Fraser Cup Round 4

 The 4^th round of the Fraser Cup between Rinks 2 and 4 took place on Mon 18 Nov at Greenacres.  It was a busy venue as Ayr Rotary occupied the 4 principal sheets in playing against the visiting Canadian Rotary team.  As a consequence, we were decanted on to Sheet F in the quiet extension section.  Rink 2 (Charters (S), Chapman, Graham, Cattanach) lost the toss and the first end in a close game but then came bounding back to nip out the Rink 4 single lying stone with their last stone to take a 5!  It was now an uphill fight to recover which Rink 4 (Galloway(S), Reynolds, Hogg, Peat) sought to do by winning the next 2 ends.  That was getting too close for comfort so Rink 2 upped the pressure once again to take single scores in the 5^th and 6^th ends.  In the final end, they were leading 7-3 and seeking to block Rink 4's attempts to build a well protected substantial score of 4 around the button to secure a peel.  Robert was having none of that and with his last stone he edged out 2 of the buried scoring stones and left the smallest of gaps for Rink 4 to redress the shortfall on their last stone which just failed to succeed.  The final score was 7-5 to Rink 2. 

The Eglinton Jug

  Having failed to raise a Rink for last year's Eglinton Jug which was hosted at Greenacres for the first time, it was with appreciable interest and anticipation that Bob Cherry (Skip), Ronnie Peat, Peter Galloway and David Stubley made their way to join the fray for this year held on Sat 16 and Sun 17 Nov.  With a comprehensive and well constructed competition plan in place for the 24 Club entries, the High and Low routes ensured that each entry had an assured 2 games of play.  The Greenacres venue was ideal with its 6 sheets of keen and swingy ice, hosting facilities and food and drink outlets.  The atmosphere too was something special with a very large number of "weel kent" faces from events held in the past at Ayr Ice Rink.  In short, the place was buzzing!

Our first round in the High Road was at 1230 on Sat 16 Nov against Dalry Union on Sheet D in the main arena.  Dalry opened the scoring with a single in the first end which we countered in the second end but our scoring proficiency thereafter became something of a hit and miss affair.  In contrast, Dalry played very well to score in each of the next 5 ends to win 10-1 as the bell rang at the end of the 7th.  A snack lunch in the very crowded lounge was enjoyed and wounds licked while awaiting confirmation of who was to be faced in the next Low Road round at 1800.

That was soon declared to be A&A (C Steele (S), A. Martin, K. Ireland and D. Haddow) and scheduled to take place on Sheet F, one of the 2 sheets on the ice rink extension.  Whoever was to win this round would then have a very early start the following Sunday morning for a 0900 Low Round 3^rd Round tussle.  Once again, despite our best efforts which were repeatedly thwarted by A&A, we were to shake hands as the bell rang at the close of the 7^th end with A&A deserving 10-3 winners.  

Perhaps not one of our more notable performances on the day but memorable nonetheless for the embracing curling and social atmosphere in this unique annual competition.  One not to be missed for the future.  

The Winner of the High Road was [     *         ] and the Low Road [       *         ]." 

*  Details to be added once available

Gangrels v Ayr & Alloway

 The second round of the mini league with A&A took place at Greenacres on Mon 11 Nov with the Gangrels 2 and 1 lying first and second respectively on the league table after the first round.  However, like the weather, change was in the air!

Gangrels 1 (Peat (S), Niblock, Cherry, Cattanach) faced A&A2 (Mitchell (S), Ireland, J. Cherry, A Chapman) on  Sheet A but did not fare well despite an encouraging first 2 ends.  A&A2 crept ahead over the following 3 ends to lead 6-1 by the end of the 5th.  Gangrels took a single at 6^th end but then lost the 7^th end to cumulatively come second 2-8 at the bell.

On the adjacent Sheet B, Gangrels 2, Lawrence (S), Reynolds, Galloway, Charters) won the toss against A&A1 (Baines (S), Wilson, H. Kennedy, Haddow) but lost the first end. Wins in the second and third ends saw Gangrels 1 edge ahead to lead 5-2.  A&A1 recovered their poise to take the next 2 ends with single shots which stung the Gangrels to win the next 2 ends to lead 8-4 at the end of the 7th.  In the final end, A&A1 were lying 4 to peel and despite seeking to guard their position, in the best of Skip performances under duress, Euan pegged the loss to 1 to then shake hands 8-5 winners.

Fraser Cup Round 2

 Fraser Cup Round 2

Round 2 of The Fraser Cup took place at Greenacres on Mon 28th Oct between Rinks 1 and 3.

Everyone quickly adapted to the keenness of the Greenacres ice and Rink 3, skipped by D. Gray with J. Niblock, G. Watson and E. Lawrence, drew first blood, taking a single shot at the first end.

