Category: Wm. Howie Cup

Eight rinks battled through the first real bad weather of the winter for Tuesday’s games. Each of the rinks played their nearest rivals in the league.

Tom Reid 7 – 4 Robert Wilson

In this battle of the bottom two, Tom took full advantage with the hammer in the first and third ends. A steal in the fourth gave Tom a 6-1 lead at the half way mark. In the second half, Rabbie was unable to claw back the deficit and now sits alone at the bottom.

Craig Reid 8 – 6 Hugh Reid

Like the game next door, these two started the night tied on points in fourth and fifth place. As with a lot of games this season, Craig again demonstrated his ability to outscore his opponent with hammer. Hugh was restricted to only one end where he scored more than a single and, needing a 3 in the ninth for the peel, was unable to score more than a single. The win moves Craig on to 8 points.

Jim Kirkwood 6 – 9 James Whiteford

This was again a game between two teams tied on points at the start of the evening. Opening with a single, Jim then failed to prevent Jimuk from taking a 4 at the second. Pulling the game back to 4 each after four, Jim again allowed Jimuk to take another 4 in the fifth. Jim could only take a single in the sixth and a steal of 1 in the seventh, before Jimuk closed out the game.

Douglas Reid 5 – 7 David Mundell

While the bottom two battled on sheet A, the top two teams met on sheet D. David started the better, opening a 4 shot lead before Dougie halved the deficit in the fourth. In the second half the teams cancelled each other out, both scoring a single and a deuce. Despite losing his first game of the league, Dougie remains ahead of David by 3 shots, both having 8 points.

With all but the bottom two teams having played four games, the league is starting to take shape. Despite not playing this round of matches, Dougie Reid’s rink still sits 2 points clear of the chasing pack of four rinks on 6 points. At the bottom, three rinks have 2 points from four games and two rinks have 0 points from three games.

Jim Kirkwood 5 – 7 Craig Reid

Having been a close contest throughout, this game came down to a battle of the eighth.

Blanking the the sixth, Craig was forced to take the single in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5. In the eighth, it was a case of who could play the best hit and roll would win the game. Both Robert Whiteford and Craig Kirkwood had good attempts at the in turn, but each left enough of their stone open and vulnerable.

Craig Reid’s first stone removed the shot but rolled too far across the house.  Although it was a tighter port through which Jim had to play on the out turn, he also removed the shot but lay in the open. Having seen the way through, Craig removed Jim’s stone and rolled a quarter covered behind the guards to lay 2. A tap back would win the game for Jim, but second attempt over curled and wrecked on the guards.

James Whiteford 4 – 10 Gavin Reid

With his rink restored to full strength, Gavin returned to winning ways against James who was missing his third. Stealing a 2 in the fourth gave Gavin a comfortable 5-1 lead which James was unable to claw back.

David Mundell 8 – 4 Peter Barrett

After a tight first four ends, this game changed when David scored a 3 in the fifth. With Peter then chasing the game, David stole the next two ends to lead 8-2 after seven. The eighth end was not looking very healthy for Peter at one point, with David laying 2. But as a port opened up Peter managed to draw two shots to keep the score respectable.

Hugh Reid 8 – 5 David Reid

Hugh did a good job of restricting David to singles, while taking two’s and a three when with hammer. A steal of 1 in the seventh left David with too much to to do in the eighth, where he scored his only deuce of the game.

The late Tuesday night session caught out some teams with two good wins and two really close results.

Douglas Reid 8 – 1 Gavin Reid

Missing the core of his team, it was the 6th end before Gavin managed to get the granny off, scoring his only shot of the game. Dougie’s in form team were steadily stealing shots up to this point, and rounded off with a 2 in the seventh. Dougie continues unbeaten after four games.

David Mundell 9 – 2 James Whiteford

Returning from his skiing holiday, Jimuk found himself 6-1 down after three ends. David then stole a further two singles before the last two ends went with the hammer and an early finish.

