Category: Competitions

All to play for, right to the end

After 55 games and 404 ends of curling, the winners of the 2018/19 Wm. Howie Cup were decided by the very last stones of the last game on the ice. Right up until the last stone, it was possible for five rinks to finish tied on 14 points at the top of the league.

David Mundell 11 – 5 Tom Reid

With only a faint hope of clinching a promotion spot, David did all he could and had to wait for other results. Having taken a four in the second, David scored 6 unanswered shots between the fourth and seventh ends. By the time Tom came back with a triple in the eighth it was all a little too late.

David Reid 12 – 4 Peter Barrett

Needing to overcome a 14 shot deficit to stand a chance of winning the league, David started like a man on a mission. Taking a deuce in the first end, he followed with a steal of three in the second. Peter interrupted with two singles before David again took a three and stole 2’s in the sixth and seventh ends. With news from the back rinks that both the top two teams were losing, at 10 up, David was briefly in virtual top position. Having secured a promotion spot, had results out the back stayed as they were, David could have regretted accepting the offer of playing an eighth end when Peter scored a 2.

Douglas Reid 6 – 6 James Whiteford

In the only game with no impact on the top of the table, James got off to a good start to lead 5-1 after three ends. In the sixth end, Dougie steadily built up a sizeable head, at one stage having five counters before having to settle for a 3. After stealing a single in the seventh to draw level at 6 each, the skips decided to call it a day and watch the final ends of the other games.

Craig Reid 6 – 9 Robert Wilson

Desperate to avoid ending the league with no points, Rabbie opened with a three then took a four to lead 7-2 after three ends. Unable to stop Rabbie taking another two in the fifth, at 6 down, Craig was in danger of being overhauled for third place. A single in the sixth for Craig and steals of one in both the seventh and eighth ends, secured the promotion spot for his team.

Hugh Reid 8 – 6 Gavin Reid

In the big game of the night, Gavin was trying to upset dad Hugh and sneak a promotion slot. With a 3 in the third and a steal of one in the fourth, Gavin steadily built up a 6-2 lead after six ends. With Craig Reid 5 down on the next sheet, Gavin was in virtual third. It was not so good for Hugh as David Reid (8 up after six) had moved into the virtual lead. This stirred Hugh into action, pulling back to 1 down with a 3 in the seventh and back into the virtual lead.

With the last stone of the last game on the ice, Gavin had a draw to the button against three counters for the game and, a five way tie at the top. With the crowd watching, Gavin’s stone came up short and wrecked on the guards leaving Hugh to win the game by 2 shots and the league by 2 points.

The final games in the Wm. Howie Cup take place on Sunday 24^th March at 17:30. Although the relegation places have already been decided, the top of the table sees the closest finish for some years. With three rinks challenging for the title, five rinks are still battling for the three promotions slots. Only one of Sunday’s five games has no impact on the top of the table standings.

As it Stands

Hugh Reid – 14 Points +37 Shots

Losing the first game against James Whiteford was a real game changer for Hugh’s rink. After two pickups at crucial times for Hugh, third Colin Reid was persuaded to give up his beloved bristle brush going forward. The only other dropped points were to second placed Craig Reid in game five when lead Colin Adam was on holiday.

With a healthy shots advantage over Craig Reid, Hugh must simply match Craig’s result to complete a personal league double. With second, Wallace Gilbert, deciding that travelling to San Marino with the Tartan Army is more important, this could be a big factor. Who will reserve coordinator Gavin, Hugh’s opponent on Sunday, line up as a reserve?

Craig Reid – 14 Points +23 Shots

As with Hugh, Craig lost the first game against David Mundell before winning six on the trot. Losing to Peter Barrett on match day 10 when playing with two reserves was Craig’s only other loss.

Playing bottom of the league Rabbie Wilson, Craig needs to better Hugh’s result or win by a huge margin to win the league. A win secures second place.

David Reid – 12 Points +26 Shots

David started with a win against Tom Reid and then embarrassed Rabbie Wilson with a huge win in game two. Three defeats against the other top four rinks followed, leaving David firmly in mid table at the half way mark. Winning the last four games has brought David within touching distance of winning the league, but needs other results to go his way.

