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At the Glasgow Province AGM last Wednesday at Braehead, XX were well represented. In addition to the unsuccessful finalists who had played in the preceeding Arthur Frame final against Drystanes, Gordon Deakin, fully kitted out and resplendent in Blazer and tie (Pollok) was ready to be inducted as Province President (wearing his Pollok CC hat). It was Glasgow XX turn to have the Vice President slot and Alan Sloan was duly nominated to follow Gordon next year. In a measure designed to reduce the XX presence, and after 16 years in post, Ian Wylie stood down as Treasurer, but immediately nominated John Henderson as his successor as Province Treasurer. However like all good committees, all the hard work is done by the Secretary and Bobby Corbett of Giffnock retained this role and no doubt will keep the XX club influence under check. For the record Sheena Boyd of Glasgow Ladies was voted on as Junior Vice President and to keep an eye on the boys.
A full report of the AGM should appear on the Glasgow Province website. The final of the Arthur Frame trophy traditionally takes place as a prelude to the Glasgow Province AGM and so it was this year with XX club having fought through the qualifying stages, beating Bank of Scotland in the semi-final and meeting reigning champions Drystanes in the final last Wednesday night.
The ice, although well pebbled, appeared a bit straighter than normal, and early stones were only taking about 18" of draw at the tail end of their journey. Heavier stones going down central ice conversely were moving considerably, while those on wider ice had a tendency to sit out. It was one of those games where whoever took control would be asked to play the simpler shots, and those chasing would have problems. The opening two ends opened cagily enough with Drystanes finding good draw weight first and reading the ice to have guards in the right place. This resulted in steals of a single in each of the first two ends. The third end brought about a change of fortune with XX dictating the early play, and aided by a couple of erroneous Drystanes promotes of two opposition stones, XX found themselves lying four with last stone advantage. Opposition skip John Fingland duly played a rescue draw shot to reduce the advantage to a single shot but it was lying open and skip John Henderson duly removed it to get XX off the mark and into the lead with a big 5. While the stones were being sorted there was much muttering in the XX camp about ‘not throwing all the good work away’ but as so often happens, that is what they proceeded to do. A lead guard and draw round by Drystanes was sufficiently tempting to try to remove the shot stone. Through a mixture of inaccuracy and stones falling out at weight, four XX stones were wasted without achieving anything and Drystanes continued to pour draw shots into the head. The end result was to give up a score of 4 shots and all of a sudden XX were behind again by 6-5. That proved to be the pivotal end. Against the head a further two shots were given up to increase the deficit to 3 going into what would prove to be the last end. Again a cluttered head developed with XX lying shot on the button, frozen on to a Drystanes shot and a further two XX yellow stones in the front 4 foot. However a perfect freeze draw by Drystanes negated the other two counters that XX needed to force the peel. A plethora of guards left only a narrow entrance and a XX strike managed to sneek through and rearrange the head sufficiently that Skip John with last stone had an angled raise tap back on a wide yellow stone to attempt to remove the one red stone that was lying second shot just behind the button, and force the peel. It was always on the light side and thus not to be and the teams shook hands at 8-6 to Drystanes. It proved to be another year of nearly but not quite. However congratulations to John Henderson, Alan Sloan, Steve Laverock and Ian Taylor (standing in for sometime lead Mike Brown). On reflection the team did not play their best stones in the Final regardless of the ice conditions, and they were the first to admit that they did not deserve to win the match. It was good to see a few XX supporters (Pres Ian, Wiggie, Gordon Deakin and Ian Wylie) along before the AGM to catch some of the action. It was just a shame that the team could not quite raise their game enough to give them cause for celebration. There is always next year…! As if the previous evening's Arthur Frame drama had not been enough, Thursday night's final games both went to the last stone of the last end to decide winners and wooden spoonists. In the big match, team F (David Sillito, Les Quin, Alan Sloan and Pres Ian Dalglish) led Team G ( Alan McDonald, Lindsay Dempster, Steve Laverock and John Henderson) by two points but with Team G having the better Ends and Shot difference a win for them would secure the title, whilst a peel would suit Team F. Lying half guarded on the button, Team F looked to have the peel under control. Alan McDonald's 1st stone attempted takeout drifted wide and Skip David Sillito's final stone produced a near perfect freeze on the counting stone to lie 2. This time Alan's attempted 'blaster' ran tight and foundered and team F snatched the victory and the league by a shot.
