ECC2008: Report 7 Scotland men v Norway

This was a scrappy game from the first end, neither team were making the shots, but it was an important game for both, on two wins and one loss both needed a win here.

The first ends were tight, Norway got two in end one but Scotland came back with singles in ends two, three and four. The sixth end looked promising, Scotland lay four and Norway were forced to draw for one to tie the game. It went wrong for Scotland in the eighth, David Murdoch was short with his draw against two, Norwegian skip Thomas Ulsrud had a chance for three but overthrew his draw and had to settle for two.

Scotland had a chance for two in the ninth but Murdoch's last stone wrecked, he scored just one to go into the last end tied on five all without last stone. With his last stone Ulsrud played a perfect tap up to score one for the game 6/5.

Switzerland beat Denmark in an extra end to stay on four wins, Germany and Norway have three, Scotland, France, Sweden and Denmark are all on two wins. Tomorrow Team Murdoch face Sweden and Switzerland.

Find other results and linescores here.

ECC2008: Report 6 Scotland women v Sweden

This was always going to be the big game for Kelly Wood's team in the round robin, they faced the mighty Sweden skipped by Anette Norberg, 2006 Olympic and World Champion, 2007, European Champion.

It was a tight game in the early ends, Scotland stole a single in the third when Kelly made a triple take out and Norberg was a fraction heavy with her last stone. The game swung in Scotland's favour when Kelly had a hit for four in end eight for a lead of three. Sweden got two back but Scotland went into the last end one up with.

Kelly faced two Swedish counters when she came to play her last stone, she opted for a hit, get the double and the game is won, remove one shot and it's an extra end. She got the extra end.

Scotland still had last stone advantage, Sweden lay one when Kelly Wood came to play her last stone, she was a fraction heavy and slipped past the shot rock, Sweden won the game 9/8.

Sweden top the table with three wins, Scotland, Germany, who had a surprising loss to England this afternoon, Italy and the Netherlands are tied on two wins. Tomorrow Scotland play Switzerland who lost to Italy today.

ECC2008: Report 5 Scotland men v Czech Republic

Good morning all, this is going to be another short report, I'm following the tactics of team Murdoch.

Sunday morning means the Czech Republic who had lost both their opening games, how would Scotland fare? With the hammer the Scots scored two in end one. The Czechs then opted to blank ends two and three. End four sealed their fate, facing two Scottish counters, the Czech skip was wide and heavy with his last stone, Scotland stole two and didn't look back.

Steals of two in the fifth and three in the sixth proved to be too much for the Czechs, they conceded. Scotland had their second win 9/0. Tonight they take on Norway.

Our teams in Sweden

L-R: Eve Muirhead, Lindsay Wood, Lorna Vevers, Jackie Lockhart, Kelly Wood

L-R: Graeme Connal, Euan Byers, Peter Smith, Ewan MacDonald, David Murdoch

The Svedbank arena where the A division games are taking place.

Photos by Hugh Stewart.

ECC2008: Report 4 Sco women v Russia

Scotland women against Russia women was a very different story from the men's game today, this game was going all the way, both teams had won their opening games, game two was still very important.

Scotland dominated the early ends and held a two shot lead after five ends. But there was still all to play for.

They held on to that lead through the second half, after nine the lead was three shots. Then came the bonus, the Scots stole two in the last end to win their second game of the day 9/4.

Tomorrow they meet Sweden, also on two wins from two games.

Find the linescores and results here.

ECC2008: Report 3 Sco men v Spain

Well, what can I say about this game? Trust me this will not be a long report, just like the game.

This is the first time Spain has played in the A league, and it shows. They lost this morning to Denmark 13/1 in seven ends. This afternoon they lost to Scotland on the same score 13/1 but this time the conceded after six ends. So an easy victory for Team Murdoch.

And honestly there isn't anything else to say about it.

So where does everyone stand now the men have played two games? The win/loss looks like this: Germany, Switzerland and Denmark are undefeated, Scotland, Ireland, France and Norway are on one win one loss, Sweden, Spain and the Czech Republic have lost both their games.

But this is just day one, though after 11 hours in this arena with another four or so to go, it seems longer. There's a long way to go yet.

Results and linescores are here.

ECC2008: Report 2 Scotland women v Cze

High noon in Ornskoldsvik and Kelly Wood's team, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood met the Czech Republic in their first game at the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships.

The Czech Republic is one of the newer curling countries. The first few ends of this game were surprisingly tight though the Scots had a two shot lead after five ends.

The seventh end was a big turning point in the game, Scotland lay four shots, the Czech skip Katerina Urbanova was too heavy with her final stone, Scotland stole four taking their lead to six shots. The Czechs got two back in the eighth but conceded after nine on a scoreline of 10/3 to Scotland.

In other games Sweden beat Denmark, Russia pipped Italy, Germany beat Switzerland and the Netherlands beat England.

Tonight Team Wood meet the Russians.

The results and linescores are here.