Matt Dunstone seeks curling worlds berth in Brier final against defending champ Gushue

Manitoba's Matt Dunstone earned a berth in the Brier final with a 7-5 victory over Wild Card 1's Brendan Bottcher on Sunday afternoon at Budweiser Gardens.

Dunstone put the pressure on in the 10th end, drawing around two stones to sit on the side of the button. Bottcher's draw on the other side was light, giving Manitoba a steal of two and the semifinal victory.

"We made what we had to down the stretch," Dunstone said from London, Ont. "We got a bit of a break there and we're off to the final."

Dunstone's team made eight ideal shots in the final end. Bottcher had a tight line with his final rock and it wasn't close to reaching the button.

"It was just a tough shot that was missed," Bottcher said. "All the credit to Matt. He put his last one in the perfect spot."

WHAT A GAME. With that, it will be a rematch of the 1v2 game in the final! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brier2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brier2023</a> <a href="https://t.co/J0woXxIz1C">pic.twitter.com/J0woXxIz1C</a>

Manitoba will play defending champion Brad Gushue in the final at 7 p.m. ET.

Gushue earned a direct berth to the championship game with a 5-4 victory over Dunstone in the Page 1-2 game on Saturday night. The St. John's skip stole a point in the 10th end to hand Dunstone his only loss of the competition.

The result dropped Dunstone into the semifinal against a Wild Card 1 side that beat Ontario's Mike McEwen 6-3 in the Page 3-4 game.

Dunstone was in form early with a soft tap for two that staked his team to the lead in the second end. Bottcher replied with a pair of his own and stole a single in the fourth when Dunstone's tap attempt was wide.

Manitoba had the potential for a big end in the seventh but Wild Card 1 third Marc Kennedy