Rink 1, skipped by F. Hogg with S. McFadzean, D. Cattenach and J. Begg then immediately responded in the second end by taking a single shot themselves.

And so it was throughout what proved to be a very nip & tuck game with Rink 3 scoring 2 shots at the 3rd end before Rink 1 secured a single shot at each of the next 3 ends. Rink 3 then scored a single shot at the 7th end to draw the game at 4:4 going into the last end.

In the final end, it all came down to the skip’s stones as they both attempted to draw into what was by now a very full head and Rink 3 found themselves sitting with 2 shots up when Rink 1 played their last stone to try and steal the end. Unfortunately, the very last stone of the game failed to find its mark and Rink 3 ended up winning the last end by those 2 shots resulting in a final score of 6:4.

Everyone agreed it was a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely close fought game which could easily have gone either way.

Fraser Hogg

STRANRAER REPORT AND RESULTS

 Once again, 16 Gangrels made up 4 Rinks for the first start of season social day's curling at the North West Castle (NWC) on Wed 23 Oct.  We could not have asked for nicer autumnal weather for the journeys to and from Stranraer.  The quality of the ice, ambience and snack lunch food was, as usual, first class.

The competition scoring was initially announced as being based on cumulative shots up with the morning Rinks being swopped for play in the afternoon  session and the former Skips then leading.  However, the structure of all the Rinks was such that they were all very closely matched and the high scoring rounds of previous visits were not repeated.  As a consequence, the Match Secretary recommended that the scoring be changed to a conventional points, ends and shots up system.

Team Wilson (Wilson (S), Charters, Peat, Chapman) played on sheet 3 against Team Cattanach (Cattanach (S), Hogg, Lawrence, Dunlop) while on sheet 4, Team Hope (Hope (S), McFadzean, Galloway Mutter) faced Team Niblock (Niblock (S), Graham, Cherry, Reynolds).  At the lunch break, Team Wilson were in the lead with Teams Niblock and Hope hard on their heels.  After a most enjoyable soup, sandwiches and traybake lunch, the Rinks returned to the ice on Sheets 1 and 2 with the leaders Team Charters/Wilson against Team McFadzean/Hope and Team Hogg/Cattanach against Team Graham/Niblock.  Once again, the level of play on both sheets was extremely close , competitive and fun.  The final results table is can be found here.  (Sorry, but my computer link is not behaving itself - I'll try to fix it soon.)

In closing, President Donald thanked all of the NWC staff for making the day such a pleasure and presented the prizes to the winning Rink."

First Game of Season - Fraser Cup Game 1

The first round of the Fraser Cup and first game of the new season was played at Greenacres on Mon 7 Oct with modified Rinks 3 and 4 competing for the first result of the new season.  It had been a bumpy start with Greenacres having to delay their opening date due to ice pad problems and 4 of the nominated players as shown in the Fixture List being unavailable to compete.  As a consequence,  2 Reserves and 2 of the nonplaying members from Rinks 1 and 2 magnanimously stepped in to fill the gaps.  

President Donald welcomed everyone to a well appointed Greenacres venue and sparkling ice which was to prove testing in its keenness but relatively unpredictable swing.  At the end of the second end, Rink 4 (R Peat (S), P Galloway, D Haddow and A Chapman) had a 3 stone lead.  But this did not last long.  Rink 3 (E Lawrence (S), D Gray, S Bloomfield and D Cattanach) clicked in to top gear and took the next 4 ends in very competitive play.  At the close of the 7^th end, they were in the lead 5 - 4 with 5 minutes to the bell. 

The final and 8^th end was going to be close fought thing which they won by a single stone which had been well protected from the take out initiatives of Rink 4.  The final result was 6 - 4 to Rink 3 and all agreed that it had been a most challenging and enjoyable start to the new season.   The results table is shown below.

                                      FRASER CUP RESULTS 2024/25

                                                       Week 1

The league table can be found by clicking here.

The next game on 14 Oct is the first of the 6 mini-league 2 Rink games against A&A and it is hoped that the standard of play seen today prevails and that both Gangrels Rinks win their games.

Rink 1:  J Begg, F Hogg, D Graham, S McFadzean

Rink 2:  D Cattanach, B Cherry, R Charters, A Chapman

Rink 3:  E Lawrence, D Gray, J Niblock, G Watson

Rink 4:  R Peat, P Galloway, P Reynolds, P Kennedy

 

Skips rotate as required and shown in the Fixture List on a game by game basis.

 

New Season Fixture List

 The fixture list is now available on our website.  Just click on the link to fixtures at the right of this page.