Scottish Seniors Qualifiers

Willie Jamieson and Gordie Kennedy from Ballindalloch Curling Club, ably assisted by Dave Kelly (Aberdeen) and Simon Elder (Perth), started their now annual quest for the Scottish Seniors title.  Drawn in the only 6 team group of the competition their first game of the campaign was against Alastair Galloway's rink from Murrayfield in deepest darkest Ayrshire last Friday.  After coming through a nervy first end, where a one was forced, they settled into the game with a well constructed six.  Steals in the following two and a big four in the 6th ensured an early shake of the hand.

 

In the second game against Alastair McIntyre from the Waterfront the ends were exceptionally tight.  Mcintyre stole in the first with a lovely freeze but Jamieson countered with a two and then forced the opposition to draw for the single, against 3, in the third.  The fourth saw Jamieson in trouble throughout the end but a tap to the button set up a two which was quickly followed with a stolen two at the next.  McIntyre  stayed in contention with a single in the sixth but the game was closed out with another deuce in the 7th.  Good first days work and only one other team undefeated in the section, Ron Caithness.

 

Saturday's first game saw a top of the table clash against Ron Caithness of Forfar. Jamieson came out of the blocks quickly and by the close of end three the score was 4-0.  A big miss in end four on last stone, after a perfectly played end, left a simple draw for two for Caithness.  This was followed by a fluked removal of two Team Jamieson counters by Kennedy's first to leave their opponents lying 5.  Damage limitation saw this reduced to a two and the game was level after 5. Two singles saw Jamieson take a two shot lead into the last but a guard that never made it into play gave Caithness the chance to level the game and it was gratefully accepted.  Four misses from the Jamieson front end saw the team in another pile of trouble in the extra. Caithness lay guarded and on the back four and it was decided to play a tapped raise with the second last Jamieson stone, instead of clearing, due to the quarry of granite that lay out front.  This was executed perfectly and Caithness's reply missed by inches and hands were gratefully shaken!

 

Game two on Saturday was equal to the first in quality ends, except the first!   On very slow "strike for a draw" ice Kennedy utilised his Elgin experience of such conditions to set up four in the house, which was then defended, a single in two gave a 5-0 lead.  This time around though the front end kept things clean and although two's were exchanged the other ends were kept clear and blanked.  Not pretty curling but effective in that they ensured a victory and with it certain qualification the way other results had gone.

 

The final game saw a match up against David Hardie's Dumfries rink who were on three wins and desperate to clinch their own qualification with a win. Singles were exchanged in the first two ends with the skips having to make shots to save 3 shot reverses.  Jamieson swung from hero to villain in the third when a well played clear end turned into a loss of two after back to back silent strikes. Spurred on by that reversal of fortunes Jamieson's rink constructed a superb fourth end with some stunning hit a rolls forcing errors from Hardie.  This excellent play left Jamieson a simple draw for three and the lead, which was gratefully accepted.  The fifth was blanked. In the sixth another well played end saw Hardie facing four counters through a slim port.  The port was negotiated successfully but the stone travelled inches too far and a steal of four was recorded.  Hands were shaken and five wins were on the board.  
 

So team Jamieson have qualified as group winners. Through to the Scottish Seniors Finals in Hamilton for the fourth year in a row.  A strong field awaits them but they will be looking to go at least one better than in the past, as they have lost three semi-finals in a row.  Hopefully they will be able to utilise those years of disappointment to ensure it is fourth time lucky.  Winning the title would see them represent Scotland at the World Seniors which this year is being held in Dumfries in April.

Scottish Senior Championships Qualifiers

This coming weekend Willie Jamieson and his rink of Gordie Kennedy, Dave Kelly and Simon Elder will be in Ayr to try and qualify for their fourth consecutive Scottish Senior Championship.

Skip Willie Jamieson

This season Team Jamieson have been drawn in the same group as David Hardie, Ron Caithness, Jim Cullen, Alistair Mcintyre and Alistair Galloway.

With the top two teams from each section qualifying for the finals, Team Jamieson will have to be at their best to reach the Finals at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton.

