Frame Salver

Four Rinks took to the ice at Greenacres on Mon 17 Mar in the afternoon for the final internal Club game of this season for the Frame Salver trophy.  This was a planned 7 end competition with no scores to be shown on the scoreboards and the winner decided on the highest shots differential.  It was also the prelude to a meal prior to the AGM.  

Rink 1 (Hope (S), Graham, Gray, Cherry) faced off against Rink 2 (Mutter (S), Hogg, Lawrence, Charters) on Sheet A and it resulted in a tight match with Rink 1 winning 7-5 (+2).  

Adjacent to them on Sheet B, Rink 3 (Cattanach (S), Watson, Peat, Reynolds) were to prevail against Rink 4 (Chapman (S), Galloway, Niblock, McFadzean) with no quarter given.  Six shots up by the 5^th end, Rink 3 were in fine form and went on to win 8-2 (+6) to then be awarded the Frame Salver at the AGM prizegiving.

An additional 3 Club members then joined all the players and 19 members sat down to an excellent meal, well served and in a very convivial atmosphere.  It was much enjoyed by everyone and a most fitting close to the season.

POINTS RESULTS

 Crufts Best of Show had no sooner finished when 9 pedigree Gangrel Pointers stepped in to the show arena of Greenacres for the Club annual Points competition.  This was conducted on Sheets C and D and the differing ice on both in terms of keenness and swing soon had loud shouts of either glee or despair depending on the success or otherwise of carefully crafted shots played in each of the 8 out of 10 disciplines completed in the time allotted.  

Those who took part in order of play in this very enjoyable and frustration shared event were Ally Henry, Peter Galloway, Allan Chapman, Jim Niblock, Bob Cherry, Ronnie Peat, David Graham, Douglas Haddow and Fraser Hogg.  

The top 3 results were 1^st equal Ally Henry and David Graham with 28 points, 2^nd Ronnie Peat with 27 points and 3^rd equal Jimmy Niblock and Bob Cherry with 26 points.  The 4^th podium place was taken by Peter Galloway with 25 points.  With only 3 points separating the top 4 places overall, this gives a clear indication of the closeness in capability and competitive terms but it may not have seemed so at any single point in time over the duration of the event!!  Notwithstanding, it was enjoyed by all who took part.

PROVINCE KNOCK OUT SEMI FINAL - MON 4 MAR

 " What a result!  Gangrels (R Peat (S), D Hope, B Cherry, P Galloway) took to the ice at Greenacres late on the evening of Mon 4 Mar to play Fairywell (S Rennie (S), A Sloan, S Sutherland, K Rennie) in the semi-final of the Province Knock Out.  On the adjacent sheet, Stewarton Heather and Sorn were loudly proclaiming their presence and prowess! 

Undeterred by the white noise distraction,  the Gangrels stepped up to the hack having lost the toss and promptly stole a 2 on the first end.  Fairywell responded in proficient style to do the same in the next end, peeling 2-2.  And then the wheel came off their wagon as Gangrels got the better of somewhat fickle pace and swing ice with Skip Ronnie making life very difficult for Fairwell with skillfully placed scoring stones which were then protected from the inevitable barrier/strike weight onslaught.

By the close of the 5^th end, Gangrels had moved ahead to lead 6-3 but there was little room for complacency and every effort was then made to at least secure the lead advantage and at best increase it.  This they did by stealing another 2 on the 6^th end and then repeatedly guarding a close group of scoring stones to take another 4 in the 7^th and last end.  At the bell, hands were shaken with Gangrels winning 12-3.  This was a hard fought and well-deserved victory with sound team play and application throughout.

The final will take place at Greenacres on Tue 25 Mar at 1800 against Stewarton Heather with supporters very welcome and encouraged to attend."

Thanks to Secretary Peter for the above report and all his excellent reports from this year's games.

GCC v A&A MINI LEAGUE FINAL ROUND 6 RESULTS 3 MAR

 The final round of the mini league at Greenacres on Mon 3 Mar was a cracker with A&A1 v A&A2 on Sheet A and Gangrels 1 v Gangrels 2 on Sheet B with all 4 Rinks closely matched in capability and competitiveness.  Gangrels 2 were in the lead with 2 Points ahead of Gangrels 1 and A&A 2 just behind Gangrels 1 on Ends up.  So it was all to play for!

On Sheet A, A&A were in close competition end for end throughout the 8 ends played but A&A 2 edged ahead with a 3 in the 5^th end to lead 6-3.  A&A 1 took single shots in the  6^th and 8^th ends but A&A 2 kept their nose in the lead to win 7-5 at the bell.

On Sheet B, both Gangrels Rinks were to give no quarter and were peeling 3-3 at the close of the 4^th end.  Thereafter, Gangrels 2 won the next 3 ends to go in to the final end leading 6-3 but with Gangrels1 determined to achieve a good score to redress the difference but try as they may and thwarted by A&A2's defensive play, they were only able to secure a single shot to leave Gangrels 2 winning 6-4.

The results were close on both sheets with Gangrels 2 winning 6-4 and A&A 2 winning 7-5 but when added to the overall results table, Gangrels 2 won with 10 Points, Gangrels 2 came second with 6 Points and +21 ends, A&A 2 third with 6 Points and +20 ends and A&A 1 fourth with 2 Points.  The full details of the series is shown here.

This trial run of a mini league is considered to have been a commendable success and has set an impressive benchmark for next season should it be decided to continue and possibly expand the series.