Week 10 of the Edinburgh League and December is just round the corner. How did that happen?
 
The Team 4 trio of Craig Linton, Richard Miller and Aidan Craig were first in action on Tuesday 21st November as they made the trip to Corstorphine in Division 3. They needed to bounce back from a couple of poor results over their last few matches. With second place only a few points ahead in the division and with games in hand the Penicuik trio knew they were still in with a chance of being in the hunt by the end of the first half of the season. The first three matches all went the way of the visitors, Craig being pushed all the way in match 3 to a fifth end decider. He found himself 2-0 down and in the tightest of matches won the next three ends 11-9, 13-11, 12-10 – now that’s what you call squeaky bum time! In match 4 Richard came back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 before a mammoth decider went the way of the home player 15-13. Wins for Aidan and Craig gave the visitors a 5-1 lead and when that pair combined for a victory in the doubles the win was secured. The last three matches were all won 3-0 by the Penicuik players as they recorded a 9-1 victory.
 
Wednesday night saw Team 6 make the trip to the Oriam to face Heriot Watt in Division 5. Team 6 Captain Roscoe Cairney called on the services of Phil Daly to replace Ian Millar and they were joined by Mat Dyluk. Phil, playing his first league match of the season recorded a win in match 3 but that was the only win in the first five matches of the night. Roscoe seems to be involved regularly in long matches and he was at it again in match 6, holding his nerve for a good win in the decider. 4-2 going into the doubles and Team 6 were still in with a chance. Maybe Phil should have played but the regular pairing of Roscoe and Mat took to the table and when they won the second set comfortably 11-3, they were in with a real chance. Unfortunately, the next two were lost and it was 5-2 to the students. Phil kept the match alive in Game 8 with a five end win and when Mat was 1-1 in match 9 a miracle recovery was on the cards. 5 ends in a row from there however went to the students who recorded a 7-3 win.
 
With David Melrose on holiday, James Wighton recalled Hannah McDonell to the starting line up having recovered from illness and they were joined by Steve Collins as Team 2 paid a visit to Murrayfield 6 in Division 1. Awaiting them were a strong looking team of Colin Clark, Ian Moran and Wei Gu. Colin lost the first end of the night to James but that was the only end he lost all night! Match 2 saw Steve defeat Ian in straight sets and when Hannah won 3-0 in her match v Wei Gu, the visitors felt positive at 2-1 up. If only the match had stopped there! The only other end won by the visitors was in the doubles where Steve and Hannah combined in a 3-1 loss to Gu and Clark. An 8-2 defeat was perhaps a bit harsh on Team 2 on the night, who according to Team Captain James didn’t want to have too late a night at the church hall so decided to lose quickly!  
 
Peter Aird was away on his travels again - some might say deliberately picking the next couple of weeks to be away to preserve his average as Murrayfield 1 and 2 come calling! Team 1 have had a terrific start in their 2023 Premier League campaign – undefeated going into Week 10 is the best start they’ve ever had! Could Greig McDonell and Colin Green keep the run going with an understrength team against one of the big boys in the Premier Division? Steve Collins played his second match in two nights as he was called up and there was some promise when Murrayfield 2 also turned up with a player playing up, young William Wang from Division 1. Greig v Keith Dingwall and Colin v William were first up. William showed his promise taking an end of Colin but falling in four. Greig and Keith have played against each other more times than we can remember and when Keith took the first two ends 11-5, 11-9, it looked good for the visitor, but matches between this pair are never straightforward! Greig won the next two 13-11, 11-4 and it was destined that the decider was going to go the distance. Keith summed it up at 9-9 in the fifth when he said it was like playing mirror images of each other – a missed forehand and a push in the net gave the win to Greig. Zihao Li was full of confidence after his recent excellent form. Both Steve and Greig took an end from him, but his attacking game was too strong for them. The Keith v Colin and Steve v William matches were to prove crucial. Both went the distance. Steve held a 9-6 lead in the decider v William but couldn’t get over the line as he fell 11-9. Meanwhile Colin and Keith were involved in a cracker. Keith led 10-6 in the decider, but Colin never knows when he’s beaten – with the help of two of the best backhand winners you’re likely to see at Ladywood this season he got back to 10-10. He’d done the hard work and maybe thought he’d done enough - two forehand misses and Keith triumphed 12-10. So instead of a potential 4-2 lead going into the doubles it was a 4-2 deficit. Zihao and Keith played some great doubles to secure at least a point. The match was kept alive by Colin’s impressive five end win v Zihao but when Keith defeated Steve the points were secured. Greig wishes he’d listened to Keith about giving up after a knee injury sustained in the doubles – no real need to play the last match after Keith’s victory but he played on and just to make him even more miserable, from 2-1 up he lost deuce in the fifth! A 7-3 defeat ended Team 1s terrific start to the season – not to worry though, undefeated defending champions Murrayfield 1 in Week 11 should be easy!
 
