Scottish Championships Final Post

Well that was shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite.

After going 8-1 in the Round Robin, we lost both the 1v2 game and the semi-final. Disappointing does not quite cover this one.

We didn’t fire at all in the game against Warwick Smith in the 1v2. Saying that, we had many opportunities for 2, and we even converted a few of them. The key end was the 8^th when things were really not setting up well for us. After two freezes by Dave Smith, we were in a fair bit of trouble. Dave gave us a chance with his first, but the second didn’t quite come off and Warwick had an open draw for 4. We were only 2 down at this point and we gave ourselves an opportunity to make the comeback, but Warwick made 2 good draws to the button in the 10^th for a place in the final.

Skip Cottage Curling
David Edwards

The semi-final was a much better game. In the 3^rd end we had to draw to the 4ft against 3, the stone picked at the hogline but we managed to drag it to the top of the 8ft to cut it down to 1. In the next end, things were looking quite good for us with a lot of our stones hanging about. Tom blasted them but left us with a double for 2. Unfortunately we jammed and gave up another steal. Next end we had a split for 3. Hard to describe how unlucky this one was. But trust me, it was fucking unlucky. After that we forced the 1, we then had a hit for 2/1 depending on a measure. Obviously the umpires decided that the stones were exactly the same and that apparently means it was only a 1. We had to go for it a bit in the next couple of ends, we had a small hit and roll with Dave’s last that wrecked and left Tom with and open draw for 3. He made it and we conceded.

                                                                  GAME OVER

Skip Cottage Curling
Colin Campbell/Scott Macleod/John Penny

 Well 3^rd place is not awful, although it was not what we wanted after going 8-1.

Thanks to everyone over the last week and the entire season for their support, it has been much appreciated.

I would also like to congratulate Tom, Greg, Scott and Michael for winning the Scottish again. Well done. Also congratulations to Dave for getting to go as 5^th. Your rock matching skills will have improved significantly this year! Good luck in Basel!

Cheers

Team Edwards


PS I thought I would just let you all know that with these blogs it is possibly to find out what people have searched to reach the blog. The most popular search used to reach the Team Edwards Blog over the last month is "Swingers Club". I find that very entertaining.

Tommy Sheridan

Scottish - Saturday Update

New blog to kill some time before the 1v2! The background TV show today is Jeremy Kyle US Version. (Also John’s choice). One observation from this is, if you have a tattoo on your face, some shit is going down.

Mike Tyson

And with the curling, we really can’t complain about how it has gone so far.

As you can see, we are on 8-1. But I am sure that you will all already know that as I have inundated you with facebook statuses. Apologies, I am a Social Networking junkie. Anyway, this means that we have won the Round Robin and are lined up to play Warwick Smith in the 1v2. Tom Brewster plays Ewan MacDonald in the 3v4.

The game kicks off at 2.30pm with the semi-finals at 7.30pm. Hopefully we will not need the semi-final, but it is nice to have the back up!

I am limited with time and have the memory of a goldfish so I will only give a quick rundown of the last 2 Round Robin games yesterday.

Goldfish

 

John Hamilton 9-6 Win

We were always in reasonable control although we gave up a couple soft 2’s which made it close. They took their 2 in the tenth for an Extra End. Dave made a short run back for a 3, and the victory.

Tom Brewster 6-5 Loss

It was a good game against Tom. It did not change things at all for us, but we had the chance to put him in a world of pain if we were to win. We held an early lead and had the opportunity to go down the last end peels with the hammer. We were unfortunately forced to take our 1 in the 9^th, then had to prevent Brewster from taking a 2 in the last end. We did not manage that, and Brewster got the Win.

Skip Cottage Curling
Greg Drummond/Tom Brewster + John Penny/David Edwards

My form in “Bugger your neighbour” has dropped. I have had a second last and two last place finishes in the last couple of days! And this was with Greig Henderson playing! Unbelievable!

We changed up the game last night. It was now Team Whist. This was the first appearance of the game since the Oslo Cup in September. If I remember correctly, my team, which had many different combinations, were 0-7. This time it was going to be different. The line-up was Team Frontend (Colin and Scott) v Team Rearend (Dave and John).

