SCOTTISH CURLING TOUR

Men’s 8 pm Friday night.

Sloan had a bye.

Hamilton v Whyte  late starting due to extra end earlier on that ice pad. The game was conceded in the 5^th with a score of 3. Final Score 7-2 score in favour of Whyte.

Hamilton took a 1 against the hammer in the first end and Whyte took a 2 in the 2^nd.

The 3^rd end was a blank but the 4^th saw a lot of granite in the 4 foot. A big raise from Hamilton saw the guards move and the shots in the head scattered but leaving Whyte in a good position and after changing positions with the only yellow stone he was lying 4 - but lots of options for Hamilton.

A big shot saw Hamilton rink take a double but the shooter spun round and lay to the back of the Whyte front shot. Whyte’s shot hit good and he was left with three well-spaced shots. Graham Black playing Hamilton’s last two stones played a lovely draw to the 4 foot to take a shot.

Playing the 5^th Whyte was 4-2 up with the hammer against him. With 8 shots played there were guards up and Hamilton’s shot in the centre 4 but a well-played shot between the guards saw Whyte now claim the 4 foot for himself.

Some tactical shots saw Whyte having to move the front opposition shots and the danger of jamming his own did not happen. He took further shots that end and this saw the game conceded.

Bryce v Pougher was late starting due to the extra end in the ladies.

Bryce and Pougher took singles in the first four ends but Bryce took a 5 in the 6^th to go 6-3 up.

A further single for Bryce in the 7^th saw the score 7-3 in his favour.

Mouat v Howat

The local Dumfries Junior squad lost a 4 against Mouat in the 1^st and a 2 in the third but clearly not disheartened they got a 1 in the 4^th and the 2^nd was blank.

The game was conceded in the 6^th end

Lill v Macleod

Macleod with the hammer started off in a spirited fashion taking a 3 and Lill could only respond with a 1 in the 3^rd following a blank 2^nd end.

By the 6^th end all was square and Macleod had the hammer but he had one lying against him. A very heavy shot saw him looking for a wick off his own shot to take the opposition out but he found a space to go straight through. The end finished with Lill scoring 1 and a further 1 saw Lille 5 -3 up in the 8^th.  Macleod tried a difficult double for 3 in the 8th and missed by the finest of margins to allow Lill to record the win.

Hardie v Taylor. A fascinating game developed between these two teams and close scoring saw the lead changing. It was difficult to say who would win and Taylor was unfortunate that when they got rid of the opposition yellow guard it bounced off an outlying stone and finished up dead on the centre line behind a guard. Notwithstanding that bit of bad luck for him - Taylor had the chance to win the game with his last shot but it fell far short. Whether there was something amiss with stone is not known but there was no sign from the team of that having been the case.

Taylor with the hammer took a 1 in the 1^st and Hardie countered with a 2 in the 2^nd. Each team took their ends when they had the hammer and playing the 5^th they were peals.

Taylor took a 1 in the 5^th and appeared to be getting the upper hand and was lying two in the house with guards when the Grant played to the 4 foot and extremely strong sweeping saw it miss the guard by millimetres and gain advantage by a few centimetres.

Taylor took very little ice and a little tap and the kean ice saw him move the yellow into 2^nd place. Grant played the same shot again but a touch lighter saw the sweepers give up when it stopped on the 8 foot.

Going to the 7^th saw Hardie 2 shots down and after a few shots it appeared Taylor had the high ground again even although Hardie was lying shot. Grant played a lovely draw shot to the edge of the 8 foot and Taylor then hit and rolled out of the other Hardie yellow. Grant then played to draw a second shot and again the Kean ice allowed the sweepers to take the stone into the rings but this time to score.

All square going into the 8^th and Taylor has the hammer.

Hardie placed a guard at 6 o’clock; Taylor elected to draw to the 12 foot at 3 o’clock but is stayed straight and ended up touching the 12 foot at 6 o’clock; Hardie looked to lock on to the opposition but it fell short behind his 1^st guard; Taylor elected to split his front shot but Chay Telfer’s stone caught the guard and stones were replaced; Hardie elected to draw to the centre but that shot caught a guard – the played stone remained in play about a metre or so outside the rings at 4 o’clock; Taylor elected to remove the guards with success; Hardie drew another yellow guard which Taylor removed however this yellow struck the previous yellow guard sitting at 4 o’clock and bounced back in and lay to the back of the button and guarded – get Grant to put a lottery ticket on!. Another guard by Hardie was removed by Taylor but his shooter was now another guard on the centre; Hardie played another guard and again Taylor moved to get rid of these and this time he had good fortune and removed every guard there was. Hardie’s guard was right of centre and offered Taylor an opportunity but his shot caught the guard leaving Hardie to decide on his last shot placement.

Hardie played his shot and it came to rest as a guard in the 12 feet. Taylor elected the draw to the centre however he was very light of weight and Hardie won the game.