Qualifiers at Ayr

At Ayr this weekend the qualifiers for the Scottish Junior Championships which is held in Aberdeen from the 25th-29th January took place. Twelve girls teams took to the ice on Friday morning to determine the seven which would make it there to join Hannah Flemming's team who have been given a bye straight to the finals. The teams played in two sections with the top three teams out of each qualifying. The fourth placed teams in each section would then have to play off to determine the winner of the seventh spot. Our section was as follows; Jennifer Martin, Gina Aitken, Heather Morton, Rebecca Steven and Maggie Wilson.

Our first game was up against Gina Aitken's team but unfortunately Gina was unable to play this weekend due to injury so her third Katy Richardson stepped up to the skip position. Team Smith played well and with a steal of 2 in the sixth and a 4 in the eighth end we secured the victory 11-5.

The second game on Friday was against Rebecca Stevens and her team, however this game was a different story. After 3 consecutive steals by the Stevens team, we found ourselves with a lot of work to do and had to steal a 2 in the last end to peel the game. As Rebecca played her last stone Team Smith were lying the two shots required however our opposition played a perfect shot to take there 1 and we lost 9-6.

Eilidh in action

Saturday was a new day and the night before was forgotten! We were now up against Jennifer Martin's team of Tasha Aitken, Fiona Telfer and Mhairi Anderson, it was a tough one. Everyone played great in both teams and in the last end we were 1 down with last stone, the end was shaping up well for Team Smith with 1 hidden behind a couple of guards. Jen played a draw with her last stone and a tricky take out left us gaining a 3 for the win.

Next up was Heather Morton's team who also didn't have their skip in action due to injury with Gayle Allan moving up to skip the team. We played well throughout with the game ending after 7 ends with a convincing win for Team Smith.

nice wee frog leap!

Final day of the qualifiers was intense for most teams as it was uncertain who would be going to Aberdeen in Jaunary. We were aware that depending on how other teams done and how well we done would determine who went through. Our early morning game of the weekend was against Maggie Wilson's team who dominated the game throughout and with a score line of 7-3 to the Wilson team we conceded. Fortunately for us Jennifer Martin won her final game against Gina Aitken's team and so we still qualified! Our coach then made us aware that even before the game was played we were already through although had neglected to tell us this before hand!

So who is through?

The girls teams joining us in Aberdeen are Jennifer Martin, Maggie Wilson, Jennifer Dodds, Lesley Young and Katie Wright. Well done to them all! 

Two tie-breakers are now required to determine the teams in fourth position who will then play-off to determine the final qualifier. Mhairi Paul will now be joining us in January.

See you all in Aberdeen! :D Well Done team!

Team Smith xoxo

Final Day at Aberdeen

This morning we were up against Judith McFarlane and her team of Cat Guthrie, Jill Donald and Fiona Steele. The game started off as a close affair with the teams tied 2 all after 4 ends. Unfortunately after this the team performance depreciated with the middle section of the team feeling unwell. The game ended 10-3 to the McFarlane side. Well done to them.

Next up we face Jen Dodds and her team. Fingers crossed the team can rally round in time for this game.

It was a positive start for Team Smith against Jennifer Dodds having hammer and taking a 2 in the 1st end. Dodds went on to blank the 2nd, take a 1 in the 3rd and then they stole the 4th and the 5th ends. It was 3-2 to Dodds then Team Smith took their 1 in the 6th then stole 1 in the 7th. Although we knew it wasn't our day already and we now couldn't get through to the final due to number of ends won we continued the 8th end when Jen took her 1 ending the game 4-4.

Photos and extras at:    http://skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com/


It was now Dodds V Fleming in the final, well done to Team Dodds who won Aberdeen's Womens Tour and to Team Fleming who won the competition overall!

Team Smith xoxo

Saturday at Deen

Team Smith minus Hazel took to the ice this morning to play Team Adams, we played well and steadly throughout. Team Smith stole a 2 in the 3rd then Adams took their 1 in the 4th, we stole again in the 6th and 7th ends. We kept the last end simple and Naomi had no need to play her last stones. Team Smith had the win 6-2.

We now have a bye due to Sarah Reid pulling out of the competition, so as per its lunch time for Team Smith. Our next game is tomorrow morning at 9am against Judith McFarlane.

Naomi taking over the skip position

photo courtesy of skipcottagecurling

Team Smith xoxo

2nd leg of Womens Tour - Aberdeen

We arrived safe and sound at Curl Aberdeen ice rink for the last stage of the Womens Tour. To start we had a lovely wee meal before our first game against Maggie Wilson, whom we hadn't yet beaten this season. We got off to a slow start but quickly got back on the mend after the 5th end when we stole a 2 then another in the 6th, the game ended 11-4 after we took a 6 in the last. Well done team as I (Hazel) had to go of due to injury during the game against Maggie!

The team are now going to play with 3 players until Sunday morning. Current game is Smith V Adams.