Team 3 were looking to build on their 10-0 victory from Week 9 as they faced Herriot Watt in Division 2. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Bob Porteous had their easiest night of the season as they sat at home with their feet up after a concession from the students – a 10-0 win helps boost their game difference!
 
And finally in Week 10, Team 5 hosted Gullane in Division 4. Jim Jack, Patrick Shanks and Rachel Petrie took to the table for the hosts. After Rachel lost match 1, wins for Jim and Patrick gave the hosts a 2-1 advantage. The next three singles went 2-1 in favour of the visitors, Rachel being the only winner for the Penicuik side, so 3-3 with the doubles to play. Rachel and Jim were selected and after a tight 11-9 loss in the first end, they were right in this match. Nothing could show clearer what a difference playing order in doubles makes – the second end was an 11-0 whitewash win for the Gullane duo – come on guys where was the throw away point. The third end, back to the playing order of the first, 11-9! At 4-3 down, Patrick brought the match level again before the undefeated Ian Ladbrooke gave the East Lothian outfit a 5-4 advantage. Could Rachel pull out a win in match 10 to secure a point? She had her chances – an 11-6 win in the first end got her teammates excited but a narrow 11-9 loss in the second was followed by an 11-6 loss in the third. She was still in it however in the fourth and was unlucky not to force a decider as she agonisingly lost out 17-15! A disappointing 6-4 loss for Team 5. Three defeats on the bounce has seen them fall into the bottom half of the Division.  
 
And so, to our player of the week award. Special mentions are due to Phil – good to see him back playing competitively; to Hannah – according to her teammates she was unplayable in her first match at Murrayfield against Wei Gu. Pity she then had to play “oldies with funny rubbers”! And to Colin for, as we described, two unbelievably good backhands under the utmost pressure at match points down – ignore the fact that he lost the match ultimately. Despite that loss he then took out Zihao Li, the only player this season to have defeated North Merchiston’s Gavin Yuan who everyone had said was going to go through the season with 100%! But for the second week in a row, we turn to Team 4 for this week’s award. Both Craig and Aidan had undefeated nights (and combined for a doubles win). Including the doubles Craig won 12 ends and lost 4 whilst Aidan won 12 ends for the loss of only three. Well done to Aidan.
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. It’s been a quiet one this week. When we’re struggling for controversies, however, we can always rely on Greig and Colin to have their occasional tiff! Team 1s match was generally played in very good spirit, other than a couple of flash points. One relates to that question of when does supporting your teammates cross the line into being disrespectful. This is a James favourite! We think he picked up his menacing stares from Greig who aimed a long glare at Zhiao Li after he applauded him missing an easy forehand! Greig of course always has to have the last word so asked him why he didn’t applaud the next point when he pushed one off the table! Of course, maybe the advice from Colin should have been followed - just concentrate on the game! The worst example of this dates back a good number of seasons to Edinburgh University’s visit to Ladywood when the “manic” applauding by the supporters happened after every single point in a match in which David Melrose was involved. That led to Tom Mackenzie getting involved and having a word with the Uni’s Team Captain – hopefully the Uni Team Captain has grown up a bit since then after he invited Tom to “take the matter outside”!! Is there actually anything in the rules about this? Unsportsmanlike behaviour? Our code of Conduct contains the following:
 
“Spectators who heckle or show disrespect towards any player may be required to leave the vicinity”.  
 
