England v Netherlands: Match Report

A dark and blustry evening in Aberdeen but inside the curling rink the lights were on and the ice was keen and clear. All set for a tense match between one of the favourites for the B Group, the Netherlands and the pretenders, England. And tense it was. While the previous night the supporters suffered from apnia, tonight they really were on the edges of their seats in a ding dong battle.

England had edged the early skirmishes taking a 2-1 lead but then at the fourth end England's attempts to keep a shot on the button hidden failed. A guard failed to draw enough and a 3 was conceded when the Dutch skip played an excellent run back triple promotion to remove the English shot. However, the team has spirit and capitalised on a Dutch mistake to take a two at the fifth. All square at the half way break - why did we play those first five ends at all then?

At the sixth England stole one and nearly again at the seventh but instead forced the Netherlands to give up last stone for a single so still all square. England should have had two at the eighth but a draw came up a few inches short so only one. Then the ninth was a poor end - when Jamie came to play his last stone the Dutch were lying three. Jamie drew to second shot and was well positioned for his stone to jam on a Dutch stone if hit. The Dutch skip took the challenge rather than settle for a draw for two and then was wide, jamming the English stone against their own so it spun to shot - one to England.

Two up going for home, England cleared out efficiently so the Dutch ran out of stones. England win 7-5.

Tomorrow is an early start against Serbia - another must win.