TRURO – It just wasn’t Peter Burgess’ weekend.
Burgess, along with mate and brother Craig, second Jared Bent and lead Todd Burgess, just couldn’t seem to get going at Amherst Curling Club and missed one of five berths up for grabs for the Molson Coors Tankard provincial men’s curling championship at Truro Curling Club Feb. 5 to 10.
“We struggled with the ice a bit,” Peter said of the qualifying tournament. “We didn’t adjust to it very well. We just didn’t bring our A game.”
Now the foursome turns its attention to finding that A game and taking it to a last-chance qualifier this Thursday to Sunday in Wolfville, where the three remaining spots in the Tankard will be doled out.
“I think we’re a top 8 team in the province without a doubt,” Peter said. “But you can’t have a bad game and still expect to win at one of these events. You’ve got to play well.”
Mayflower Curling Club’s Ian Juurlink, Paul Flemming, Chad Stevens and Shea Steele and Lakeshore’s Jamie Murphy all punched their ticket to the provincial championship.
Burgess went 2-3 at the qualifier and was eliminated in an 8-3 setback Saturday to Mayflower’s Brent MacDougall.
He also fell 8-2 to Mayflower’s John Luckhurst after hammering Juurlink 9-1. Stevens defeated Burgess 10-4 after Burgess handed Mayflower’s Rob Harris an 8-4 setback.
Burgess will be in tough again this weekend, as heavy hitters like five-time provincial champion Mark Dacey of Mayflower will be looking for a berth, as will former champion Mark Kehoe of CFB Halifax. Up to 19 teams are expected to be competing.
sports@trurodaily.com