Disrespect?? A difficult concept to establish probably. Speaking about being disrespectful there was a “terrific argument” online involving some “English veterans players” after one of the players posted about an easy match he’d been involved in in his local league. He referred to the opponents as “the whipping boys” of the league and so he decided to play all his matches left handed (he’s a right handed player). He pointed out that he won 6 ends easily, 3 ends were close, and he lost two ends! This led to a lot of negative feedback from other players about him being disrespectful. Comments that he then removed! He pointed out that he was not going to apologise for playing left handed – it made an otherwise easy match more challenging and there were top players who swapped hands regularly who were not called disrespectful. We think the difference might be that those top players may switch hands for a point or two during a match – they don’t decide to play a whole match left handed. A great talent to have, however. Maybe the boasting about it online was the disrespectful element? We’re hoping that Murrayfield 1 can take a page out of his book though and all play opposite hands against Team 1 this week!
 
The other incident from Team 1s match related to serving and umpiring – Greig was convinced that young William’s backhand serve was regularly illegal as he struck the ball over the table and not behind the white line. The “fully qualified” umpire, Colin, disagreed. In fairness the umpire would have a better view sitting at the side. The issue isn’t really the serve it was the potential bust up between these two mates (they’ve got history for this on the table). The umpire is always right apparently – maybe he should have brought out a yellow card to the player for questioning the umpire’s eyesight and abilities!! They were pals again by the weekend!
 
The biggest controversy of the Week, however, comes from Team 2’s match at Murrayfield with new boy Steve Collins. Steve joined the Club just a few weeks ago and arrived with a reputation of being, eh how can we put this……. Eh, a bit difficult to deal with? A bit moody? A bit volatile? Imagine the surprise therefore when Hannah couldn’t stop talking about what a great guy he is – he’s so supportive, he’s so nice, he’s so encouraging, he’s good at giving advice, he’s really friendly, he’s lovely, he’s a real team player, he’s so easy to talk to, he’s funny etc. etc. etc. Even James, who finds it difficult to get on with anyone, spoke fondly of him! We never believed those rumours about you, Steve and always knew you were a big softy at heart.
 
Week 11 is upon us – only a couple of regular League weeks left before we break for Xmas!!

Week 9 of the Edinburgh League saw five of our six teams in action.
 
Team 3 were first in action on Tuesday evening, 14th November as they travelled to Napier Uni to take on Corstorphine 3 in Division 2. After a good win in Week 8, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Bob Porteous were looking to get within three points of the Division leaders. Krys had, in Week 2 of the season, been unable to get his young kids looked after and so took them along to his match v Murrayfield – they had been a great boost to him, and he hoped that they would have the same impact as they faced another exciting night watching daddy play TT! Thanks to Corstorphine for accommodating us – Krys was at it again as he won his three and then left with the kids, avoiding them needing to watch Bob and Gary! After his departure the remaining duo continued the excellent play for the visitors as they too produced undefeated nights. Gary and Bob haven’t played together in the doubles so far this season but after a comfortable 3-0 win maybe they should be considered in the future. There were some close matches in this fixture but all of them went to the visitors as Team 3 recorded their biggest win of the season with a 10-0 whitewash win.  
 
Thursday 16th November was a busy one for the Club with our remaining four teams in action – Teams 2 and 4 were at home against Murrayfield 5 and Edinburgh International 3 respectively whist Teams 1 and 5 were away against Murrayfield 3 and West Lothian 6.
 
With illness still affecting Hannah McDonell and with the unavailability of James Wighton, a new look Team 2 took to the table at Ladywood. David Melrose and Ian Hislop were joined by Steve Collins as Team 2 looked to put a halt to their poor run of form. Ian took on Haydn Jackson in the first match of the night – Haydn’s powerful topspin proved too difficult for Ian as the visitors got off to a good start. When Steve then lost to young Max Well (long pips on one side at his age – that’s unusual), David knew that he needed a win to keep the side in with a chance – he duly produced a good 3-0 win v Nichole Lee. Steve went to four ends in match 4 but fell to Haydn, and when Nichole triumphed over Ian, Team 2 were staring defeat in the face at 4-1 down. It’s never over though and the comeback started with a comfortable 3 end win for David v Max. That was followed by an excellent straight sets victory for Steve and David in the doubles before Steve then drew the score level with a four end win v Nichole. A 4 end win for David v Haydn in match 9 gave the hosts their first lead of the night – 5-4 up with Ian left to play against Max. Could Ian win to secure a terrific comeback victory? Not quite – a 12-10 fourth end loss resulted in a 5-5 draw, the hosts probably the happier team after their poor start. 
 
