Week 6 got underway with Team 3’s visit to Corstorphine on Tuesday evening. James Wighton and Hannah McDonell were joined for this fixture by Julian Taylor playing his first match of the season following an injury which had kept him out for a number of weeks. They faced Tommy Sutherland, James Grant and Jonas Falter in what looked like being their toughest test of the season so far in Division 2. With play on two tables from the outset, Hannah and Julian were up first against Jonas and James. Jonas hit some terrific forehand winners on his way to a four end victory over Hannah but that was cancelled out by Julian’s 3-0 win v James G. James W then faced Tommy as Hannah played James G. Wins for both gave the visitors a 3-1 lead before the final two singles leading into the doubles. Julian took care of his match v Tommy but James fell in the same way to Jonas as Hannah had, losing out 3-1. So 4-2 as Hannah and James took on Jonas and James G. This was a crucial and tense match. After losing the first end 11-9, Hannah and James took the second by the same score. An 11-8 win in the third put them ahead and when they were well up in the fourth they looked in complete control. The Corstorphine pair fought back to deuce but a cracking last 2 points got the visitors over the line and with that victory a point was secured. Hannah and James were then straight back in action in their final singles matches, Hannah v Tommy and James v James! Last year, Hannah would have found Tommy’s style probably too much for her but she’s definitely improved in the last 6 months or so and secured both points for the visitors with a 3-0 win. That relieved the pressure on James who just got over the line against his namesake. Julian then did what both his teammates had already done – picked up an end against the in form Jonas but no more than that. A terrific 7-3 win for Team 2 keeps them top of the Division 2 table.  
Next up in Week 6 was Team 1’s trip to Bathgate to take on the thus far undefeated West Lothian 1. Greig McDonell returned from his holiday to join Colin Green and Brian Hunter as they faced the Polish pairing of Dariusz and Alicja who were joined by Steve Collins. When Greig and Colin won the opening two matches against Alicja and Dariusz respectively, a surprise looked on the cards. Brian was probably favourite against Steve, but he couldn’t quite get the better of his opponent's steady play and when Greig lost to Dariusz in four ends the scores were level at 2-2. The next two matches saw Brian take on Alicja whilst Colin faced Steve. Brian played some terrific stuff as he won an epic attacker v defender battle against Alicja and despite dropping a set, Colin was too good for Steve. 4-2 and a real opportunity presented itself for the visitors. After a win v Murrayfield 1 in the doubles whilst Greig was on holiday, Colin and Brian took to the table again and when they won the first end the decision to play together looked like the right one. But Dariusz and Alicja battled hard and took the next two ends 11-7. They were in control in the fourth end as well until 9-3 up when suddenly the Penicuik duo heaped the pressure on coming back to deuce. But that hard work counted for nothing as the West Lothian pair held their nerve for a 12-10 win. 4-3 as Greig took on Steve and Brian took on Dariusz. Greig’s game which had looked great against Alicja and in patches good against Dariusz suddenly deserted him (nerves he claims) and he was extremely disappointed to lose in five ends. Brian meanwhile put up a good fight but lost in four to Dariusz. Suddenly from 4-2 up the visitors were in danger of losing 6-4 – and that looked likely when Alicja took a 2-0 lead against Colin in the last match of the night. Well after 10pm but despite Greig’s best efforts to get the WL caretaker to switch off the lights play continued – Colin fought back and it went the distance – an 11-9 win in the fifth gave Penicuik a deserved point – but oh how it should have been two!
 
Thursday night at Ladywood saw our remaining three teams in action. Team 2 took on Murrayfield 6 without Team Captain Mr Scrabble Man. Sonny Taylor, Gary McDougal and Abby Wighton were looking to get on the right side of the result this week after two 6-4 losses in their previous two matches. Sonny got the side off to a good start before a mammoth encounter between Gary and Masoud Nowbaveh. There’s a bit of history between this pair and it came down to the wire – an 11-9 fifth end win for the Murrayfield player was to turn out to be crucial. Wins for Gary and Sonny again meant that going into the doubles the scores were tied at 3-3 and when that pair won the doubles comfortably the home side led 4-3 with the final three singles to play. Surely one of them would go the way of the hosts? Gary was never in his match, before Abby battled into a fifth end v Lynn Somerville - she couldn’t win the fifth though and so it was left to Sonny to try and salvage a point. He, like Gary, fell in straight sets as Team 2 lost another tight one 6-4.
 
Team 4 have found life in Division 3 tough so far and it wasn’t to get any easier for Rachel Petrie, Jim Jack and Bob Porteous as they faced Corstorphine 3. When Bob won the first match of the night, however, there was some hope that they might surprise their opponents. That hope was short lived as the away side won the next two singles comfortably and when Rachel lost match 4 in five ends the writing was on the wall for the hosts.  It wasn’t until the last match of the night that the home side won another end, Bob losing a close one 3-2, but by that time the match had well and truly got away from the Penicuik trio. A difficult night for Team 4 as they lost out 9-1.

