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Skip Brad Jacobs (R) celebrates his victory against Team Martin with second E.J. Harnden during draw 13 at the Roar of the Rings Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Winnipeg, December 5, 2013.FRED GREENSLADE/Reuters

Brad Jacobs was the first to admit how poorly his team played. He's also one win away from a trip to the Winter Games.

The reigning Canadian champion remained undefeated at 6-0 with a 5-4 victory Thursday night over veteran Kevin Martin, clinching a spot in Sunday's final of the Canadian Olympic curling trials.

"Even though we were, in all honesty, pretty bad that game, we were able to pull it out and I think that's huge," Jacobs said.

"And I think even though we were sloppy, we were still confident. But it was really nice to be in a game like that where we had to grind and score two to win."

Martin came out of the battle of the best with a 5-1 record that earned the veteran from Edmonton a berth into Saturday afternoon's semifinal.

The other semifinalist won't be determined until the men finish their seven-game Roar of the Rings round robin with a morning draw Friday at the MTS Centre.

With Martin leading 4-3, Jacobs blanked the eighth and ninth ends to keep the hammer in the 10th.

Both rinks had a pair of rocks inside the four-foot, with a Jacobs' stone almost dead centre in the button.

Martin then put up a guard, forcing the 28-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to do a run-back takeout and score two points.

Martin, who won gold at the 2010 Olympics and silver in 2002, is looking for a fourth trip to the Games.

The 47-year-old was leading Jacobs 3-1 after four ends, but Jacobs scored two in the sixth to tie it up.

Martin looked like he was going to taken advantage of Jacobs' misses in the seventh end and score two, but after he took out a Jacobs' stone his own rock was just barely swept out of the rings for the 4-3 lead.

Martin agreed it was a sloppy game by both sides.

"But Brad made a good one in his last one," he said.

A duel between the Winnipeg rinks skipped by Jeff Stoughton and Mike McEwen ended with McEwen defeating the veteran 9-6.

Stoughton, who dropped to 2-4, was given a standing ovation. McEwen sits at 3-3.

Before competing in his fifth trials, Stoughton said it'll be his last attempt to go to the Olympics.

McEwen jumped to a 5-1 lead after the third end when he scored four against the two-time world champion, but Stoughton stole two in the fifth to close the gap 5-4.

McEwen stretched the lead to 9-5 after a draw for three in the eighth end.

"It's whoever played their best this week," Stoughton said.

"We didn't play our best and we got what we got, which is not enough wins to get in the playoffs."

Winless Kevin Koe of Calgary drew to the button to claim his first victory of the competition with a 7-6 decision over veteran Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. (2-4).

John Morris, who curls out of Kelowna, B.C., improved to 4-2 with a 7-6 win over John Epping of Toronto (1-5).

"Not the textbook when you're up 5-2 that you'd want to play it, but that's how we roll," Morris said.

"Sometimes it's not pretty, but we get the job done and we're excited to live on till tomorrow."

Morris plays Martin on Friday, with the other matchups between Stoughton and Howard, McEwen and Koe and Epping against Jacobs.

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