The last outing for the Team 4 trio of Craig Linton, Richard Miller and Aidan Craig had seen them fall to their only defeat of the season so far (6-4 v Edinburgh University in Week 7) – they were looking to put that behind them as they faced Edinburgh International 3 in Division 3 at Ladywood. Their opponents were made up of the youth of Julia Domagala, supported by a huge amount of experience in Ken Benjamin and Jim Grahame. We remember Jim from the good old days where he regularly competed against the best. And we have a real soft spot for Ken for providing us with numerous items for our controversy of the week section over his many years as Match Secretary! The battle of the youngsters was first up, and it was Julia who came out on top. When Richard then lost to Jim, Team Captain Craig was needed to bring the hosts back into the match and he duly did so with a four end victory over Ken. The second round of singles saw an out of sorts Richard lose to Julia but four end wins for Aidan v Ken and Craig v Jim brought the scores level going into the crucial doubles. Aidan and Craig took on Julia and Jim and it looks like we need to spend some time on doubles tactics as they fell to a three end defeat. That heaped the pressure on the hosts for the last three singles. Richard took on Ken in Match 8 and Ken’s win secured a point for the visitors. Craig then had no difficulty in defeating Julia to keep the match alive. Aidan needed a win to secure a draw for the hosts but his opponent’s experience came to the fore as Jim secured a 6-4 win for the visitors – a really disappointing night for Team 4 but with Kristian unavailable in Week 10, the same trio will have a chance to redeem themselves this week.
 
Peter Aird was back from his travels as he joined Greig McDonell and Colin Green for their visit to Murrayfield 3 in the Premier Division. Team 1 have had a terrific start to the 2023 season, and they were looking to try and extend their winning form for another week. They were given a boost at the beginning of the night with only 1 regular playing for the Murrayfield outfit, Tomasz Bracha. He was joined by two division 1 players, young Angus Halliday and the not so young Colin Clark. The match was played out of order to enable young Angus to finish his matches and get home at some reasonable time. Although he never won any matches he took an end of Peter and was close in a couple of ends v Greig and Colin. With his three matches over, the attention turned to Colin C and Tomasz. Tomasz didn’t enjoy Peter’s style and fell in 3 before the two Colin’s took to the table – the Penicuik Colin won in 3. Tomasz had two terrific matches on the night – against Greig he went the distance, saved a couple of match points, and won 14-12 in the fifth. He also had his chances against Colin. At 2-1 up and deuce in the fourth he never really recovered from a horrendous missed smash as Colin won in 5. Both Peter and Greig defeated Colin and the doubles played at the end of the night saw a relaxed and cracking performance from Greig and Colin as Team 1 secured a 9-1 victory.
 
And finally in Week 9, Team 5 made the trip to Bathgate in Division 4 looking to bounce back from their 7-3 loss in their last outing in Week 7. Jim Jack, Rachel Petrie and Chamika Diyunugalge will probably want to forget about this match as quickly as they can. Jim was the player of the night for the visitors – his second and third matches both went to five ends but he lost them both, one of them 12-10 in the decider. Rachel will be kicking herself a little after the opening match of the night slipped away from her from 2-1 up, losing 11-9 in the fifth. That however was as good as it got for Team 5 as the West Lothian outfit marched into equal top in the Division with a 10-0 victory – the scoreline perhaps a little harsh on the visitors but even had those five-enders gone the other way the Bathgate side would have still been comfortable.

And so, to our player of the week award. This must be our most difficult decision of the season so far. SEVEN players are in contention, all having had undefeated nights in singles play. David, Krys, Gary, Bob, Craig, Peter and Colin. Peter and Colin are out of the running – two of their victories were against players playing up a division! David only lost one end out of ten played – but he’s gone on holiday mid-season without a thought for his team so he’s out the running! All of Team 3 were undefeated but in fairness they were against a side who are struggling a bit and find themselves at the foot of the Division 2 table. And so that leaves us with Craig – even though he was on a losing side, he played some great stuff and his consistency this season has been terrific – he sits at the top of the Division 3 averages with 13 wins from 15 matches played – Well done to Craig.
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. We saved up some controversies from last week due to the vast amount of issues we had to get through! We’ve not been made aware of any yellow or red cards being used yet this season but there were probably two occasions where they should have been used last week! In one of our matches, a Penicuik player let their bat slip out of their hand – a rather forceful “slippage” which caused the bat to break. The game was being played in a friendly manner and whilst the opponent wanted our player to play on it was pointed out (by us) that in terms of the rules “a racket shall not be replaced during an individual match unless it is accidentally damaged so badly that it cannot be used”. Whilst the player could have tried to argue that the bat “accidentally” slipped, the PTTC player felt that had they played on and then won the match that would have been entirely unfair on the basis that the rules had been broken – we did the right thing and forfeited the match.
 
