REMAX SUPER CURLING. TWO TEAMS TIED FOR FIRST

Team Rowsell quickly gave up the first 5-end of the RE/MAX SuperLeague Season — with it and just after the first end, the feature attraction on centre court between two teams in a playoff position appeared to have evaporated.   However, they fought hard against Egg Farmers of NL and entertained almost 100 spectators through an extra end and until the last SuperLeague rock of the week was thrown.  There follows the scores and highlights for the six Draw #7 matchups in the 2019 – 2020 SuperLeague Season:

  AllStar Rebar (skipped by Evan McDonah) drew first blood with hammer and a 2-count on an open hit in the first end.  Team Newfoundland Styro (in a first place tie and skipped by Greg Smith) countered by scoring 3 in the second end by taking advantage of getting rocks in the rings in good position.   After a blank, a stolen point, and traded singles, Team Newfoundland Styro widened their lead after six ends to 5-3.   In the seventh end, AllStar Rebar scored a pair and tied the game when they saved a hit with hammer on a biter in the back of the rings.   In the eighth end after clearing a lot of guards with big-weight peels, when Smith went to throw his hammer, he could see a piece of shot rock and he had the only other rock in the house.   Smith’s outturn hit the portion of the opposing stone that he could see making the final score Team Newfoundland Styro 6 and AllStar Rebar 5.   The loss gives AllStar Rebar a 2-5 record (where they have three other teams for company), and the win keeps Team Newfoundland Styro in a first place tie at 6-1.

LINESCORE:               AllStar Rebar    *   200  010 20  = 5 

                 Team Newfoundland Styro   030  101 01  = 6

 The Service Master Restore (skipped by Nathan Young) Junior Team scored big and scored quickly taking advantage of every opportunity against AltoMaxx (skipped by Heather Strong).   The Young foursome put a 4-count on the board in the first end when Strong’s left handed outturn draw with hammer went to the back of the rings.   The second end was a steal of two when Strong’s quiet weight tap of a guarded stone covering the button did not curl sufficiently, and it was another stolen point in the third end when the women guided Strong’s draw to the full 4-foot circle against three counters to the back of the 8-foot circle making the score 7-0.   Confidence and consistency seemed to have left AltoMaxx about 5 weeks ago and, with the flow of this game doing nothing to restore either (only Jessica Wiseman was making a few rocks with a pleasant outcome), the AltoMaxx women conceded the 7-0 loss to Service Master Restore in the fourth end.   Service Master Restore is now at 3-4 and just one game behind the four teams tied for second place.   AltoMaxx is in the tie of four teams at 2-5.

LINESCORE:  Service Master Restore        421  X = 7

                                                   AltoMaxx   *     000  X = 0

   In a 2-way tie for third place going into this week, CIBC Wood Gundy (skipped by Daniel Bruce) now finds it more crowded (a 4-way tie) in that third place position.   Their competition this week, Fun ‘n’ Fast (skipped by Colin Thomas), took a while to get on track after being shutout 7-0 last week — the Thomas foursome did not score until the fourth end.   Bruce drew first blood in the second end when Thomas rolled out of the rings hitting against two counters. There was a second stolen point in the third end before Thomas drew for a pair in the fourth end tying the score 2-2 at the half.   A stolen single in the fifth end gave the Thomas foursome their first lead (Bruce faced three counters in a line with his hammer but could remove just two of them). However Bruce successfully drew the top of the 4-foot circle against three counters to tie the score 3-3 after six ends.   Fun ‘n’ Fast got their second deuce in the seventh end and the two multiple scores were the difference in this game.   In the eighth end and needing a pair to go an extra end, CIBC Wood Gundy faced a low percentage shot with hammer and Fun ‘n’ Fast ended up with a 6-3 victory.   Both these teams are now tied in a playoff position with 4-3 records.

