THEM’S THE BREAKS!

Big break propels Team Manitoba-Dunstone to key victory at Montana’s Brier

Skip Matt Dunstone received a massive break Sunday at the Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, and he was bound and determined not to waste what curlers describe as a ‘good miss’.

The huge break came in the second end of his game against skip Catlin Schneider’s Team British Columbia (0-2, Victoria) at the Brandt Centre, and was a big reason Team Manitoba-Dunstone (1-1, Winnipeg) cruised to an 8-5 victory in Pool A action.

“You shouldn’t be rewarded for bad shots,” said Dunstone, one of the pre-Brier favourites this week in the chase for the Canadian men’s curling championship. “You don’t like to see that stuff happen, but playing at the Brier you’re always going to take it, too.”

Breaks, of course, can decide championships. And who knows, the gift Dunstone was handed may propel last year’s Montana’s Brier finalist into the winner’s circle in Regina.

The Manitobans, in a bit of trouble, were left a tricky last-rock runback, but Dunstone was off target, angled his rock in toward the button where it kicked out the B.C. shot stone buried behind cover. It left three Manitoba-Dunstone counters and a huge, early lead.

The break gave the Manitobans a shot of adrenalin and, of course, was a body blow to Schneider’s B.C. crew.

“We were trying to hit that seven-eighths high, pretty natural to go in there for two and got very fortunate. I think that was kind of the kick in the pants that this team needed,” said Dunstone, who admitted he apologized to the opposition for his good fortune.

“Yeah, I did. I said sorry, guys, that was really bad.”

Schneider, to his team’s credit, battled back and had the game tied 4-4 after five ends. But disaster struck in the eighth end when Schneider, attempting to pick out Dunstone’s shot stone to score three sailed wide, giving up a steal of one to fall behind 8-4.

Dunstone admitted he wasn’t his sharpest.

“I’m still struggling quite miserably,” he said. “I played way better yesterday. I was quite miserable out there today. It’s a long week, I learned that last year that it is an absolute marathon. I definitely have to find the next level pretty fast.”

Schneider could only shrug his shoulders.

“We didn’t have a lot of luck on our side,” he said. “Tough one in the second but that’s curling. Can’t really think too much about it. You have to put your head down and that’s what we did.” 

It was an important win for Team Dunstone, which faced going into an early 0-2 hole, a grim proposition considering only the top three teams in each of the two nine-team pools qualify for the playoffs.

An early three-way logjam emerged at the top of the Pool A standings after the draw as Team Alberta-Bottcher, Team Northern Ontario and Team Manitoba-Carruthers all won their games.

Team Bottcher (2-0, Calgary), skipped by Brendan Bottcher, the 2021 Montana’s Brier winner, had the easiest time of it, blitzing skip Thomas Scoffin’s Team Yukon (0-1, Whitehorse) 8-3.

Team Manitoba-Carruthers (2-0, Winnipeg), with Brad Jacobs throwing last stones, kept pace after posting a 7-6, extra-end win over Team Ontario (1-1, Penetanguishene), skipped by Scott Howard.

Meanwhile, Team Northern Ontario, skipped by Trevor Bonot (2-0, Thunder Bay), emerged the early surprise this week by winning its first two games, including Sunday’s 7-6 triumph over Newfoundland & Labrador (0-2, St. John’s), skipped by Andrew Symonds.

Team New Brunswick (0-1, Oromocto), skipped by James Grattan, had the Group A bye.

The winner on March 10 will represent Canada at the men’s world championship, March 30 to April 7, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

The 2024 Montana’s Brier continues Sunday with draws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Central).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

TSN and RDS will provide complete coverage of the 2024 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. Live coverage is also available for international streaming on TSN’s YouTube channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/?lang=fr