Contrast that with an incident at Bathgate involving our Team 4. A West Lothian player had, throughout the evening, continually hit his racket against his leg (in frustration/anger) until in the final match of the evening, he struck his bat forcefully once too often and the inevitable happened as the blade broke to the extent that it could not be used any further. Perhaps not knowing the rules, a replacement bat was provided, and the game carried on. Fortunately for us the Penicuik player won the match, and we don’t have to deal with whether the score should be allowed to stand! Whilst in both these instances it could be said that the players' intentions were not to break their bats, in both cases, it is clear to us that the breakage wasn’t “accidental”. It wasn’t as if the player had caught their bat on the edge of the table, or the player lost control of it whilst playing a shot. In both instances the actions which caused the break were deliberate. Whilst the result of the acts, we are sure, were not intended, that’s not the point. Neither incident resulted in our first “yellow or red card” of the season!
 
The match that keeps on giving is Team 2’s match v Murrayfield from Week 7. A minor point but one that players or coaches need to remember – in David’s last match of the night (which involved some ill feeling as previously reported in Weeks 7 and 8), David approached Greig after the first end finished, to have a moan about the issues which had arisen during that end. Greig spoke to David to effectively tell him to forget about it and concentrate on the match. Upon David returning to the table his opponent asked what the problem was. Greig, forever wanting to avoid confrontation, indicated nothing was wrong, he’d just given David a bit of advice – that was the wrong thing to say of course as the Murrayfield player pointed out that Greig’s name was not on the card as NPC, and he couldn’t therefore give advice! We need to ignore the fact that Greig hadn’t actually given advice about TT - he didn’t want to tell the Murrayfield player that actually the issue David had raised was the “in David’s view” unsporting behaviour of the Murrayfield player. We also have to ignore the fact that Greig had given advice earlier in the evening without any issue being raised and indeed in one of the matches where the same opponent was involved. Putting those issues to one side, however, the player had a point – if your name’s not on the card as NPC then you can’t coach / give advice – that’s what the rules say! Team Captain, James, had obviously just forgotten to put Greig's name down when filling out the card. An error that he won’t repeat – he sent a picture of Team 2’s next scorecard from their match v Corstorphine at Napier with Greig’s name down on the card even though Greig was some 40 miles away at home! A reminder to all, however, especially to our Club secretary, Brian, who often comes along on a Thursday to help out and give his words of wisdom to players, that if your name’s not down you can’t get involved!
 
Week 10 is upon us – only 4 more weeks until we break for Christmas!! 

Week 8 of the Edinburgh League was a quieter one than recent weeks with four of our six teams in action.
 
Team 4 were first in action as they travelled to Bathgate on Monday 6th November to take on West Lothian 4. Kristian Skotzen, Aidan Craig and Craig Linton made the trip west hoping to recover from their 6-4 loss the previous week. They faced Tommy Toner, Tommy Hamill and Aidan Kerr who sat at the top end of the Division 3 table. Aidan got the visitors off to the perfect start with a 3-0 win v Tommy T but the scores were levelled when Tommy H defeated Kristian in four ends. Craig restored the lead after the first set of singles games with a close 3-0 win. The second set of singles matches followed the same pattern, Tommy H this time defeating Aidan. The wins for Kristian and Craig took the score to 4-2 with the doubles to play. Kristian and Craig took to the table – good grief we couldn’t think of a more awkward pairing for anyone to come up against! Their dodgy rubbers, and some good play, saw them victorious in four ends and a point was secured for the Penicuik trio. The two undefeated players then played match 8 and it was Craig who came out on top in a convincing 3-0 win against Tommy H. The battle of the Aidan’s went the distance and well done to our Aidan coming back from 2-1 down to win 11-7 in the decider. Kristian rounded the match off with a good win in the final match of the night as Team 4 recorded an excellent 8-2 win.
 