Craig Reid 8 – 7 David Reid

This battle of younger generation Reid brothers was a close game throughout. Restricting Craig to a single in the first, David replied with a deuce and stole a single in the third. Craig then took deuces in the fourth and sixth to lead 5-4.

David must have thought he’d done enough with a 3 in the seventh to open up a 7-5 lead. Craig however, had other ideas and anything David could do, Craig could do too, winning the game with a 3 of his own in the eighth.

Robert Wilson 7 – 8 Peter Barrett

After Sunday’s big loss, the last thing Rabbie wanted was to lose a 4 at the first. 1 down in the second with last stone to play, Rabbie was struggling to identify a shot. Only when on the hack did he see, and play, a straight raised takeout to score 2. Mistakes from Peter and his team allowed Rabbie to take control and lead 7-5 after six ends.

The match turned again in the seventh. While lying two against and attempting to clear guards, Jim Young managed a double raise to lie shot. Rabbie failed to remove it and for the second time in the match, Peter narrowly missed the draw for 2.

Two excellent draws by Malcolm Noble set up the eighth end nicely for Peter. Laying 2 against, Rabbie’s first draw to the back 8 cut it to 1, before Peter restored the two shot advantage, wicking in off a corner stone. This secured the win when Rabbie’s final draw to the 4 foot stayed wide.

It was a strange sight to see all four games finish before the bell, with the teams at the top of the scoreboards all winning.

Gavin Reid 9 – 3 Peter Barrett

Against Gavin’s full strength team, the last thing Peter could afford was to lose a 5 in the second end. From then on it was case of playing catch-up and while each subsequent end was close, too many errors made this impossible.

David Reid 20 – 2 Robert Wilson

“The biggest defeat I’ve had since 1984, I remember it well” was the quote heard from Tommy Wilson after this game. I think that says enough!

Douglas Reid 12 – 2 Tom Reid

Dougie continued his good start to the season with a third straight win, scoring 2’s in the first three ends. Tom managed to get on the board with a single in the 4th and another in the seventh. Opting to play an eighth end proved costly to Tom’s shot difference as Dougie took another 3 shots.

Hugh Reid 8 – 2 Jim Kirkwood

As on the neighbouring sheet, Hugh started well by taking the first three ends, before Jim got on the board with two singles. Giving up another two 2’s, Jim decided he too was better off in the comfort of the bar and shook hands.

 

The second half of the 2018-19 season got underway with 10 teams playing the first round of the Wm. Howie Cup.

Douglas Reid 8 – 6 Jim Kirkwood

Having played together in the Cuthbertson league, the President and Vice have switched places for the Howie league. With Jim playing at skip, this was a close game against big Dougie but the game just got away at the end. The game was won with a steal of 2 in the 3rd and a 3 in the 7th for Dougie. Otherwise, it was a case of tit-for-tat 1s and 2s.

David Mundell 10 – 6 Craig Reid

Having lost a 2 in the 1st, David blanked the 2nd in the hope of scoring better in the 3rd. A 6 was better that he could have hoped and following it with a steal of 2, David had a big lead to defend. Despite winning the next 3 ends, Craig was restricted to low scores and shook hands after 8 ends.

James Whiteford 6 – 4 Hugh Reid

It took a few ends for debutant skip James to find his feet, with Hugh opening with 3 singles. The game then changed with James taking the next 4 ends to lead 6-3 going into the 8th. Was this a case of too much festivities for Hugh, or the curse of Colin?

Tom Reid 7 – David Reid 9

A really close game between father and son saw these two tied 7 a piece after 7 ends. In the 8th, Tom drew a freeze to the back to lie shot by a whisker, leaving David with a choice for his last shot. Opting for the takeout, David managed to move Tom’s stone just enough to take a single and lead into the 9th where he stole another single.

Robert Wilson 3 – 7 Gavin Reid

With a really strong line up Gavin opened his account with a win against Rabbie, who was handicapped by being a player short. Due to an error by the secretary, the replacement for Rabbie’s team thought he was not required. This has now been resolved for the remaining games.