Glasgow wins the Ashes

Glasgow University Curling Club won the inagural Glasgow Ashes Challenge Match this evening in a tense game against Strathclyde University Curling Club. The Glasgow Uni team, consisting of Ben Fowler (Skip), Rebecca Steven (Vice Skip and Third), Jim Whittle (Second) and Peter Dagen (Lead) pulled out an 8-3 win against the Strahty side, skipped by 2014 Scottish Junior silver medalist, Gregor Cannon.

The game opened with Strathclyde being forced to take one point in the first, in the second end Glasgow was forced to a single as well. A series of steals, including one generated by a superb hit and roll by Fowler against five with his last in the fourth, gave Glasgow a 4-1 lead going into the sixth.

There was a worry in the seventh as it appeared we had run out of 1s for the scoreboard, however Strathy solved this problem by picking up two in the 6th to bring the score back to 4-3 in Glasgow's favour.

Some good set-up play in the seventh end allowed Glasgow a chance for three points, however the final draw came up short. Glasgow still picked up two to take a commanding three shot lead going into the final end.

From here Glasgow were able to hit for home as Strathy required three shots to peel the game and force an extra end. With his last shot, Ben picked one Strathy counter clean out of the house to lie two. A missed hit with the final stone of the end gave Glasgow a steal of two and an 8-3 victory over Strathclyde.

ENDS H 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 EE Total

Glasgow 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 8

Strathclyde * 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3

The game was certainly closer than the scoreboard suggest with every end being a bitter fight for each point. It was certainly an evening of good curling and good fun. We'll look forward to defending the title next year!

Pictured above, L:R - Ben Fowler (Skip), Peter Dagen, Jim Whittle, Rebecca Steven (Vice-Skip) and the Glasgow Ashes in their fine whisky bottle.