Dunstone gets rematch with Gushue in Brier final

Matt Dunstone is getting another shot at Brad Gushue.

Dunstone and his Manitoba team stole two in the 10th end to post a 7-5 victory over Brendan Bottcher’s Wild Card #1 entry in Sunday morning’s semifinal at the Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ont.

That put Dunstone into Sunday evening’s final against Gushue’s Team Canada, which beat the Manitoba champions 5-4 in the 1-2 Page playoff game Saturday night.

That victory gave Gushue a berth in the final and a shot at a second consecutive Canadian men’s curling title. The loss — Dunstone’s first of the tournament after eight straight round-robin wins — sent Manitoba into the semifinal.

“It would have been so easy for this team to go through the motions after what happened last night and give up an easy one, but we fought to the bitter end,” Dunstone told reporters after the semifinal.

In that game, the teams were tied 5-5 after six ends before blanks in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth ends. Bottcher had the hammer coming home, but his last-rock draw against two Manitoba counters was light and Dunstone had the steal.

The winner of the final will represent Canada at the world men’s curling championship, April 1-9 in Ottawa.