With a 10 shot advantage over fourth placed Gavin, a win against Peter Barrett will secure promotion.

Gavin Reid – 12 Points +16 Shots

After winning the first two games, a late Tuesday session saw Gavin’s engine fail to turn up and, playing with two reserves, fell heavily to Dougie Reid’s early pace setters. A string of four wins came to an end on match day 10 with a loss to David Mundell. The results on that night really opened up the league to five rinks. A further loss to Craig Reid last week has all but put paid to Gavin’s chances of securing promotion.

To secure promotion, Gavin needs to beat table topper Hugh and hope that David Reid loses.

David Mundell – 12 Points +9 Shots

After an early win against Craig Reid in game one, David suffered a shock, losing game two to President Jim Kirkwood. Three wins against the middle of the pack came to an end against Hugh Reid in game six. Following a narrow win over Rabbie Wilson, the win over Gavin Reid on match day 10 opened up the top of the table. The loss to David Reid ended David’s chance of winning the league and possibly promotion too.

To secure promotion, David must beat relegated Tom Reid on Sunday and hope that both Gavin Reid and David Reid lose their games.

Douglas Reid – 10 Points +5 Shots

Dougie’s rink were the early pace setters with four straight wins, before losing their next three games to sit firmly in the middle of the pack.

To maintain his sixth place, Dougie will be looking to avoid a big defeat against hog-line bandits, James Whiteford and his third, Alan Mitchell.

Peter Barrett – 8 Points -8 Shots

With wins over the bottom three and a much needed win over Craig Reid on match day 10, Peter’s rink sits comfortable in seventh place.

With only a 3 shot advantage over James Whiteford, Peter will be looking to better Jimuk’s result to retain seventh place.

James Whiteford – 8 Points -11 Shots

The hog-line bandits started with a win over league leader Hugh Reid, courtesy of a pickups for Hugh on some key shots. Wins over Jim Kirkwood, Rabbie Wilson and Peter Barrett ensured safety from relegation.

In his final game against Dougie Reid, Jimuk will be looking to better Peter’s result by more than 3 shots to move up to seventh. A 9 shot win over Dougie could move them up to sixth.

Jim Kirkwood – 6 Points -18 Shots

Sitting watching from the bar on the final night will be President Jim and his Vice President John Craig. Having played all their games, they are already relegated and will finish ninth regardless of results on the night.

Tom Reid – 4 Points -34 Shots

The loss to Jim Kirkwood last Sunday sealed Tom’s rinks fate and finishing position of tenth. Tom could still have a say in the promotion battle by beating David Mundell on Sunday or even keeping the score tight.

Robert Wilson – 0 Points -45 Shots

Despite some significant losses, Rabbie has had some really close games this league, but has just failed to get across the finish line and score the points.

Resigned to finishing last, Rabbie could have a hard job getting the granny off against title chasing Craig Reid on Sunday. Should Rabbie manage the win, it could open the door for David Reid and Gavin Reid to push Craig out of the promotion places.

After the penultimate round of games, it is still all to play for at the top of the league while it’s all over at the bottom.

James Whiteford 3 – 6 David Reid

In a rather tactical (or slow) game, David continued his recent good form to overcome Jimuk’s hog-line bandits. Opening with a deuce, David eased into a 4-1 lead with a single and a steal in the third and fourth ends. Two down in the sixth, Jimuk piled a lot of stones into the head and left David drawing against 3. With his last stone, David caught Jimuk’s front stone but rolled in to cut the steal to only one.  In the last end with the centre line open, both skips were trying to hit and roll behind cover. In the end, it was David that scored another deuce to take the game and move into the third promotion spot.

Craig Reid 13 – 7 Gavin Reid

Craig, playing with two reserves for the second game running, started and ended this game with purpose. Taking a 5 at the first end, Craig kept Gavin to a single in the second before swapping deuces. Gavin stole two singles in the fifth and sixth to cut Craig’s lead to 2, before the team s again swapped deuces. Craig finished the game with 4 in the ninth to maintain his chance of winning the league. Gavin’s hopes of winning the league have now disappeared and has to hope other results go his way to secure a promotion spot.

