Staff
Raymond Roy is bound for P.E.I.
Roy and his rink of third Dave Broman, second Butch Wensley, and lead Patrick Briere knocked off Denis Prevost (Coniston) 5-2 in the final of the Dominion men’s club curling provincial championships yesterday at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay.
The win advanced the locals to the nationals playdowns Nov. 23-28 in Charlottetown.
In the final yesterday morning, Prevost took an early 1-0 lead in the second end, but Roy struck back with deuces in the third and fifth to jump ahead 4-1.
Roy stole a single in the sixth before Prevost took one in the seventh to round out the scoring, handing the provincial title to the Fort Frances crew.
Roy was forced to emerge from a logjam of four teams at 3-2 after the round-robin.
He faced Al Viel (Blind River) in one tiebreaker, earning a 7-4 win, while Prevost advanced to the final after doubling Mike Rubenick (Port Arthur) 6-3 in the other tiebreaker.
Against Viel, Roy picked up a deuce in the third and then a triple in the fourth to grab a 5-0 lead.
Viel made it interesting, though, putting up two in the fifth and stealing another pair in the sixth.
Roy put out the fire, however, by scoring two in the seventh to claim the win.
The win avenged Roy’s 5-3 loss to Viel in their round-robin showdown Friday morning.
But Roy bounced back later Friday with a 7-4 win over Prevost.
Having opened with a 6-4 win over Rubenick on Thursday night, Roy’s record fell to 2-2 with a 6-4 loss to Dana Loach (Horne Granite) on Saturday morning.
Heading into the final draw of the round-robin, Roy needed a win to assure himself a shot at the provincial title.
And he did just that—posting a definitive 7-2 victory over Jonah Dupuis (Nipigon) to secure a four-way tie for first place and a rematch against Viel in the tiebreaker.
