Teams skipped by Adam Boland and Greg Smith are tied for the lead with 4-0 records after play Wednesday at the Tankard provincial men’s curling championship in St. John’s.
Boland had the bye in Wednesday’s late draw at the Re/Max Centre, where Smith was matched up against Andrew Symonds, who also entered the game with a 3-0 record.
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The lead in the contest switched three times in the early ends, and the game was tied twice after that, but Smith found the winning differential with a single point with the hammer in the eighth, breaking a 6-6 tie and following up with a steal one in the ninth. In the 10th, Symonds ran out of rocks.
Symonds is alone in third place at 3-1, followed by Frank O’Driscoll at 3-2 and Trent Skanes at 2-2 and Paul Harvey at 2-3.
The three latter rinks all posted wins late Wednesday, with O’Driscoll coming up with the most dramatic victory, scoring three in the 10th end for an 8-7 decision over Colin Thomas (1-4).
Skanes downed Justin Lockyer (1-4) 13-6, while Harvey registered an 11-4 victory over Dave Thomas (0-4) of Port aux Basques, the only one of the nine rinks entered in the Tankard not based out of the Re/Max Centre (St. John’s Curling Club).
Round-robin play continues today and Friday (when Boland is set to face Smith) in draws at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The top three finishers (after any necessary tiebreakers) at the end of the round-robin advance to the playoffs, with the first-place team going straight to Sunday’s final and the other two squaring off in a semifinal on Saturday.
