Bon Accord made the bus journey up the A96 to Elgin to start their defence of the North Section Trophy.

The Bon Accord team saw 5 debutants (newbies) which is the most we have had seen since 2018 – Zak Morrison (Newhills), Callum Reid (Westhill), Willie Stewart (Polmuir), Owen Jack (Whitehall) and Colin Clark (Newhills).

The full line-up and rink draw was as follows (Bon Accord names first followed by Highland skip):
Rink 1- Ellis Adie, Keith Morrison, Callum Work & Jak Miller v Sandy Wylie
Rink 2 – Jim Shea, Cameron Millar, Kevin Harper & Scott Murray v Joe Sammons
Rink 3 – Craig Burnett, Willie Stewart, Martyn Orchard & Eric Gallan v Barrie Andrews
Rink 4 – Ben Inglis, Zak Morrison, Neil Anderson & Andrew Thomson v Gavin Thom
Rink 5 – Owen Jack, Colin Clark, David Cobban-Shaw & Paul Hay v Kevin Beaton
Rink 6 – Callum Reid, Billy Grant, Derek McNicol & Roy Henry v Leslie Stewart

At the team talk beforehand Team Manager John Miller and Captain Derek McNicol welcomed all the new caps and told them to go out and perform as they did in the trials.

During the 1st quarter, Bon Accord made the better start moving into an 8 shot lead at 32-24 with the highlights being a four on the 4th end from Scott Murray’s rink and a five from Andrew Thomson’s rink also on end 4.

The individual rink scores were:
Jak Miller 5, Sandy Wylie 6
Scott Murray 6, Joe Sammons 4
Eric Gallan 5, Barrie Andrews 4
Andrew Thomson 9, Gavin Thom 2
Paul Hay 3, Kevin Beaton 3
Roy Henry 4, Leslie Stewart 5

Quarter 2 saw Bon Accord stretch their lead by a further 4 shots to 62-50, as the game remained tight and in the balance. During this period Scott Murray and Eric Gallan’s rinks started to take control of their matches by adding 9 and 7 shots respectively, which saw a count of 6 from Scott’s rink on end 7.

The individual rink scores were now:
Jak Miller 9, Sandy Wylie 10
Scott Murray 15, Joe Sammons 7
Eric Gallan 12, Barrie Andrews 6
Andrew Thomson 13, Gavin Thom 4
Paul Hay 7, Kevin Beaton 8
Roy Henry 6, Leslie Stewart 15

The 3rd quarter saw Highland fighting back however Bon Accord managed to hold them in check by ‘winning’ the quarter 29-28 to lead by 13 shots at 91-78. The game was still in the balance! Bon Accord highlights included Roy Henry’s rink making a count of 5 on end 13 and Scott Murray’s rink scoring their 3rd significant count with a 5 this time on end 14.

The individual rink scores now read as follows before the defining last quarter:
Jak Miller 15, Sandy Wylie 13
Scott Murray 21, Joe Sammons 12
Eric Gallan 19, Barrie Andrews 9
Andrew Thomson 13, Gavin Thom 12
Paul Hay 8, Kevin Beaton 15
Roy Henry 15, Leslie Stewart 17

Over ends 16 to 18, Highland reduced the deficit by 3 shots to be only 10 behind at 105-95, so the match would come down to the final 18 ends!

Into the home stretch and it was Bon Accord who dominated as they added a further 21 shots with the loss of only 7 to open their campaign with a win by 126 shots to 102!

The final quarter highlight were Eric Gallan’s rink who won 5 of their remaining 6 ends scoring 11 shots and conceding only 1 and also Jak Miller’s rink winning 5 of their last 6 ends and again only conceding 1 shot!

The final rink scores were:
Jak Miller 23, Sandy Wylie 14
Scott Murray 24, Joe Sammons 18
Eric Gallan 30, Barrie Andrews 10
Andrew Thomson 15, Gavin Thom 22
Paul Hay 13, Kevin Beaton 18
Roy Henry 21, Leslie Stewart 20

A great start to our campaign with an away win, 2 points secured, 4 winning rinks and 5 newbies having gained County match experience!

The team sweeper for the highest up rink went to Eric Gallan’s rink as they hit the 30 shots mark to win by 20 shots! Well done guys!

We are back in action in 2 weeks on the 24th May at home to Aberdeen & Kincardine at Kittybrewster & Woodside BC. We look forward to playing in front of our home support and aiming to keep our 100% record!

The North Section standings can be viewed under the Standings section of the website / App.