 Third Gordie Kennedy

To follow Team Jamieson's progress click here

Second Dave Kelly

We wish Team Jamieson good luck and good curling! 

League Table update

Since the last post all three Ballindalloch teams have played games in their respective leagues.

Firstly , in Division 1, the undefeated Team Kennedy played Kenny Oswald's Elgin rink who were on the hunt for their first win of the season.  In what would appear an upset Team Oswald took the 2points in a 7-5 win.

Table as of 12th December:

Elsewhere, in Division 4, Mark Jacklin has stepped up from throwing lead rocks to skip Team Mackenzie.  His first game skipping will be one to forget as he came up against an on form  Andy Cameron who swept to a 15-1 win.  We wish Team Mackenzie well in their next game against Amy MacDonald.

Table as of 12th December:

Report on Team Scott's game vs John Farquhar to follow.

Score Cards

A message from the province Secretary:

SCORE CARDS

The Province competition rules require score cards to be completed correctly and then signed by both skips. Sadly this is not always happening at the moment making the east and west match secretaries’ task of collating and recording scores unnecessarily tedious and difficult. I am sure you will appreciate that it is unreasonable to make their task as willing volunteers more difficult than it should be. I would ask all Province skips, therefore, to impress upon their team members, particularly those playing two, the requirement to carry out the necessary task of completing the score card correctly. Sadly, if this heartfelt plea should go unheeded, then the Executive Committee will have no option after the 29th November but to invoke the rules and penalise offenders.

I hope this letter will be taken in the spirit in which it is intended, namely, to support our hard working match secretaries.  

With best wishes,

Mike Pickthall Province Secretary

Sweeping

I just read this interesting article on sweeping on the Canadian Curling association webpage, I think many of us could adopt few of these tips in our own game!! 

House Call: Six Ways to Be a Better Sweeper

I have been asked many times if sweeping actually makes a difference or if it’s just a giant conspiracy to keep the players who aren’t throwing or skipping busy. The truth is this – sweeping can make a huge difference if it is done with proper technique. Unfortunately sweeping is often dismissed as something not worth practicing and some players do not develop the skills needed to be truly effective.

I cannot emphasize enough how much improving sweeping skills can add to your team’s overall shot-making ability. That’s right; you need to make shots as a team and the sweeping is just as important as the throwing and the skipping. By using the following six tips you can take your team to a whole new level of awesome!

B.C.’s Kevin Folk takes a look. “Looking up to see how fast the house is coming up is a great way to judge if you need to keep givin’ it all you’ve got or if you can let up a little.” (Photo CCA/Michael Burns)

1. Start Close and Stay Close – Do NOT wait at the hogline to start sweeping. It is perfectly legal to stand nice and close to the thrower. I usually suggest starting at the T-line closest to the thrower. This way you can make sure you and the thrower both know what the shot is and what weight is expected. You’ll also have a clear view of whether or not the thrower should happen to push the stone or pull it back.

You may be wondering how you’ll possibly keep up to the stone if you start that close. Here is the trick: when you see the thrower begin their backward motion, you start to walk and you continue to stay with the thrower as he or she slides.

Remember to stay close to the stone all the way, even if it’s too heavy or obviously not going to make the requested shot. Your skip may have an alternate shot idea and if you’ve already given up and walked away, there’s less chance of sweeping to make plan B, C, or even D.

2. Communicate, Communicate, And Communicate – As soon as the stone is released, call out your best guess on where it’s going to end up immediately, loud and proud, and make sure the skipper can hear you. Sure, you might be wrong… in fact I guarantee you’ll be wrong more than once. The key is to keep giving your skip updates on the weight as the stone moves toward the other end. The more you practice guessing the weight and calling it out, the better you’ll get. Being a good judge of weight is an invaluable skill. Remember it takes time to develop this instinct so be patient and stick with it.

3. Look Up Often – It’s really easy to sweep like crazy because a stone is supposedly light, only to watch it sail out the back of the house. Looking up to see how fast the house is coming up is a great way to judge if you need to keep givin’ it all you’ve got or if you can let up a little. Think of looking up like taking a breath (breathing is something you should also remember to do when you sweep). You may find it easier to agree with your sweeping partner that the sweeper further away from the stone is the one who looks up. Just remember to share the information with your sweeping partner and skip, especially if you discover you need to stop or start sweeping.

