Autumn Colours at Perth Ice Rink - 26/10/08     2008 Balyarrow Trophy Winners - Haddington CC.       The Balyarrow trophy        (L to R) Mary F and Ron A sweep under Sandy D's watchful eye in their match against Strathendrick   The view from the bar

In 1996, Bridge of Weir Curling Club celebrated its 150th anniversary of R.C.C.C. membership.  The club got together with four other clubs also celebrating their 150th membership anniversary that year - Haddington, St. Andrews, Strathendrick, and Falkland - to compete in a bonspiel for the Balyarrow (pronounced "Bal-Yarrow") Trophy.  The trophy is named after Balyarrow Curling Club, which was formed in 1840, but ceased to exist in the 1940's.  Round about 1996, former R.C.C.C. president Ian Turnbull discovered that the Balyarrow club minute books and medals were still in existence.  Ian and his wife Anne decided to keep the Balyarrow name alive by donating a new a trophy bearing the old club's name to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 5 clubs.  The trophy (pictured below left) is appropriately 5-sided, and has original Balyarrow medals pinned to each side. The trophy was first played for at Perth ice rink on 2nd November 1996, with Haddington emerging as the winners.  The competition was so enjoyable that it was decided to repeat it every 3 years in Perth. So in 1999 the competition was held again, this time with Falkland triumphing.  A slight wobble in the timing led to the third running of the competition in 2003, rather than 2002, resulting in a victory for Bridge of Weir.  The fourth running of the competition in 2005 (now back on its 3-yearly schedule), was won by St. Andrews. Following the tradition of previous years, the 2008 competition was organised by the most recent winners of the competition - St.Andrews CC, and was held on Sunday 26th October at Dewar's Icerink, Perth.  Each club entered 4 teams for the competition, thus ensuring that every club played every other club.  The 4 Bridge of Weir teams who played are listed at the foot of this report.  People started gathering at the ice rink from about 12:45 p.m. onwards, taking advantage of the window seats in the bar high above the ice sheet.  The bar affords an excellent view of all 8 sheets, and once again, everyone noted that the ice looked very keen compared to Greenacres.

The "Fair City of Perth" on a fine autumn day - 26/10/08     Highest-up rink Bridge of Weir 1 - [L to R] Paul R (Skip), Neil A (2nd), Maryel P (Lead), Ian P (3rd)     [L to R] Alaister F and George E discuss tactics in their match against Falkland     Ken G and George E sweep a stone in their match against Falkland       High tea and scones in the ice-rink dining room after the match

In the 1:30 p.m. session, Paul R's team played against a St. Andrews team 1.  Unlike the 2005 event, when Paul's team struggled against the same club, this time everything clicked for them, while their opponents did the struggling, with no breaks going their way at all.  The Bridge of Weir team emerged with a comfortable 13 - 2 victory.  Meanwhile, David B's team found the Haddington 1 team a real handful, eventually losing 4 - 10. In the 4:30 session, Sandy D's team took on the Strathendrick 4 team, and after a tight match lost 2 - 6.  Meanwhile, Sandy's wife Sheila was up against the Falkland 4 team.  Sheila's team fought valiantly, but eventually went down by 4 - 8. The afternoon curling session was followed by an excellent dinner in the Icerink dining room.  By the time the presentation of prizes came round, it was clear that with a final tally of played 4, won 1, lost 3, Bridge of Weir were NOT going to win this season's competition!  Two clubs (Haddington and Strathendrick) each emerged with 3 wins and 1 loss, but Haddington won the trophy by having a superior number of Ends Up (+9 to Strathendrick's +2).  As a consolation for the Bridge of Weir club, the 13 - 2 for Paul's team saw them pick up the prizes for overall highest-up rink in the competition.  The evening then drew to a close, with Haddington set the task of hosting the next competition for the trophy in 2011.

The Bridge of Weir teams were :-

	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4
	Paul R (Skip)	David B (Skip)	Sandy D (Skip)	Sheila D (Skip)
	Ian P	Bob B	Ron A	Ken G
	Neil A	Alan W	Fiona E	George E
	Maryel F	Alister B	Mary F	Alaister F

   The draws for the curling sessions were :-

	LANE	1:30 p.m. SESSION				4:00 p.m. SESSION
	A	St. Andrews 1	vs.	Bridge of Weir 1		Haddington 3	vs.	Strathendrick 3
	B	Falkland 1	vs.	Strathendrick 1		Falkland 3	vs.	St. Andrews 3
	C	Bridge of Weir 2	vs.	Haddington 1		Strathendrick 4	vs.	Bridge of Weir 3
	D	Strathendrick 2	vs.	St. Andrews 2		St. Andrews 4	vs.	Haddington 4
	E	Haddington 2	vs.	Falkland 2		Bridge of Weir 4	vs.	Falkland 4

Click on any of the photos above to enlarge it - it may take up to 10 seconds to display.]   © Bridge of Weir Curling Club - 2008