In brief:
Wales 15-9 England,
Wales 8-8 Scotland,
Wales 14-13 Ireland,
The first day of this year's Four Nations saw Wales take a significant lead in their contest against England for the Kay Trophy, and in the battle against Ireland for the Meikle Trophy there is a very small lead for Wales, leaving that contest wide open. Against Scotland there were two very close matches, and the scores after day one were exactly level. It was the only day of the weekend where all Wales' matches were of Mixed teams, although this was not true for the other nations at Greenacres.
There are 6 sheets of ice available at Greenacres, and the Four Nations this year is making full use of that. For the opening session, there were 6 matches in progress, as Wales took on England in two mixed games, while Scotland's men and women played Ireland and another two Scotland men's teams took on England.
In the first set of matches, against England, both Wales teams performed well, although Andrew Tanner's team took a few ends to start taking hold of their game on Sheet B, but taking a score of 4 in the 4th end was enough to secure the match, which eventually was won 7-5. Meanwhile, James Pougher's team started well, posting a 6-1 lead at the halfway stage of their game on Sheet A. It means Wales have a 15-9 (6-shot) lead overall in the contest for the Kay Trophy.
The second session saw Wales up against Ireland, and here there was a one-sided match and a tight one. Adrian Meikle had little trouble in his game against David Whyte, giving up one shot in only three ends to win the entire match 8-3. There was a much closer contest in the match between Richard Pougher and Carolyn Hibberd, with the scores level at 6-6 going into the 7th end. After a slight misunderstanding about the number of ends to be played, Wales took a chance in the 7th end and gave up 3 shots, and sadly that score was repeated in the 8th end, meaning Wales lead Ireland by just 1 shot in the contest for the Meikle Trophy.
The final session of the day saw Wales up against Scotland in two mixed matches. James Pougher's team were playing Gordon Gilchrist's, and it was a match where neither team scored more than 1 in a single end. Despite this, there were some tightly-contested shots, and after a few skilled shots and a final piece of luck, James was victorious by 1 shot. The other game saw Andrew Tanner's team face Clive Thompson, and it was very much a game of two halves, with the Scots building an early lead, only for Wales to catch up right at the end and come within 1 shot of levelling the scores. It means the overall scores are level for the Big Bertha Stone going into the second day.