It’ll be a repeat trip to the Brier for the rink of Eddie MacKenzie, Anson Carmody, Tyler MacKenzie and Sean Ledgerwood. They defeated the Jamie Newson foursome by a 6-4 score this evening to capture the PEI Tankard provincial men’s curling championship at the Montague Curling Rink.
The Newson rink had the early lead in the game, stealing ends one and three, but MacKenzie took a single in the fourth and stole a deuce in the 5th to lead 3-2 at the half. Newson pulled ahead 4-3 with singles in ends 6 and 7.
Photo: Sean Ledgerwood holds the broom as Eddie MacKenzie prepares to draw, facing four Newson counters
The game could have had a different outcome had MacKenzie not made his final draw in the eighth. He was wide on a hit with his first shot in the end, and had to draw to the four foot facing four Newson counters with his last rock to pick up a single and tie the game at 4-all.
Photo: Andrew Robinson holding the broom for an attempted runback in 9th end
MacKenzie had two rocks in the four foot in the ninth, with three guards, and Newson \tried a runback to either kill both MacKenzie rocks or at least keep him to one, but the shot missed the mark, giving MacKenzie a steal of two to lead 6-4 coming home.
Photo: handshake time
In the 10th end, MacKenzie removed the last of Newson’s rocks in the house with his final shot, running Newson, down two with only one rock left, out of rocks, and earning him his fourth PEI Tankard win, his second in a row, and a trip to the Tim Horton’s Brier, March 1-9 in Kamloops BC.
Photo: Jamie Newson, Andrew Robinson, Sean Clarey,John Desrosiers, alternate Phillip McInnis, Curl PEI President George Koke
Other members of the runner-up Newson rink, who defeated the Blair Jay team by a 6-4 score in this afternoon’s semi-final to advance to the championship game, are Andrew Robinson, Sean Clarey, and John Desrosiers, with alternate Phillip McInnis. Both teams in the final curl out of the Charlottetown Curling Complex. Ten teams took part in this year’s PEI Tankard.