Finally in Week 6, Team 5 hosted Corstorphine 5 in Division 4. Phil Daly, Brian Bailey and Chamika Diyunugalge turned out for the home side – Brian making his first appearance in a league match since 2018 and Chamika playing his first ever Edinburgh league match. Phil got the hosts off to a good start but defeats for Brian and Chamika gave Corstorphine the early advantage. The next three matches all saw Corstorphine wins by 3 games to 1 and the hosts were in big trouble at 5-1 down. Could Phil and Brian roll back the years with a win in the doubles to keep the match alive? Eh, No! Positively in the last three matches, however, there were 2 wins – a second on the night for Phil and Chamika’s first ever league win as the hosts fell to a 7-3 defeat. Whilst it is fair to say that team Secretary Brian was very frustrated and disappointed by his play he did send our President one of the funniest text messages he has apparently ever received – “What was I thinking anyway. 4 years since I last competed and even then, very badly in Division 3. Since then, a hip replacement, half blind and I’m 102 years of age according to my Clubmates! I should have known better!” Greig’s response was that taking all of that into account he should be proud of himself for picking up his bat and playing when his team needed him. So what if he didn’t win any – just to be playing is an achievement – and he’s always worth a couple of good controversies!
 
And so, to our player of the week award for Week 6. The best match of the week was Brian v Alicja – Brian almost back to his best with some amazing defending and some lengthy and fantastic attack v defence rallies. Colin was the only undefeated player this week and his three secured a great point for Team 1 – but he dropped Greig from the doubles and that was a mistake – so he’s out the running. Special mention to Chamika – a victory in his league debut is a great achievement. The only winning team this week though was Team 3 and it’s there we look for our player of the week. Julian played some good stuff after a long absence due to injury, but his two wins compare to 2.5 wins for his teammates who played the doubles! So, it’s between James and Hannah. They both won 7 ends and lost 4 so there seems to be no splitting them? We'll let Corstorphine decide! Their player of the match was awarded to Hannah – probably because James is so difficult to get along with these days! Well done to Hannah – her general matchplay this season has stepped up a level without doubt.
 
Finally, what about our controversy of the week section. So, Brian Bailey plays his first match in a number of years and no surprise that he’s made it into this section. He started by having a go at the Ladywood staff because badminton was booked in the hall until 6.30pm – he couldn’t get the tables ready etc. until after that. He wasn’t happy when he phoned our President to complain that we were now going to look as bad as University who we complained about earlier in the season for exactly this type of thing! Ah if only we had our own premises! When the match eventually got started, he brought out a brand new box of match balls – his opponent complained! Apparently, they weren’t the same make as the ones being used in the League by most teams. Do we have to use a certain make of ball? Surely not? The biggest surprise was that Brian’s new box of balls weren’t 35mm in size. When he then disputed that he should have five serves in a row and the game should be to 21 his opponent thought he’d gone too far!
 
On a slightly more serious note, although we couldn’t get set up as quickly as we would have wanted, we were still on track to finish in advance of 10pm. At Bathgate, they have a 7.15 start time and even though they played all night on two tables, it was 10.30ish before the match was finished. All it seems to take is two or three long five end battles and a bunch of 4 enders and time becomes an issue. Fortunately, the West Lothian side didn’t have to concede any matches but that was only due to the understanding of the caretaker on duty that night. At Ladywood, it turns out that our Team 4 tried to just play on one table. Whilst Teams 2 and 5 were finished in time, Team 4’s match, despite having seven 3-0 matches, ran over – and it probably was always going to run over. For some reason it just seems impossible these days to play 10 matches in under 3 hours on one table! Fortunately, the Ladywood staff were also very accommodating – but we cannot make a habit of this. Although we think playing on two tables detracts from the “team element” of the match, it’s clearly what we have to do to get the match finished in time – unfortunate but that’s what we’re stuck with it seems – unless and until the league format changes. National League format is 3 players playing two singles each – we could do that and add in a doubles? Many might argue though that if they’re going to travel to the wilds of Penicuik on a cold, dreary October night they want to be turning up for more than two singles matches? The “Team Game” is far better though on just one table. We can’t remember any club who 10 to 15 years ago played on anything other than 1 table. Now it’s swung completely in the other direction – West Lothian, Penicuik, Edinburgh International, Haddington, Gullane, Edinburgh University, Corstorphine, Fife, Heriot Watt and even Murrayfield (when they play away from the Church Hall) all play on two tables. And we can still struggle to get finished by 10 pm! Change needed?? Maybe that central venue has more appeal after all?
 
Oh well, on we go to week 7. 

Week 5 was Handicap Cup Week and as Defending Champions we entered four teams in this year’s competition. Team 2 were the lucky ones out the draw with a bye to the second round – the other teams faced first round matches with two away ties and one home match.
 
First up was the trio of Rachel Petrie, Roscoe Cairney and Ian Millar as they travelled to face Corstorphine on Tuesday evening at Napier University. This was a first for new league players Roscoe and Ian but they had a defending champion in their team, Rachel having been a vital part of the trio who won the cup last season. They faced a difficult trio of Tommy Sutherland, Bill Batten and Douglas Morton. Rachel took on Douglas first – 6 of a start for Rachel in a race to 13. Having lost the first set 13-9, something seemed to click in the second end as she ran out a 13-4 winner. She was a strong favourite when she picked up the next set 13-8 but a terrible fourth set seemed to knock Rachel’s confidence as she succumbed to a five end loss. Bill v Roscoe was a straight fight to 11 with Bill getting a one point start somehow! Roscoe did well in the first losing narrowly 11-9 but didn’t really get going in the next two ends as he fell to a straight sets defeat. The biggest handicap margin of the night saw Ian hold a 12 point start in a race to 16 against Tommy. Tommy showed his experience against our Newbie with a straight sets victory. 3-0 and the visitors were in big trouble. Rachel briefly gave the visitors hope with a four set win over Bill but neither Roscoe nor Ian could win their second matches as the Midlothian side fell to a 5-1 defeat.