The following night saw Team 2 travel to Napier University to take on Corstorphine 1. After a late call off due to illness from Hannah McDonell, James Wighton had to reorganise his evening as he joined David Melrose and Ian Hislop in a trip to face a side, who in fairness, could have chosen to take up a place in the Premier Division. The loss of their best player from last season, however, probably caused them to think that the Premier might have been a step too far this season. That said, they are once again at the top end of the Division 1 table and Team 2 knew they were in for another tough match. Ian was first up, fresh from just returning from his early winter hibernation in sunnier climates, but perhaps a bit rusty as a result. When his loss was followed by defeats for both James and David, Team 2 were in trouble. The next set of three singles matches went 2-1 in favour of the hosts, David getting the visitors on the board. 5-1 down and a miracle was needed – that miracle had to start in the doubles as James and Ian took to the table – hang on James and Ian?? That’s a pairing that hasn’t been tried so far this season and we may not see it again after they managed only 16 points in their 3-0 defeat. Match over as a contest and only pride was left to play for – James was the only winner for the visitors in the last three singles – well done to him on a good 3-1 win in the final match of the night. An 8-2 loss for Team 2 and after a promising start to the season (two draws in their first two matches) they’ve had five consecutive losses which leaves them at the foot of the Division. This division is tight though – 4th place is only four points ahead so hope remains that Team 2 can turn their season around.
 
The final two matches in Week 8 took place at Ladywood on Thursday night with the visit of two Haddington teams. Teams 1 and 3 hosted Haddington 1 and 3. Peter Aird wasn’t available for Team 1, so Greig McDonell and Colin Green called up new recruit Steve Collins to make his debut for the Club. Match 1 saw Greig take on his old foe from the 90s (is that really 30 years ago), and at 2-1 up and 7-3 up in the fourth an upset was on the cards – when that advantage was lost, Greig’s chance had gone as Pete came back to win in five. Steve meanwhile was struggling against the tricky Russell Frith and went down to a three-end loss. Colin got the home side on the board with a win against our favourite table tennis singer Matt Munro (we do the same joke every year) but at the same time Pete was showing he can still produce some unbelievable forehand loops as he defeated Steve. 3-1 down and the hosts were in trouble. The recovery started with wins for Greig v Matt and Colin v Russell – when that pair combined for a victory in the doubles, they held their first lead of the night. Colin v Pete and Steve v Matt then took place simultaneously and both went the distance. Steve looked out of it in the decider v Matt, 5-1 down at the change of ends he somehow pulled it back to win deuce in the fifth. Colin found himself 2-1 down but in the highest quality match of the night, he found a way to cancel out Pete’s attacking play as he secured a five-end victory. Those two wins took the pressure of Greig in the last match of the night which also went the way of the hosts. Six matches in a row saw Team 1 recover from 1-3 for a 7-3 victory.
 
Team 3 meanwhile were looking to bounce back from a poor couple of weeks in Division 2. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Bob Porteous took to the table against a side who, according to the table were struggling a little. Bob lost to Gordon Aien in match 1 but wins for Gary and Krys gave the hosts the advantage after the first round of singles. Gordon kept his good form going with a victory over Gary in match 4 and when Sheikh Usman defeated Bob the Haddington side held the lead again. Matches 6 and 7 were crucial. Krys was a strong favourite to win against Magnus Wahernberg in Game 6 and after the first two ends went his way 11-2, 11-5 the writing was on the wall for Magnus. But hold on – suddenly Magnus won the next two ends 11-7, 11-4 and an upset was on the cards. Those two ends saw a total of approximately 150 pushes from Krys! In the decider, Krys was more aggressive and found his form as he squeezed home to level the match at 3-3. The doubles also went the distance. Krys and Gary played some good stuff in the decider though as the home side took a 4-3 lead going into the final round of singles. This match had swung one way then the other with 4 lead changes and never more than one match in it. A bit harsh on Haddington therefore when all three of the final singles went Penicuik’s way, including a very tense 11-9 in the fifth win for Bob v Magnus. 7-3 probably flattered the hosts a little but they’re back to winning ways and it was good to see Gary recover some form after a poor few weeks for him.
 
