Tiebreaker v Switzerland

What a game!

Swi 101 000 01 - 3
Sco 010 110 10 - 4

Looking at a linescore really tells you not a whit about the good shotmaking. With last stone in the first end Christian Moser hit on the nose for a single. With the Swiss playing perfectly in the second, Alan had an early test of his mettle with a hit against two, which he made perfectly.

The third end could have been the key one, but the Scottish skip produced an inch perfect freeze with his first to get the team out of trouble. That's the shot sliding into place in the photo above, and it kept the Swiss to a single.

More mettle testing in the fourth, when Alan had to make his last stone count with three lying against him. It was 2-2 at the break!

Christian Moser, Niki Goridis, Stephan Luder and Michele Moser were playing with a confidence they had not shown in their last couple of games. Could Alan, Gillian, David and Karen pull something out the bag to shake that confidence?

The Scottish skip had a dilemma in the fifth. With one already hidden, does he try and hide another or whip away the Swiss stone lying in second position. He decided to do the latter to put pressure on the Swiss skip, and lay four. Moser was quick into the hack to play the draw to the button but he was overswept, and the Scots stole one.

Up 3-2 in the seventh, a rare miss from David put the pressure on the team. But, as always, Alan had a special in his armoury. Not easy to do on the swinging ice, he played a delicate hit and roll behind cover. Moser tried the raise to count two, but got the wrong angle. Scotland had stolen and were two up coming home, without.

It was textbook perfect all the way in keeping the last end clear - almost! Alan freshed his clearance of a lone Swiss guard with his first. Moser came perfectly behind to the front of the four foot. Alan made up for his miss by drawing the button partly hidden. The Swiss removed the Scots counter but rolled out, and Scotland were in the mix with Denmark and Germany for the last semifinal place. These games tomorrow.

Scotland with the better average draw shot distance get the bye, and will play the winner of the Denmark-Germany game to reach the semifinals on Saturday morning.

Pic by Bob.