Next up on Wednesday evening was a trip to Gullane for Greig McDonell, Jim Jack and Aidan Craig. Gullane is a lovely place on a sunny summer afternoon – not quite so nice to get to on a rainy miserable night in October – this trio surely pulled the short straw with this tie! They faced three new players to the league all with high handicaps. A word on our opponents – they were terrific hosts and very good sports. After the match it was tea and biscuits all round - a practice which died out a good few years ago – well done Gullane for bucking that trend. And so to the game – Aidan started off giving a two shot lead to his opponent in a race to 11. Aidan showed lovely composure and patience as he picked up the first match 3-0. At the same time Jim faced just a one point deficit but lost the first end 11-8 – by the time Greig looked round again though normality had been restored as Jim won the second end 11-4 and was surely coasting – oh hang on a minute – the next two ends went the way of the Gullane player by 11-4 score lines. Greig then took to the table 0-16 down in a race to 21 and managed to overcome the deficit to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Aidan then picked up where he left off and made the score 3-1 before Greig lost out in his second match from 0-16 down – a five set loss left Greig asking why he hadn’t just lost in straight sets. Jim then picked up a crucial straight forward win to give the Midlothian side a 4-2 lead. That left Greig and Aidan to play simultaneously and both were able to secure wins to give Penicuik an excellent 6-2 win.
 
Finally, Thursday evening and the joy of being at home for James Wighton, Hannah McDonell and Chamika Diyunugalge as they faced Herriot Watt. This was Chamika’s first competitive match and he went straight on against a +6 player so only had a one point start – he got better as the match went on but lost out in three straight sets. James then faced Max Tuma (a fellow Division 2 player) but had to give Max a 7 point lead in a race to 14. This match was to prove crucial – a 13-15 loss was followed by a 14-12 win before an 11-14 loss was followed by a 16-14 win – the tension was there for all to see in the deciding fifth end and with the assistance of a net and an edge Max ran out a 14-10 winner – the hosts were in trouble. Hannah then faced another Division 2 player, Dominic Perry, and gave him a 4 point start in a race to 12. She got the hosts on the board with a good four end win. When James then won his second match the hosts pulled level at 2-2 before Dominic defeated Chamika to restore the student’s advantage. Match 6 was a classic - Hannah looked in real trouble at 2-1 down and 10-2 down in the fourth to Max. She came back remarkably to win the fourth end 13-11 before winning the decider 12-10. 3-3 overall and the match was back in the balance.  Hannah and James then played simultaneously and Hannah completed an excellent night for her personally with a straight sets victory – could James provide the important fifth win? It wasn’t to be as Dominic won in three straight ends to force a deciding match between Chamika and Max. Only 3 of a start for Chamika and against Heriot Watt’s best player on the night he was a massive underdog – and so it proved – some great rallies but Max’s experience got him over the line in three straight sets and with that Heriot Watt claimed a narrow 5-4 victory.
 
And so, to our player of the week award for Week 5. Two players were undefeated in Handicap Cup Week – Hannah and Aidan. Now Aidan’s been in the running for this award about three times already this season (and never won it). This week he was playing with El Presidente who could see first-hand the progress he’s made – surely it’s his week this week?? Hold on though – Aidan umpired the game Greig lost and lo and behold Greig started at 16-0 down and it wasn’t until after the game was finished that it was noticed that actually the score should have started at 0-15 – it’s only one point but every point in the Handicap Cup is vital – was that the umpire’s fault?? Could that take away an almost certain player of the week award? Meanwhile Hannah won her 3 on a night when she had to give starts to all her opponents and came back from the dead to keep the match alive – but ultimately her 3 wins were in vain as her team lost – we can’t overlook him again! Some terrific positive play, a great deal of patience against a decent defender, a good temperament and he laughed at El Presidente’s jokes (well most of them) – well done to Aidan on his first ever Player of the Week Award – well deserved.
 
Finally, what about our controversy of the week section. Last year the Handicap Cup proved very controversial with one of our teams claiming a match after their opponents didn’t turn up – that story rumbled on for weeks and there had clearly been a miscommunication which led to us expecting our opponents to show up at Ladywood on our “normal home night” of handicap cup week. To try and resolve issues of organising Handicap Cup Games, we had made a proposal to the AGM to change the rules so that when your team is drawn at home, it is taken that the match will take place on the home night of that team – so for example even though we mix our teams up, if Penicuik 1 was drawn at home all the opponents have to do is look at the home night for Team 1 and turn up that night in Handicap Cup Week. Much to our surprise the rule wasn’t passed at the AGM. But hey not to worry – it was of course a very sensible proposition so at the start of this year’s competition, the Handicap Cup Secretary pointed out the position exactly as had been proposed by us (but rejected at the AGM)! Lo and behold, we turned up at Gullane and Corstorphine and the students turned up at Penicuik without any need for phone calls back and forward, emails, offering two dates, unavailability of players etc. The controversy? Why bother with rules – if they don’t get voted in just pretend they have been.