The result was a big win for the sweepers. Very pleased.

Well we are away to get some calories for the 1v2. Wish us luck with this one. We really want to be in the final.

Cheers

Team Edwards

Scottish - Wednesday Update

We have got a lie in this morning, so I thought I would do a blog update as John is being entertained by kid’s television. I am not joking. It’s not even like it’s the only thing on! We have got sky! I had forgotten how annoying the Chuckle Brothers are. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch Chucklevision.

The Chuckle Brothers

On Monday morning, we had our 8 minute practice on each sheet. This gave us a chance to pick out any temperamental stones for the upcoming games. My Advanced Higher Graphic Communication A came into use for the first time since the exam in 2006. I got my compass and set squares out and had a wee project to draw a curling head on a grid. We used this to mark down where thrown stones landed and to compared to splits. It was immensely professional.

My gear

The first game was against Ewan MacDonald. Dave made a good draw to get the hammer. Following that, it was a rocky first couple of ends with John pulling us out of a lot of trouble. His triple was especially sexy. The 8^th end was the key for us. We played a really good one and after a few big smashes from MacDonald, there were still a few lying about the house and had the nose hit for 3. Good win!

© Skip Cottage
Dave Murdoch/Dave Edwards

We had a 7.35am first practice on Tuesday Morning. Raged. The game was again Jay McWilliam. We covered the pin with the LSD to get hammer. The early ends went well and we built up a 3-0 lead. We kept it reasonably clear throughout the rest of the game with McWilliam needing a 2 in the 10^th for an extra.  He didn’t really have a shot and ran out of time. So it was another win on the board for Team Edwards.

© Skip Cottage
Glen Muirhead/Scott Macleod

The Tuesday afternoon game was against David Murdoch. It was a big game for us. If we won, we had the potential to go clear at the top of the table. We once again got the hammer and we needed it as we did not have a phenomenal first end. In the middle of the game we got a great couple of twos courtesy of Dave’s nailers. One up with in the last end, we had a nose hit double for the game, which we made. 3-0 and the top of the table!

There is a really long way to go but we are certainly happy with our start. Today we have Graeme Black at 12 noon and Warwick Smith at 8pm.

So, the curling is going well, but I have not mentioned the most important development of the week. Our card game of choice is “bugger your neighbour” which is a variation of trumps. The rules are here.

http://www.pagat.com/exact/ohhell.html

Anyway, I(Scott) am winning it! Anybody with experience of our games will know how much of a turnaround and a shock this is. In my opinion, it was just a matter of time before my superior skill and talent shone through to get these vital W’s on the board. I intend to keep the run going.

Bob Cowan is blogging from the event, http://skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com/.

I will try and blog again, but don’t count on it!

Wish us luck!

Team Edwards

Mens Qualifiers

 We made it through to Scottish Mens Finals! The group is shown below.

We did not have the most convincing of qualifications. It was pretty ropey at times.

A picture of some rope.

I will now give you all a 2 sentence summary of each game.

Lose - Graeme Black 3-6

Graeme played a lot of shots and we did not. By far our worst game of the qualifiers.

The Bye

We went on a team date to watch Sherlock Holmes. Very romantic.

Win - Alan Manuel 9-3

We also did not play very well. Won it without too many issues.

Lose - Logan Gray 4-6

This was a really good game. Unfortunately for us Logan was being a bit of a dick and kept making ridiculous shots.

Win - Alan Gillies 6-5

We were toiling for a while. Had to make a wee bit of a comeback.

Win - Dave Hay 10-3

We could have quite easily been 5-0 down after the first 2 ends. Mr Edwards was on form, so it was all good.

Lose - Ally Fraser 4-5

Played really well, but it was a defensive game, so it was tight until the end. Had the 4ft for the win, and missed.

Win – Graeme Shedden 9-0

Was not a classic from Shedden. We stole quite a lot of ends.

Win – Bruce Mouat 8-2

Took a 3 in the first. I had some fun peeling following that.

This left us on a 6-3 record. Because all the other results went our way, we got through without any tie breakers! It looked like we could have been there for weeks if we had lost the last one. There was a possibility of a 5 way tiebreaker for one spot.

