2005-06
22 Dec 2005 – Outdoor Pond Progress by MG
Curling Pond
During the recent cold snap several weeks ago we were able, thanks to the Nairn Fire Brigade, to carry out a test flooding of the two rinks. On flooding, certain sections of the rink appeared unable to hold water due to excessive leakage. These areas were identified and coated with hot bitumen.
Prior to the application of the bitumen George Pirie, Nicol, Donnie, and I cleared the rink of leaves with the assistance of a leaf clearing machine loaned by Charlie Mclnnes.
Nairn County has generously given us permission to rotate their floodlights at the Farmer's field. Gregor has instructed electricians to carry out the work, which upon completion will provide illumination for night time curling.
Robbie Cope has installed a stand pipe which will be used if the Fire Brigade is not available to flood the rink for us. As far as I can foresee everything is in place for outdoor curling at the Showfield.
Jack Frost we await your arrival.
Jack Frost we await your arrival!
22 December 2005 Youngest Ever Nairn Points Winner
Congratulations to Ryan Asher on becoming the youngest ever winner of the 'Points'
Ryan (age 15) tied with father Alister in the Club’s individual points competition, but won on the ‘outwick’ tiebreak.
Ryan is a fifth generation member from the Asher Baking dynasty since 1907, and follows Grandad Jimmy who won the points in 1962-63 and 1969-70 and father Alister who got lucky in 1994-95!
23 Dec 2005 Club Web-site changes MGreen
Website
Due to increasing work commitments David is no longer able to devote to the Nairn site the increasing amount of time it requires.
Over the last two years David has done a marvellous job in not only keeping members updated with the latest results, but entertaining us with unique commentaries on club events.
David, I would take this opportunity to pass on the thanks and appreciation of the whole club for a job well done.
Responsibility for the site will now be in the hands of a team of people and not one individual. Over the next few weeks, Harold, George Pirie, Hamish Bunker, and I will be overhauling and updating the site. However, in the interim, and until individual roles have been allocated, I would ask any members who have information, anecdotes, or pictures they wish to place on the site, to use myself as the main point of contact.
Michael Green
970 13 Jan 2006 Names for Last Northern Times Bonspiel – Brora A Asher
Any more takers for Brora on Sunday 19th February Northern Times Bonspiel?
I only have Ian Fraser, John Anderson, George Asher, Alan Stanfield {?} & Hamish Bunker at the moment...
We have 4 teams entered...
Brora Ice Rink is closing at the end of the season, so this will be a last chance ever To compete in this bonspiel and have a great day out.................
Names to Ali Asher ASAP - 01667-456044
2006 13 January Outdoor Curling Back in Nairn
Outdoor Curling Back in Nairn!
At the renovated rinks at The Farmer’s Showfield (see earlier Newsletter Item)the first outdoor curling match in Nairn in over 30 years was played betweenPresident Michael Green and Vice-president Ali Asher. Michael won 6.-2
In a second game, Alex Webster beat Hamish "H" Bunker 3-2
The news made Front Page of this week’s "Nairnshire Telegraph" resulting in much of the report of the opening of the new £1.34 million all-weather pitches being relegated to the inner pages!
14 January 2006 Youth to Fore in Nairnshire Bonspiel
Youth to the Fore at Nairnshire Bonspiel
David McGaan (skip), George Asher (3), Scott Fraser (2), and Calum Greenwood (lead), swept to victory in the Nairnshire Bonspeil with a 9 shot win over a rink skipped by Ali Asher. Ali felt he was just unlucky …..unlucky to turn up on Friday the 13 th !
Runners up were John Anderson (skip), Eric Behrendt (3), Fiona Steel (2), and Blair Fraser (lead). with +7 shots.
It was encouraging to see so many junior curlers among the eight teams competing. Not so enthusiastic might be Nairn president Michael Green who was given a curling lesson from the Nairn Academy team who took 7 shots off Michael in the last four ends to win their game 7-5
21 January 2006 Match Cup - HF
The Match Cup - Experience Tells
The First Match Cup ‘individual’ curling competition took place over two and a half hours at Inverness on Friday 20th January. It was a great success.
The format was dreamt up by Pres. Michael Green who then organised the event and presented the Club with a suitable trophy! The entry was limited to sixteen curlers.
Each round was two ends with each curler throwing eight stones each end. A ‘sudden death’ draw to the house was used as a tie-breaker. An umpire oversaw each end to speed up play and catch any wayward stones. Early leavers from the competition retired to the window at the bar to learn from those games still in progress!
