EL Province Bonspiel

I Donald (President), A Kerr, A Young, D Munro (Past President)
J Shedden (skip) and S Main

The Bonspiel was once again played in good spirit on very keen ice.
After a close win in round 1 against Haddington 2 (The defenders) Athelstaneford, fortified by their soup and sandwiches went on to teach another (nameless) club a harsh lesson.  Overall the Athelstaneford 1 Team of Johnny Shedden, Shelagh Main, A Kerr and A Young were clear winners with a total of 23 shots up. Runners up were Dirleton on +5 shots and Aberlady with +4.
Athelstaneford now break clear of Dirleton and Whittinghame into a clear second place, behind Haddington for the overall number of wins since this trophy was first competed for in 1859.

Conviviality continued (as apparently did checking of mobile phones) in the bar following the games.

Knockout - Round 1b

The second Knockout games see Athelstaneford and Yester go forward into the Semi Finals where they join Haddington and East Linton.

The 'Chanty' Challenge - EL v Borders

It was a close run contest on the new ice at Murrayfield this year with both provinces winning two games (and losing two games).  The scores on ice saw a two shot leading margin for East Lothian BUT we were given a 2 shot penalty for having a player arrive late.  The final adjusted scores saw East Lothian 27, Borders 27.
The Borders retain the trophy for another year.

NB Last year East Lothian was penalised for being one player short, which also had a bearing on the destination of the trophy.  ALL clubs should ensure that their players turn up in plenty of time and to allow for traffic.

Province Pairs

Doo'cot Trophy
Low Road Winners
Callum Harvey & Graham Elder

A big congratulations to the East Linton team of Robin Aitken and Paul Neison who beat the Haddington Team of Dave Munro and James Pate in the High Road Final.
The Low Road, this year was won by Dirleton's Callum Harvey and Graham Elder who beat Yester.

Edinburgh (Area 5) Bonspiel

Congratulations, but no cigar, to our East Lothian Team.  We were edged out into second place this year by Midlothian who finished with a score of +10 shots.  Thanks to a high scoring win in the last game by James Logan and his rink, East Lothian finished 2 shots behind on +8 shots.

Below is a report from Calder:-

Edinburgh Area Bonspiel 2018

This was held on its traditional date of the first Friday in December 2018.

Two rinks from each of our three Provinces, Midlothian, East Lothian and Peeblesshire joined battle with two rinks representing RCCC/ScottishCurling for possession of the coveted "Black Bull" trophy.

The RCCC/ScottishCurling rinks were unable to repeat their success of 2017, and Midlothian carried off the trophy. Basil Baird's rink was best placed individual team, with an overall score of +11 shots. 

As well as the main event, there was a separate "fun" draw shot competition, also won by Midlothian, emphasising their superior strength on the day. As with last year, the standard of drawing was ..... umm.... variable, with only 3 out of 32 stones thrown biting the button.

CB

Knockout - Round 1a

The first Knockout games see wins for Haddington and East Linton.
The scores were
Haddington 12 - Aberlady 5
East Linton 9 - Dirleton 7

For the updated draw see the Draws/Fixtures tab above

Waldie Griffiths

East Lothian were pitched against Lanarkshire in their Waldie tie.  This was always going to be a tough match with two strong Provinces.  The net result was going to be that neither team would win by enough to make taking the cup a possibility.  This did indeed prove to be the case.
Of the four EL Teams, we achieved one very good win, two extremely close games and unfortunately one big loss.  The overall aggregates saw EL slip to a two shot defeat over the four games.
I am pleased to report that all the games (that I could see from my rink) seemed to have been conducted in good humour which was continued in the bar and at the meal.
We may not have won the cup this year but the brother (and sister) hood of curling was again the winner.