Forfar Young Curlers end of season games were played on Saturday 24 March 2012 with 58 Young Curlers taking part.
The younger curlers playing in the Crockatt Trophy while the more experienced played in the Donald Rosebowl.

After the games we welcomed Forfar Young Curler, Scottish Junior Champion and World Bronze medalist Kerr Drummond to present our annual prizes.

First Season Certificates:
Rachel Allison,  Gavin Craig,  Ross Craik,  Inca Maguire,  Eilidh Troup,  Ailsa Wedderburn,  Rhea Wedderburn.

Red Skills Awards:
Daniel Burnett,  Senga Barron,  Scott Nicoll,  Iona Nicoll, Sarah Allison,  Sam Marshall,  Ailsa Bruce,  Jed Barron.

Bronze Awards:
Adam Flint, Craig Joiner, Euan Maguire, Craig Paterson.

Drummond Rosebowl Winners
Craig Paterson, Rory Dowell, Hamish Duff

Pairs Group 1 Winners
Thomas Halder & Craig Cameron

Pairs Group 2 Winners
Guthrie Smith & Campbell White

Points Winner
Duncan Menzies

Mini Points Winner
Fraser White

Mini Mini Points Wiinner
It took 3 draw shots to decide the winner
between Senga Barron & Daniel Burnett
Daniel was declared winner.
( Our annual photograph was delayed until this was decided)

Thrums League Winners
Allan Grant. Hamish Duff, Jodie Duff, Senga Barron

Crockatt Trophy Winners
Angus Redford, Blair Butchart, Adam MacDiarmid

Donald Quaich Winners
Thomas Halder, Stuart Taylor, Beth Dandie, Heather Duff

Wooden Spoon
Lesley Young, Adam Flint, Allan Grant, Rory Forster

Spring League
Still games to play results later

Getting Older
It was noted that Kerr Drummond and Murray Young will be old timers next season.  GOOD LUCK!

Thanks to all who helped sponsor our prizes

V-President  Alistair Stewart thanked everyone for their efforts over the season:
the coaches, Marianne, Jan, Stuart our Match Secretary and Steve and his staff.

Remember Forfar Young Curlers AGM at Forfar Ice Rink Friday 27 April.

The Jockey Jan Interclub Bonspiel between Forfar Young Curlers and Aberlemno Curling Club was another great evening of curling and the result could not have been closer.

With only 1 or 2 shots difference between each of the 4 games the score resulted in a tie: 24 shots to FYC and 24 shots to Aberlemno.  Three games also tied on 4 ends each, however, Aberlemno edged to victory with a 2 end difference in the fourth game.

The Jockey Jan trophy was presented by Margaret Wilson to the winning team skipped by her husband, Drew, with Alan Smith, Marie Milne and Harold Jackson.

There were 4 groups of 6 teams that qualified to the finals from the 54 teams that entered the Scottish Schools Championshp. The top 2 teams from each group qualified for the quarter finals. FYC had 3 teams playing in the finals, Forfar Academy, Websters High and Arbroath High; all FYC schools qualified for the quarter finals being either top or second in their respective groups. In the quarter finals Forfar Academy came up against a very strong Stranraer Academy side skipped by Scot Wilson, and lost 7-3. Unfortunately, Arbroath High and Websters High were drawn against each other, and Websters lost out in that game. Arbroath won a close semi final against Perth Academy skipped by Cammy Wilson. George Heriot's School beat Arbroath High in the Scottish Schools Curling Championship Final with a big last end 3 giving Bruce Mouat's team a 7-6 win over the rink skipped by Robert Fawns from Arbroath. The game was 4-3 to George Heriots after 4 ends, but steals of 1 iin ends 5, 6 and 7 gave Arbroath the edge 6-4 going into the last end, but a couple of missed shots in the last end cost Arbroath the title they won last year. Well done George Heriots. And well done to all 3 FYC teams for getting to the knockout stages, and Arbroath to the final.

Forfar Young Curler Kerr Drummond has won Bronze at the World Junior Men's Curling Championships at Ostersund, Sweden. Kerr, playing lead with the rink skipped by Kyle Smith of Perth beat Norway 7-3 in the bronze medal game.

Hannah Fleming's Team from Lockerbie won the Gold medal for Scotland with an extra end 6-5 win over Czech Republic. Scotland's win in the Junior Women's event continues the country's recent dominance, started by Eve Muirhead, with 5 gold medals in the last 6 years.