Jill Officer and Dawn Askin in action. “If you are sweeping wider than the width of the handle you can afford to tighten your strokes. Keep your stokes tight and quick.” (Photo CCA/Andrew Klaver)

4. Put Some Pressure On – Sweeping works by breaking down the pebble (bumps on the ice) to make a slicker surface for the rock to travel on. In order to effectively break down the pebble, friction is required. If you’re not putting enough pressure on your broom you may not be creating enough friction to be effective. Think about trying to force all of your body weight down on to the brush. It helps to get your head over top of the brush head.

You can test your pressure by borrowing a hair broom. Try sweeping as you normally would with it. Do all the hairs on the brush spread out nice and evenly and wide when you push down and stay that way as you sweep down the ice? If not, add more pressure until you get the hairs to spread out. If you go back to a synthetic head or if you keep using hair (either is perfectly fine by the way; you should use whatever you find most comfortable) remember the amount of pressure you needed to spread the hairs and try to push that hard all the time.

5. Keep Sweeping Strokes and Tight and Quick – Remember you only need to sweep the running surface of the stone to be effective. You can use the surface area of the rock handle as a guide. If you are sweeping wider than the width of the handle you can afford to tighten your strokes. Keep your stokes tight and quick and you’ll soon see an improvement in your overall effectiveness.

Sweeping is not supposed to be a walk in the park. After sweeping as hard as you can to the far end you should absolutely be out of breath… a lot. Here’s your chance to get a great workout every game. And if you think you can sweep harder, do it! You don’t want to have to question if you could have dragged a rock to the button instead of the eight-foot.

6. Sweep in Front of the Rock – This seems as if it should be obvious, but you’d be amazed if you knew how many curlers are awesome sweepers but completely ineffective! Take a look around at the other sweepers next time you play, and within moments, I bet you’ll see someone not sweeping in front of the rock.

Often it is hard to tell if you are not sweeping in front of the rock. Ask your skip to let you know (gently and quietly of course) if you happen to stray from the path of the stone.

Sweeping is fun and challenging and a great way to stay in shape. If you can incorporate any of these tips into your game I think you’ll be surprised by how quickly you start to see results. These six strategies combined are a wonderful secret weapon for any team to possess.

Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert show how it’s done. “Think about trying to force all of your body weight down on to the brush. It helps to get your head over top of the brush head.” (Photo CCA/Michael Burns)

TAGS: ADULT BEGINNER CURLING, BEGINNER CURLER, BEGINNERS, BRUSHING, BRUSHING TECHNIQUE,INTERMEDIATE CURLERS, LEAGUE PLAY, PRACTICE, SWEEPING, SWEEPING TECHNIQUE

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LAST UPDATED ON TUESDAY, 22 JANUARY 2013 08:54
WRITTEN BY KIM PERKINS
WEDNESDAY, 23 JANUARY 2013 10:00

About Kim Perkins Kim Perkins is the Head Curling Professional at the Calgary Winter Club. She has been teaching adults and children how to curl for 20 years. Kim wrote a children’s book about curling called The Adventures of Trefor the Curling Rock and is the proud inventor of Broom Charms www.trefor.ca.

Province Division 4

Life in Division 4 has turned out to be quite a challenge for Team Mackenzie.  Having won Division 5 last season, Stuart and his rink of Bob Lawton, Gav Mackenzie and Mark Jacklin have only managed to take one point from their opening four games.  Adding to the difficult start Skip, Stuart Mackenzie has been forced to retire, meaning the team are now searching for a replacement.

Standing in Division 4:

Moray Province East Division 3

Lynn Scott and her rink of Alan McIntyre, Robert Bremner and Don Gatt are once again battling it out in Province Division 3, aiming to collect their 5th league title in seven years.

With one game to go before the first round of fixture is complete Team Scott is in a strong position. In the opening two games Team Scott got the better of both Alistair Maltman (7-5) and Mike Macdonald (5-3) before going down 8-4 to Ronald Christie.  In their last outing Team Scott peeled 5-5 with Andrew Allardyce.

