Skip Murdoch defends European curling crown

DAVID Murdoch's defence of his European title looked to be heading for a sad lament - until a brilliant comeback victory secured gold.

MASTER TACTICIAN: Scotland's David Murdoch helped his team-mates retain their European title in Sweden with a comeback victory over Norway (Getty Images)

The Scottish skip and team-mates Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith and Euan Byers looked to be heading for a sorry silver against Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in Ornskoldsvik.

In a repeat of last year's final, Scotland were trialing by two points with one end remaining.

A victory seemed a formality for Ulsrud's rink as Murdoch surveyed a two-shot deficit with just his final stone to deliver

But he produced a stunning double takeout to force an extra end, which Scotland clinched when Ulsrud's final stone slipped a slender inch wide of its intended target.

"I didn't think we'd win that," admitted Murdoch, as he recovered from the jubilant celebrations which followed the nail-biting finish.

"We just tried to keep believing and hoping that something would finally turn in our favour. It was grind it out time but we just hung in there and managed to give them a stinger at the end."

Murdoch will now look towards the World Championships in Moncton next April and beyond that, another date in Canada - the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 

He has already earned an impressive resume with six medals at European level - including three golds - in addition to a world junior and senior title. After a semi-final defeat on his Olympics debut in Turin, he'll travel as probably Britain's best medal hope.

Meanwhle Ulsrud was left to reflect on another missed opportunity.

"I'm not going to get any closer than that to winning a Europeans without actually winning it," he said.

"I thought the whole team played really well, and it was a great game."

"We were all over them from the start. That just goes to prove it, that it's never really over. My question for the Scots is how long are they going to keep curling! We need them to quit."

In the women's final, Switzerland eventually overcame the host nation Sweden 5-4.