Penicuik Table Tennis Club

Week 28 Report

22/4/2018

Week 28 of the ELTTL and it’s all finally done and dusted.

The outstanding issue for the Club was the Division 1 relegation fight between Teams 2 & 3. Going into their final match of the season against West Lothian, Team 2 knew that anything other than a 10-0 loss would see them safe for another season. As we reported last week, however, there was potentially to be a twist in the tale as Team Captain James Wighton had to call on two players from Team 3 to join him in Bathgate last Monday! As it turned out Team 2’s survival was to be decided by Gary McDougal and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz who both contributed as the title chasing West Lothian side secured a 7-3 victory – two wins for Krzysztof and one for Gary was good enough to relegate their own side to Division 2 for next year – how bizarre!! Team Captain James was disappointed by the season in general and with players missing from action in the 2nd half of the season he could only field his full side on 3 out of 11 occasions since January. Next season’s selection headache has started already! Never mind though we can rely on that wonderful Ratings Central System!

The other outstanding issue in Division 1 was the promotion race and that culminated in a winner take all match between WL 2 and Haddington on Thursday night. Last week we suggested that Haddington must have been favourites having won the reverse fixture 9-1. Even a draw (which would be enough for WL) looked unlikely. But sport has a habit of throwing up surprises – a draw was secured in the most unlikely of circumstances and WL 2 ended up winning the Division! A full report on the match (well worth a read) can be found on WL’s FB page.

In other news, last Wednesday was a significant one for the Club as Penicuik’s tradition of being represented in the Premier League formally came to an end – a huge crowd of three turned out to watch Team 1’s match against North Merchiston 2. It was always going to be a tough season for Team 1 of Greig McDonell, David Melrose & Abby Wighton and Wednesday’s match sort of summed up their whole season – Greig was undefeated and combined with David for a doubles win but alas neither David nor Abby could get a singles win as the home side fell to a 6-4 defeat. An end of an era for Penicuik? Since Greig & Colin Green joined Penicuik, the Club have always had top division representation. The worry for the Club is how long it might be before Premier play returns to Ladywood.

There was a thought at the beginning of the season after losing three of the Club’s top four players (Colin, Iain J and Stuart Gow) that we would withdraw our top side from the Premier but speaking after the match, Team Captain Greig confirmed that the right decision had been made to compete at the top level. He wanted to pay particular tribute to Abby who, despite having a very difficult first season in the Premier, never once wavered from her commitment to the cause. For many of us the results week after week would have impacted on our play and desire – Abby however turned out every single week (the only one in the team to play in all 22 matches) and gave everything she had, never once getting down or dejected – she enjoyed her TT, played with a smile on her face and even laughed in the right places at her Team Captain’s jokes. In a sport where we sometimes bemoan a lack of sportsmanship she always played with a fantastic attitude and was a credit to the Club, not to mention that we have no doubt she improved as a player as a result of the experience. Hopefully next season will see her as a force to be reckoned with in Division 1.

And so to our Player of the Week award for Week 28 – Surely it’s a foregone conclusion – Greig strolled through his last Premier League outing! But no – our Committee have taken into account that there was no pressure on him and the result meant nothing! Instead this week’s award goes to a man who performed under pressure and under the most unusual set of circumstances – for ensuring his own team was relegated and saving Team 2, two wins from Krzysztof make him our final weekly winner of the season – well done to him!

Controversy of the week? We can’t be controversial in this last report of the regular season! Another season in the ELTTL is over and it’s time for reflection – thanks to all our players and opponents (even Edinburgh International) and to all those involved in running the league who make it happen. Whilst we have often raised issues about rules and procedures there’s no doubt that were it not for all those individuals who give up their valuable time there would be no league for us to compete in. This season has been a difficult one for the Club in terms of results but amazingly, away from the table we have all managed to get through another 8 months without any internal bust-ups and fallouts – Penicuik really is, as our Website suggests, a friendly place to play the sport we love!

We’ll be back at some point over the summer with a Season’s Round-Up but until then keep practicing – we sure do need it!!

