Richard Morgan still has his magic - and the skip of the winning Boyz From the Bush curling team certainly needed it in the final.
The Central Otago team of Morgan, John Harley, Jimmy Dundass and Bill Clouston trailed 6-2 with just two ends left.
A serious pep talk between ends changed the game and resulted in the Central Otago team scoring four on the penultimate end to draw level and then collect a second four on the last end to win the game.
It is a rare feat in curling to score eight shots on the last two ends in a championship final.
The Highway 87 team from Dunedin could visualise the glitter of the gold medals around their necks, but Charlie McLeod, Sam Inder, Ian Manson and Brian Wilson had their hopes dashed as the Boyz From the Bush put four scoring stones in the house twice in a row.
Morgan represented New Zealand at the Asia-Pacific championships in the early 1990s and has been a regular in the over-50s team in recent years.
He was also a talented halfback in his rugby days, playing 15 games for Otago from 1978 to 1980.
In the semifinals, the Highway 87 team had an easy 12-1 win over the Cromwell Highlanders skipped by Donald Young.
The Boyz from the Bush were tested in the semifinals by the South Otago four skipped by Dave Inder and scraped a 4-2 win to advance to the final.
Twenty-two teams entered for the two-day competition at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