​Back to league action in Week 6 with all five of our teams in action. Can’t wait. ​

Week 4 got off to a bad start with Team 2, for the second consecutive week, being unable to field a full side. This was all the more irritating for Team Captain, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz as the drop out came so late in the day that he was unable to get anyone to play up. And to make matters worse the match was against bottom of the table Murrayfield 7 – oh dear – we don’t know what those Polish words were that Krzysztof said to Club President, Greig, but what we do know is that the English translation is not capable of being published in this report! AS it was Krzysztof and Charlie Brindley, making his first league appearance of the season, travelled to the Church Hall still hoping that they might be able to salvage at least a point from the match. 3-0 down and what the team didn’t need was a bad start - Charlie’s funny rubber v Graham Muir’s even weirder stuff – not pretty as Graham came out on top. 4-0 became 5-0 when Krzysztof lost to Anna Porsch in five ends (he’s still having nightmares about it). It wasn’t over though – two wins brought I back to 5-2, a win in the doubles made it 5-3 and another win for Charlie made it 5-4. The miracle recovery from 5-0 down was still on. Unfortunately, Krzysztof doesn’t like funny rubber as Graham secured the 6-4 win for the hosts. What a disaster for Team 2. Let’s hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them later in the season.
 
Next up in Week 4, was Team 4’s trip on Tuesday to Edinburgh Sports Club 3. Rachel Petrie, Jim Jack and Bob Porteous were looking for a morale boosting win against a side just two places above them in the Division 3 table at this early stage in the season. The first match could easily have gone the way of the visitors as Jim did terrifically well to come back from 2-0 down only to lose in five. Rachel lost match 2 before Bob got the visitors on the board with a win in Match 3. A loss for Jim in match 4, was then followed by a four-end loss for Bob – 4-1 down and Rachel had the task of keeping the Penicuik side in with the chance of a win. Match 6 kind of summed up Team 4s season so far – a dreadful first end for Rachel where she didn’t trouble the scorers, followed by a tight 12-10 loss before an 11-8 win and then a 17-15 reverse! Had she won that won we would have fancied her to win the match in the fifth – as it was the doubles was needed to avoid a defeat – in fairness Jim and Bob were never really in it as they lost out in 3 straight ends. The final round of singles saw Bob lose out 12-10 in the fifth and Rachel again show glimpses of what she’s capable of losing out narrowly in four. A 9-1 defeat which doesn’t really do justice to how close some of the games were.

Thursday night at the Club saw Team 1 take on reigning Premier League champions Murrayfield 1. Greig McDonell conveniently managed to get away on holiday to avoid the clash! Colin Green and Brian Hunter were joined by Sonny Taylor playing up from Team 2. Lacking a full team, the hosts were not particularly hopeful, but their opponents also turned up without a regular third player, the difference being that they were able still to call on another premier player from their 4 teams in the division. After the first round of singles there was probably no surprise that the visitors led 2-1, Colin picking up the one win. When he and Brian both won in their second round fixtures the scores were tied at 3-3.  The third round of singles saw Brian record a terrific win against Charlie McGowan, but the other two games went to form. The doubles was to prove crucial. Brian and Colin v Gordon Muir and Charlie. This couldn’t have been closer – 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11 took the players into a deciding fifth end – this was anyone’s game! A 12-10 fifth end score summed up the closeness of the doubles and what a win that proved to be for the hosts as they secured a point against the reigning champions. According to Colin, Greig should just stay on holiday – he’s lost his place in the doubles!

Finally in Week 4, Team 5 made the long trip to Ocean Terminal to take on Murrayfield 12 in Division 4. Patrick Shanks was joined by Roscoe Cairney and Phil Daly making a welcome return to league action after several seasons out and after recovering from eye surgery. Roscoe showed signs of improvement from his first league match at the beginning of the season and picked up a couple of ends in his three singles matches. The ends he lost were close so some good signs for him. It was good to see Phil back in action, not quite turning the clock back to his best but managing nonetheless to secure 3 cracking wins. Patrick continued his excellent run of form with a very straightforward 3 victories. Roscoe and Patrick combined for the doubles victory as Team 5s great run continued with a 7-3 victory catapulting them up to third in the table, and only behind the top two on game difference.
 
And so, to our player of the week award for Week 4. Well done to Phil and Patrick for undefeated nights but this week we turn to our top team for the award. Colin can’t remember ever gaining a point against Murrayfield 1, so this week’s result was fantastic. Both Colin and Brian won 2 singles and combined for that all important doubles win. They key victory, other than the doubles, was Brian holding his nerve after young Charlie McGowan came back from 2-0 down to level the match at 2-2. Brian used all his grit and determination to get over the line for a terrific win – Well done Brian – his first player of the Week Award for the Club – mind you he’s only played three matches!!!
 
Finally, what about our controversy of the week section. We had so much to report from last week that we missed a few things from our experience at the Scottish National League. In one of our matches that old chestnut of strong umpiring reared its head again. Picture the scene, 10-10 and one of our players is serving – a decent serve, returned by the opponent, played back by us, returned again before the opponent puts his hand up as a winner is hit past him. It was a let wasn’t it, he says to the umpire (his teammate) who remains motionless and keeps the score at 10-10. Did you see a let asked the Penicuik player – silence from the umpire. Three times the same question was asked, and the question was met by the same response – silence. Eventually, the player asked in more forthright terms whether the umpire saw a let or not – the response was its 10-10 so yes I did. Clearly, he never saw a let but felt that the player had stopped so a let it was - and you know what happens next! A 12-10 loss for the Penicuik player. Unless the players agree, surely it’s up to the umpire to call the lets – that’s common sense, isn’t it? Now we’ve heard it said that if a player immediately stops, catches the ball for instance, on the basis that he thinks it’s a let then that’s different – is it though? Surely the same rule applies – if the server and umpire don’t see a let then it’s the server’s point. In this case the rally was fully four shots in before a let was claimed and that just can’t be right?
 
