It was a successful Scottish Junior Curling Championship for Dumfries Young Curlers, with all play-off teams containing members from the Dumfries club.
In the round-robin stages of the girls’ competition, six of the nine teams had local curlers participating.
Team Archibald battled hard all week but a slow start to the tournament by the girls left them with a one win, seven loss record.
Next up were the young Team Huntly who, having targeted one end per game, were the surprise package as they secured three wins over the week and also had a couple of close games so the girls returned to Dumfries happy with their performance.
The next three tied teams contained two with Dumfries interest. Team Jahn, who were in their first championships, showed their potential by securing a four win, four loss record but had chances to improve on that.
Team Leigh with skip Jodi Leigh Bass being from Dumfries also secured a four and four record.
Both teams tied with the Aberdeen Team Smith but Team Leigh with the better draw shot average took the semi-final place.
The final two teams were Team Henderson, who finished the round-robin stage on a seven and one win/loss record. They were just pipped into first position by Team Mitchell with Kirsty Gallacher and Hannah Farries from Dumfries providing the local interest.
In the boys’ section, Team Kyle had another tough week, battling hard and their one win, seven loss record doesn’t reflect their performance.
The final three teams with Dumfries interest were Team O Carson, Team R Craik and Team Strawhorn.
Going into the final games the only thing that separated them was their draw shot average.
Team O Carson were first off the ice, with a good victory over Team Tonkita after six ends, this put them in pole position.
Next to win were Team Strawhorn who scored a four in the ninth end of their game to take over first position with a better draw shot average.
Team Craik were going along well before a five in end seven swung the game in their opponents’ favour. The final ranking was 1 Strawhorn, 2 O Carson and 3 R Craik.
In the boys’ playoff, it was a tense affair with Team Strawhorn overcoming Team O Carson by a single shot which is becoming a regular occurrence between the two teams.
Team O Carson dropped into the semi-final to play Team R Craik in what was dubbed Battle of the Brothers, with Orrin and Logan Carson along with Archie Hyslop on one side and their respective brothers Struan Carson and Scott Hyslop in Team R Craik.
Team Carson took an early 3-1 lead after four ends. In the fifth end, a loose draw by Team Craik’s skip resulted in a steal of four, giving Team O Carson a 7-1 lead at half-time.
Team Craik fought back in the next two ends but a score of three in the eighth end was too much for Team Craik to pull back.
In the girls’ play-off, Team Mitchell took on Team Henderson hoping to repeat their round robin victory.
At the half-way stage it was all square before Team Henderson pulled away to record an 8-4 victory and their place in the final, whilst Team Mitchell needed to return on Sunday morning for the semi-final against Team Leigh.
After a good start from Team Leigh in the semi-final they were 2-1 up after two ends but a run of scores in the following three ends gave Team Mitchell a four-shot lead at half-time.
Team Leigh responded with a single in the sixth before team Mitchell sealed the win with scores in the next two ends.
The girls’ final had the two top qualifiers with each team having a victory over each other, so there was keen interest to see who would prevail.
Team Henderson struck first as they raced ahead 5-2 midway through the game, however, Team Mitchell were determined not to give in and pulled the score back to 5-5 in end eight.
Team Henderson regained composure to blank end nine before winning the game with a single in 10. This was Team Henderson’s second title and will see them represent Scotland in the World B competition later this month.
The boys’ final saw Team Strawhorn enter as favourites as they have had a good record this season against Team O Carson but it has been tight every game.
A forced single saw Team O Carson gain the hammer. They blanked end three before scoring two in end four and a further couple of blanked ends before a steal saw the younger Team O Carson take a two shot lead after seven ends.
Team Strawhorn struck next with a two to tie the scores in end eight, before a blank in end nine saw Team O Carson take the hammer into the final end.
This is the first all Dumfries team to win the Scottish Junior title with skip Orrin Carson, vice Logan Carson, second Archie Hyslop and lead Charlie Gibb being members of Dumfries Young Curlers. This young team will now go to Fussen, Germany to represent Scotland at the World Junior Championships where they will hope to defend the title Scotland won last year.