Team Scott play their next game on Wednesday 11th December against  John Farquhar.

Moray Province East Division 3 table.

Moray East Province Division 1

It' has been a while since the last post, apologies. 

 All five leagues in Moray Province East are well underway.  

Gordie Kennedy and his rink of Steve McGingle, Ryan Mackenzie and Tony Duncan have got off to the best possible start in Division 1 winning all three of their opening games.  

In their first encounter of the season they overcame Neil Durno's Fochabers rink 7-4 before coming out on top in a close encounter with Darnaway's Gav Nicol, winning 9-8.  Their last game was a re-run of last seasons title decider, this time the good guys came out on top when Gordie and co posted an impressive 7-3 win over Steve Rankin.  

Hopefully we will have a more detailed account of the games for you in the coming weeks.

The teams next game is against Kenny Oswalds Elgin rink who, surprisingly, have yet to win a game.  

                                  Province East Division 1 table.

Wait for it.........................

Well, It has been a long time in coming (four and a half months to be exact) but Ballindalloch is back online and soo to be back on the ice.  The Moray Leisure Centre opened for curling last Monday afternoon and I poped in to see if I could still maintain my balance and delivery a stone ( I did both, just! although we wont mention where the stone actually stopped)

MLC ice rink,  I wonder how many weeks before the house is a blur?!

The rink has had its annual make over and looks pretty good, as does the ice.  If the ice staff can keep the conditions to the standard experience last week then I'm sure there wont be many complaints (even if the price of a game has gone up to £11 a player)

Ballindalloch again have three rinks playing in the Moray Province East divisions.   Gordie Kennedy and his rink of Steve McGingle, Ryan Mackenzie and Tony Duncan will no doubt be in the running again this season in Division 1, having come so close to winning a second top league title.  Competition is fierce though with Steve Rankin, Neil Durno, Gav Nicol and Kenny Oswald, all previous winners, aiming to add to their over sized glass winners trophy collections!

Lynn Scott and her team are back for a crack at Division 3.  Having played so well in the first half of last season before utter melt down after Christmas led to a brush with relegation, they will be looking to challange this time around.  The task will be no easier though as both Mike Macdonald and Alistair Maltman will be expecting to bounce straight back to Division 2. 

Stuart Mackenzie, off the back of a great season in Division 5 is scaling the leagues again, having already skipped his way through the leagues in the past.  As with Team Scott he will have a good chance but there are a few tough teams, even down in Division 4. Andy Cameron and Douglas Howie, who both pulled out of Division 1 two seasons ago, are tough competion for any team!

League play doesn't get underway until the first week in October,  good luck to all the teams, Good Curling.

Moray Province Points

Eilidh Yeats

 On Monday 4th March Eilidh Yeats,17, became the youngest winner of the Ballindalloch points competition.  Having scored 34 points Eilidh and runner up Lynn Scott would go on to represent Ballindalloch at the Moray Province Points final.

                                                                      Lynn Scott

Lynn reports:

'The standard was high this year, although only 12 players took to the ice, after all 9 disciplines were completed Ann Munro, Alistair Maltman and Alan Stanfield were tied on 33 points each.  After a play off Alan Stanfield came out on top' 

Both Lynn and Eilidh posted respectable scores of 28 and 26.  Well done girls!

                                                   Province Points Winner Alan Stanfield.

Millennium Bonspiel 2013

The 2013 Millennium Bonspiel turned out to be another great day of curling in the excellent facility that is Curl-Aberdeen.  Four strong Ballindalloch teams took to the ice to compete for the Millennium Trophy, against four Fochabers rinks complimented by three Uigie members, Dot Moran and Rebecca Morrison, playing for their own trophies.  The Grant Ice Bucket was also up for grabs, the club with the highest combined scores from all games claiming victory. 

The competition was fierce in the games for the Millennium Trophy, Dave McGaan shot into an early lead when his rink took a 7 in the second end of their opening match before posting a 14-1 win! Gordie Kennedy and Neil Durno fought out a tough game, peeling 3-3.  While Willie Jamieson claimed the win in his opening game and Lynn Scott narrowly lost. 