The draw for the Mens Finals is now out.

http://royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/competitions/scottish-mens-championship/

This is how it looks for us.

13^th Feb 4.15pm MacDonald

14^th Feb 8.00am McWilliam

14^th Feb 4.00pm Murdoch

15^th Feb 12noon Black

15^th Feb 8.00pm Smith

16^th Feb 12noon Young

16^th Feb  8.00pm Gray

17^th Feb  8.00am Hamilton

17^th Feb  4.00pm Brewster

The 8pm game followed by an 8am game is going to be pretty rough. I am sure we will manage though.

That’s it.

Cheers

Team Edwards

Perth Masters

 Here is what happened at the Masters

First game was against Tsoulesov from Russia. He was amazing at blanking so it was a very tight game until the 5^th end. He went mental in the 6^th and tapped us up for a steal of two. We won.

A rare time when we had stones in play

Following this was the Calcutta. We fancied buying ourselves but someone else was determined to get us. We sold for £190 in the end.  

Next up was Laycock from Saskatchewan. They are a pretty good team. It was tight the whole way and it went to an extra. They hogged a few guards so we had a pretty simple shot for the win.

Chasing John's Peel

We had Brewster in the A semi. I think he had received a bit of coaching from the Russian we played earlier. It was an insanely boring game until we open freshed, and lost a 2. Following that, we didn’t make very many shots and ended up getting beaten 5-0.

We then played Sandy Reid. It was a pretty good game for a while. We had a few chances that didn’t come off, especially in the 4^th end. So in the 5^th end, we decided we really wanted a 2. What we actually did was give up a steal of 3. Hello C Road.

Team Edwards Hairline

Next was Pascal Hess from Switzerland. We played really well at the start of the game and had a few chances that did not get us anything.  We were 3-1 down in the 4^th.  We took our 2 in the 5^th, then forced 1, then scraped together a 3 and then didn’t lose a 2 in the 8^th. So we won.

We played Kyle Smith’s team of children for a place in the C final. We were 3-0 up after the first couple of ends. We had a pretty awful pick/burn combo that ended with us losing a very unjustified 3. After that, they played really good and we played bad. So we lost and were out.

Giving it the guns.

Conclusion of the weekend.

We are amazing at playing foreign people. Not so good against Scottish. Sooooooooooooo, as of tomorrow we are starting the Qualifying for the Scottish Finals, this will be mostly against Scottish teams. First up is Mr. Graeme Black at 12.45pm Saturday. On Sunday we have Alan Manuel first and the Logan Gray at 8.00pm.

I am very keen to be playing Mens Finals this year, so, once again, wish us luck!

Love

Team Edwards

Follow us on Twitter at the links below.

https://twitter.com/#!/TeamDEdwards

https://twitter.com/#!/granitecitydave

https://twitter.com/#!/scottmacleod1

Season Update, Perth Masters

SEASON UPDATE!!

We have completely abandoned the blog recently. I will restart it now in time for the business end of the season.

I will begin with an update with what has happened throughout the hiatus.

CHAMPERY

Champery is a cool place. It is a very small skiing town high up in Switzerland near the French border. It was about an hour and a half drive around Lake Geneva from the airport, most of it on a very steep small winding road.

The competition took place in the arena where the 2010 European Championships were held. It had big swing.

Our section contained Pescia, Kirikov, Sik and Edin. We beat Pescia, lost a bad one to Kirikov, won relatively pain free against Sik then had a tight one against Edin, which we lost. This left us on 2-2, that tied us for 2^nd place with Pescia. We had a better draw shot than him so we were through to the tiebreakers.  In our first game we played Ulsrud, which we won by taking a 4 in the 6^th end.  It ended 7-2 if my memory serves me correctly. Next up was De Cruz for a place in the Quarters. We got absolutely raped. Lost a 3 in the first then gave up a steal of 4 in the second. Game Over, Competition Over. De Cruz ended up winning competition beating Brewster in the final.

EUROPEAN PLAYOFFS

Next up were the Euro Playoffs in Perth.