The second issue we had was a player in the middle of the final game involving James, interrupting the flow of play to take over from the umpire who had started the match because it “was his turn to umpire”. The Opponents didn’t see why we got a little irritated by the turn of events – they couldn’t see any issue - it would be unfair to let the same player umpire two matches – what was unfair was breaking the rhythm of the game – especially for James who can be very easily distracted! At least wait until the end was over – surely that would have been more acceptable.
 
Turning to our own issues, here’s one from Murrayfield’s Head Coach, Gordon Muir, who like Pete Lugton the previous week wanted us to mention this controversy – as if James stealing Murrayfield 9s Match balls from the Gyle wasn’t bad enough, Murrayfield 1 turned up on Thursday night at Ladywood to find that not only did Team Captain Colin not have any match balls, he didn’t have any scorecards either - Shocking display! Colin’s explanation? President Greig had taken them all on holiday with him to London! Oops! He does vaguely remember Colin giving him some stuff the previous week after the Haddington game – still in the boot of his car perhaps??!! Never mind though, Colin managed to scramble around and find some newish balls in various players’ bags  - that’s the real issue – the amount of balls the Club goes through every couple of weeks is crazy – we’re having a “ball return amnesty” over the next fortnight – get those TT bags checked and we won’t make any issue when you turn up to training with the two dozen balls you’ve collected over the last few months – not mentioning any names in particular – you all know who you are!!
 
Week 5 sees the first round of Handicap Cup matches – that will be fun!

Week 3 already done and dusted – how did that happen! Whereas last week saw a number of Penicuik v University fixtures, this week it was the turn of the Penicuik v Haddington rivalry to take centre stage. We used to get on great with Haddington but recently…
 
Anyway, first up in Week 3 was not a Midlothian v East Lothian contest as Team 3 travelled to North Merchiston in Division 2. James Wighton, Ian Hislop and Hannah McDonell had started the season well with wins over Heriot Watt and Edinburgh University and were looking to maintain their 100% record. They got off to a terrific start with all three players winning their opening singles in straight sets. When James and Ian won their second singles of the night a point was secured, and that point was converted to 2 as Hannah & James combined for an excellent doubles win. All three players then won their final singles, Ian being pushed to an 11-9 fifth end decider, giving Team 3 their biggest win of the season – a 9-1 victory over their Edinburgh based opponents.

Thursday night at the Club saw Team 2 take on Haddington 2 in Division 1. James and Abby Wighton had to play up from Division 2 as they joined Team Captain Krzysztof Laszkiewicz. He will look back on this match as one that got away – he lost the first match of the night 11-5 in the fifth but made up for that in the final match of the night against Rolandas Skultinas with a 12-10 fifth end victory – in between he had also picked up a win in the second round of singles matches. James kept his good form going from the Monday night as he too won two matches, one of those also a deuce in the fifth win against the unfortunate Rolandas – not unfortunate as far as James was concerned though – there’s some history between that pair from last season! So, four wins on the board and a fifth win looked possible when Abby took on Haddington’s best player on the night, Craig Stenton - a topsy turvy affair also went down to the wire, Abby losing out 11-9 in the fifth. Could the doubles provide the home side with a point? Krzysztof and Abby were never really in it and with that loss, the Haddington side secured a 6-4 victory.
 
Team 4 meanwhile faced Haddington 5 in Division 3. Another match where we had to call on a player from a lower division to play up and with Team 5 also in action, that wasn’t easy – Roscoe Cairney answered the distress call to join Bob Porteous and Rachel Petrie. Sometimes you might decide just to play with two players, but Club President Greig pointed out that it was always better having three players as you never know - your opponents might turn up short handed. As if he was a fortune teller, lo and behold the East Lothian outfit turned up with just two players – what a great chance for the hosts to record their first victory – 3-0 up before the match started. That got even better as Bob won a terrific tussle against Liam Govan in match 1 of the night, a close 14-12 fifth end victory gave the hosts a 4-0 advantage. A point looked to be within the team’s grasp as Rachel took a 2-1 lead in the second match of the night, but this time the hosts came out on the wrong end of a deuce in the fifth match - 4-1 but nothing to panic about. When Roscoe, Rachel, the doubles and then Roscoe again lost, however, the team were suddenly 5-4 down. Bob had a chance to secure a point in the final match of the night but perhaps tension played a part as he fell to a four end defeat, Team 4 disappointingly losing out by a 6-4 margin.
 