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Week 27 Report

15/4/2018

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Week 27 of the ELTTL and still the season goes on….

The only real issue yet to be decided (other than the Handicap Cup Final) is promotion and relegation from Division 1 and Team 3 had a lot to say about that as they faced Haddington 1 at Ladywood last week. After their win against Team 2 they still had the chance of avoiding relegation and if they dared to win against Haddington, the top of the Division would have been affected as well. On the night Team Captain Krzysztof Laszkiewicz was joined by Gary McDougal and Ian Hislop. Their East Lothian opponents fancied themselves so much for the match that they left arguably their best player, Carsten, out of their line-up. When Krzysztof and Ian both defeated Graeme McKinnie in matches 1 and 4 the scores were tied at 2-2 and nerves were dangling a little for the visitors. But from there, the Haddington side never lost another match and although a couple of games could have perhaps gone the other way, an 8-2 win for the visitors was probably fully deserved. Are they now favourites for promotion? It will all come down to their final match of the season against West Lothian 2 assuming WL have no difficulty in disposing of our Team 2 tomorrow night. In fairness to our friends from WL, a point against Haddington will be enough for them but if the reverse fixture is anything to go by they’ll have a very difficult task – a huge improvement will be needed from that 9-1 defeat.

As for Team 3’s relegation worries, the two games they picked up last week puts them on an identical “games for” total as Team 2 - 79 wins. Their loss column shows 141 losses compared to 131 for Team 2. Let’s get the rule book out to add some interest to the end of the season – what happens if Team 2 lose 10-0 to WL 2 – identical points and game difference! Let’s go for a play-off to prolong the season further!

So, Team 2’s target tomorrow night? Avoid a whitewash and they’ll survive in Division 1 for another season. Looks like it will be all on Team Captain and Penicuik’s “Mr Nice” James to pull off the win needed – his other two regulars are not available so he’s going to play with Gary and Krzysztof from Team 3!! What?? Is he serious? He turns up against Team 3 with a weakened side and then relies on two of their players to secure Team 2’s survival? Questions are being asked as to whether James is actually really, really nice or whether he’s lost the plot!

Just to put a little added pressure on the game, we don’t care about ratings central – one of the factors the Club are going to take into account for deciding who plays in Div 1 next year is which Team survives in the Division!!! Good luck James – if Gary or Krzysztof start cheering on West Lothian tomorrow you know you’re in trouble!!

Now we don’t often publish apologies or retractions in this piece – because we’re always right obviously - but we feel the need this week to reconsider a matter raised in our last Report! We pointed out how hard done by our Team 5 felt and alluded to ESC having been somewhat fortunate with two concessions from Edinburgh University and matches played against weakened teams. All of that is obviously correct – ESC, however, questioned our use of the word “understrength” to describe our own Team 4 turning out against them. The team was technically understrength as Julian Taylor played up from Division 4. So what if he won his 3 and contributed to a doubles win in a 5-5 draw! In fact the more we think about it the team were understrength – Julian replaced Brian Bailey, a player who in the last two seasons has played in Divisions 1 and 2 respectively – he may now be over a 100 years old but that experience was sadly missed by Team 4 in the second half of the season. Before his injury he was in the top 5 of the Individual Averages, before his injury he was passing on all that wealth of experience to his young teammates, 87 year old John Bald and 15 year old Louis McLeod – in the circumstances how can that not be understrength?? Thanks for the point ESC but actually we’re right after all! Well done to Julian though!

Our Player of the Week award for Week 27 – oh come on – one win each for Ian and Krzysztof to choose from – We’ll not bother!

Controversy of the week? One of our favourite topics in the past has been those players who are, how can we put this, a little bit overly vocal during their matches. We have nothing against players who give an occasional “good boy” or “C’mon”. Absolutely nothing wrong with geeing yourself up – what we do think is out of order is when players do this incessantly – what’s even more annoying is when they do it irrespective of what the rally was like that led to them winning a point. Your opponent hits one in the net – “YES”, they miss a push long – “CHO” – you get a lucky net and edge “CHO CHO” – and so it goes on. Who would have thought this would have become a topic of discussion at the Primary Schools International at Largs last weekend! Even more surprising the worst proponent of it was some 11/12-year-old Welsh girl! Jings we’ve never seen so many people wanting a young innocent looking child to lose! Yet lo and behold she didn’t lose – maybe that aggression at that age does in fact help you win games but come on – surely someone has to have a word with youngsters like that – her coach, her family (who were all cheering her on obviously), the Umpire, the Tournament Referee?? Mind you as we’ve said before when they watch some of the top Senior players is it that surprising that the kids pick this type of thing up?

