STRATFORD, Ont. - Glenn Howard almost had to put in a full day of work at the Dominion Tankard Ontario men's curling championship.
Howard improved to 9-0 with two more wins Thursday, easily clinching first place in the round-robin as the rink representing the Coldwater & District Curling Club looks for its seventh straight Tankard title.
In the late draw, Howard beat Harriston's Jake Higgs 8-4 in eight ends. That was a marathon match by Howard's standard, as he had wrapped up his past four wins in six ends or less.
Howard opened Thursday's action with a five-end, 8-2 win over Listowel's Daryl Shane.
Brampton's Peter Corner, who lost 11-1 to Howard in Wednesday's late draw, held on to sole possession of second place and clinched at least a tiebreaker spot with a pair of wins.
Corner beat fellow Brampton skip Dayna Deruelle 8-5 to improve to 6-2. Corner broke the game open with three points in the seventh end.
Corner opened with a key 9-7 win over Thornhill's Mike Anderson in the early draw. Anderson rebounded with a 9-6 win over Listowel's Daryl Shane later to claim sole possession of third place at 5-3.
Winchester's Bryan Cochrane trounced Arnprior's Chris Gardner 8-1 to move into a tie with Deruelle for fourth place at 4-4.
Woodstock's Wayne Tuck Jr. kept his playoff hopes alive with an 8-7 win over Richmond Hill's Greg Balsdon. Tuck is alone in sixth place at 4-5, but with only one match left he needs help to finish in the top four.
Balsdon, Higgs and Ajax's Mark Kean are all still hanging on at 3-5.
Gardner and Shane are at 2-6.