The East Lothian v Midlothian week wasn’t over as Team 1 visited Haddington 1. Played on two tables, Greig McDonell started out against Pete Lugton, whilst Brian Hunter simultaneously played Carsten Giebler. Greig and Pete commented that they probably last played each other in about 1989. One of the players has let themselves go a bit whilst the other looks just as fit now as he did 30 years ago – and his left handed forehand topspin is still as difficult to return now as it was 30 years ago! The good news was that the match was over so quickly it gave Greig a chance to cheer on Brian who was involved in a real tussle with Carsten. When Brian fell 2-1 behind with an 11-2 third end loss the match looked over, but Brian is a fighter and he came back from the dead in both the fourth and fifth ends for a terrific 11-9 fifth end win. The musical Matt Munro (only those old enough to remember will get that one) then took on Colin Green and Colin managed to win the big points in a couple of close games to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage after the first round of singles. The next two matches saw Pete continue his good form with a 3-0 victory over Colin whilst Greig blew a couple of great chances as he fell in four ends to Carsten. Brian then won his second match of the night to level the match at 3-3. The doubles was crucial and when Greig and Colin won the first end 11-6 they were looking good. At 10-4 down in the second things looked a bit worse – but hold on 6 points in a row brought them level at 10-10 only for them to lose the game 12-10 – they never really recovered from that, losing out 3-1. There was still a chance of at least a draw though – Greig v Matt and Colin v Carsten played simultaneously – Greig got the fourth victory of the night, but Colin couldn’t pull off the win v Carsten. That left Brian needing an unlikely win against Pete in the last match of the night and unlikely it proved – another 6-4 defeat for Penicuik.
 
The Club’s fifth team were also in action on Thursday night as they hosted North Merchiston 6 in Division 4. Aidan Craig and Patrick Shanks took to the table again for their third match in a row and were joined by Sian McDonald, making her competitive debut. Surely this one couldn’t also finish 6-4, could it? Aidan and Patrick got the hosts off to a great start with victories before Sian’s first match pitted her against the Edinburgh side’s number 1. No doubt a little nervous, she fell in straight sets as the hosts held a 2-1 lead after the first round of singles. Patrick won his second match of the night before Aidan then lost out to Sian’s conqueror in three close ends. Match 6 on the night was to prove crucial. Sian found herself 2-1 down and 10-6 down in the fourth – facing four match points she dug in and recovered for a 14-12 victory and followed that up with an 11-8 fifth end win – 4-2 rather than 3-3 and the home side were close to securing at least a point. Aidan & Patrick lost out in the doubles to bring the match close again and when Patrick also lost to the Merchiston side’s undefeated player, the result was on a knife edge at 4-4. Four matches played on Thursday night involving the club and would you believe it every single one of them ended 6-4 – but unlike the other three this time Aidan and Sian won their final matches to give Penicuik the 6-4 win – a terrific result, Team 5’s second win of the season.
 
Away from the Edinburgh League, we must mention the Club’s exploits at the 2022/23 Scottish National League which got underway at Perth on Saturday 8th October. The standard last year in Division 5 was terrific and the Club were over the moon to finish 2nd and get promoted to Division 4. When Team Captain Greig looked at some of the teams in Division 4 on Friday night he started to wish the side had maybe stayed in Division 5! He was joined by James and Hannah for the trip to Perth to play the first two fixtures of this year’s event, matches against Nomads (Glasgow area) and Murrayfield. There really is a great atmosphere at the National League – 48 teams across six divisions all competing in the massive main Hall at the Bells Sports Centre – 24 tables in action and a real buzz in the hall. First up was Nomads. Matches are between teams of three with each player playing two singles – after the first three matches only Greig had managed a win – when he won his second singles the match was tied at 2-2. James then played well against the Nomads number 3 to secure a point and it was left to Hannah to play the opponent’s number 2 player, the very experienced Maureen Moran. Hannah held her nerve brilliantly to give Penicuik a 4-2 win. The afternoon match pitted us against a Murrayfield side made up of an Edinburgh Premier League player and two division 1 players. Greig got the side off to a good start before James fell to the Murrayfield number 1. Hannah then faced Ian Moran (no relation to Maureen!) – there is more than 200 points difference in their ratings, and it looked that way as Ian comfortably took the first set against Hannah 11-4. Then something seemed to click as Hannah began to return serve better putting Ian under pressure – a fantastic turnaround saw her win in four ends to give Penicuik an unexpected 2-1 advantage. Greig came out on top in the battle of the number 1s before Hannah lost out in her second match. That left James to try and convert 1 point to 2 in the final match of the day – both players looked tense and nervous but James made fewer errors as Penicuik recorded their second victory of the day – Wow what an amazing start to the Competition. Things will get tougher with the next three fixtures next month – we’ve got David, Abby and Gary in the squad to call upon but given the first day’s performances, they might struggle to get selected!
 
And so, to our player of the week award for Week 3. Only Ian from Team 3 was undefeated in singles play this week (given that James lost a match when playing up) but as we know this award is not just about not losing games – and Ian is now sunning himself in Portugal for a few weeks so there’s no chance he’s getting the award – sorry Ian. First shout out is to Brian – not long back from a serious injury and he did his part on Thursday night winning two of his three singles, one of those wins being against the much higher rated Carsten. James and Hannah also need credit this week – not only did James play up again and win 2 in Division 1, he and Hannah won crucial matches at Perth on Saturday to give Penicuik a great start to the season in the National League – they both won two out of their four matches played. A well done also to Greig who was undefeated in the National League with four wins out of four, but he blew it against Carsten in the Edinburgh League so he’s out of the running. But this week, like last, we turn to our newest squad of players in Division 4. All three players performed well with Aidan, Patrick and Sian all contributing two wins in the Club’s only win out of four matches played on Thursday night. Aidan probably should have won a joint award last week with Patrick for his undefeated night against university, but we were feeling cruel and gave it to Patrick because he won 9 ends, lost none as opposed to Aidan’s 9 ends won and 1 lost! Cruel indeed!  If we used the same criteria this week, Aidan won 6, lost 3 ends, Patrick won 6, lost 4 ends and Sian won 6, lost 5 ends. Even crueller this week – we’ve changed our criteria. The nature of a win and the importance of that win is what matters this week – your time will definitely come Aidan – keep up the good work – 9 competitive matches played, and 6 wins is a phenomenal return in his first season of League play. But this week the award goes to the player who played her first ever competitive table tennis match, came back from the dead to save four match points and who effectively secured the overall match win because of that comeback – well done to Sian.
 