To end on a positive note though, Penicuik has a new Scottish Internationalist in its midst – well done to Hannah who gained her first (hopefully of many) cap at the aforementioned Primary Schools International and not a CHO in sight from her – oh she has a lot to learn…….

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Week 26 Report

15/4/2018

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IT SNOWED AGAIN!!!!!

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Week 25 Report

1/4/2018

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Week 25 of the ELTTL was Derby Week for the Club. Last Wednesday saw all seven teams in action at Ladywood on the same night – that must be a first ever and probably unlikely to ever be repeated!

So straight into the Derby action we go as Team 2 took on Team 3 in a relegation dogfight in Division 1. Had Team 3 managed to defeat Murrayfield in Week 24 a draw would have secured survival for both teams – not that such a result would have been manufactured by the Club – we would never stoop to that level! Team 3 blew it, however, so their only chance of survival is now at the expense of Team 2 and that needed to start with a win against their Penicuik teammates. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Chris Markey held Team 2 to a 5-5 draw in the first half of the season and they must have therefore been in confident mood when the news came through that Clive Liddiard was unavailable to play for Team 2 and Team Captain James remarkably (some say stupidly) didn’t seek a postponement! Did he realise that Team 2 could still be relegated? He was joined by Charlie Brindley and Craig Johnson playing up from Division 3. Craig faced a pretty impossible task against 3 experienced Division 1 campaigners and so it proved as he was winless on the night.

Charlie proved his worth to Team 2 as he was undefeated in singles play including a tense 5 setter against Chris. Crucial to the outcome in the end were two matches involving James. Against former teammate Gary, it went to a deciding fifth end and as with many matches this season James couldn’t quite get over the line as Gary came out on top. In the doubles James and Charlie took on Gary and Krzysztof and looked to be in control at 2-1 up and with an advantage in the fourth end. However, as the shouts increased to drown out the noise of the dogs back came Team 3 to record a deuce in the fifth win in a pivotal match. A 7-3 victory resulted for Team 3 and with it their survival hopes remain. James has had constant nightmares since Wednesday night in the knowledge that their better game difference (only 2 games) is the only thing keeping them out of the relegation spot! Team 2 face an away match against West Lothian 2 who are chasing the title while Team 3 face a home match against the equally likely promotion candidates Haddington 1. Looks like game difference may decide the final relegation spot.

In Division 3 Team 4 could only muster two players (John Bald and Louis McLeod) for the second consecutive week as they took on Team 5 of Stuart Bennett, Sean Lennon and Millie Bennett. Despite Team 5’s two terrific wins in Week 24 their fate had already been decided by Team 4’s inability to defeat Edinburgh Sports Club in a rearranged Sunday night fixture. There’s no doubt which team has finished the season better and if there were another few weeks of the season left its likely Team 4 would be relegation favourites. It was clear on the night that Team 4’s confidence has taken a battering in the second half of the season and that combined with the pressure being off Team 5 probably resulted in the 7-3 Win for Team 5. Sean was undefeated on the night for Team 5 and with Louis having the proverbial nightmare (winless on the night) John’s 2 wins and a doubles victory were the only positives for Team 4. The result has done nothing to help next season’s selection committee decide who should form our Division 3 Team!!

