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In the first round, the section B 10:30 a.m. start for Sheila's team - Sheila D (Skip), Sandy D (3rd), Neil A (2nd), and Eileen (Lead) - produced a difficult game for the Bridge of Weir team against W Gibson's team. Both teams fought well, with Sheila's team playing steadily to open a 5 - 2 lead at the half-way stage. This was immediately countered by a 4 from the Gibson team in the 5th end. Two shots for Sheila's team in the 6th end saw them restore their lead, by 1 shot, but without last stone in the 7th and last end, they eventually went down 7 - 8.
The Section C start at 12:30 saw Paul R's team - Paul R (Skip), Ken G (3rd), Florence w (2nd), and Jane P (Lead) take on A. Leckie's team from Cardross. The Bridge of Weir team opened with a single shot gained at the 1st end, and a further shot stolen at the 2nd end. The Leckie team came back with single shot in the 3rd end, only to lose a 3 to Paul's team in the 4th end. Two shots for the Leckie team in the 5th end brought the score back to 5 - 3 in Paul's favour. The 6th end proved to be decisive, with Paul's team firing on all guns to take a 5. The Leckie team scored a consolation shot in the 7th and final end, to leave Paul's team with a comfortable 10 - 4 victory.
In the other Section C match, David B's team had a tight match against J McMillan, eventually winning 6 - 4.
The second round for the B section started at 4:30 p.m., after a superb buffet lunch. The poor weather ensured that only the hardiest individuals would venture outside, and so a large audience assembled in the bar to watch the matches. Sheila's team were pitted against L. Lindsay's team. A poor start saw the Bridge of Weir team lose a 5 in the 1st end. A single for the Bridge of Weir team in the 2nd end was countered by singles for the Lindsay team in both the the 3rd and 4th ends, to bring the score to 1 - 7 against Sheila. The 5th end saw Sheila take a single shot, and in the 6th end her team clicked, and played really well to steal a 4 against the head, bringing the score to 6 - 7. In the 7th and final end, Sheila's team tried hard, but lost a 2 to eventually lose the match 6 - 9.
The second round for the C section started at 6;30 p.m. Paul's team played against Jim Carmichael's team from New Monklands, and immediately found form - a 3 at the 1st end were followed by steals of 4 in the 2nd end, 1 in the 3rd end, and a further 2 in the 4th end to lead 10 - 0. The New Monklands team scored a consolation single shot in the 5th end, but lost a single shot in the 6th and final end, to leave Paul's team comfortable 11 - 1 winners.
The other section B match between David B's team and A Hunter's team was a more closely fought. David took a single shot at the 1st end, but his opponents countered with a single in the 2nd end, a stolen single in the 3rd end, and 2 stolen shots in the 4th end to lead 4 - 1. David's ream responded with a 2 in the 5th end to narrow the score to 3 - 4 against, but lost a 2 in the 6th end to restore the Hunter team's 3-shot lead. A single shot for David in the 7th end produced a final score of 4 - 6 for the bridge of weir Team.
So at the end of play on Saturday, Paul's team was sitting on 2 wins, with David's team on 1 win, and and Sheila's team yet to score.
Saturday night produced another excellent North West Castle dinner. Adjourning to the ballroom, the company enjoyed a pleasant evening, although not quite managing to get as far as dancing to the band.
The third round started for the B section at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, when Sheila D took on S Douglas's team. Her team were not firing on all cylinders, losing 2 shots at the 1st end, a single shot at the 2nd end, and a further shot at the 3rd end, to leave them trailing 0 - 4. It turned out to be a match of two halves. The fight-back started in the 4th end, with a single shot for Sheila, followed by steals of singles in the 5th and 6th ends to reduce the deficit to 3 - 4. Hitting fine form in the final end, they stole a further 3 shots, and ran out as 6 - 4 winners.
The C section third round matches started immediately after the B section teams came off the ice at 11:00, when Paul's team took on A Hunter's team. They lost a single shot at the 1st end, but then took 2 shots in the 2nd end and stole a further shot in the 3rd end to lead 3 - 1. The Hunter team came back strongly with a 2 in the 4th end to tie the score at 3 - 3. Countering this in the 5th end with a single shot, Paul's team pulled away from their opponents by stealing 2 shots in the 6th end and a further 2 shots in the 7th end to win 8 - 3. Meanwhile, David's team were matched against I Irvine's team, and in a very close match managed a 7 - 6 victory.
Paul's team were C section winners, and thus qualified for the semi-finals - the only Bridge of Weir representatives to do so. After another superb buffet lunch, they took to the ice against Billy Gibson's team. A hard fought match saw the Bridge of Weir team win by 10 - 5. Running short of time, Paul's team and the winner of the other semi-final (Douglas Burt's team) were limited to a 6-end final before the regular Stranraer evening session started. This turned out to be a very tight match. Paul's team opened up a 2 - 0 lead in the first end, to be immediately countered by a 2 for their opponents in the second end. The opposition intensified in the 3rd end, as they stole a further shot, to be followed by yet another 1-shot steal in the the 4th end. Paul's team reduced the deficit to 3 - 4 in the 5th end, but without last stone in the 6th and final end, they eventually went down 3 - 5. Tennents (the sponsors of the weekend) presented a large quantity of lager to both teams in the bar after the match, which provided some compensation to Paul's team for their disappointing defeat.
So after a great weekend of curling, people headed for home. And it kept on raining...
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selected the 3 teams to compete in the competition. Teams were chosen to be skipped by Sheila D, Paul R, and David B. Unlike last year's competition, which had only two sections of 8 teams, this time there were three sections, each with a full complement of 8 teams. Sheila's team was allocated to section A, while David's and Paul's teams found themselves in section B. Thinking of Club members George and Fiona E, sadly unable to attend this season, Alaister F proposed a toast to "absent friends" in the bar after the meal, which was greatly apreciated by everyone present. The rest of the evening passed pleasantly in the bar, with reminiscences of times past, and anticipation of the matches to come that weekend.
