Manitoba/NW Ontario’s Goethals rink win Dominion Legion title

Mike Atkinson of the Dominion Command Sports Committee presented the trophy to the winning Manitoba/NW Ontario rink (R to L) skip Blair Goethals, third Barry Sunaert, second Dale Doethals and lead Lorne Sambrook. On the left is Eldon Doucette, provincial sports chair of PEI Command and on the right is host committee co-chair Geoffrey Irving.
Photo from Albertoncurlingclub.ca

The Blair Goethals rink from the Deloraine Legion branch, representing Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, beat the Steve Elder foursome from the Fairview branch, representing Nova Scotia and Nunavut, by a 6-3 score this afternoon to win the Dominion Legion Curling Championship. The event was held at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, hosted by the St. Anthony’s branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The two rinks finished round robin play with identical 5-1 win-loss records to force this afternoon’s tiebreaker game.  A stolen deuce in the 4th end gave the Goethal rink a 3-0 lead after four ends.  Elder picked up a point in the fifth, and the sixth was blanked.  Goethal picked up a single in the seventh, and stole another deuce in the 8th for a 6-1 lead. Elder narrowed the gap to 6-3 with a deuce in nine, but ran out of rocks in the final end.

Other members of the winning Goethals rink are third Barry Sunaert, second Dale Goethals, and lead Lorne Sambrook. Rounding out the runner-up Elder team are third John Montgomery, second John Flinn, and lead Larry Crewson.

Prince Edward Island’s Mel Bernard team, out of the Summerside branch, finished tied for third with Quebec and Saskatchewan, at 3-3, while BC/Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador both ended play with one win and five losses.

The awards banquet takes place this evening at the St. Anthony’s Legion in Bloomfield.