The Charlottetown Curling Club rink of Eddie MacKenzie, Mike Gaudet, Mike Dillon, and Alex MacFadyen beat their clubmates, the Peter Gallant foursome by an 8-2 score this afternoon to capture the A section final of the 15 team triple-knockout Labatt Tankard provincial men’s curling championship, being played at Summerside’s Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.
MacKenzie kept Gallant off the scoreboard until the fifth end, scoring a deuce in the first end, followed by three consecutive single point steals for a 5-0 lead. Gallant, whose final stones each end are thrown by his son, former Canadian Junior champion Brett, took a deuce in the fifth, but MacKenzie responded with a single in six and a stolen deuce in seven to bring the game to an early ending.
Other winners in draws seven and eight included John Likely, who edged Summerside’s Mel Bernard 5-4 in the morning draw, and downed top seed and Charlottetown clubmate Robert Campbell 10-3 in the afternoon, and defending champion Rod MacDonald, who came back from a 6-4 deficit to shade Charlottetown clubmate Kevin Champion 9-8.
The 7 pm draw will see Gallant take on Likely, and MacKenzie face MacDonald, with the winners of these two games advancing to the B final Sunday at 2 pm. In the other games this evening, Rob Warren will take on David Ross, and Calvin Smith will play Grant Somers.
Due to forecast weather conditions, the Sunday morning draw time has been changed from 9 am to 10 am, with afternoon draws scheduleld for 2 and 7 pm. Any further changes will be announced on local radio stations and posted on PEICurling.com.
Monday games are at 2 and 7 pm, with the C final going in the late draw. The two game championship round, which would not be required if the same team wins all three sections, goes Tuesday at 2 and 7 pm, with the winner advancing to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 5-13 in London Ont.