And so, to our player of the week award. Krys had another undefeated night in singles play but he wants to rule himself out of contention because of his pushing. Colin and Craig were our other undefeated players this week. Craig’s undefeated night saw him lose only one end in singles and he won the doubles with Kristian. Special mention to Kristian and Aidan from Team 4 – all three players sit in the top 5 of the individual averages for Division 3 – keep that going and they will be challenging at the end of the season. Colin showed some brilliant form, particularly against Pete and his undefeated night (unlike Craig’s) was crucial to Team 1s recovery. Colin v Pete saw some excellent play from both players with Colin playing probably his best Tt of the season to pull out the win. His start to the season has been impressive – 15 games played and 13 wins. For the quality of his play, he wins the award this week - Well done Colin.
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. We mentioned last week that we had too many controversies to fit in one report and so this week we’re catching up on one from a few weeks ago. In West Lothian’s match with Murrayfield 2 there was an interesting “rules query” raised. Picture the scene, 3-3 and the doubles takes centre stage. During a rally, one of the Murrayfield players ends up sprawled out on top of the table, her torso effectively resting on the table but her hands out to her sides not touching the table. She also managed not to move the table. As she is in that position WL returns the ball which bounces just to the side of her and past her body, allowing her partner to somehow hit a winner. The umpire from Murrayfield gave the point to his teammates. WL didn’t agree with that, and a “discussion” ensued about how the point could be awarded where one of the players was effectively “lying on the table”. We don’t think we’ve ever come across such a scenario before and our immediate reaction, when the story was relayed to us, was that it must be a point against the player who had decided to go for a lie down on the table. But when we look at the rules, that seems not to be the case? We all know that you are not allowed to put your free hand on the table – that’s automatically a point to your opponent. In this case neither of the player’s hands or arms touched the table. There is also a rule about moving the table during a rally – that again didn’t happen. The ball somehow managed to land to the side of the sprawled out player and didn’t touch her or any of her clothing. Has any rule been infringed?? Answers on a postcard please but we think the right call was made. In the end it was agreed to play a let because the teams couldn’t agree on the position – we don’t know what the outcome of the replayed point was but ultimately it made no real difference as the Murrayfield pairing won the doubles comfortably – but imagine if it had been deuce in the fifth!
 
There was a lot of chat in Team 2’s match v Murrayfield a couple of weeks ago regarding the calling of a “let”. In the doubles, after a Penicuik serve, one of the Murrayfield players put his hand in the air thinking he’d seen a let. His partner returned the ball and David was just about to smash it when he saw the player standing with his hand in the air calling the rally to a halt. Neither of the Penicuik players had seen a let, the other Murrayfield player hadn’t seen it as a let and indeed returned the ball, and the umpire hadn’t called it as a let. David stopped and didn’t play his shot – the Umpire indicated that on the basis that David had stopped a let would be played – had he played a winning shot, however, should the point have been awarded to Penicuik? Later in the singles, David was up against the same individual who once again stuck his hand in the air after a David service calling a let that neither the umpire nor David saw. This caused some ill feeling between the players. The Murrayfield player was adamant that this is what happens at the top level of the game – if the player sees a let and puts his hand up then irrespective of the fact that the umpire didn’t call it, a let should be given. We’ve had a look at the Rules and the section on “lets” says the following:
 
The rally shall be a let: if in service the ball touches the net assembly, provided the service is otherwise correct.......; 2.9.1.2 if the service is delivered when the receiving player or pair is not ready, provided that neither the receiver nor his or her partner attempts to strike the ball;
 
Other than the definition above the only other thing we can find is Regulation 3 which indicates that the Umpire, amongst other things, is responsible for “deciding each rally as a point or a let”.
 
So where does this idea come from that a player can just call a let if he sees it as such? If anyone can enlighten us please do so – has it just become customary that if a player raises his hand then a let is “agreed”? If that is the case then our fully qualified umpire, Colin, will have to find a new catchphrase – his “I’ll call the lets” comment would be redundant! In this match the umpire from Murrayfield and our Club President sitting watching had to tell their own clubmates to get on with the match and stop arguing after the players had a stand-up row about the issue. Fortunately, they both stayed at their respective ends of the table. Not quite “daggers drawn”, but fairly close! David thought his opponent was deliberately interrupting play and was doing so in a manner to unsettle him. The Murrayfield player, we are sure, genuinely thought that the serves had been lets. In the end though we don’t think a let should be played just because one player stops a rally in the belief that there was a let.  
 