In Division 4, our two most successful teams of the year (who would have thought that at the beginning of the season) met as Team 6 of Julian Taylor, Rachel Petrie and Adam Woodhouse took on Team 7 of Phil Daly, George Wilson and Hannah McDonell. With Julian undefeated on the night (he only lost one end all night to Hannah) and contributing to a doubles victory the matches against the other players were always going to be crucial for Team 7. Matches two and three proved decisive. Two of our newest League members, Hannah and Adam took centre stage and at 2-0 and 6-1 down Hannah looked out of it. She somehow, however, conjured up a comeback to level the game going into a deciding fifth end only to then fall 5-1 behind at the change of ends in the fifth. But back she came again against the unlucky Adam to secure an 11-9 victory. Next up was Phil v Rachel – on paper an easy win for Phil but Rachel had other ideas as she took a 2-1 advantage and had Phil on the ropes in the fourth end. Phil just managed to keep in it by winning the 4th end 11-8 before pulling away in the decider. Those two wins set up a chance for George to claim a draw in the final match of the night which he duly did with a victory over Adam. 5-5 was probably a fair result in the end. Spare a thought, however, for a Team 7 regular, Sonny, who has managed to break his finger prematurely ending his season. A 5th place finish likely for Team 6 and after a shaky start an 8th place finish is secured for Team 7 – the Club’s best two finishing positions of the season!!!

Rounding off a terrifically busy night at Ladywood was Team 1’s fixture against the Defending Premier League Champions North Merchiston 1. In an effort to preserve his mediocre 55% average Team Captain Greig offered a draw to his opponents by text message which was remarkably turned down! Colin Weir, to avoid the journey to Penicuik then offered a 9-1 result and in the negotiations which followed agreement couldn’t be reached for a 7-3 result in favour of Merchiston so the match went ahead!! Greig was joined by David Melrose and Abby Wighton who were unkindly told by the Merchiston team of their captain’s efforts to sell them down the river! In the entertaining yet meaningless match which followed, Greig produced some better than average play to defeat Colin and Stewart Armitage. At 2-1 up against Glynn Eggar he was on for an unbeaten singles night. With the match still in his grasp, his best line of the night was a shout of “don’t blow your chance for a 3 against the Premier League Champions”! Guess what? He blew it! An 8-2 win for NM who must have faced the long journey home thinking they should just have accepted the 7-3 offer!

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 25. Julian, Sean, and Charlie were all undefeated in singles last week. But this award is about much more than just winning! And with that in mind this week’s winner is someone who didn’t win any singles matches! For not taking the easy option of postponing and thereby creating history by having all 7 teams playing on the one night at Ladywood, this weeks deserved winner is James! So what if his team are now in relegation trouble. So what if he lost yet another five ender. So what if he lost a deuce in the fifth doubles. (He helped El Presidente coach 14 beginner kids on Saturday) Well done James!

And finally, to our Controversy of the Week Section. This could have been about James but hey we’ve covered that above – stop calling him foolish! In a week of intra-Club fixtures there could be no controversy surely – we all love each other and get on like a house on fire. The Team 2v3 Match was remarkably calm, apart from an occasional scream from Gary. Obviously, this match had to start with a warning to Team 2 about rebel Chris and to watch out for his conduct – but he was angelic all night! Team 4v5 couldn’t muster anything controversial other than the headache of Team 5’s win. As 105-year-old John put it, the old guard are in trouble! Team 1 were playing friendly opposition in North Merchiston. Despite Craig suggesting we should try and fall out with them as they were the only club we seem not to have irritated all season, nothing controversial was ever going to happen there – David was also on his best behaviour! And so it was left to Teams 6 and 7 to produce the only flashpoint of the night!

In George’s match against Rachel umpire Julian pulled George up on service for his foot being in front of the end of the table. He perhaps wasn’t ready for George’s aggressive response telling him to perhaps speak to his own teammate about her illegal serves (or words to that effect – seemingly said with a bit more vigour than the written word allows us to convey!) Now the real issue here is whether this is even a rule? It’s not like Tennis where a foot fault can be called. George, a left hander, serving a forehand from his backhand side has a habit of of putting his left foot down the side of the table although the ball is still thrown up and struck from behind the end of the table. Is this legal? Nobody knew the answer. All they did know was that allegedly Rachel’s serve straight out of her hand was a fault! Who would ever call that though in a friendly intra-Club fixture in Division 4! If only Roger from Haddington had been present – we might not have had any rallies at all. Anyway, it all ended with a friendly discussion, a shake of hands, a few hugs and a session in therapy for those who witnessed it!