Euan MacDiarmid, Ewan Maguire, Fraser Smith & James Craik won the Aberdeen leg of the Under 14 Slam with an extra end win against the team that won the Braehead slam 2 weekends ago, Team Campbell from Kinross/Perth. As these 2 teams played the final in both events winning 1 each, they couldn't be separated by normal means to decide the U14 Slam Winner, so a draw shot challenge with all 4 players draws to the button being measured, the closest combined total would win. The FYC rink lost out to Team Campbell by only 15cm. So close. Well done to both teams.

Layla Al-Saffar, Nicola Joiner, Rachel Flint & Alex Mackintosh lost their first game, an extremely close encounter against Team MacDiarmid, with 7 stones around the 4 foot at the finish of the last end, Euan just edged this one 3-2. Layla's team then had a draw and a win, to finish runner up in their group.

Andrew Archibald, Allan Grant, Iain Wallace & Calum Anderson played well, losing only one game in their group, but this was enough for them to lose out on a semi final place on ends scored.

FYC held its pairs competition on 19th February at Forfar Indoor Sports.

The winners of Group 1 were Guthrie Smith and Campbell White (5pts), Runners Up were Jodie Duff and Rachel Flint (4pts). A superb tap up with the last stone sealed the victory for Guthrie and Campbell.

Group 2 winners were Thomas Halder and Craig Cameron (5pts, 7 Ends), Runners up were Adam Flint and Ewan Maguire (5pts, 6 Ends).

Photo © Gordon Craik

FYC had 3 teams entered in this new 19 team event. The all girl team of Layla Al-Saffar, Nicola Joiner, Rachel Flint & Jodie Duff had a really close first game against the eventual winners of the competition losing out 3-2. They failed to qualify for the knockout stages after the group stage. Nicola Joiner gets a special mention for winning the "Draw the Cone" competition and won a Team GB top.

Andrew Archibald, Allan Grant, Iain Wallace & Angus Redford romped through their group stage with big wins in all 3 games and finished top of the Group D.

IThe other FYC team of Euan MacDiarmid, Ewan McGuire, Fraser Smith & James Craik lost their first game, but recovered to win their remaining 2. Fortunately their biggest 2 threats in their group drew and handed the top spot in the group to Euan.

In the semi finals the 2 FYC rinks were drawn together. Team MacDiarmid came out on top.

The final was Team MacDiarmid vs Team Campbell (Kinross/Perth). This was a close game, Team Campbell winning the event with a 3-2 win over the FYC team.

Photo's are here.

The Bonnyman Rosebowl is being held at Forfar on 30th March and is looking for entries. A fun sociable competition with teams consisting of four players with a minimum of 3 having a family connection. A great opportunity for juniors and adults, male or female from the same family to compete together.
See www.forfarindoorsports.co.uk for more information.

1st. Duncan Menzies 38 points, 2nd (after a draw shot playoff) Thomas Halder 37 points, 3rd Robert Fawns 37 points, 4th Angus Dowell 35 points. Well done to all for coming down. It's not as easy as it looks.

The competition is for Royal Club junior members aged 16 and under, and is targeted at those in their first or second season of curling. Entry is on an individual basis; curlers can request their preferred playing position and we will try to accommodate everyone!

Teams are guaranteed a minimum of four games of three ends. After the completion of preliminary rounds, the four top teams will play for the High Road Finals and the teams finishing in 5th to 8th places will compete in the Low Road Finals.

The Newcomers competition has been extremely popular over the last few years, and has had the maximum of 72 curlers playing. Get your entry in quick to avoid disappointment.

Entry to this competition is now open online at RCCC Membership Database. Select Competition Applications once you have logged in. Guidance on how to log in to the database can be found on the linked page. If you have any difficulties using the online application form, please call the Royal Club and a member of staff can offer you assistance.

9 Mens teams and 8 ladies teams qualified at Ayr in December for the Finals of the Scottish Junior Curling Championships being held at the superb Curl Aberdeen this past week . FYC had 9 players that made it through to the Aberdeen finals. The winners of the Mens and Ladies will represent Scotland at the World Junior Curling Championships being held in Ostersund, Sweden in early March.

