Geall steals his way into final of the 2016 Canadian Direct BC Men's Curling Championships
By Bruce Fuhr
It’s hard to believe that in the game of curling, a game that has 10 ends with countless of attempts by the players that one shot could make the difference between winning and losing.
But that’s what happened Sunday at the Nelson Curling Club.
A pick on the last shot of the fourth end by skip Dean Joanisse proved to be the difference allowing Sean Geall to steal a deuce en route to a 4-2 victory in the semi final of the 2016 Canadian Direct Insurance Men’s Curling Championships.
“Ya it happens,’’ Joanisse said following the hard-luck loss to Geall.
“Sometimes the picks even themselves out but there’s weren’t too many picks in that game.”
“But that was definitely big,” Joanisse added. “It’s not like we gave up after that as there was a lot of ends left to play, but certainly changed the game for sure.”
Geall now advances to the Final against defending BC Men’s Champ Jim Cotter of Vernon.
Trailing 1-0, Joanisse came out of the hack in the same manner like he had many times this season.
However, less than a second after releasing the final rock of the end he saw the stone pick allowing Geall to steal two and take a commanding 3-0 lead.
The teams traded points in the fifth and sixth ends before Geall forced Joanisse into taking a single in the seventh.
Gaell then kept sheet clean for the final three ends, nailing a double takeout to secure the victory with his first shot in the tenth.
The win by Geall sets up a rematch of the Page Playoff 1-2 game, won 5-1 by Cotter.
The winner advances as the BC Rep to the Tim Horton’s Brier March 5-13 in Ottawa.
