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