Switzerland 8 – 3 Ireland
While Mark Twain memorably said that ‘golf was a good walk spoiled’, we could butcher that phrase to ‘Today was a good day spoiled!’
The Team set off on a marvellous fjord cruise which included viewing Pulpit Rock some 600 metres above the fjord. A most impressive sight even from the safety of the boat – some of our intrepid colleagues are threatening to go and view it from the top……A fantastic trip.
The reality however was that the real business was a game against Stefan Karnusian’s Swiss team at 8pm. A good draw shot achieved the hammer for the third game running and the early scoring of singles in the first three ends highlighted the closeness of the game, although Bill had to draw against three in the first to get the 1 point. Ireland’s 4th end malaise appeared for the 2nd game running when the team got themselves into trouble as a result of a couple of near perfect corner freezes which either came up fractionally short or agonisingly rubbed guards. The net result was a score of three to Switzerland to take a 4-2 lead at the halfway point. The trend of just being on the wrong side of perfect continued into the 5th end where Bill’s nose hit attempt for 1 just rolled past the 2nd Swiss counter to allow a steal of 1 (the first steal the team had given in the competition so far). The 6th end was similar with the Swiss getting their stones into better positions than Ireland and a nose hit double for a single was all that they could muster. Going down the 7th 3-5 down required some gambling and despite a couple of loose shots, there was a possibility of creating something with the skippers last to pick out a stone near the button but yet again, millimetres of margin meant that the Swiss skip had a straightforward draw for his three and the boys conceded. A good day slightly spoiled by the result – the Swiss team played exceptionally well and Ireland struggled to impose themselves. Qualification from the group is still on but it will need to be wins from here on in against sides that will no doubt be improving. Next up Japan at 8pm Norge time Tuesday.