The format was a four team double round robin to decide the two qualifiers in a best of three final.

This was how the first four games went

Brewster – Lose

Murdoch – Lose

Reid – Lose

Brewster- Lose

You would be forgiven for thinking that at this point, we were fucked.  We managed to win our last two RR games against Reid and Murdoch. This led to the table looking like this.

Brewster 6-0

Murdoch 2-4

Edwards 2-4

Reid 2-4

Very lucky. We were ranked 2^nd out of the teams tied on 2-4. We played Reid in our first and won. This meant we played Murdoch for a place in the final. It was a tight game and we had a few opportunities at the start. We had a bad end in the 6^th/7^th? and we were required to make a freeze to not give up 3. We came up short, lost the 3 and the game.

Murdoch played Brewster in the best of three final. Murdoch won. Stinger.

Dave got to go with Murdoch to Russia as 5^th man. The ice was really good for the weekend in Perth. Hopefully more of the same over the coming months!

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL

At the end of November we played the International at Murrayfield Ice Rink. We were given a bit of a tough group. It included David Murdoch, David Hay, Jiri Snitil, Jan Hauser and Graeme Shedden. We played well and managed to win them all to come through top. This meant we played Logan Gray in the Quarter Final on the Sunday morning. They played well and we lost a very bad 3 early, this put us on the back foot for the rest of the game. We clawed it back a bit and made Logan draw the 8ft for the win. I cant remember all of the results following that but Tom Brewster beat Sandy Reid in the final.

We had a month free of competitions in December. Dave was away in Russia for most of it, but we all met up in Curl Aberdeen for a day of team practices. We are really good at curling now.  

The first half of the season was good. We had a bit of a jet set life travelling across Europe to Norway, Denmark and Switzerland. But now we get to curl in Perth all the time. Very exotic.

Next up is the Mercure Perth Masters.  We play our first game on Thursday 5^th January against Alexey Tselousov from Russia. If you are feeling a bit flush with cash you can come and buy us in the Calcutta on the Thursday Evening.

Here is the link to the draw.

http://www.perthmasters.com/draw.html   

Following this we have two weekends of Qualifiers for the Scottish Championships. If all goes well there we then have Scottish Finals in the middle of February for the right to represent Scotland at the World Championships in April.

Wish us luck.

Cheers

Team Edwards

European Mixed and Champery

Well we never really did a final European Mixed blog. There were other priorities.

In a quick rundown of what actually happened in the competition - Switzerland beat Germany in the final and got a well deserved gold medal. In the bronze game, the Czech Republic beat Denmark in a close game.

Anyway, here is the official photo of us looking smart in the very well tailored blue blazers.

The Closing Banquet was extremely good. Especially when the food came. I don’t want to be too dramatic, but I was very close to death through famine. Bob Geldof was even on the phone asking if I wanted him to organise another Band Aid. I turned down the offer. 

One of the highlights of the banquet was a Spanish man dancing. Might sound unusual, but it was very funny and I am sure anyone who attended will agree. It did get quite freaky when he was half naked and a Czech guy was whipping him with a belt.... but it was all good!

The old husband and wife couple made the choice to go back to the hotel on the last set of buses. This was at 1am and we had to leave for our flight at 5am. Myself and Kerry were not so wise and stayed until the death. I was back in the hotel for 3am thanks to Eric – had a solid 90mins sleep – packed everything in the room – then left. If you guessed the following 7 hours in airports/aeroplanes followed by 2 hours of driving was not going to be a pleasant experience, you would be correct. When I arrived home, I realised that I had made a really really really good job of packing and had acquired a Phillips TV control from the hotel. Thankfully, the room was on David’s credit card.

That was the European Mixed. It was fun.

Next weekend we are away to Champery, Switzerland. This time we have Colin and John  back. We are in a group of 5 teams, the top team qualifies for the QF with the second place team having to go through playoffs if they want to make the money. Our group includes Edin(SWE), Pescia(SUI), Sik(CZE), Kirikov(RUS). Tough group, but we will see what we can do.

This is the website. http://www.curling-masters.ch/

Wish us luck.

Good day,

Team Edwards