Separately, we’re happy to confirm that as Treasurer Craig promised, our transfer fee for Ian Hislop of £11 has now been fully paid up to Edinburgh International, our last weekly instalment of £1 having been paid last week. As a thanks, it appears Edinburgh International turned out against team 5’s nearest rivals for relegation ESC with only two players. That resulted in a 6-4 victory for ESC. We’re sure this wasn’t deliberate. Team 5 still feel hard done by from their result earlier in the season when Edinburgh International fielded an ineligible player against them – the rules were clear - Ed Int should have had to forfeit the match. But the rules weren’t followed. But really, that can’t be used as a reason why Team 5 were relegated. Were there other reasons? Let’s have a go at Edinburgh University 4. They conceded two matches in season 2017/18 – guess who those were against – yip you guessed it, both against ESC. 4 points and a +20 game difference as a result. Oh and hang on, Corstorphine turned up on the 7th of March against ESC with only 2 players in a 5-5 Draw. Even ignoring our own Team 4 playing ESC with an understrength team ESC’s total points are considerably increased by two concessions and two matches played against Mr Walkover. Without those points it seems ESC would have been relegated instead of Team 5! None of that of course is ESC’s fault – they’ve maybe been a bit fortunate but that’s just how it goes – just as they can perhaps think themselves lucky having been relegated last season to Division 4 – hang on they finished 2nd bottom but still played this season in Div 3 – league reorganisation coming back to bite Team 5 on the proverbial. Sour grapes we hear you cry – maybe! But it just goes to show how concessions and playing understrength for mid table teams can really have a huge impact on other teams!

Anyway, enough moaning, we’ve still got a few outstanding matches to play so we’ve got at least a couple of more weeks of reports to look forward to…….

Happy Easter to everyone.

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Week 24 Report

25/3/2018

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The season is fast approaching its conclusion, but Week 24 only cleared up a couple of matters for the Club.

Team 1 knew that with two matches scheduled wins in both of those were essential for their Premier Division survival. When they lost against their nearest rivals ESC by a 6-4 scoreline Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Abby Wighton knew their fate was all but sealed. Mathematically though a big win against Murrayfield 2 could still keep them in with a chance of catching North Merchiston 2. Despite Greig being undefeated on the night, Team 1 fell to a 7-3 defeat and with it their stay in the Premier Division came to an end.

In Division 1, Team 2 faced a home match against Murrayfield 4 with a full team for the first time in a number of weeks. The Edinburgh outfit were too strong, however, as only Charlie Brindley picked up a win in the resultant 9-1 defeat.

Meanwhile Team 3 of Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Chris Markey faced a virtual relegation decider against Murrayfield 5 at Roseburn. In a bit of a surprise, Graham Muir from Division 2 played up and turned out to be the difference on the night as he was undefeated including two 11-9 in the fifth wins. The resultant 8-2 win perhaps flattered the Murrayfield side but the victory has all but secured their Division 1 status for next year. The defeat for Team 3 means the only team they can realistically overtake in the table is our own Team 2. What an intra-club fixture that promises to be. With a much better game difference, a big win would be needed from Team 3 to give them a chance of survival.

In Division 3 Team 4 could only muster two players as they fell to a 6-4 defeat at the hands of University. John Bald was undefeated in singles but unfortunately, Louis McLeod could only contribute one singles victory as Team 4 fell to their 10th loss in their last 13 matches.

Team 5’s Division 3 status was on the line as they faced two matches last week. First a home match against Edinburgh University. Stuart Bennett, Craig Johnson and Sean Lennon kept the fat lady away from the microphone with an excellent 7-3 win, Craig winning 3 and Sean and Stuart both winning two. They then pushed her back off stage as they defeated West Lothian 7 by a 6-4 scoreline, Sean and Craig both won 2, Stuart added 1 and the doubles win secured overall victory for Team 5. Just when they thought the miracle escape was on, however, Friday night brought news that Edinburgh International could only field a two-man squad as they fell to a 6-4 defeat to ESC, Team 5’s targets in third bottom place! Yeah thanks to our friends at EI for that. The fat lady is back on stage and just about to pick up the microphone again – all dependant on a match which is currently underway (yes on a Sunday night) between ESC and our own Team 4. No pressure there then!

