'Team JJ' continue comeback mission

Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean hailed their team spirit after continuing their wheelchair curling comeback mission with victory over the USA.

The British pair lost their opening two matches in Cortina but have responded in the best possible manner, following up Thursday night’s triumph over Latvia with another hard-earned success.

Butterfield and Kean edged to a 5-4 win against Laura Dwyer and Stephen Emt, with two in the sixth end powerplay proving key.

“I enjoyed that one, it felt like a battle,” Butterfield said. Both teams were making shots to stay in it and it was about managing every end really well.

“We got two in our powerplay and that switched the momentum a little bit, you could see them go on the back foot and it was just about seeing it out and making sure we didn’t give them any more.

“We never like to make it easy for ourselves, we tend to battle them out. We have grown into every game.

“The first one was our weakest performance, there were nerves there without a doubt.

“But we have talked well in the debrief, spoken about what we need to work on and put that into practice in every game since. Hopefully we will continue to do that.”

The two nations were locked at 2-2 at the halfway stage, with the Americans looking for their third win of the competition.

But Butterfield and Kean helped each other through the nervy moments to come out on top, with a focus on enjoyment proving key.

“Jo knows what to say to me if I’m getting a bit sketchy, she’ll say ‘it’s alright, J’, and it’s the same the other way around,” Kean said.

“At moments in that game she’d say ‘what am I doing’ and I’d say ‘it’s alright, you’re just drawing, you’ve got it, don’t worry’.

“There’s that ownership we share as well, you own a great shot, you own a mistake, and that helps massively in the team bonding. We are not in it to blame each other, it has been a massive win all round for me this season.

“I love playing with Jo, it is a perfect partnership on the ice for me.”

The feeling is mutual, with Butterfield adding: “Team JJ is our secret sauce. Our relationship with each other gets us through when it’s tough or sailing high.

“We know how to encourage each other and support each other when we need it. That makes a difference.

“We enjoy it, we have fun when we are out there together and people can see that. We are loving the messages coming in when people can see us bouncing off each other.”

The pair return to the ice against Japan on Saturday (1.35pm GMT).