Dan Falloon
The standings show the Lorne Jackson rink finished 2-3 at the mixed curling provincial playdowns in Kenora over the weekend, but the skip was thrilled with his squad’s performance nonetheless.
“We played quite well,” he enthused. “We lost a couple games that pretty much just came down to last rock.”
Jackson and his rink of third Kathie Jackson, second Todd Moxham, and lead Christine Sinclair lost only to teams that ended up qualifying for the Page playoffs—and came within a shot of beating eventual champion Craig Kochan (Fort William).
“The one game against the team that eventually won it, I just missed my last rock,” Jackson sighed.
“They got up early on us, and we played very, very well to get back into the game,” he recalled.
“We were tied up coming home, I just had to make my last shot, but I picked the guard and that’s the way it goes.”
Jackson felt his team had a feel for the Kenora Curling Club, playing in tune to what the ice provided.
“The ice conditions were good, and we had a good handle on the ice, so in that aspect we played well,” he remarked.
“The team worked well together, and sometimes you win.”
The tournament—featuring a triple-knockout format—began with strike one on Thursday as Jackson and his crew were beaten 7-5 by Dylan Johnston (Fort William Curling Club).
The teams traded singles from the second through to the sixth end after blanking the first, putting Johnston up 3-2.
That’s when Fort William heated up, stealing a pair in both the seventh and eighth ends to grab a commanding 7-2 lead.
Jackson righted himself with a pair in the ninth, then stole one in the 10th, but it was too little, too late.
The loss dropped Jackson to the ‘B’ event against Robbie Gordon (Idywylde), who they doubled 8-4 on Friday.
Jackson got off to a promising start against Gordon, taking a single in the first before stealing a pair in the second and then one more in the third to grab a 4-0 lead.
Gordon responded with a single in the fourth before the teams blanked the fifth end.
Jackson then came back with a pair in the sixth to make it 6-1.
Gordon did not roll over, however, posting a deuce in the seventh and then stealing one in the eighth.
Jackson sealed the victory with a pair in the ninth.
The Fort Frances rink was able to stay on the ‘B’ side for one more game, edging Kenora’s Kevin Brown in an 11-10 extra-end nail-biter.
The teams exchanged deuces in the first two ends, but Jackson went up 8-3 with triples in both the third and fifth, with a Brown single wedged in between.
Brown came back with a vengeance, though, rallying for two in the sixth before stealing one in the seventh and then three more in the eighth to wrestle a 9-8 lead.
Jackson charged ahead with two in the ninth, then held Brown to a single in the 10th to force an extra end.
With the hammer, Jackson came up with the single he needed to clinch victory.
As cozy as the ‘B’ side was, their occupancy ran out against Kochan, who bumped Jackson to the ‘C’ side with a 6-5 triumph.
Kochan put up a deuce in the first before stealing one in the second to lead 3-0, but Jackson responded with singles in the third and fourth ends to draw within 3-2.
The teams traded singles in the fifth and sixth, but Jackson knotted things at 4-4 with a steal in the seventh.
Kochan rallied with one in the eighth, but Jackson again tied it in the ninth.
But Kochan escaped with the narrow win by scoring a single in the 10th.
The loss set up a do-or-die rematch with Gordon, and this time it was Gordon who prevailed, eliminating the Fort Frances crew with a 5-3 win.
Gordon scored singles in the first three ends before Jackson responded with one in the fourth.
But Gordon came right back with singles in each of the fifth and sixth ends.
Jackson counted a deuce in the seventh to get to within 5-3, but the teams shook hands after that.