I would go into detail but,due to a few refreshments between games,  I can't quite remember all the results! After his opening win Dave McGaan posted another win before losing two games, as did Lynn Scott.  Gordie Kennedy followed up his opening peel with three hard fought wins to put himself in contention for the trophy, but in similar fashion to last year, Willie Jamieson saved the best til last, winning his fourth match of the day with his last stone and with it putting his name on the Millennium Trophy for the second year running. 

When the dust had settled on the days play it was obvious, with the commanding results posted by the Ballindalloch teams, the Grant Ice Bucket would be coming home to one of the biggest names in Scottish Curling!!

Another great day, good curling, wonderful facility, lots of 'refreshments' and above all a great laugh.

The Winning rink, L-R, lead Brian Marr, second Tony Duncan, third Ryan Mackenzie, skip Willie Jamieson and representing the sponsor, Eilidh Yeats.

Runners up,  third Robert Bremner, skip Gordie Kennedy, second Eilidh Yeats and lead, Ray McGaan.

Third Place lead, Mark Jacklin, third Dave Kelly, skip Dave McGaan, second Ruth Kennedy and Eilidh Yeats.

Fourth place, second Gav Mackenzie, skip Lynn Scott, third Alan Mcintyre, lead Calum Jacklin and Eilidh Yeats.

Thanks must go to Brian Yeats for his continued sponsorship of the Bonspiel. 

Millennium Bonspiel 2013

The Millennium Bonspiel, Sponsored by McKerron and Milne, will be hotly contested this weekend in Aberdeen between four Ballindalloch and four Fochabers rinks.  If they can make it to the rink in one piece( you know what Ballindalloch/Fochabers Bonspiel buses are like!!) skipping the Ballindalloch teams this year will be Dave McGaan, Geordie Kennedy, Lynn Scott and Willie Jamieson.  In the rank and file will be Alan '100% record' Mcintyre, aiming to win the bonspiel for the fourth time, Eilidh Yeats, aiming to cap off a great season, by wining the Bonspiel for the first time.  Dave Kelly will bring a bit of colour to the affair and Brian Marr will hopefully bring his legendary drinking antics to the fore, and  give his skip Willie 'hollow legs' Jamieson a run for his money!  Buddha is aiming to go one better than the runner up spot he has had to settle for in three of the last four years and Ryan Mackenzie is desperately trying to avoid taking yet another wooden spoon home to Vicky!

Let the games begin :)

check back next week for a Bonspiel report and maybe a few snaps!! 

Scottish Junior Championships underway

The first national championships of the season are underway in Aberdeen.  Eilidh Yeats, club member and member of Alison Woods Kinross team are playing for the chance to represent Scotland at the World Junior Championships in Russia.

To follow Team Wood's results click Here


Good luck girls :)

The Norther Scot, last week, ran an article regarding Eilidh's participation in the Junior Championships, to view the article click Here

Scottish Seniors Qualifiers

Well they have done it again!

Congratulations to Willie Jamieson and his team of Gordie Kennedy, Dave Kelly and Simon Elder for reaching the finals of the Scottish Senior Curling Championships for the third year in a row.

Please click Here for an indepth report on the event.


Hopefully Gordie will report back with details of each game when he has recovered!!

Scottish Senior Qualifiers

Firstly, I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a jovial New year.

 Now down to the business of curling and in particular the qualifying event for this years Scottish Senior Curling Championships being held at Forfar from 4th - 6th January. 

Willie Jamieson, Gordie Kennedy, Dave Kelly and David McGaan are looking to qualify for the Scottish finals for the third time in succession.  To do so they must get past the likes of David Clydsedale and Billy Henderson  at Forfar this weekend. Having reached the semi-finals of the Championship last year we all hope they can qualify and go one step further. 

To follow Team Jamieson's results this weekend click Here

In the second qualifying event, being held at Greenacres, Fochabers Alan Durno is looking to qualify for the finals having come so close last year.

 To follow Team Durno's results click Here

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 :)