Sunday 16 December 2012

Division1 G.Kennedy vs S. Rankin

Gordie reports:

It was with some trepidation that Ballindalloch entered into the match v The Buckie Boys on Wednesday it was a mere 9 months 
since they last met in Division 1 and on that occasion removing the granny was the primary concern after 4 ends and they failed inthat quest during a 16-0 rout.  So when Kennedy faced 5 counters and a hanger without last stone there was a cold chill of realisationthe same path may about to be trod again.  Just failing to hide with his first left Rankin a chip and lie which was played to perfection.  Next stone came up three feet shot of locking on the target but cut down the count to three.....luckily Rankin missed out on the measure for four!!!! 
End 2 Tony Duncan found his weight and Ryan Mackenzie dealt well with two excellent Buckie counters to leave Ballindalloch looking in good shape to come back with a two or a three.  Steve McGingle stuck on two perfect guards and the granny was looking to be off!  Then Rankin pulled off a wonder double and stick to lie 3.  Kennedy's first was a foot of running too far and it was removed unceremoniouslyleaving the same draw again for a one.  This time the weight was perfect.  Brows mopped.  Granny off. Game on!
 
End three was again set up well by the front end and numerous attempt to strip off well placed guards in front of a Ballindalloch counter onthe four foot failed to do their job.  Kennedy pulled a nice draw round the cover and awaited the next shot to place another guard on.  Rankin this time toed in his peel shot (or it picked up!) but instead of removing the guard it raised it back to take the double!  Kennedy's guard hung wide and sat leaving the easy double for two which was gratefully accepted....5-1 down after 3, not the game plan!
 
End four was a cracking end with every player playing to their best and McGingle putting a stunning brace behind a guard that left Rankin nothing to play but a stupid angle raise from somewhere stupid on the sheet.  As this filled his CV to perfection he did of course make it take the double and lie 3.  luckily there was a draw to the shot just to the left of the button and thanks to some superb sweeping Kennedy shaved one round the guard and lay shot.  Ranking decided to put on a guard and lose the one but left just enough room to shave past it and just fold off to lie two. It
was to be a turning point in the game.  5-3 and back in.
 
Buckie decided to keep things clean in end 5 and got in a bit of a mess to start with but by skips stones it was tidy again and Kennedy managed to throw the gayest tap back of the night with his first, it never even tapped!  Rankin refused the chance by throwing through his draw. Kennedy then through the next gayest tap back but at least this time did tap, behind cover but left all the 8 foot for the draw for one, this act of charity was accepted gratefully......6-3
 
Another end of keeping clean failed early and then succeeded in the later stages but an unexpected pair of misses, the first by Campbell the second by Rankin saw Kennedy gifted with a hit and stick for two.  Gift accepted it was 6-5.  Buckie were now looking to hit for home and Blank 7 and take their single with the Hammer in 8.  It all went to plan until Campbell nosed a guard and rolled just into the house with his first leaving McGingle a come around which was played well but drifted log behind cover. Campbells second just failed to make shot but was in the open.  Kennedy's attempt to take it out was 
woeful and just chipped across to the other side the front of the house. Rankin Elected to lift the guard and open up the back counter and played it to perfection.Kennedy elected at his pitiful barrier weight to hit the stone he had just worried across the house and roll half checked behind the Buckie counter.  If it had of been picked up and placed it couldn't have rolled to a better position.  What followed was ever heroism or stupidity.  Rankin went for the Double Raise to lie two 
when the draw for one was screaming its case for being best choice.  Perfection was what was required and failed to be delivered. Two for the Good Guys! 7-6 up.
 
The 8th was perhaps the most lack luster of the night with each side missing chances to put pressure on the opposition.  A mid rink conference between Team Ballindalloch members went along the lines of risky shot to win or safe to guarantee the draw......DRAW was the call all day every day!!!!!  Those shots made the pressure was on last Stone hit for Rankin which he made with the help of a fair sweeping effort from his front end.  A draw was the end result and points shared but
at the end of the night it was Ballindalloch with the feeling that victory had for once been snatched from the jaws of defeat!  Sets a nice close league up for next season.  If the Ballindalloch front end can keep on arriving on time and playing well and the tail end can can continue their rich vein of form there is still all to be played for, just
as long as Kennedy leaves his pink trousers at home.....

