CIBC played Falcon in their first County league fixture of the season. There was a decided sense of consistency in both home and away results. At home the shot count favoured CIBC 59-48 while away the shot count favoured CIBC 59-47. The only inconsistent was while CIBC won their three away matches, Falcon only won once on the road. It seems the CIBC guys have been concentrating on stamina training. CIBC teams won 20 of the final 30 last 5 ends over the 6 games, known as the ICINI PUSH. The league table will record a 12-1 win for CIBC.
At home Domanic Warren had in his team Brian Finney, Alan Ghent and Paul Hills. They had a decent start but found themselves 2-3 down after 4 ends. They got back into the lead on the 6th end and never lost it. Despite winning 25-11 it was still a close game, (13-11) after 16 ends. Then the hammer came down and they scored 12 unanswered points in the final five ends.
Almost the same score was recorded on the next rink,( 24-12). Elliot Mann had David Mann, Ian Harris and Pete Halliday in his team. Falcon went ahead early but CIBC held a 3-2 lead after 3 ends. Scores were briefly tied before CIBC surged ahead to lead 14-4 after 10 ends. Seven shots on the 8th end was a big help. Falcon fought hard over the next seven ends, winning all seven. The home team did well to restrict them to just one shot per end and were still ahead, (14-11) after 17 ends. The final 4 ends saw CIBC gain 10 shots (5 on 19th) to a single shot to Falcon.
Mark Tokley had in his team Lee Blackham, Tony Watson and Ed Mercer. They got off to a quality start and held the lead for the first five ends. Six shots for Falcon on the sixth end saw CIBC fall behind (6-9). The next five also favoured Falcon and Marks men were 6-16 down. A mini rally saw them gain 3 shots over the next 3 ends but Falcon went on to win 23-10.
Away from home Darren Dellar had the assistance of Alf Comerford, Len Oakes and Paul Mann. They were up against Falcon skip R. Walker, M. Moss, P. Low and A. Wright. This was a very tight game. Falcon got an early lead but scores were tied after 3 ends after which CIBC took the lead and looked very comfortable leading 13-4 after 10 ends, a fiver on 10 was a big help. CIBC continued to hold the lead until the 17th end where Falcon drew level (16-16) helped by a fiver of their own on the 16th. Falcon continued their recovery taking the lead on the next end. However, CIBC won the last three ends and the game 20-18.
Shaun Cook had in his team Brian Smith, Kevin Smith and Cadell Lench. This was another very close game. The lead changed four times up to the 7th end at which point Falcon led 7-5. They continued to lead up until the 19th end, (sometimes by 5 shots) but CIBC won all but two of the last 9 ends. They drew level on the 20th end and won the game 17-16.
Andy Smith played with Peter Pushman, Geoff King and Tom Smith. Falcon got a quality start winning the first two ends. However, CIBC won the next 8 ends and led 16-3 after 10 ends. It was then the turn of CIBC to falter and they lost 5 of the next 6 ends, but they still had a 17-11 lead. CIBC won four of the last 5 ends and the game 22-13.