In the Men's section Kyle Smith of Perth, with Kerr Drummond of FYC playing lead, came through the round robin with only 1 defeat, that being to the RCCC elite podium squad of Team McWilliam. In the page 1 v 2 playoff, an unbelievably low scoring game had the only points being scored with a 2 at the 9th end to McWilliam. In the 2 v 3 playoff, that followed, Team Smith dispatched the 3rd placed team from the round robin, Team Fraser from Inverness, to set up the final and a 3rd game against McWilliam. However, after 2 defeats against this team, Kyle Smith, Thomas Muirhead, Kyle Waddell and Kerr Drummond turned the tables and convincingly beat Team MCwilliam 7-2 in the final. Team Smith will represent Scotland in the World Junior Curling Championships .

Also in the Men's section was team Menzies, Duncan Menzies (Skip), Stuart Taylor (Third), Rober Fawns (Second), Angus Dowell (Lead). The team did not have the ideal preparation with Duncan being away in Austria playing for Team GB in the Youth Olympics, and only arrived back in the UK the day before the finals started. Team Menzies came away from the round robin with a 3 win, 5 loss record, and finished the event in 5th place.

It was a first appearance for the all FYC girls team of Lesley Young (Skip), Louise Joiner (Third), Hailey Duff (Second) & Beth Dandie (Lead) at the Scottish Finals. This young women's team hurtled out of the hacks to a 4-1 win record and were equal top of the board after two days of competition. However, the team showed a little inexperience against the title favourites Hannah Fleming (Lockerbie) and Jennifer Dodds (Murrayfield), before getting back on the trail with a very close game eventually losing 5-4 to Hazel Smith (Murrayfield) and a final win against Team Wright (Stranraer). Fleming and Smith made it to the final, with Team Fleming winning it 9-2 and will represent Scotland in Sweden in March at the World Junior Championships. The Forfar rink of Team Young ended the competition with a 4 win, 3 loss record and fourth place overall, which is a very creditable performance by such a young rink (average age 16) at their first attempt.

Duncan Menzies of FYC has completed his participation in the 1st Youth Winter Olympics. Maybe the result wasn't exactly as Team GB would have wanted but it has surely been an incredible experience for all involved. Team GB, with Duncan skipping the team, finished the mixed curling event with 3 wins (Italy, Russia, Austria) and 4 losses (Sweden, Germany, Canada, Japan). It certainly was a tournament of two halves, with 4 defeats in a row, followed by the 3 wins on the bounce. Perhaps the team did not have enough practice prior to the tournament to really gel as a unit and that showed in the results of the first 4 games. Only 4 more years to wait.

In the Mixed Doubles competition which is a fun event in these olympics, the players were matched up with a competitor from another country. Duncan Menzies of GB, was paired wth Taylor Anderson of the USA. The pair won their first 2 games, but were knocked out in the Quarter Finals by the pairing from Japan and South Korea.

It was the last of 5 Under 17 Curling Slam Events on Saturday and Sunday, this weekend held on home ice at Forfar Indoor Sports.

Craig Paterson, Allan Grant, Andrew Archibald and Rory Dowell were in a group of 3 on Saturday. All teams in the group won 1 game each, so it went down to ends to separate the teams. Unfortunately, after a penalty of 3 shots and one end were given to Team Paterson, they were just short of qualifying for the knockout stages. Good improvements from the team though, and they will be a team to watch in next seasons slams.

Team Mouat with Thomas Halder and Angus Dowell of FYC came through the High Road of their group unbeaten, but did drop a point in a 4-4 draw with the Forfar girls Team Young. Straight through to the Semi Finals, they came up against James Carswell's team who have been on fire this year, only dropping 1 point all season. Team Carswell won 5-2.

The all FYC rink of Craig Joiner, Adam Flint, Euan McDiarmid & Ewan McGuire qualified for the Low Road Quarter Finals after finishing on 4 points in the group section, winning against Grant Barr of Kinross with a steal in the last, drawing aginst Team Mitchell from Stirling, and drawing against Katie Murray's all girl rink from Hamilton. In the Quarter Finals the Forfar boys were beaten by Team Neilson from Hamilton 7-2.

Team Young, Lesley Young, Louise Joiner, Hailey Duff & Beth Dandie all of FYC, won 1 (Izat, Aberdeen), drew 1 (Mouat, Murrayfield), lost 1 (Brydone, Perth) in their group stage, and qualified for the knockout stages of the Low Road. In the Quarter Finals, they beat Shaun Rennie's Team from Ayr 11-2. In the Semi Final Team Young beat Gregor Bousie from Kinross 6-4, and so it was on to the final against the strong Team Neilson from Hamilton. This was a close fought game with Team Neilson eventually just edging it against the Forfar girls 4-3.

