Team Heather Strong opened up a 3-1 lead over Team Adam Boland with stolen singles in the 4th and 5th ends. Boland is away on a 2-week work assignment but will soon be back for the Season. The men went down 5-2 when skip Stephen Trickett was left with a “circus shot” to salvage a point with his hammer in the 7th end. In the final end with lots of rocks in play, skip Heather Strong with her first stone scraped around a guard with her left-handed cut-weight in turn and made a double takeout for the 5-2 win (both opposing rocks just made it through the rings).
makethecall.ca (skipped by Colin Thomas) and ASHAM (skipped by Greg Smith) played their make-up game from Draw #2 when they both were in Halifax at a CashSpiel. makethecall.ca stole a single in the 4th end to move ahead 3-2 at the half. ASHAM scored their final point in the 5th end and Colin Thomas put it away with a pair in the 6th and 3-count in the 7th making the final score 8-3.
Coastal Chiropractic (skipped by Matthew Smith) put together a powerful game making numerous come-arounds and scored in every end over Team Nathan Young. Included in the 10-0 victory were 3-counts in the first and 5th ends. Young, skipping a team of first-year SuperLeague players, did not miss any easy shots for points; every shot that he faced had high-difficulty written all over it.
Ches’s Fish & Chips (skipped by Greg Blyde) was in tough against former Super League Champions makethecall.ca (skipped by Colin Thomas). Thomas did not score any big ends, but kept adding to a 3-0 lead from singles in the first 3 ends. The final score was 6-0 and put makethecall.ca alone in first place after wins in their first three games.
Team Paul Harvey, a finalist last season, had pairs in the 1st and 6th ends for a 5-2 lead. But Therapeutic Services Physiotherapy (skipped by Andrew Symonds), fought back nicely with a deuce in the 7th and a single in the 8th sending their game to an extra end at 5-5. In that 8th end, Symonds had two counters perfectly placed around a centre guard; Harvey hit what he could see of the second stone from the button to give his foursome a chance to win in an extra end. With hammer, Harvey had the full right side of the house to draw the 4-foot circle, but his stone slipped into the back of the 8-foot circle giving up a second consecutive steal of a single; a 6-5 victory for Therapeutic Services Physiotherapy.
The SuperLeague Champions from last season, Team Mark Noseworthy, also went down to defeat — 8-5 to a former League Champion, McInnes Cooper / Power Conditioning (skipped by Trent Skanes). Again it was a come-from-behind encounter. The Skanes foursome scored two singles to open the game but then fell behind 5-2 after 5 ends. Momentum swung and the score was tied 5-5 after 6 ends when McInnes Cooper / Power Conditioning . matched an earlier 3-count by Noseworthy. Noseworthy was heavy on a tap giving up a steal in the 7th end, and in the 8th Noseworthy was left with a long wide in turn angle-raise double takeout for the victory. Both teams are now at .500; Noseworthy 1-1 and Skanes 2-2.
There follows the early-season Standings (with 16 of 105 games now played):
3 – 0 makethecall.ca (skipped by Colin Thomas)
1 – 0 Team Stacie Curtis
2 – 1 Coastal Chiropractic (skipped by Matthew Smith)
2 – 1 Team Heather Strong
1 – 1 Team Adam Boland
1 – 1 Team Paul Harvey
1 – 1 Team Mark Noseworthy
1 – 1 Team Kelli Turpin
1 – 1 Therapeutic Services Physiotherapy (skipped by Andrew Symonds)
2 – 2 McInnes Cooper / Power Conditioning Inc. (skipped by Trent Skanes)
0 – 0 Team Rick Rowsell
1 – 2 Ches’s Fish & Chips (skipped by Greg Blyde)
0 – 1 Team A. Harvey
0 – 2 ASHAM (skipped by Greg Smith)
0 – 2 Team Nathan Young