Finally, what about our controversy of the week section. Jings this report has gone on a bit – is anyone still reading? Pete Lugton begged to be in this section this week, so here goes – one of the dodgiest calls ever was made as Colin held a 10-7 advantage over Pete in the first end of their League match on Thursday night. The home umpire was going to give Colin the point and the win after he didn’t see Pete’s shot apparently hit the table – was it a side or an edge – after an argument from Pete a let was played – and yes you guessed it he came back to win that end and the match.  OK, so we have used a bit of journalistic license here – the players actually agreed to play a let but that doesn’t make the story controversial at all! In fairness, if Colin agreed to play a let then surely it was actually an edge! Pete’s far too nice a guy to be involved in controversial moments. Oh hold on, at a crucial point in the doubles official umpire Roger Thomas faulted Colin because he said the ball bounced on the wrong side of the table on Colin’s side – Pete had the best view of that as he was waiting to receive serve - he went sheepishly quiet – it was never a fault (or maybe it was)! Despite how hard we try we can’t seem to find anything horrible to say about Mr Lugton – unlike a number of the players he’s responsible for – if only all of Haddington’s players were as lovely as he is! Carsten was way out of order after defeat to Brian - instead of congratulating his opponent all we could hear him say was how unbelievably bad he’d been – that might be the case but save that for a discussion with your teammates not as your shaking the opponent’s hand and walking away from the table – oh hold on, Greig had to have a go at Colin for doing exactly the same after he lost to Carsten! Bad sportsmanship? Or as Colin put it, I’m happy to say he was the better player on the night I’m just commenting that my play was way below my normal standard! Hmm. And what about a certain Haddington player at Penicuik on Thursday night – anyone that can make James swear must be a controversial character! Apparently, the player was clapping and cheering mistakes from his opponent, shouting very loudly (apparently putting Rachel off who was playing in Division 4) and finally after the narrowest of defeats threw his bat across the hall in anger / frustration. That should have been a red card (if we had any) but the match was over anyway. And then add to all of that our most controversial moment of the season so far – Haddington’s Craig Stenton won his three and combined for a doubles win against us in their 6-4 division 1 victory. Craig is a nice guy. He is a great acquisition for Haddington – a new player to the League. Hang on a minute, we remember him coming along to a Saturday training session at the Club – it looked like he might join us. We were making all the right noises, all being friendly towards him, and we could see great potential. Rachel was particularly friendly to him – she pointed out some other clubs that he might like to try out! Oh, Haddington is a really nice club as well, she said! That’s probably closer to where you stay! We never saw him again!! Until Thursday! We’re not bitter!!
 
Week 4 upon us – thank goodness we don’t have to see that Lugton chap again for a while.  

All five of our teams were in action in Week 2 of the Edinburgh League with mixed results.
 
In the Premier division Colin Green, Greig McDonell and new recruit Brian Hunter faced Edinburgh University 1 at Ladywood on Thursday night. The students have a number of new recruits this season but perhaps a little luckily for the hosts their “best side” didn’t travel to Penicuik. Brian and Greig played simultaneously to get the match underway – Brian hasn’t played in the ELTTL since an injury playing against Penicuik knocked him out in the middle of last season. He was still good enough to see off Jakub Kara playing up from Division 1 after the loss of the first end. Meanwhile Greig took on Rayaan Kalid and this one went the distance – an 11-9 fifth end defeat was a tough loss for Greig. Colin then took on Faye Leggat and looked in complete control at 2-0 up – Faye battled back however and this one also went to a deciding fifth end – this time it was the home player that came out on top. Faye got on the scoreboard with a three end defeat of Brian before Greig picked up a win against Jakub. Colin rounded off the second set of singles with a battling four end win over Rayaan – 4-2 for the hosts going into the crucial doubles – Greig and Colin’s experience got them over the line in four v Faye and Rayaan. Greig then had the chance to record the winning sixth match and at 2-0 and 10-8 up against Faye he looked like he’d do it – oh hold on – a 16-14 loss and the tide turned as Faye kept the match alive with a comeback five end victory. The match was then secured however as Colin completed his undefeated night before Brian showed glimpses of his best battling qualities going down in five to Rayaan – a good 6-4 win for the hosts and it was great to see Brian back – give him a few matches and he’ll be back to his best.
 
Meanwhile Team 3 also hosted University opposition as they took on University 3 in Division 2. James Wighton, Hannah McDonell and Ian Hislop played their second match together and the first two matches set the tone for the night – both games went to five ends with James winning 14-12 in the fifth and Ian recording an 11-9 fifth end win. Those two matches could easily have gone the other way and the pressure would have shifted to the hosts – Hannah made it 3-0 with an excellent straight sets win before her teammates then both had further five enders – this time James lost out in five but Ian secured his second fifth end win of the night. Hannah then won in four take the score to 5-1. With time passing quickly Team 3 proceeded to play all the singles – Ian and Hannah both won to make the score 7-1 before James decided to get involved in another fifth end decider!  A 14-12 fourth end leveller gave him the initiative in the fifth which he won comfortably. Unfortunately, with six five enders time had run out and the doubles was conceded – an excellent 8-2 win to add to their opening week victory over Heriot Watt – Team 3 wish they could play students every week!
 