Ben Bremner of FYC playing for Team Carswell, who up until the Forfar Slam had only dropped 1 point all season, won all of their group games to qualify for the High Road Semi Final. In the semi final they dispatched Team Mouat, before playing a very good final game against the all girl rink Team Hannen from Greenacres. A 4 in the 6th end was the difference and Team Carswell won the slam.

Well done Ben Bremner of FYC whose team finished top of the rankings after the 5 slam events and the prize is a week long trip to Fussen in Germany to the World Curling Federation Training Camp.

Team Mouat finished the season 3rd out of the 30 competing teams.

Team Joiner finished 6th overall.

Team Young finished 11th overall. (3rd best all girl team)

Team Paterson finished 25th overall.

Photo's are here.

Photo of Team Carswell © Bob Cowan , Skip Cottage Curling

Lockerbie Under 21 Challenge - A mixed bag of results for the FYC players this weekend in Lockerbie.

Duncan Menzies, now named officially as Great Britain Skip for the Youth Olympics next month, playing with Team GB for the 1st time came 3rd in their group section with 2 wins and a draw, but failed to make the semi finals. Pretty good try considering it was their first time playing together.

Team Young ( Lesley Young, Louise Joiner, Hailey Duff & Beth Dandie) finished 3rd in their group stage on 2 wins, and 2 losses, including a win over Team England (Tunbridge Wells), but failed to make the semi finals. The Winner of the ladies event was Hannah Flemings rinked, being skipped today by newly crowned Ladies European Champion, Anna Sloan (Lockerbie).

The best performances of the weekend for FYC players was Murray Young, skipping his rink, who finished top of his group undefeated with 4 wins, including a win over Performance squad Team Jay McWilliam. In the semi final he lost to Stuart Marshall (Greenacres) who has Thomas Halder of FYC playing 3rd. For the 2nd time this weekend Team Marshall faced Blair Fraser. The mens event was won by Blair Fraser (Inverness) winning 7-4 in the final. Well done Thomas for making the final.

Photo is © Bob Cowan , Skip Cottage Curling

Well Done to FYC players Robert Fawns, Thomas Halder, Craig Cameron and Ben Bremner who won the Hay Trophy Schools competition (for Arbroath High) in Perth this Tuesday and Wednesday. There were 16 teams from all over Scotland, including a team from Brechin High, so perhaps we can get Forfar Academy, Websters High, other local schools on board. Ask your sports teachers if they are interested and I will get application forms sent to the right people. Remember, this will get you out of school for two days :)

Photo is © Tom Brydone.

Congratulations to Team Joiner (Craig Joiner, Adam Flint, Euan MacDiarmid & Ewan McGuire) all from FYC who made the final of the Low Road at the Hamilton U17 Slam this weekend. In the group stages they missed out on the high road by 1 end, winning 2 and losing 1 (to Thomas Muirhead). They beat Team Lammie of Stranraer, skipped by Scot Wilson in the Low Road semi final 5-4. In the final, Robin Brydone's rink from Perth came out on top winning 6-2. Well done in getting to the final boys - Team Joiner now sit 3rd equal in the Overall 2011 season Under 17 slam rankings with 1 event remaining.

Team Paterson (Craig Paterson, Rory Dowell, Sean Davidson of FYC and a local Hamilton player) ended the Saturday on 1 win and 2 losses and just missed out on the knockout rounds this time.

Photo copyright of Bob Cowan, Skip Cottage Curling

Congrats to the Under 14 team from FYC, Layla Al-Saffar, Nicola Joiner, Rachel Flint & Jodie Duff who won the Kinross U14 funspiel today, coming through the 3 games undefeated with 2 wins and a draw. Well done girls.

In the Under 16 section FYC finished 3rd overall with the team of Andrew Archibald, Allan Grant, Calum Anderson & Angus Redford. Angus gets a special mention as he was 2nd overall in the hotshots competition with 28 points.

Photos here.

Well done to Team Menzies of FYC (Duncan Menzies, Stuart Taylor, Robert Fawns & Angus Dowell) who came 3rd in the European Junior Curling Tour event in Thun Switzerland. They came through the round robin undefeated with 5 wins, lost in the semi final by 1 shot in an extra end to Meico Oehninger, the event winner, (they had beaten Oehninger in the round robin), but won the 3rd/4th playoff vs Markus Hoiberg of Norway.

