WESTMAN SUPER LEAGUE - UPDATE

Allan wins Lyburns’ battle of the brothers

Keith Borkowsky

Last year, Brandon’s Allan Lyburn beat his brother William in seven ends in a Brandon Sun Westman Super League of Curling game just before the Brandon Men’s Bonspiel and went on to claim the event’s Safeway Championship berth a few days later.

Twelve months later, the same scenario is shaping up after Allan earned a key 8-4 win over William in Wednesday night’s Super League action at the Brandon Curling Club.

“Hopefully that’s a lucky omen,” Allan Lyburn said. “We’ve been having a good season and have been playing well and enjoy playing together so hopefully we can have a good run this weekend (at the Brandon Men’s Bonspiel).”

After William’s deuce and stolen single to take a 3-1 lead, Allan gained control for good with a four-ender for a 5-3 lead.

“We weren’t playing all that badly,” Allan Lyburn said. “We were putting a little pressure on them and after that we put rocks in the right spot and put William in a tough spot in the fourth when we scored four and he was chasing us the rest of the game.”

Allan Lyburn (8-2) added a three-ender in the seventh end to put the game on ice and keep his share of first place in the league, while William Lyburn dropped to 6-4 and now shares third place with three other teams.

In other games last night, Jerry Chudley of Neepawa clipped Rob Van Kommer of Carberry 7-6, Kelly Marnoch of Carberry beat Terry McNamee of Brandon 8-6, Lisa Blixhavn of Brandon needed an extra end to beat Blair Goethals of Deloraine 6-5, Graham Freeman of Virden slid past Ken Lawn of Hamiota 5-2 and Brandon’s Kelly Skinner edged Kelly Robertson of Neepawa 9-8.

Skinner 9 Robertson 8

Skinner (8-2) gave up a couple of big ends, including a score or four in the second end and a triple in the fifth, but hung on to his share of the league’s lead with a vital single in the final end. Robertson dropped to 6-4 and is in a four-way tie for third place.

Marnoch 8 McNamee 6

Just before leaving for the Canada Cup qualifier in Edmonton, Marnoch (3-7) scored a game-ending three-ender in the eighth end to earn the win. McNamee’s team (6-4) managed two steals, a single and a deuce with Barry Rabe skipping in place of McNamee.

Blixhavn 6 Goethals 5

Blixhavn, fresh off of a Scotties Zone 4 victory, needed an extra end to hold off Goethals to improve to 4-6. Goethals dropped to 2-8.

Freeman 5 Lawn 2

Freeman (5-5) needed a win to keep his playoff chances alive and got it with a couple of single-point steals. He can now force a tie-breaker with a win next week over McNamee. Lawn fell to 1-9.

Chudley 7 Van Kommer 6

Both teams scored singles and deuces with the hammer, but Chudley’s three-ender in the second end proved more vital than it seemed at the time. Chudley now shares third place with a 6-4 record, while Van Kommer (5-5) needs a win and some help to force a tie-breaker game.