It was a Penicuik v Uni week as teams 2 and 5 travelled to Edinburgh on Friday night. The good news first – Aidan Craig, Patrick Shanks and Ian Millar (making his debut) faced University 6 in Division 4. After a difficult week 1 loss, the team were looking to bounce back and bounce back they did! Aidan and Patrick got the side off to the perfect start with two 3-0 wins before Ian played his first ever competitive table tennis match – to his credit he won an end against his opponent as he went down to a tight 4 end defeat.  2 further wins in the next round of singles for Aidan and Patrick gave the visitors a 4-2 lead going into the doubles. Patrick and Aidan did well to pull off a four end win to secure at least a point for the visitors. And the night got better as Patrick and Aidan completed undefeated evenings to give Penicuik 5 an excellent 7-3 win.
 
Whilst Team 5 were marching to victory, Team 2 were struggling against The University’s 2nd team in Division 1. Our biggest winners from week 1 came back down to earth with a huge bump as they never came to terms with the student’s strong play. Two matches on the night went to five ends, both involving Sonny Taylor – he was very unfortunate to lose both in very close deciders (11-9 and 11-7). Other than that though there was little to get excited about Gary McDougal and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz didn’t win an end in singles play although they combined for 1 end in the doubles as Team 2 fell to a 10-0 defeat. Oh well – they were top of the league for a week and we’ve got a screenshot for posterity!
And finally in a busy week, Team 4 entered the fray for their first match of the season with a visit to West Lothian in Division 3. Rachel Petrie and Jim Jack were joined by newcomer, Bob Porteous, making his debut. Rachel won the first end of the night but fell to a 3-1 defeat in her first match before Jim lost in straight ends. Bob’s first match was a good one for him – a 3-1 victory. In the second round of singles all three players found the going tough and three losses secured at least a point for the hosts. The doubles was a must win and Rachel and Bob came close but not close enough, losing in four ends. Bob then had a long five ender and came out on the right side of the result, 11-7 in the fifth but neither Rachel nor Jim could get on the scorecard as the visitors fell to an 8-2 defeat.
 
And so, to our player of the week award. Hmm – a tough one this week with several players in the running. Colin, Hannah, Ian H, Aidan and Patrick were all undefeated. Bob also deserves a mention with two wins in his first Edinburgh league match which shows his potential. Colin’s wins were vital to the first team’s 6-4 win. Whilst her teammates were struggling, Hannah comfortably secured her undefeated night although two fifth end deciders for Ian were crucial to the side’s victory. And what about our two newbies in Div 4 – both Aidan and Patrick are due a lot of credit for their first ever undefeated nights in only their second ever League match. Jings this is a difficult one! Neither Hannah nor Ian won the doubles (a bit unfair given they didn’t get to play it!) so they’re out of the running. Apparently it was Greig who pulled Colin through in the doubles to secure the victory so he’s also out of the running. That leaves Patrick and Aidan - they combined for a doubles win – in singles Aidan dropped 1 end out of 10 played whilst Patrick won 9 out of 9 and that was the only difference between the two - well done to Patrick on his first weekly award.  
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. There has been nothing but complaints from our players this week regarding the wonderfully named St Leonards Land – maybe some sour grapes from Team 2 after their 10-0 thrashing but our Team 5 non-playing captain also had plenty to say after his side’s victory – first it’s the lighting – it was so bad according to our NPC that when he tried knocking up with one of our players he claims he could hardly see the ball – now in fairness he is almost 102 and his eyesight has been badly affected recently, but even still….. Our Professional photographer sent the club a couple of pictures of the match – if you were wearing green you would have apparently been invisible to the naked eye!
 
The second issue was with the start time – having arrived early for a 7pm start the visitors were hanging around and by 7.20pm the tables were still not set up. Our NPC allegedly threatened to claim the match if the hall wasn’t set up by 7.30 – not sure how that would have played out at a Committee meeting – would have been a fun controversy though. The third complaint was that there was no proper seating in the hall - bearing in mind his age, if he’d got down onto one of the wooden gym benches he would never have been able to get up again. Oh what fun – none of this is aimed as a criticism of Edinburgh Uni – you have to play in the accommodation given and we, more than most, know how difficult it can be to have any control over what other events a venue has on. It wasn’t that long ago that our 6.30 start time was ridiculous because Zumba was in the hall until 6.30pm so there was no way we could get in before that – the Uni seemingly had a dance class on until 7pm (they do play in the “Dance Studio” so that’s not unexpected!) Back to our old favourite – how great it would be if we all operated our own premises – or maybe the idea of a Central Venue, as mooted at the end of last season, does have some merit – assuming that venue is a good one!
 
Finally, our own shortcomings with our venue again came to the fore. Two matches on last Thursday – 3 tables set up - so each team alternated using the second table. Plenty time to get finished by 10pm. Eh no! When you get a number of matches going the distance the time just flies by – it was recognised early by Team 3 that they were struggling so they conceded the doubles to enable the singles to all be played, finishing just prior to 10pm – if only we had our own venue – we can dream!