Curling 2009/10 Season Final
20th January 2010
Masterful display sees Ian’s rink carry off 2010 curling title
The winning rink – John Smail, Ian McDonald, Ian Clapperton and Jim Harold.
SELKIRK Merchant Company’s annual curling competition resulted in victory for a rink skipped by the Master, Ian Clapperton. This is the second year in succession Ian has lifted the trophy – an achievement shared by team-mate Jim Harold, also a member of last year’s winning line-up.
The 2010 final was staged at Kelso’s Border Ice Rink on Wednesday, January 20, between rinks skipped by Ian (using blue stones) and by Gerald Beggs (another member of last year’s triumphant rink) using red stones. Business commitments meant that Chris Highton was forced to drop out of Gerald’s rink, his place being kindly taken by Donny MacLeod, while in the blue rink John Smail and Jim Harold switched positions from the team’s semi-final order – Jim playing second and John third.
It was the Master’s rink who struck first blood, scoring two shots at the first end. However, the reply from their opponents was swift, with a clever in-off securing two shots at the second end to level the scores at 2–2. The Master’s rink edged back in front 3–2 at the third end. However, it looked as though Gerald’s rink would again post an immediate riposte when the first three red stones (two from Skip Houston and one from David Mitchell) all lay snugly in the house, with no opposition stone in sight.
Enter Jim Harold, whose second stone positively raced down the right hand ice to decisively take out two of the red stones … before settling smack-bang on the pot lid. There it remained for the remainder of the fourth end, giving Ian’s team a handy 4–2 lead. A well judged draw by John Smail at the next end helped put the blue rink in another strong position, with opposite number Donny MacLeod’s attempted take-out just missing by the width of a cigarette paper. Ian was able to protect the house with his final shot, and although Gerald’s last stone came close to winning a reprieve for the red rink, it slid past, allowing the blue team to pick up two shots and stretch their lead to 6–2.
Good lead-off play by Ian McDonald kept the pressure on Gerald’s rink, and any hopes of a late revival in the red team’s fortunes were snuffed out when stones from Jim Harold and John Smail filled the house, enabling Ian to post a guard and secure a decisive three–shot margin at the seventh end. There was no stopping the blue rink now, and a single-shot advantage at the eighth meant Ian’s men had won six ends on the trot.
The final end of the match, the ninth, saw Gerald’s rink at last get back on the score sheet with a one-shot success, but by then the die had been cast, with the Master’s rink running out 11–3 winners in what had been a keenly contested and extremely sporting encounter. Gerald presented Ian with the trophy out on the ice, before all eight curlers made their weary way home.
Winning rink – Ian McDonald, Jim Harold, John Smail, Ian Clapperton (skip).
Runners-up – Skip Houston, David Mitchell, Donny MacLeod, Gerald Beggs (skip).
Report by: John Smail