Hugh Reid 9 – 4 Peter Barrett

With Peter and his rink struggling to find their weight and Hugh’s rink clearing out any counters, this game was effective over after four ends. Taking a 3 in the second Hugh stole another 3 in the third and a single in the fourth to lead 7-1. Peter took a single in the 5th and swapped deuces before conceding after the seventh end. The win keeps Hugh on track to complete the league double with a win next week.

Jim Kirkwood 9 – 3 Tom Reid

Playing their last game of the season, the presidential duo put paid to Tom’s wafer thin hope of avoiding relegation and with it, sealed the final positions at the foot of the table. With a 3 in the second, Jim then stole a single and a deuce to lead 6-1 after four ends. Tom took singles in the next two ends before Jim finished the game with another 3 in the seventh.

With only two match days remaining, there is a four way tie at the top of the league. At the bottom, two rinks are already relegated and a third is hanging by a very thin thread.

Jim Kirkwood 5 – 4 Robert Wilson

A steal of 1 in the eighth end secured the points for Jim in a really tight bottom of the table clash. Having swapped singles for the first four ends, Jim stole a single in the fifth. Rabbie came back with the only deuce of the game in the sixth. A single to Jim in the seventh left Rabbie at peels with the hammer in the eighth, but was unable to find a way home.

James Whiteford 7 – 10 Tom Reid

With Jimuk scoring deuces in the first two ends, Tom must have thought the worst. Taking a deuce in the third, Tom kept Jimuk to a single in the fourth. The game changed in the fifth with Tom taking a 5 then stealing a single and a deuce to lead 10-5 after seven.

David Mundell 4 – 9 David Reid

With each rink scoring when with hammer, David Mundell’s problem was stopping Dave Reid from scoring big ends. With Mundell being restricted to singles, Reid scored a deuce, a four and a triple to put the brakes on Mundell’s late championship challenge. At the same time Reid has improved his chances of grabbing a late promotion slot.

Douglas Reid – 3 – 9 Hugh Reid

Hugh seized his chance to go to the top of the league with a convincing win over Dougie’s rink. Trailing 5- 0 after three ends, Dougie got the granny off with a single in the fourth, but a triple for Hugh in the seventh sealed the win.

Nine appeared to be the magic number on Friday night with the winners of all four games scoring 9 shots.

Craig Reid 3 – 9 Peter Barrett

The curse of the double subs hit second placed Craig this week as Peter and his rink all but secured safety from relegation. In the first end, with Craig laying 2, big Jim Young raised a plant for a double take out. This set Peter up for a steal of 2. The teams then swapped singles for the next four ends despite each having the chance of a bigger score. Further steals of 2 for Peter in the 6th and 9th ends sealed the win.

Jim Kirkwood 3 – 9 David Reid

David started the game with a triple and followed with two deuces and a single when with hammer. In contrast, Jim slowly built up his game with a single, a deuce and a triple. The one blip was giving up a steal of 1 to David in the sixth. With only two games remaining, Jim will finish in the relegation places.

Douglas Reid 9 – 5 Robert Wilson

Having lost a triple in the first end, Rabbie came back with a deuce before stealing a single and another deuce to lead 5-3 after four ends. Rabbie’s rinks heads then dropped as Dougie scored a 4 in the fifth, then stole singles in the next two ends. Rabbie remains firmly at the foot of the league and is also relegated.

David Mundell 9 – 4 Gavin Reid

With Simon Grant sitting in the bar watching (having arrived back from Dublin looking a little worse for wear), the wheels came off Gavin’s juggernaut in this game. In a close game it was tied at 4 each after five ends before David stretched his big legs to take 5 shots in the final three ends.

Round Up

With both the top two rinks losing, it sets up a really close finish to the season. Three rinks are now tied on 12 points and separated by only 8 shots. Hugh Reid is only two points back with a game in hand and with a better shots difference. Also on 10 points is Dougie Reid and these two play each other on Sunday night.

At the bottom, Rabbie Wilson and Jim Kirkwood are already relegated. Tom Reid must win his remaining three games by a big margin and hope other results go his way to avoid joining them.

In mid table, David Reid and James Whiteford have an outside chance of promotion while Peter Barrett is all but safe from relegation.