Province Pairs 25/26

 

We've all heard it said that the film wasn't as good as the book......The same might be said of this report as it won't quite match being there to see the action throughout the East Lothian Province Pairs Competition on 29 November 2025. It was four-plus hours of good curling.

Every moment and every shot counts when you've got only four ends to beat your opponent - or not. As one of today's players said "We played pretty well in the first game but never really recovered from a lucky shot against us in the first end." Keeping smiling on the way home knowing that you were beaten by the eventual winners of the High and Low Roads is just what you have to do - well.....sort of!

 

In Round 1 Haddington, having pealed with Dirleton on three, won with a good draw shot followed by a clear run in Round 2. That took them into the High Road Final with Athelstaneford. It was a close game with both teams playing good shots. Haddington's steal of 2 at the second last end was crucial, and placed them one better than in 24/25 when the same men - Andrew McDiarmid and Hamish Logan - won the Low Road. Recent winners of the High Road Nicoll Trophy were Athelstaneford in 2024/25, Yester in 23/24 and Haddington in 22/23.

The Low Road final between East Linton and Yester saw both teams taking single shot ends with two shots. The outcome was finally decided by a draw shot challenge in which Yester earned their name on the Doocot Trophy. 

Formal presentation of these trophies will be done after the Province Bonspiel on 15 March 2026.

Indoor Grand Match 2025

East Lothian v the World (but only the part of it that comprises North Scotland)

East Lothian Province Clubs sent 8 teams to Ice Rinks in Lockerbie, Greenock, Kinross, Forfar and Edinburgh to compete in the 2025 Indoor Grand Match, representing the South of Scotland.  Everyone involved had an enjoyable and mostly successful day of curling and socialising.

The various Clubs scores were:

East Linton 1          8 - 3  Verses Kippen

East Linton 2          5 - 7 v Broomhall 

Yester                      6 - 4  v Broomhall 2

Markle                    9 - 5 v Forfar Young Curlers

Athelstaneford 1    7 - 7 v Clunie

Athelstaneford 2     7 - 6 v Forfar 2

Aberlady                 8 - 5 v Bridge of Allan

Haddington            20 - 3 v Oban 

That is a total of six wins and one peel and one loss.   The South were overall winners with a margin of 69 shots up.  East Lothian Province Teams provided almost 50% of that winning margin, with a cumulative score of 34.

Special mention must go to the Haddington Team of Andy McDiarmid, Graeme Maguire, Roy Black and Heather Harpur who in their fourth end managed a steal of 8 !  The only 8 to be scored in the Grand Match this year and giving them the highest winning margin (certainly at Greenock)
and winning them a bottle of whiskey each. 

2025 / 2026 Province Competitions

 Draws for the Province Competitions can be found on the Fixtures Tab.

News on Province representation competitions to be confirmed:-
Waldie Griffith - we have been drawn at home against Angus Province. We are in the process of liaising with the Angus Province secretary to agree a date. We will advise the date in due course.
Potty Challenge - it is our turn to organise this year. In view of the difficulties in raising teams last year we have agreed to cut the number of teams competing this year to 3. we will therefore require 2/3 players from each club. We will be in touch to advise the date in due course.

Province AGM

The AGM will take place on Wednesday 21 May 2025 at 7.30pm at the Glen Golf Club in North Berwick.

Waldie Griffiths

Well done to our four teams (and even more so to our committee for managing to get four teams together) who contested the Waldie against Borders Province in Kelso.  Despite three wins our fourth game was not quite as successful and overall we suffered a narrow loss the the Borders Province.

It is fair to say that we must wait another year for the Waldie to come home.

Province Bonspiel

 

A huge congratulations to the Haddington team that contested and won the Elco Cup (and other bits of silverware) at the East Lothian Province Bonspiel.  After a big win in their first game, they were in second place which meant that they were up against the first round leaders.  A second win saw them draw clear on shots and take the title.

Congratulations to Sandy Nicoll,  Andy Aberdein, Keith Anderson and Richard Taylor

Province Knockout

 Congratulations to Yester for winning the Province Knockout.  They beat East Linton 7 - 4 in the Final.

Match report to follow