DANNY’S UP FOR THE CUP
The PEAK-based rinks of Ross Paterson and Eve Muirhead have reached the semi-finals of the European Curling Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Last night (Thursday), Team Paterson – featuring Stirling-born Olympic silver medallist Michael Goodfellow – faced a home nation rink in the semi-final, the Swedes having gone through the round-robin matches undefeated.
The two teams met yesterday morning (Thursday) in their final sectional game with the Swedes running out 7-3 winners. The other semifinal sees Switzerland take on Denmark.
In the women’s event, Eve Muirhead’s rink, with former Balfron High School pupil Lauren Gray starring, clocked up four straight wins over Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic and Switzerland before losing heavily to Sweden.
They got back on track with big victories over Germany and Latvia to qualify for the semi-finals with two matches left in the round-robin.
A defeat by Russia on Wednesday meant they and the Scots, along with Switzerland and Sweden had all reached the play-offs with only the final placings to be finalised.
Yesterday Muirhead’s rink were up against Estonia, Russia and Sweden met and ther Swiss faced Latvia.
Jamie Mu rray and his partner Neal Skupski were left with the task of keepingTeam GB in the Davis Cup yesterday (Thursday). As the Observer went to press, the duo were on court against Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev with the winners to qualify for the quarter-finals. On Wednesday, Andy Murray laboured to a three-set win over Dutch world No.179 Tallon Griekspoor, helping his team to a 2-1 victory over the Dutch with brother Jamie and his doubles partner Neal Skupski sealing the success with a thrilling 6-4 7-6 triumph – a match which became pivotal after Dan Evans lost to Robin Haase.
Yesterday (Thursday), captain Leon Smith replaced Andy with Kyle Edmund for the match against Kazakhstan, a decision which seemed inspired as Edmund beat Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets. Dan Evans’ loss to Alexander Bublik levelled the tie.
Britain, who won the 2015 Davis Cup in the previous format, would have faced an uphill battle to reach the last eight in Madrid had they not beaten the Dutch who lost their opening match against Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Murray (33) and Skupski (29) won the first set in the deciding doubles againast Wesley Koolhoff and Jean-Julien Rojer but trailed 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set before the pair won three games in a row for 5-5.
The match went to a tie break
Midfielder Danny Jardine is hoping to help Stirling Albion knock Clyde out of the Scottish Cup after scoring his first goal of the season last weekend.
The former St Johnstone player ended his 12-month wait for a goal with the opener in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Annan Athletic at Forthbank.
Danny Lennon’s League 1 side won twice in Stirling last season but the Binos are desperate to follow up last month’s victory over Strathspey Thistle by taking Clyde’s scalp at Forthbank tomorrow and clinching a place in the fourth round draw.
The 21-year-old said: “It was good to get a goal and I thought we played very well in the first half.
“There were spells when we were well on top but it got a bit scrappy in the second half. Overall it was a good team performance and I’m just pleased we got the three points.
“It was a great cross from Sean Heaver where a neat pick-up from Skupski give them a match point which they won.
Earlier younger brother Andy, who had not played a competitive match since winning the European
Open title in Antwerp more than a month ago, appeared to struggle physically at times against Griekspoor.
Twice Murray looked beaten in the final set, trailing 4-1 and again by the same scoreline in the tie-break, only to dig deep into his reserves to fight back.
Eighteen nations are contesting a football-style tournament for the first time to determine the Davis Cup champions, with the winners of the six groups and the two best-placed runners-up reaching the quarter-finals. and I was in the right place at the right time. It went over Darryl Duffy’s head and I managed to time it well. It’s been a slow start for me in terms of goals but I’m hungry to get more.
“I’m looking forward to the Clyde game and I’ve scored a couple of times against them.
“There is a strong sense of belief in the squad and we know what we are capable of – it’s just a case of going out and delivering that. We are starting to get into a rhythm and I’m sure other teams are noticing that.
“I think we have the fourth-best defensive record in Scotland. We are not conceding goals and we are starting to score a few. We will give it everything against Clyde and will go into it full of confidence.”
Manager Kevin Rutkiewicz said: “Danny has bags of ability but I’ve said to him there’s not enough times that people leave this stadium talking about him. He needs more of those moments.
“He does a terrific amount of work between the boxes and is nothing short of 100 per cent committed every week but it’s scoring goals and having assists that get you noticed.
“I’m hoping he uses this as a springboard to grab games by the scruff of the neck.
“We ground it out last week – it was a really difficult game against a strong Annan side and they really asked a question of us in the second half. The quality of the game wasn’t as good as the Albion and Cowdenbeath games but it was a bit of a patchwork team.
“We have found a way to win and maybe showed a ruthless side with two great finishes for the goals.
“I’m delighted with the three points. If we had not won this game people might have looked and said it was a wee bit of a flash in the pan but I think this now shows we are on a good run. We were just unlucky not to get something at Cove.”
Albion will be without striker Darryl Duffy for the Clyde game after his red card against Annan but Josh Peters is close to a return. If it’s a draw, the sides will try again at Broadwood on Tuesday, December 3.