Team 6 of Julian Taylor, Rachel Petrie and Sonny Taylor also faced two matches last week. They first took care of Edinburgh Uni with a 7-3 home win (Julian and Sonny 3, Rachel 1) before a trip to take on Division 4 winners KLOS 2. Julian picked up two great wins whilst Sonny added 1 in the resultant 7-3 defeat.

And we finish with Team 7. With Kristian Skotzen STILL on holiday Phil Daly and George Wilson travelled to North Merchiston 7 a player short. With Phil only winning one singles on the night against the Merchiston youngsters, the writing was on the wall for Team 7 – but wait, George continued his excellent recent form by winning all 3 of his singles and combining with Phil for a win in the doubles to secure a 5-5 draw.

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 24. Julian and Craig produced 5 wins out of 6 for their respective teams last week. Credit also to John for his undefeated singles night and to George and Sonny for excellent performances. For the importance of the five wins to the team’s survival hopes this week’s award goes to Mr Treasurer, Craig – well done.

And finally, to our Controversy of the Week Section.

Last week Krzysztof had pointed out in an email to the Match Secretary his view on Edinburgh University’s refusal to offer more than one night to play a rearranged match. University asked us to look into this issue as it appeared that initially Team 3 had indicated to University that they could make one of two nights, one of those nights being the 16th of March when the match was ultimately played. And indeed Team 3’s email did suggest that – immediately upon receipt of Uni’s response, however, Krzysztof emailed back to indicate he had made a mistake and they could not field a team on the 16th and asked if they could do any other days. The University response, as indicated by Team 3 last week was:

“….unless you are able to put out a team for 16th March, I am afraid that your team would have to forfeit the match.”

Let’s hope that clarifies that issue.

Team 3 seem to be attracting lots of controversy! We alluded to a “surprise selection” by Murrayfield 5 last week, surprising because regular third player Bob Sterling was in attendance for the game. That makes the selection of Graham a tactical one it seems? Dropping a player who lost his 3 against Team 3 in the first half and playing a player up who had also played up in the first half and won 2 out of 3? There was a suggestion made that this was not within the spirit of the rules – players play up when a regular is unavailable? In the Writer’s view Murrayfield have done absolutely nothing wrong – indeed it was a great tactical masterstroke (if indeed it was tactical) to bring in a player in a crucial fixture who seemed to have the edge over the opposing team – if we were in the same position would we have done the same? More fool us if we hadn’t. Congratulations to Graham for stepping up a Division and winning two huge 11-9 fifth end deciders – tactical genius only exists when it pays off and it was only as a result of his composure and play that it did pay off. Indeed, El Presidente had suggested this week that for Team 4’s match against ESC (crucial to Team 5’s survival) the whole of Team 4 should have been dropped and Team 5 play up en masse - in the two matches played this season Team 5 hold a 16-4 advantage over ESC!! That proposal was rejected! There seems to have been more controversy from this match which we will no doubt return to in a future report!

And so Week 24 is over – this coming week should be the last week of the regular season but there are still a ton of matches to play. Whilst the relegation places are sorted in the Premier Division, everything is still to play for in terms of the title with the big match tomorrow evening at Roseburn between Murrayfield 1 and University 1. In Division 1 the title and promotion picture is still unclear but coming up on the rails to perhaps steal a place in the Premier next season (and maybe even the title) is Haddington 1. Their match against West Lothian 2 will surely be key. In Division 3 it may already be over for Team 5 whilst Division 4 has seen KLOS secure the title much to George’s delight – the tenner bet with El Presidente is all his so long as he can get it back from Club Sec Brian!

Intra-club fixtures abound this week (if they’re all played) – Team 2 v 3; Team 4 v 5; and Team 6 v 7. Nothing controversial to report next week then!!!

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