Kerr Drummond of FYC playing for Kyle Smith came through the round robin with only 1 defeat, to Neuenschwander (SUI) and was beaten in the quarter finals by Meico Oehninger (SUI) the event winner.

Ben Bremner of FYC playing for James Carswell won the High Road of the Under 17 slam with a comfortable win over Ross Whyte in the final. The Carswell team went through the event undefeated. Well done Ben!

Thomas Halder of FYC, playing for Bruce Mouat qualified for the final day with a strong run in the group stages with 3 wins from 3 but came up against James Carswell in the High Road semi final, losing out in that one.

Team Joiner of FYC (Craig Joiner, Adam Flint, Euan MacDiarmid & Ewan McGuire) finished 2nd in their group with 2 wins and 1 defeat, (missing out on the High Road on shots, being equal top on points and ends) and got a bye to the Low Road semi final as highest placed Low Road qualifier. In the semi final they came up against Katie Murray and lost 9-4. Well done guys in reaching the semi final.

Team Young of FYC (Lesley Young, Louise Joiner, Hailey Duff & Beth Dandie) finished with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat in a group that contained finalists of both high and low road and just failed to make the playoff stages by 1 point.

Official website and line scores are here.

Kerr Drummond of FYC, playing for Kyle Smith won the European Junior Curling Tour Oslo Cup in Norway this weekend with a 7-2 win over Team Wrana of Sweden in the final. Congrats!

Duncan Menzies and Angus Dowell of FYC won the National Super League Bonspiel at Forfar with a narrow win over Ewan McDonald's rink of Inverness 4-3. Not bad for a last minute "make up the numbers" team.

Thomas Halder, playing 3rd for Stuart Marshall was runner up in a hard fought and close final in the Dunvegan Trophy at Murrayfield this weekend. Team Young (Lesley Young, Louise Joiner, Hailey Duff and Beth Dandie) had a 1 win ,2 loss record in the group stages, beating the Junior Womens winner Rebecca Stevens. Team Joiner (Craig Joiner, Adam Flint, Euan MacDiarmid and Ewan McGuire) also finished the group stages on a 1 win, 2 loss record.

Well done to Forfar U13's (Layla Al-Saffar, Nicola Joiner, Rachel Flint & Jodie Duff), silver medallists in the Elgin U13 Funspiel, losing out to winners, Aberdeen, ending the day unbeatean on two draws and a win. In the Under 15's (Craig Paterson, Shaun Davidson, Ewan Maguire & Rory Dowell) ended the day with two draws and a defeat, but won the hotshots competition with two superb shots from Rory getting Forfar Young Curlers U15's the top spot.

Team Menzies (Duncan Menzies, Stuart Taylor, Robert Fawns & Angus Dowell) qualified for the Final day of the Forfar Open, ranked 7th out the available 8 places with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Team Young (Lesley Young, Louise Joiner, Hailey Duff & Beth Dandie) just missed out on a quarter final place with a 2 win 2 loss record, finishing 1 place outside the top 8 of the 16 team event. In the quarter finals, Team Menzies lost to the strong Kyle Smith rink. Ally Fraser won the event with a solid win in the final over Team Smith.

Congratulations to Kerr Drummond of FYC playing lead for Kyle Smith who beat Ally Fraser in the final of the Cardwell Garden Centre Braehead Open this weekend. The final turned with a big steal of 3 in the third end, giving Team Smith an insurmountable lead. Well Done Kerr!

There is a "UStream" video (no sound) of the final here.

Team Young (Lesley, Louise, Hailey and Beth) had a great qualifying round beating all the other teams in their group, including a 9-0 win in their last game to finish on the highest ranking overall in the slam and gt a bye to the semi's. They lost in the semi final of the high road to the bonspiel winners Team Cannon. However, they made amends by dominating and winning the 3/4 playoff against Ross Whyte being 6-2 up going into the 8th, ending 6-5 after a tense final end.

Angus Dowell & Thomas Halder playing for Bruce Mouat won their group, but were knocked out by finalist Thomas Muirhead in the Qrtr Finals. It was harsh to meet them at this stage of the competition as these are two of the top teams this year.

Team Patterson (Craig Paterson, Bruce Keillor, Alan Grant & Sean Davidson) were beaten by Team Muirhead and Neilson, but scored a point in their first ever Under 17 slam by getting a draw 5-5 against Karina Aitkin.

Line Scores are here.

Photo's are here.

More pictures on Skip Cottage here.