The supporters appeared to be having more fun than the players but then they didn’t have to curl. A good time was had by all.

MATHEW TEMPLETON

Big turnout from Earlston in the Mathew Templeton competition held over the past week. A tough competition involving 18 teams, we had 3 full teams and 2 other members in the draw playing for one of the most prestigious trophies in the Borders. Graeme Wilson’s team of Phil Brand, Willie and Ewan Pate and also the 2 (Marion & Cameron) got through to the finals stages (A full flush of Pates) but sadly no one made the final of the MT or the Bibby. Still, a terrific showing from the club.

NATIONAL SUPER LEAGUE FINALS

Jim, Wendy, Bill & Bobby went through to Forfar for the NSL Finals on 19th – 21st October. Sadly, didn’t need to be there on the 21st coming fourth in our section. Coincidently the other Borders team came fourth in Forfar too.

LADIES CHALLENGE

Another success for the ladies. Congrats to Wendy who was in Margaret Robertson’s winning team in the Ladies challenge. Marion and Lesley Cowe also took part in the two day competition held over 17th & 18th October. The match reports talk about hi-bred mixed teams???? I’m sure that must be Hybrid. No? Hmmmm.

COME & TRY

Six people from in and around the village who had indicated an interest in having a shot at curling, came to the ‘Come & Try’ session on Saturday. We had Graeme & Lesley Cowe, John Burns, Jim Cullen & Bill Byers down too, as Buddies, to make the newcomers welcome and help them through a few ends of a game. Liz made a great job of organising everyone to make sure we had a successful event.

A cup of tea and some shortbread were well received in the clubrooms afterwards and I think everyone enjoyed the chat and the experience. Hopefully we will see some folk back at coaching days or perhaps joining us at our bonspiel to learn a bit more about the game.

LADIES OPENING BONSPIEL SUCCESS

6 members played in the Ladies opening Bonspiel held on Thursday . Sheena Byers was in Judith Dixon’s winning rink with Hillary Bowyer and Jane Cochrane. Lesley Cowe was also in the prizes playing in Gwen Prentice’s runners up rink. Liz Cullen, Marion Pate, Barbara Leitch and Margaret Sands were the other ladies taking part. Congrats on a good day’s curling.

BORDER LEAGUE FINAL

The Finals team put on a happy face for the camera after being beaten in the Agrii Border League final. The team of Wendy, Bill, Graeme and skip, Jim, were narrowly defeated in a thrilling 5-4 final to Glendale after taking the game to an extra end. Ouch!

HARRY HOGG

The final stages of the Harry Hogg competition played out on Friday 2nd March. With Jim and Wendy away on Rink Championship duty in Forfar, Bill Byers and Willie Pate stepped in to join Marion and Graeme Cowe in playing the semi final against Ayton Castle. Colin Martin’s rink were tough opponents trading ends in single shots and they took the match to an extra end. Our foursome were fearsome however and saw off the challenge winning the match by a shot.

The final then came against Stewart Craig’s Coldstream rink and again a very tight match was played out with Earlston being slow in getting into their stride. Clawing their way back into the match it was 5-4 to Earlston going into the last end and we spirited up a four to take the match 9-4. It has to be said – the team were mightily pleased. Particularly with the competition being sponsored by Border Chainsaw and Lawnmower Services.

THE BROOM ‘N DRAM (March 2012)

Hello everybody. Still pretty hectic as we head into the final few weeks of Curling. The Birlin Broom and the Dram are underway and the latter is causing all sorts of sore heads.
Told you it was a fun game
See the draw and results in the ‘Competition’ tab in the Blue header bar.

Dram Rules can be found within the same tab.

USA TOUR (17 Feb 2012)

The Tour curling seems ages ago now, but it was a grand affair. Graeme Cowe and Bill Byers took part in the curling and Graeme, Jim Cullen & Cameron Pate took official roles in the after tour dinner. Memorable.

As it happens, part of the night was captured on film and if you want to have a peek at the Americans entertaining their hosts, click on the link. USA Tour entertain BIR hosts (Cameo appearances by BB captured buying a round & Willie Pate doing his best to try and not be noticed getting his tray back to his table).

RINK CHAMPIONSHIP

Earlson have secured qualification for the Rink Championships to be held at Forfar in early March. Jim Cullen, Wendy Henderson, John Burns and Liz Cullen ensured qualification with a narrow win in the semi-final over Yester. As Jim and Wendy headed off to compete elsewhere, Graeme Wilson and Philip Brand kindly stepped in and with John and Liz went on to win a close final against Roxburghe.

TWEEDMOUTH KETTLE

It was always going to be a close affair. A solid win against Lauderdale in the first weekend set up an intriguing tie against Ayton Castle. With one rink up 3 and the other down 2 Earlston would be back the following week to contest a semi-final against Greenlaw. An emphatic win by Graeme Wilson’s rink and a not quite so emphatic win by Jim Cullen’s rink put Earlston into the final against a strong Duns contingent.

Jim Cullen’s rink struggled to get ahead and Graeme Wilson’s rink struggled to get shots on the board. Going into the last ends Jim was ahead by 2 and Graeme behind by 6. A 2 from each team would level the score. A tall order. Against Jim, Paul Jess with last stone looked in charge at the last end with a double guarded stone lying almost on the button and a second just outside the four foot on the wing but crucially in front of the shot stone. Wendy’s last stone came into the opposite wing round the cover to count third. Jim removed the two Duns stones and lay behind the guards and drew his last to lie 3 but Paul removed one to leave a steal of 2. Job done.

Graeme had last stone in his final end and with two to go lay one on the button but open and one on the wing. With his first stone Graeme attempted a guard but was deep and lay close to the centre stone leaving opposition skip Colin Martin with a possible double and overall victory. Colin’s stone ran slightly straight and removed only one Earlston stone leaving Graeme a draw for a three and overall victory. Graeme’s draw was light but the 2 scored levelled the overall score with Earlston winning the Tweedmouth Kettle having won one more end than Duns. Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

The rinks were (1) Jim Cullen (skip), Wendy Henderson, Bob Henderson and Liz Cullen and (2) Graeme Wilson (skip), Marion Pate, Willie Pate and Ewan Pate with Phil Brand playing third in the first two games.