Victory over Hungary in a meeting of the two unbeaten teams in Group D at the World Junior B Championships in Finland took Scotland’s Team Henderson into the quarter-final stages.
The 5-3 win at the end of their toughest battle of the competition so far, meant Fay Henderson, Robyn Munro, Holly Wilkie-Milne and Laura Watt could not be overhauled at the top of the table as they head into their final round robin match and the nature of the win, set up by their defensive play, was highly satisfying.
“The score was tighter which reflected what was quite a close matched game,” said skip Henderson.
“There were a few ends with many stones in play, but both teams managed to bale out when they had to which resulted in the low score.
“The sixth end was definitely a turning point, though, with the only multiple score of the game going for us.” 
A skip’s deuce from Henderson at that crucial sixth end was ultimately to prove decisive.
“It was set up quite nicely with a couple of guards out of the front and I managed to get round them,” she said, paying tribute to her teammates’ set up work.
“The Hungarian skip missed the run back, so I just had the draw for two which was nice because it put us in control of the game.
“We then managed to get a steal at the seventh which made it even nicer, leaving us two up going down the last and we just played the end out.
“There were maybe a few more stones in play there than your standard end, but we still managed to control it and keep the momentum we had for the whole game by not giving up a two.”
Her target is now to maintain that ahead of the play-offs which will decide which three teams will qualify to play in this season’s World Junior A competition.
“We all played pretty well and Hungary were unbeaten before this game too, so knowing we’ve beaten them gives us good momentum,” Henderson observed.
“We’ve got our final round-robin match against Austria tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll finish off with another win, but we’ve never played them before, so that will be another new challenge.
“It’s nice to have qualified for the quarter-finals as top of the group, but we can’t let that affect how we play tomorrow, because every win gives you that little bit of confidence heading towards the play-offs.”
Please click here for more details and results.
Team Henderson
Fay Henderson
Robyn Munro
Holly Wlkie-Milne
Laura Watt
Amy Mitchell
Schedule & Results:
Thursday 15 December – Session 2
Scotland v Ukraine 11-3
Friday 16 December – Session 4
Scotland v New Zealand 6-3
Session 6
Scotland v Mongolia 11-1
Saturday 17 December – Session 8
Scotland v Hungary 5-3
Sunday 18 December – Session 10
Scotland v Austria
Session 11
Women’s Quarter Finals
Monday 19 December – Session 12
Women’s Semi Finals
Session 13
Women’s Finals