Team Smith xoxo

Sunday at Inverness

Team Smith were all up for the game this morning after a good rest for most of the day yesterday as we had our bye, we were up against Katie Murray and her team of Laura Ritchie, Sophie Jackson and Jenni Cannon for the quarter final, Sophie played one end and went off due to a sore leg so it was down to three. The first end was kept clear and blanked with Murray's team having hammer then they took their two in the second which was then taken back by Team Smith in the third. This was followed by a steal of a two in the fourth, by the last end it was even stevens and an extra end was to be played...which was blanked. A draw the shot challenge was to decide who won and Team Smith finally took the win in the end.

It was then onto the semi final against Team Aitken, we were out to win this game as Team Aitken had previously beaten us in the section game which was close. The game started off well for us as we forced the one and then took a five back in the second end, we then blanked the third and took our two in the fourth. The game ended 7-3 and we shook on the sixth end. It was now final time but who would we be against Jennifer Dodds or Maggie Wilson?

Our final game was against Maggie Wilson and her team, this was another game we had lost earlier in the weekend and we hoped this wouldn't happen again. The game started off smoothly for both sides, the game was four each after the fourth end and both teams were playing consistantly well. The end to decide the game was the seventh, we were still peels and a freeze for a steal for Team Smith wasn't successful so Team Wilson took a three to decide the game, we ran out of stones in the eighth end to compete. Overall both teams played well and it was a great final. Well Done Team Wilson.

Team Smith xoxo

Day 2

It was a hard morning for Team Smith as getting out of bed is our first issue, but we all managed raring to go for our game against Gina Aitken and her team of Katy Richardson, Rowena Kerr and Rachel Hannen. The game started of well with the first end being blanked and each team gaining a one, alternately in each end. The game continued to be close throughout until the deciding seventh end (the last end of the game) when Team Aitken took a four for the win.

The second game for the day was against Ellie Fraser and her team, the game began slowly and we eventually got into our stride by the third end when we stole the end. We managed to bag the win taking the fifth and then going on to steal the sixth but the young team put up a good fight.

Next game is tomorrow at 8.30am against Katie Murray.

Team Smith xoxo

Inverness Junior International Day 1

After a long journey up to good old Invernessy we played our first game against Maggie Wilson and her team, the first half was played well and Team Smith were strong. Unfortunety the tables turned and Wilson's side played well in the last four ends securing their victory, 8-3.

We had a short break and a refreshment before we went on to play Rebecca Steven's side, this game also started well but this time we managed to dominate the game from the start to end. The score ended 9-3.

After a unanimous vote we sprinted to Jimmy Chungs for a scran and it was worth it!!! After some giggles, some laughs and numerous trips to the buffet its off to bed, ready for an early start in the morning.

Team Smith xoxo

Team Smith in Final at Forfar

After a quick interval between our last round robin game and the final we headed to the ice against Hannah Fleming, both teams played well throughout the game. It was the forth end after the previous blank that gave the game away when Team Fleming took a 4. We gave a good game to catch up but it was all over and the last 2 stones weren't needed to play, end score 6-4.

Well Done to Team Fleming! :)

Team Smith xoxo

Sunday at Forfar

This morning we were up against Kerry Barr and her team of Helen King (our old team mate), Rhiann Macleod and Caitlin Barr. Both teams played well but with steals in the 5th, 6th and 7th end we secured the victory. Final score 6-3. We now are going onto play against Jennifer Dodds after our healthy McDonalds lunch suggested by coach!!!

We got off to a good start against Dodds as we took a 3 in the first end, Jennifer and her team managed to take their 2 after a good pick in the fifth. The game was tight but Team Smith took the hold in the last end by guarding Team Dodds shot for 1 to win the game.

After 4 wins and a draw we were top of our section and up against unbeaten Hannah Fleming in the final.

Team Smith xoxo

Tour day two

After a good breakfast courtesy of Louise's Aunt we headed to the ice rink for the second day of the Women's Tour. This morning we were up against Judith Carr and her team. They started off well by scoring a 2 then stealing 1 in the second end. We then picked up our game and started to put some points on the board. A big steal of 6 in the sixth end secured the victory, 13-5.


Our second game of the day was against Carolyn Nicoll. This was a close affair with no team scoring more than a 2 all game. The game ended 5-5.

Team Smith xoxo

First day at the Tour

We all arrived at Forfar safely this weekend...so far. We played Jennifer Martin who had the hammer and she took her 1 in the first end, we quickly got into our stride and took a 3 then later a 4, Jennifer stole the seventh end and the final score ended 8-7. We got off to a good start. Thanks again to Hailey Duff for subbing for Louise, who we picked up later at the train station.

Here are the line scores for the full weekend;
http://royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org/competitions/scottish-womens-tour/

Team Smith xoxo

Forfar Womens Tour

This weekend we are playing in our first Womens Tour of the season hosted at Forfar. There are two competitions throughout the season, the second one hosted at Aberdeen in November. Our first game is tonight against Jennifer Martin and her team, the first of five matches played during the course of the weekend. We also have a sub for this game, Hailey Duff, in place of Louise Mansion who will be heading up later tonight for the remainder of the weekend. :)


Team Smith xoxo

Facebook

We now have a new facebook page to follow us and find out whats happening within the team. Here is the link below;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Smith-Curling/285366418148221

Team Smith xoxo

The car..

it wasn't that bad..

