Title and relegation fates confirmed in Moray Province East curling league
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MORAY Province East curling league hosted some very close matches on the Moray Leisure Centre rink ice.
With the end of season fast approaching, Division 1 fixtures concluded with Buckie’s Alan Campbell consolidating his top spot courtesy of a 6-0 concession from bottom dwellers Ballindalloch.
Kenny Oswald confirmed his runners-up spot with a solid 6-2 win over fellow challenger Mike MacDonald.
In the relegation battle, Sunninghill slid ahead by way of a very tight 5-4 win over Abby Duncan’s Fochabers’ rink, a run of five unanswered shots in the middle ends enough to haul the hoteliers out of the bottom two.
Division 2 saw the fight for the second promotion place won by Willie Cameron’s Aberlour team. Trailing 4-2 after six ends, the Speyside rink rallied to sneak ahead of fellow promotion hopefuls, Eddie Milne’s Darnaway.
The Cameron combo will now join Willie’s son Andy in Division 1 next season.
In Division 3, Fochabers’ Ron Christie found himself on the wrong end of an 8-4 score against Elgin Tennis Club, who made their place in the division safe for next year .
The length of the table separates the two Elgin rinks, but they shook hands on a 6-6 peel as first Bob Stewart collected a three at the sixth end to pull ahead, then Jim Farquhar collected a three of his own in the last end to share the spoils .
Andrew Allardyce and Jamie Rankin’s rinks also peeled at 6-6. Stand-in skips Mike Kemp for Elgin and Jacob Holder for the juniors were instrumental in ensuring a point for their respective teams.
In the rearranged Division 4 game, the Virtual Club and Ballindalloch (Gordie Kennedy) had a titanic match, each winning three ends. A pick-up of three shots in the fourth end was just enough to give the Kennedy outfit their victory.
With the top divisions now settled, the clash of the Moray Province West champions and the Moray Province East champions for the Nicol Quaich will be between Nairn’s Callum Greenwood and Buckie’s Alan Campbell.
Results:
Division 1
A Campbell (Buckie) 6 R Mackenzie (Ballindalloch) 0
A Duncan (Fochabers) 4 D Ross (Sunninghill) 5
K OswaId (Elgin) 6 M MacDonald (Forres) 2
Division 2
E Milne (Darnaway) 4 W Cameron (Aberlour) 5
Division 3
R Christie (Fochabers) 4 D McPherson (Elgin Tennis Club) 8
A Allardyce (Elgin) 6 J Rankin (Moray Juniors) 6
J Farquhar (Elgin) 6 R Stewart (Elgin) 6
Division 4
L Roberts (Virtual Club) 4 G Kennedy (Ballindalloch) 6.