Scottish Junior Curling Championships

Congratulations to Eilidh Yeats, who along with her team of Alison Wood, Ellie Fraser and Rebecca Morrison have qualified for the finals of the Scottish Junior Championships.

Completing the qualifying weekend with a record of five wins and two defeats was enough to see them compete for the chance to represent Scotland at the World Junior Championships in Sochi, Russia next February. 

The Finals will be held at Curl-Aberdeen from 23rd -  27th January. 

Good luck girls. 

Thursday 6 December 2012

Province Division 1 G.Kennedy vs A.Duncan

Akin to the first game of the season Ballindalloch managed to just field three players to start their 4th 
Provence League game of the season against Abby Duncan.  Ryan "Speedy" Mackenzie managing to 
donate the opposition 2 points to go with the possible 3 he accrued getting to the rink!!!!!! Gordie
Kennedy was making an unscheduled return to the and just about managed to get the sympathy vote
with his pathetic leftie handshakes at the start of the game.
 
Whether that sympathy spilled into the game is hard to say but a series of good draws by Tony Duncan, guards by 
Ryan and Steve McGingle and deft tap backs by Gordie were rewarded my a string of wrecks and misses from
their Fochabers based opponents.  The resultant 3 at least got rid of the initial handicap.  The following end was
a bit more of the same with all the Ballindalloch boys playing their shots to perfection.  Pick of the bunch were two
back to back draws by Steve, or John Wilson's raise of a Ballindalloch stone onto a Fochabers counter!  Poor 
sweeping almost cost the Ballindalloch boys the end as a guard wasn't swept and lat short enough to require removal,
but Abby Duncan failed to capitalise on the error and hit and rolled out to leave four Blue counters.
 
The next end had some superb shot-making by both side and the one was forced. In the fourth Ballindalloch played 
some stunning shots to set a big end only to see John Wilson demolish all their hard work with a stunning triple.  It 
didn't stop however Ballindalloch conjuring up a barrier weight tap back for the Duece.  9-3 at the half way point.
 
End Five saw steady play from both sides and again the single was forced. Six saw a few unforced errors creep in 
and the high shot making averages slip for Ballindalloch but the end swung back their way with a draw round cover 
by Gordie, A miss from Abby and the two taken very gratefully with another identical draw. 11-4 after 6
 
It was a stunning end to watch and be a part of in the penultimate end.  Guards, draws, hit & rolls, freezes were all 
executed to near perfection by the Ballindalloch front end and Steve McGingle made a superb draw round into cover
and only just failed to shot.  Gordie's "delivery" to try to execute the tap back more resembled a dying swan than a
ballet slider. somehow it ended up as a guard though and that again forced the single.  So down the last and the boys 
did their level best to manufacture defeat from the jaws of victory. after a promising start a series of misses and a final
failed attempted tap back from Kennedy gifted a two back to the opposition.  11-7 the final tally then and limp leftie
handshakes from the Skip to finish the night.  A job well done to set up a 1 v 2 clash against Buckie next week.  A 
continuation of this form could see a cracker of a game, or a repetition of the granny humping that was handed out 
last game last season.  Time will tell........stay tuned for another thrilling instalment of.......


Thanks to Gordie for the match report. 

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Dennis Ice Bowl Report

A McGaan Trio and a Kennedy interloper made the Trip to represent Ballindalloch at the Dennis Ice Bowl on the 1st day of Advent.It was a format familiar to all of us with points making prizes (similar to our jaunts to Aberdeen v Fochabers!) and it consisted of fourthree end games.  The only difference to the normal format was that there was no "Social Breaks" between match-ups
 
The first game was a lively tussle v Dalcross which saw the injured Kennedy make his first tentative steps on the comeback trail after handsurgery.  Leading and skipping saw a gentle return to the curling fray.  It also ensured zero sweeping, nothing new there then I hear you cry!
A steady start saw some excellent shot play from Katie & Ray with Father Dave bringing up the rear and making some telling draws & guards.6 up after 2 saw them coast to an easy victory, but the foot was removed from the gas a shade too early as a three was lost in the last!!!! 6-3
 
Second Game the Ballindalloch quartet started where they had finished. Kennedy set up promising ends with his, by now, customary in-turn draw(bless...the out-turn was too sore!).  Katie then kept things tidy and Ray stuck a few more in leaving not a lot for Dave to do than Guard.  The poor ladies from Forres were overcome with a veritable tsunami of shot-making from Ballindalloch who recorded a 7-0 victory.
 