Team Smith xoxo

Saturday at Kinross

Well... Saturday was just one of those days.

We were running late.
It was grey and raining.
We got lost.
We turned back.
There was A LOT of diesel on the road.
I crashed the car.
Fortunately we all survived
We lost our first game as the car was dragged out of the ditch.
We lost our second game.
We were out of the competition.

On the plus side.. we were treated to a good meal at Loch Leven's Larder by our parents.  Naomi and Hazel stocked up on chocolate for the week with their £5 food vouchers.  And we finished the day on a high note with chicken lasagne, strawberry flan and the X-Factor.

So, despite not performing to our absolute best, our first competition as a team was enjoyable and just a tad eventful.

Team Smith xoxo

Friday at the Kinross Junior Classic

We got the competition off to a good start with our first game against Rebecca Stevens.  We managed to win the game, although it ran failry close to the mill when we nearly threw it away in the last end! We were 6-2 up after 7 ends but the Stevens team put up a good fight in the 8th and managed to build up a head which had us a bit worried although only managed to come away with a 3 after some good shooting from Naomi and a classic example of her infamous 'arm extension' which secured us the game.  All in all, we played well but made a couple of mistakes which we realised almost immediately and hopefully will not be repeating in the future..

So, to celebrate our win we decided to have a little outing to the fine establishment that is Pizza Hut.  We arrived in an empty carpark to a Hut with blinds down and staff leaving and panic entered our hearts. After sitting debating whether it was open or not for 5 minutes, our trusty skip took action and got out of the car to look, thankfully they were still open! YEY! So as we sat in an otherwise completely empty restraunt, trying to ignore the hateful glares from the staff who had clearly thought they were getting away early, we enjoyed a delightful meal.  Although for some it was all just a bit too much..

Team Smith xoxo

Greenacres continues...

Saturday

After our first successful game we faced Hannah Fleming on Saturday morning, we didn't get off to a great start and Team Fleming played consistanty well throughout which didn't seem to also occur for us. The second half of the game brought some luck for us and we started to play some curling but our efforts weren't early enough. We lost 11-3 but this was a lesson to be learnt and we hoped to play better! To find the rest of the results go here; http://www.curl-greenacres.com/ga/index.php/red-section-d%20raw.html .

The next team we played was against Naomi's old team member Heather Morton, Team Smith got things together and we were 3 up after 2, things were going well. At the third Team Morton evened the score but we then held things together and stole a couple of ends this concluded the win. Both teams played well!

On a high spirits from our previous win our next game was against Rebecca Steven's. Things didn't start off great for us but after 4 ends the score was 3-2, some good shots and curling were played by both teams. Unfortunately the win wasn't for us and Steven's side bagged a win of 9-5 after stealing the 2 final ends.

After 3 games of curling my sweepers were tired, as was I and we all headed off to bed asap (excuse of the late blog update).

Sunday

The weekend flew by and suddenly we were at the final day, this was our last game against Jennifer Martin who was playing extremely well and hadn't lost a game in the section yet, it was a tough one! Sunday was our day and we knew for a chance to get to the semi's we needed the ends and the win, the first 4 ends went our way and we found ourselves playing great 5-0 up. The second half also went smoothly and we got the ends we needed, sadly we were hoping on winning/losses from other teams which isn't so handy! Jennifer played a cracking first shoot for her 2 in the sixth end but we ended the tournament on a great level.

The finals later in the day were played by Lauren Baxter V Jennifer Martin and in the boys section Kyle Smith V Bruce Mouat, and well done to the winners Team Smith and Team Baxter. Everyone played great and I know our team had a great weekend and hopefully our success will grow further in the next few competitions. Also thanks to Sarah Wood who played great for us, substituting for Louise Mansion. Next stop Kinross!

There is also some coverage from over the weekend on Bob's Blog including some lovely pictures; http://skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com/

Not quite so sure that this one of me is so lovely?

Eilidh and Naomi sweeping Sarah's stone

Team Smith xoxo

Greenacres Junior Masters Game 1

We all arrived safely and raring to go at our first competition at Greenacres earlier today with our first game against Karina Aitken and her team. The game started off well for Team Smith as we stole the first end, we continued to play well throughout the rest of the game and ran out comfortable winners. We now have 3 games ahead of us tomorrow against Hannah Fleming, Rebecca Steven and Heather Morton, we will update the blog throughout the weekend and hopefully our success will continue.

Team Smith xoxo

First Practise

It feels like curling season had just ended and summer has just begun but here we are again at the start of another season, where did the summer go?
As we soon will be approaching our first competition this weekend at Greenacres the team got together for our first practise, of many I'm sure. Myself, Naomi, Louise, Eilidh and Sarah got together on the ice to get ready for the weekend ahead. Our layout for our first competition will be different to our normal one as Louise Mansion, as probably many of you already know dislocated her knee recently but don't worry Sarah Wood has come to the rescue and Louise will hopefully be ready for Kinross, fingers crossed!

Team Smith xoxo