Moray Province Curling season returns from October holidays break with fixtures at Moray Leisure Centre

THERE was some high-scoring action on the Moray Leisure Centre ice as the Moray Province curling season resumed after the October holiday break, writes Bill Jaffrey.

In Division 2 East, it was a tale of deputy skips at the helm as Gordon Fraser and Alan Douglas stood in for regular bosses Abbie Duncan (Fochabers) and Eddie Milne (Darnaway).

The Darnaway rink led by Douglas were 3-1 up after three ends before Fraser pulled off a perfect chip and lie for a four at the fourth end. This proved the high water mark for the Fochabers four, as Douglas racked up an unanswered four shots over the last four ends for his 9-5 win.

Mike Kemp and Roy Thomson regularly skip Andrew Allardyce’s Elgin and Dave McPherson’s Tennis club teams and the latter outfit just sneaked past their Elgin rivals with five single shots in their 5-3 victory.

The Fochabers derby resulted in another close win for Alan Durno over Bill Jaffrey. Durno’s vast experience proved decisive but he breathed a sigh of relief as skip Wilson Burnett’s final stone picked up some debris and changed handles as he attempted a double take out which would have edged his team ahead of the Clochan farmer.

A rearranged match in Division 3 saw a win for Linda Hardie’s Forres rink. Lynn Roberts opened the scoring with a one at the first end, but Hardie skip Carol Bennett took over from there to open up a game-winning 8-1 lead before two single shots gave the Roberts rink some cheer in the 8-3 defeat.

In the West, Division 1 had a couple of inter-club games. Honours were even as Ardclach’s Ally Fraser picked up a count of five in the fourth end to dent the hopes of Nairn’s Larry Kerr in a 7-5 victory.

Nairn fortunes were restored as Mike McInnes had a great win over reigning champions Callum Greenwood. It was five shots each as they entered the final end, setting the scene for an exciting finish, and McInnes used his last stone advantage perfectly to pick up a two for his win.

The other Division 1 game was perhaps, the most exciting of the night, finishing in an honours even 8-8 draw.

Mark Fraser had raced to a 7-0 lead before Nairn’s Ali Asher woke up to take the next three ends and sneak ahead by a single shot.

Fraser then managed to regain his composure to take a shot at the last for a share of the points.

There were also matches played in Moray Province West Division 2 on Wednesday night, where Nairn’s Angus Forbes was victorious over clubmate Ricky Marwick.

Jamie Cattell pipped Fiona Steel’s Nairn Ladies rink in the other match.

Results

Moray Province East

Division 2

A Allardyce (Elgin) 3-5 D McPherson (Elgin Tennis Club)

A Duncan (Fochabers) 5-9 E Milne (Darnaway)

W Jaffrey (Fochabers) 4-6 A Durno (Fochabers)

Division 3

L.Hardie (Forres) 8-3 L Roberts (Wheels)

Moray Province West

Division 1

M. McInnes (Nairn) 7-5 C Greenwood (Ardclach)

A. Fraser (Ardclach) 7-5 L Kerr (Nairn)

A. Asher (Nairn) 8-8 M Fraser (Dalcross)

Division 2

A Forbes (Nairn) 6-3 R Marwick (Nairn)

J Cattell(Nairn) 5-3 F Steel (Nairn Ladies)