Third game the Loch Ness Monsters were Ballindalloch's adversaries. It was to be a clash of the Titans as both were riding high in the standings of theevent.  1st end was played well by both rinks and some early set-up work left the end looking good fo Ballindalloch. A missed guard proved costly and a hit and roll from Loch Ness's Gillies turned the end in the Monsters favour two excellent shots from McGaan almost swung the end back, but the Loch Ness skip managed to craft replies which secured a big 4.  The next end Ballindalloch fought back and set a superb deuce in the house that were guarded 
by two staggered stones and another 8 inches over the hog.  Gillies raised that stone between the two guards and lifted the shots to lie 4.  Luckily Santa Gallacher arrived and his guard was a shade long leaving McGaan a slim chance of a hit and roll to save the day.....which was made with much aplomb!!!! 1-4 going into the last end and it was time for another in the series of guddles!  The end looked good until third stones when the on-fire Gillies manufactured
a telling half checked guard which sealed everything up and left Loch Ness with a two and Ballindalloch sunk without a trace in this Titanic battle.
 
Soup followed and a rejuvenated Ballindalloch ventured forth to ply their wits against a Stuffy Highland Rink.  Again the Ballindalloch crew managed to get off to a flyer and picked up a noble two with a stunning hit and roll from McGaan the Senior followed by a draw.  The next end saw their opponents skip make some unforced errors and relinquish a 3.  But the form of previous games returned as either the foot was lifted from the gas or the gas just ran out and 
after a series of missed guards and missed hits saw th Highlanders get a three back in the last.
 
Stats for the day ...Three wins.....One Sinking......... 60 points and an unbelievable 2cnd place!!!!!  Kennedy managed 23 in-turn draws 1 out-turn, no hogs no through!!!  McGaan Junior managed to put up with playing with the seniors!  McGaan (Mrs) loved her adventure at third and rose to the challenge...McGaan SENIOR found yet another way to deliver a curling stone. This one was a rare but welcome change from normal as it involved sliding up the brush and releasing in the same direction.  Long may that continue!  Drink was drunk to finish things off and Loch Ness were Chastised for being our iceberg in the path to victory


Thanks to Gordie for the report and congratulations to the team. 

Sunday 2 December 2012

It has been a while since the last post, apologies, quite a few games have been played in that time, some good, others not so!

In Province Division 1 Gordie Kennedy and his rink have played 3 games so far with impressive wins over newly promoted Bill Jaffrey (7-5) and last season's Division 1 winner Kenny Oswald (6-2).  Gordie sat out the last game against Gav Nicol, as he was recovering from surgery.  Steve McGingle took over skipping duties with Robert Bremner coming in at second.  The game was over early, Gav playing exceptionally well and the good guys struggling from the start, score 11-2. With a 2W/1L record Team Kennedy sit 3rd in the table and  play Abby Duncan this Wednesday evening in a battle of 2nd vs 3rd, good luck guys!

In Province Division 3 Lynn Scott and her rink have played 4 games with mixed fortunes.  In the opening game of the season Team Scott peeled 7-7 with Ronald Christie, but due to a 3 shot penalty for using a division 1 sub, Lynn recorded the win (10-7).  With Charlie Watt's quick play the second game ran for nine ends! Team Scott leading 7-4 going down the 8th, before giving away a 4!!  Thankfully, with her last stone of the ninth end, Lynn played a delicate hit and stick for the peel (8-8).  The third game was keenly contested, but Team Scott dug deep to record the win against A.Grant (8-5).  The last game vs David Kilgour was a tough battle, David was firing on all cylinders, team scott was running on empty and recorded their first loss of the campaign (6-5) and only their second loss in three years.

In Province Division 5 Stuart Mackenzie and his rink have played 3 games and performed extremely well.   In their opening encounter they posted a good win against Linda Hardie (6-5) before making light work of Douglas Howie (9-4) and the wrought over C.Guald (14-6) sees Team Mackenzie proudly sitting at the top of Division 5.  Team Mackenzie take on the undefeated Moray Juniors this coming Wednesday, good luck guys!

All three Ballindalloch teams are in contention going into the second half of the season, keep up the good play :)