After a ‘scare’ in his first round tie v Ken Morris, Mike McInnes emerged victorious. Mike has been a stalwart of many competitive rinks over the past 25 years and his tactical experience and ability to cope with variable ice conditions proved crucial in his final game against John Anderson.
1st November 2005 Nairn Win Moray Province KO
Report from Moray Province Website:
Alister Asher with his rink of Colin McGregor (third), Mike McInnes (second) and Robbie Cope (lead) won the Dalcross Salver for the first time in a closely contested game with another Nairn rink skipped by Larry Kerr who had Alan Stanfield (third), Scott Macdonald (second) and Ewan Gordon (lead).
There were plenty of stones in play right from the start and if Alister could pull off a raised double take out he would open with a 4. However, his attempt ran just too straight and he jammed one of Larry’s stones onto the shot one to lose a single. A two in the next end put the Asher team ahead which was followed by two blank ends.
The fifth end could have tuned the game in favour of Larry even although Alister lay two. Again the skip was faced with an angled raised double take out to count three but missed it by the narrowest of margins to lose a one.
In the second last end the Asher rink were in control and looked good to steal but Larry came through a port by the finest of margins to remove the shot stone and take his 1.
3-2 up and with last stone advantage, the Asher team allowed some guards to lie in play in the final end. Colin McGregor though raised one of their own to lie two but Alan Stanfield was up to the task and came through the port to remove it and also roll behind cover in the four foot circle. A shoot-out now looked odds on but Colin more than matched Alan’s shot with a long raised take out to replace it. Larry was forced to open the front of the house up and Alister guarded his shot stone. He did leave Larry a chance with last stone through a small port but the weight was just a touch heavy and it caught the guard to leave the Asher rink with a 2 for a 5-2 victory.
Alister will represent the Province in the Area 10 KO finals at the end of February and try to extend the good record Moray Province teams have in this event.
10 February 2006 District Medal v Carrbridge - M Green
A match for a district medal took place last Wednesday 1st February against Carrbridge on their two outdoor rinks. The temperature was between -5 and -7 degrees C.
Nairn had two teams consisting of Michael Green, Ali Asher, Hamish Bunker and David Torrance in one team, and John Anderson, Robbie Cope, Erich Behrendt and Nicol Bathgate in the other.
Two five end matches each were played and Nairn lost with a combined score of 18-14.
With the loss of the District Medal match v Carrbridge, Nairn Curling Club Supremo Michael Green fears he may be following Big Eck to the Exit.
In mitigation, Michael holds up Hamish (Hell) Bunker's stones, which Hamish had left on the grass outside his house prior to the match.
For several years, Michael reckons, but nothing a dose of 'Round Up' won't cure then !
21 Feb 2006 Nairn win Northern Times Bonspiel
A Nairn Rink were successful in winning the "Northern Times Bonspiel" played for the last time at Brora Ice Rink on the 19th February.
The picture shows L to R - Ross Cope, Bill Young, Joan Duncan (Nairn for the Day) and Alan Stanfield.
The Match Secretary reports that David Torrance's rink also won the low road, but can't recall who helped him do it. John Anderson's rink also won something, but precisely what is unclear. Further details are promised soon. It was " a fair day". Obviously!
NorthernTimes Bonspiel
Thanks to Robin Wilson for the following report. Keen curlers should make a point of reading Robin's regular curling column in "The Press & Journal" each Thursday.
Three of the five visiting rinks from the Nairn Curling Club went home happily with all the prizes including the trophy in the Northern Times Bonspiel at the Ice Rink last Sunday.
This was the twentieth year of the local Rag’s sponsored competition that began in 1986 for teams entered through local newsagents. Cunninghams of Brora won for the first two years and to make the event even more successful in subsequent years it was opened up to all curlers within the Province and neighbouring Provinces.
Two years ago Coreen Macrae took the trophy over the Dornoch Bridge to Alness and last Sunday it probably crossed its second and last bridge, The Kessock, on its way to its possible last resting place- Nairn.
Royal Caledonian Curling Club Umpire Alan Stanfield skipped the Nairn winning rink that got a little bit of help from two local curlers. Joan Duncan and Liam MacDonald. Joan played her first game since returning after recent illness and then in the afternoon session young local junior Skip, Liam took her place.