LINESCORE:       Fun ‘n’ Fast   *    000  210 21  = 6

               CIBC Wood Gundy     011  001 00  = 3                  

 Seventeen points made this game the highest scoring this SuperLeague Season (two games in Draw #4 saw sixteen points scored).   In the memorable first end, which resulted an open hit with hammer for a 5-count by Egg Farmers of NL (skipped by Erica Curtis), first place Team Rowsell (skipped by Rick Rowsell) was unable to bury a draw (which was their only reasonable option).   The men got four points back on draws for deuces in the second and fourth ends; sandwiched around a third end single by the Curtis foursome when their wide inturn draw for a pair with hammer hung outside.   After a blank, Curtis in the sixth end made the score 8-4 with a pair when the women needed a tough draw to the full 4-foor circle for a 3-count. With two more pairs in the seventh and eighth ends the men forced an extra end — with hammer in the 8th, Curtis rolled out of the rings hitting against three counters.   In the ninth, second stone Craig Dowden sank a draw onto the button behind two guards with his team’s third stone of the end.   The next ten stones were peels of guards followed by replacements of guards. Curtis with hammer had no draw and her angle-raise pick-out attempt of shot rock undercurled making the final score Team Rowsell 9 Egg Farmers of NL 8.   The Rowsell foursome remain tied in first place at 6-1 and the women remain tied in third place at 4-3.

LINESCORE:       Team Rowsell      020 200  221 = 9   Extra End

                   Egg Farmers of NL  *    501  002 000  = 8

   There were no age or gender differences in the remaining two games; these veterans know each other well.   Quality Matters Molson Coors (skipped by Ken Peddigrew) and Crosbie Group (skipped by Andrew Symonds) both opened with pairs followed by singles making the score 3-3 at the half.   The fourth end was typically well-curled — Symonds with his first stone made a perfect hit and long roll frozen against three counters (worthy for shot-of-the-week).   Two freezes followed and Peddigrew finished with a raise takeout. Crosbie Group scored their second pair of the game (and took their second lead) when Symonds drew the open house with hammer.   A blank sixth end was followed by a force of a single by Quality Matters Molson Coors when Peddigrew had to drew the 4-foot circle against two counters.   In the eighth end, with the Peddigrew foursome needing to steal a single to go an extra end, Symonds with hammer could see a partially buried shot stone.   He hit what he could see and picked up his team’s third deuce of the game. Crosbie Group moved into the 4-way tie for third place at 4-3 with their 7-4 win over Quality Matters Molson Coors who is also in a 4-way tie but at 2-5.

LINESCORE:    Quality Matters Molson Coors   *     200  100 10  = 4

                                                   Crosbie Group     021  020 02  = 7

McInnes Cooper (skipped by Trent Skanes) held a 3-1 lead over Team Thomas (skipped by Jeff Thomas) at the half when Skanes made a draw for a pair with hammer in the second end and a hit against two counters with hammer in the fourth end.   The second end was wide open and blanked by Thomas which was an unusual end for these two teams. With rocks in good positions in the house, the Thomas foursome scored four in the fifth end for a 5-3 lead.   But that was the last of their scoring. McInnes Cooper dominated during messy ends down the stretch.   They scored a pair in the sixth end (Skanes was long on a draw with hammer for three), a single in the seventh (Skanes made a pretty tap with a small roll and Thomas with hammer could only come close on a draw for a bigger piece of the button), and a decisive stolen pair in the eighth end with the score 6-5.   With a rock each to come, the Skanes foursome was counting two amongst four stones in the house and there were six overlapped guards in a wall in front of the rings. With his last rock, Skanes threw a guard on a port to shot rock and Team Thomas was left with an outturn draw away from the centre line through another port.   The potential tying point by Team Thomas slipped a foot too deeply into the back of the 8-foot circle giving McInnes Cooper their third deuce of the night and an 8-5 victory,   McInnes Cooper is 3-4 (a game behind the four teams tied for third place) and Team Thomas is in the 4-way tie a game back at 2-5

LINESCORE:       McInnes Cooper   *   200  102 12  = 8

                                    Team Thomas        001  040 00  = 5

The Round-Robin Standings after Draw #7 (42 of 66 games) follows:

6-1   Team Rowsell (skipped by Rick Rowsell)

6-1   Team Newfoundland Styro (skipped by Greg Smith)

4-3   Egg Farmers of NL (skipped by Erica Curtis)

4-3   CIBC Wood Gundy (skipped by Daniel Bruce)

4-3   Crosbie Group (skipped by Andrew Symonds)

4-3   Fun ‘n’ Fast (skipped by Colin Thomas)

3-4   Service Master Restore (skipped by Nathan Young)

3-4   McInnes Cooper (skipped by Trent Skanes)

2-5   AltoMaxx (skipped by Heather Strong)

2-5   AllStar Rebar (skipped by Evan McDonah)

2-5   Quality Matters Molson Coors (skipped by Ken Peddigrew)

2-5   Team Thomas (skipped by Jeff Thomas)