The Forth Valley Area Bonspiel is a competition among all four Provinces with six teams from each competing in a bonspiel held over two evening sessions in the main arena at The Peak, Stirling. It took place on the 22nd January this year.
In the first session on rink 5, Falkirk Ladies got off to a flying start with a 5 in the first end, a 2 in the next and then another 5 in the third. After that Buchan started to play and slowly closed the gap till the last end needing a 4 to peel and more than enough stones in the house, the Ladies did enough to restrict them to a 2 and victory by 12 v 10.
On rink 6, Airthrey Castle were struggling to make any headway as Linlithgow powered to an 8 v 0 score after four ends. Finally they scored a single only for Linlithgow to win out 1 v 13 in the end for West Lothian's only win of the night.
Side by side on rinks 3 and 4 a real battle took place between between Drymen and Bridge of Allan and Strathendrick and Falkirk. Both matches had steals by all the teams and they both peeled at 5 v 5 and 6 v 6.
On rink 2 Abercorn were never given a look in by Blairdrummond who started with a 4, took the next two ends, Abercorn eventually got a single end with a 2 then Blairdrummond carried on to win 8 v 2.
On rink 1 Borestone & Stirling played a canny game to keep Balfron at bay with a good 4 in the third end after Balfron took the lead with a 2 in the second. From then on till the final end, they kept stealing, winning 9 v 4.
This gave Stirlingshire Province 5 points after the first session, a lead of 2 over Central Scotland.
In the second session, on rink 1 there was a bit of a mismatch between Keir and Kilsyth Ladies, with Keir winning 14 v 2.
On rink 2 Uphall gave the Buccaneers a fright by winning the first two ends to lead 5 v 0. Buccaneers played themselves back into the game in the next two ends to trail 5 v 4. The next two ends saw the score at 7 v 7 but Uphall couldn't hold onto the final end even with last stone, to loose a 3 and the match at 7 v 10.
On rink 3 Sauchie & Bannockburn started well by stealing the first end with a 2. Buchlyvie came back with a 2 of their own and a steal of 1 in the following end with an excellent promotion of one of their stones outside the house. Sauchie & Bannockburn then managed to go on a run of singles to win 6 v 3 by building defensive walls that Buchlyvie just couldn't get through.
On rink 4 Doune kicked off with a 3 and after Livingston replied with a 2 never really looked back managing to score in every end to run out winners by 9 v 2.
On rink 5 there was a well fought match between last year's Forth Valley bonspiel winners Oatridge and last year's Forth Valley champions Kilsyth. Oatridge managed to win the first two ends to lead 3 v 0 but in the fifth end Kilsyth scored a 3 then a 2 to lead 4 v 7. In the last end Oatridge just couldn't squeeze the third shot to peel and Kilsyth won by 6 v 7. The game was marred by several bad pickups which is always disappointing.
Finally on rink 6 Garrgunnock and Dunblane played text book curling trading singles all the way till at the seventh and last end Gargunnock with last stone scored a 3 to win 6 v 3.
Stirlingshire is always at a disadvantage in the second session, but their two wins were enough to see off the competition to win the Bonspiel by 2 points. Borestone & Stirling were the biggest winners for the Province and so take the trophy. Well done.
It must be noted that no one managed 8 ends, indeed 2 games managed only 6 ends. Everyone needs to get on the ice and have everything ready to play BEFORE the bell. There were also many pickups that spoil any game and bits of ice were affected by people lying on the ice watching their stones. Even with gloves and knee pads the ice is being affected, played should not delay in getting up from the ice to avoid making marks, NO EXCUSES. For pickups, make sure grippers are clean inside, as they are often taken off and on throughout the game. Clean the soles of your shoes off the ice if they show a build up of black on them rather than trail it over the rink. To speed up play, get stones ready to play and don't take too long to decide shots.
Thanks to everyone for making the collection of ice money straightforward on the night. It is much appreciated.