The winning teams from the first round , Ronnie MacDonald (Avoch) 7-6 over Keith Stewart, Russell Rekhy 8-7 over Allan MacLennan (Invergordon) and John Anderson (Nairn) 7-6 over Dawn Powell, carried only a one shot advantage into their second round games but even in the equally close second section first round games the eventual winning skip, Alan Stanfield only had a two shot win, 8-6, over his club mate Michael Green.
In the same section prominent Nairn player Alistair Asher loosened the Holder Nigel Murray’s grip on the trophy when his visiting Nairn rink took three shots in the final end to win 8- 5. Mike McInnes, the head greenkeeper at the Nairn Dunbar Golf Course beat Brora’s Ted Gregory 8-7, Gregory had James Sutherland playing last stones for him but McInnes stole the result with a closing three shots.
In section one’s second round games John Anderson emerged the leader after beating Scottish Senior champion Allan Maclennan 7-5, emerged with a slender plus three shot total from his two games. The trophy decider would come in Section 2 between Asher and Stanfield.
Stanfield’s Nairn players, Ross Cope, Bill Young and sub Liam MacDonald attacked from the first end and scored four shots against their Nairn club mates. . After a brief response from Asher at the half way stage Stanfield lead 7-2 and then with a repeat four shots in the final end won 13-5 to win the trophy with a plus ten shot total.
John Anderson’s plus three shots was good enough to hold onto second place and then with a second round 9-5 win over Nairn’s David Torrance, completed a clean sweep for his club by winning the prize for the best second round winner.
1 March 2006 Presidents Bonspiel
The "President’s Bonspiel" was run as an ‘extra’ to the final round of Sandy Gunn League Games.
Most shots up on the night were winners Eric Behrendt (skip), Robbie Cope, Alan Anderson and Keith Girvan, with an 8 - 2 victory over President Michael Green’s rink.
Michael has now a unique double - Wooden Spoon in both the President’s Bonspiel and the Sandy Gunn League !
28th February 2006
SGL Teams
March 1 2006 Sandy Gunn League
The 2005-06 Sandy Gunn League program closed in nail-biting style on ‘Super Tuesday’ 28th February. All ten teams were on the ice, with four out of the five games crucial in determining who would win the league or qualify for a ‘top four’ Millennium Trophy place. Lest the fifth game lack a competitive edge, Michael Green declared the evening a “President’s Bonspiel” with prizes for the highest up rink on the evening. (see separate news item).
The games were:
MacDonald v Clark Cruickshank v Macleod G Asher v Torrance
Pirie v Bunker Green v Berhendt
A win for the Clark rink would give them the title. But if the Macdonald rink won, and the Macleod rink beat the Cruickshank rink by a suitable margin, then the title was Macdonald’s. However if Cruickshank beat Macleod by two shots more than Macdonald beat Clark - then the title was Cruickshank’s. The G Asher and Bunker rinks had to win their games and hope to be in a ‘top four’ place.
Clark established an early lead, but Macdonald pulled back to all square going into the last end. Cruickshank edged ahead of MacLeod until Donny served up a tasty four at the penultimate end to put his rink 2 up .
On the last end Clark left MacDonald a hit to take the game, but MacDonald’s strike nudged another Clark stone in to give away a two. Chance gone West - End of game !
Cruickshank’s last stone was to draw for a two, which would guarantee a Millennium Trophy place. Somewhat overweight, his draw nudged out his counter to give Macleod another shot for an 8 - 5 win.
This was a “Murdoch Moment” for Cruickshank as it left him empty-handed in fifth place, contemplating what nearly might have been. A closer examination of shot differences at the end of the evening revealed that Cruickshank could have had a Millennium Trophy place at the expense of MacDonald if only he hadn’t played his last stone !
The Sandy Gunn League has built up a reputation for providing club curling with fun and a competitive edge. The 2005-06 season was a classic
11 March 2006 Baker Kneads Park Cup
The final of the club’s knockout trophy, the Park Cup, was played at Inverness on Friday March 10 th. The combatants were Ali Cruickshank (skip), Colin MacGregor, Ken Morris and Alex Scott against George Asher (skip), Alister Asher, Jamie Cattell, and Dave Wickenden.
The Cruickshank team scored a one at the first end, but gave away four at the second.
With his rink playing less consistently, Ali had to make some telling shots to claw back singles at the next three ends to tie the score up at 4 - 4 at the 5 th end.
