(by Eric McCarthy)

ALBERTON — The Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario representatives from the Deloraine Legion in Manitoba are the 2013 Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Curling champions. Skip Blair Goethals and his team of Barry Sunaert, Dale Goethals and Lorne Sambrook won the title in a tie-breaker game Wednesday afternoon at the Western Community Curling Club.

Manitoba/NW Ontario are Legion champs. Mike Atkinson, center, Dominion Command sports chairman, presents the Dominion Legion Curling championship trophy to the Blair Goethals rink from the Deloraine, Manitoba Legion team. Also taking part in the presentation are, from left, Eldon Doucette, Provincial Legion sports chair, team members Lorne Sambrook, Dale Goethals, Barry Sunaert and Blair Goethals, along with host committee co-chair Geoffrey Irving. Eric McCarthy/Journal Pioneer photo

Goethals and the Nova Scotia-Nunavut representatives from Fairview Legion in Halifax, finished round robin play with identical 5-1 records, forcing an afternoon tie-breaker game for the national hardware.

Goethals got on the board first with a single in three and then stole a deuce in the fourth end. He went on to win the game 6-3, avenging his round robin loss to Steve Elder’s Fairview Legion team in the process.

Dominion Command sports chair, Mike Atkinson praised the national event and the organizers. “I think it went very well, exciting games right to the end,”  Atkinson said, adding that the teams were closely matched.

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