In the other game E and H were locked with the scoe at 7-5 for H going into the last end without last stone. E took total charge and racked up a 6 to run out 11-7 winners and tie with H on points for the season. Altogether an exciting end to an enjoyable season which will culminate with the AGM and Dinner on Thursday 7th April at Pollok Golf Club - all welcome! The penultimate round of the Bobby Cook Stones has now defined the possibilities of the outcomes of the league next week. The two main protagonists Team F (McQuilkin / Sillito) lead by two points from Team G (McDonald / McWiggan and the two teams meet in a winner-take-all decider next Thursday at Greenacres at 6pm. Team G have the better ends and goal difference so a win for them would see them top the league. Similarly the mythical 'wooden spoon' will be up for grabs between Teams E and H with the loser claiming bottom dog slot, possibly again on ends/ shot difference.
Also next week on Wednesday the semi-finals of the Arthur Frame take place at Braehead at 7.50pm and while the XX rink have qualified it is not yet clear who the opposition will be. We wish the rink of John Henderson, Alan Sloan, Steve Laverock and Ian Taylor (subbing for the absent Mike Brown) all the best in their quest to make the final the following Wednesday, which will be followed immediately by the Glasgow Province AGM which is open to all members. The first Wednesday in March has become settled in the Club diary as the fixture for the annual match against the New Club of Edinburgh. It was the turn of XX Club this year to host what is always a most enjoyable encounter, and arrangements were made to meet at Braehead for coffee and bacon rolls to be followed by two rinks of curling at 10am.
Some last minute juggling of teams was required as New Club organiser and stalwart Michael K Brown took ill the day before and with all his reserves utilised, Allan Higgins was persuaded to 'swap' jerseys and clubs for the day. Further angst followed when the Secretary took ill in the early hours and David Sillito - who had been on standby for a hitherto injured Gordon Deakin, later passed fit - was pressed into action before he had completed his morning shave. All this upheaval however did nothing to affect the arrangements, and if anything seemed to provoke the two XX Club rinks to play their best curling. As with all encounters between the two clubs the score-line was a mere incidental to the day's enjoyment. Suffice to say that XX ran out comfortable winners in both matches with an aggregate score of 20 shots to 5, so congratulations to the eight XX representatives skipped by Messrs Deakin and Sillito. Thanks to Norman Walker, the private room at the Western Club had been set aside and a most enjoyable and affable private party lunch ensued, with the visitors being guided across the road to catch the 4pm train back to Edinburgh. It was a shame not being able to say farewell to the indisposed Michael K Brown, who has been instrumental each year in the arrangements for the fixture. He is moving down to Hampshire to be closer to his grandchildren and we wish him and his family well for many years to come. In the meantime Gordon Bellingham has taken over the administrative duties for the New Club and we look forward to learning of arrangements for next year when it will be the turn of XX club to travel through to Murrayfield and the capital. Two very different games ensued last night at Braehead in the 7th round of the Bobby Cook Stones competition. On sheet 3 , despite missing both of his front end powerhouse players (Henderson - working, and Laverock - indisposed) Alan McDonald's threesome with Gib Steele and Lindsay Dempster kept stealing ends from the luckless Bill Shepherd, subbing for Robbie Fulton (in the Far East) and team mates Andy Whyte, Allan Higgins and Gordon Deakin. Although maybe not a true reflection on the game hands were shaken after six ends with the score at 7-0.
By way of contrast the affair next door on Sheet 4 was a very cagey affair with single shots in the first five ends giving Ian Taylor a narrow 3-2 advantage over David Sillito with last stone advantage to come. The crucial sixth end saw one early Sillito stone in and guarded, and one Taylor stone that didn't go to plan doubled that advantage. With judicious guarding, Ian could not find a way through and his last stone attempted angled raise was wide of the mark giving the Sillito rink a barely deserved win. The results mean that Teams F & G are tied at 10 points with two matches to go, and the winners must come from those two teams who meet in the final game of the season on Thursday 17th, for what could be a winner take all encounter. President Ian Dalglish was delighted to act as host at Pollok Golf Club last Friday when he welcomed members of the distaff side of the club to the annual Ladies Night Dinner. Despite late afflictions causing the withdrawal of the Dryburghs and the Richmonds, an enjoyable and intimate dinner resulted. There was much good humour and the buzz of conversation and laughter around the long table was only interrupted by the arrivals of the various taxi services at 11pm.
Lorna Higgins took on the mantle of 'spokesperson' and made a very eloquent vote of thanks to the menfolk for a very enjoyable evening. The nods of agreement from her fellow wives augurs well for the menfolk that we may well be allowed to continue curling next year... Numbers for this year's annual Ladies Night are slightly down, but 13 members are looking forward to Friday Night's Annual entertainment of the XX Club womenfolk at Pollok Golf Club. An appealing menu has been chosen by President Ian and the fun will start at 7 for 7.30pm. For the first time we may even have photographic evidence of the occasion, although we suspect the finery on display to be the sole prerogative of the ladies....
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