It was an absorbing contest that had the match secretary looking for a rule book to find out what would happen in the event of a tied game. But in the sixth end the Asher team turned up the heat with George drawing his last stone for a three.
Into the last end, and with the last stone of the game, Ali needed a quadruple take out to tie the score. Only two went, so George won 9-4 , a scoreline which belies the closeness of the game.
838 21 Mar 2006 Millennium Double Joy
The play-offs for the Club’s Millennium Trophy produced another evening of entertaining curling.
In the semi-final games, a courageous strike for a 5 at the second end gave Hamish Clark a comfortable cushion over Colin MacDonald’s team. This was followed by a 4, then a 3 - the garage man specialising in big ends then !
In the other semi-final game, Hamish Bunker found himself 3 down after two ends, but clawed his way back with three singles to square the game at 3 all. George Asher could only score a single at the penultimate end where he had to out-draw two opposition stones. In an exciting last end, Bunker looked to have a winner well buried until Asher played a spectacular in-wick to dislodge it and lie - but not behind cover. Hamish’s tap-back was enough to tie the score, but to win the game 4 ends to 3.
In the final, both teams seemed to be closely matched, the only certainty being that Hamish would win !
Hamish Bunker again made an unimpressive start, being again 3 down after two ends, but he came good with two draws to take a 3 off Hamish Clark at the third end. The Clark rink fought back to take a 3 at the fourth end - Bunker failing to draw a banker when he had the option of guarding a lonely open shot stone. Good shots by Bunker and his able no 3, Ross Cope, got their noses in front with 2’s at each of the fifth and sixth ends.
Into the last end - Bunker 1 up but tied on ends with Clark. The gallery of spectators was treated to a great end of quality curling. In an exciting finish Hamish Clark used the last stone hammer to tap back Hamish Bunker’s last stone to tie the game on shots, but to win the Millennium Trophy on ends.
Well done the Clark rink for completing the elusive Sandy Gunn League and Millennium Trophy double. But two of Hamish Clark’s rink have achieved a treble this season - son Dean and Ken Morris having also been in the winning team for the David Brown Jubilee Shield .
834 22 April 2006 RCCC Medals Awarded
Eric Brown ( left) and James Asher (right) joined Nairn Curling Club in 1955 and have been members of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club for 50 years.
Each of these stalwarts has received an RCCC medal to mark the occasion. On making the presentation on behalf of the RCCC at the recent AGM, newly elected Nairn Curling Club president Alister Asher paid tribute to their long service to the club.
Eric's father joined in 1934 and his son David is an active member. James's grandfather was a founder member in 1907, and James's son Alister is club president, and his grandson Ryan an enthusiastic young member - a curling dynasty spanning five generations!
25 May 2006 Golf Dinner Match Report
The Golf Dinner Match took place over the weekend of 20th/21st May at Nairn Golf Club. Dinner on the Saturday evening was followed by golf on the Sunday.
During the event, the auction of sixteen items generously donated realised £2520. - to be split between Nairn Curling Club funds and the centenary outing to Chilliwack, Canada, in February 2007. Top price paid was for a Whirlpool Bath donated by Martin Waugh with installation by Robbie Cope - look out for a keen clean Ken Morris on the ice next season!
The Club is indebted to those who gave contributions and support.
On the Sunday, the winning pair of the seven four ball matches played were George MacArthur and Stewart Baird, Runners up were Ali Asher and Neil Sands
25 May 2006 Michael Green to Leave Nairn for Ardclach?
The photograph and accompanying e-mail has fuelled the rumour that Past-president Michael Green is to join Ardclach Curling Club.
With his stint as Club President over, and his curling reputation well established as the main prop in the Sandy Gunn League, Michael's future usefulness to Nairn Curling Club would appear to be limited. But at odds with this rumour is his purchase of some curling coaching at the Golf Dinner Match auction - a commendable attempt to cure some habits of a lifetime.
There is a precedent for Nairn Curling Club members to attempt to defect to Ardclach. In 1927, 17 members of Nairn applied to join Ardclach en-bloc, - albeit at a time when Ardclach members and funds were at an all-time low. Due to the strict Ardclach training regime, pre-match warm-ups and post-match warm-downs the townies faded away and Ardclach regained its strength.
An attempt by the newsletter to track down Michael at his summer retreat in the Wildday.com tented village at Balmakeith proved fruitless.
Visit the Nairn Curling Club web-site again for the latest news !