And finally, for the first time this season we have to talk about postponements! Team 1 had issues this week. Peter was unavailable. That wasn’t enough to seek a postponement but when Colin was off work with illness the team were down to one regular. Colin made a request to Haddington for a postponement – refused. Should this really be controversial anymore? We are all entitled to refuse such requests – we always have been. But it does sour relationships a little. The nicest man in the league, Peter Lugton, was quick to point out that it had nothing to do with him – team captain, Russell’s decision! Pete’s just trying to maintain his title as the least controversial character in the League! As it turned out, Colin recovered sufficiently to play some excellent TT, despite being ill, and we were able to field a team of three after a last-minute debut for Steve. No hard feelings from us, apart from the email that’s gone out to all our team captains to ensure that any requests from our East Lothian friends for a postponement are flatly refused! (Only joking Haddington - we wouldn't be so petty, would we??)
 
Week 9 already – where have the weeks gone!

Week 7 of the Edinburgh League saw all six of our teams in action.
 
Wednesday night (1st November) saw Team 1 make the trip to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 1 who were in good form having won three of their first four matches, their only loss coming to Premier League title contenders North Merchiston 1. Greig McDonell, Peter Aird and Colin Green have also had an excellent start to the season, undefeated in their first three matches of the season – something had to give! Peter was first up against Dariusz Szymczak and when he won the first end 11-9 it looked like his “funny rubber” was going to cause Dariusz problems – the next three ends, however, went the way of the WL player. Colin’s first match of the night was against former teammate, David Simpson. Colin has a good record against David and all their matches seem to be terrific long five end battles – not on this occasion – a 3-0 win for David gave the hosts a 2-0 lead. Greig then took on Alicja Czarnomska and battled back from 2-1 down to force a deciding fifth end – he was in complete control at 8-3 up in the fifth (or so his teammates thought)! Somehow, Alicja pulled it back to 8-9 before a good piece of luck for Greig gave him the win. When the next two matches went the way of the hosts, the Penicuik trio trailed 4-1 and were in real trouble. Colin defeated Alicja in 4 ends to reduce the deficit. A terrific doubles performance from Colin and Greig brought them back to within 1. Matches 8 and 9 were played simultaneously - Peter won his match in quick fashion and the attention turned to Greig’s match v David. This was a long tight affair, Greig coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to force another fifth end decider. His fitness, he claims, let him down in the fifth as he ran out of energy against the impressive David who finished the night undefeated. Colin v Dariusz was the last match in the Hall and with the Caretaker lurking to close up, this was destined to go the distance – a terrific fifth end win for Colin resulted in a 5-5 draw on the night, probably a fair result.
 
Thursday night saw three matches take place at Ladywood. Team 2 of James Wighton, Hannah McDonell and David Melrose hosted Murrayfield 7 at Ladywood in Division 1. When both James and Hannah lost their opening matches in straight sets, the hosts knew they were in for a difficult night. David got the side on the board but further losses for James and Hannah left the home side struggling at 4-1 down. David cut the deficit and then combined with Hannah for an excellent four end victory in the doubles. Suddenly there was only one game in it and when Hannah won match 8 the scores were tied at 4-4. David had the chance to secure a point against his opposite number but a loss of concentration, after what he felt was some deliberate mind games by his opponent, saw the Edinburgh side retain the lead. James then played Match 10 and was 2-0 up and on his way to securing a point. The third end was disastrous, but his chance would come in the fourth which went to deuce. An agonising 12-10 loss was followed by a slow start in the fifth and although he battled hard to get back into the end, he fell to an 11-8 defeat. A 6-4 loss for the Penicuik trio who felt they at least deserved a point.
 
After their good start to the season, Team 4 were in action against Edinburgh University 4 in Division 3. Richard Miller came into the side to join Aidan Craig and Craig Linton. When Richard and Aidan lost their opening matches in straight sets, Team 4 knew they were in for a hard night. Craig got the hosts on the board in Match 3 but a loss in match 4 for Aidan kept the gap at 2. Match 5 saw Richard play some great stuff (the rustiness from his 12 week holiday in Spain wearing off) – a five end win for him was followed by Craig’s second win of the night and the scores were tied at 3-3 going into the doubles. Craig and Aidan looked down and out at 2-0 down but they battled back to win the next two ends 11-9. 11-5. The decider would prove pivotal to the outcome of the match. The home duo fell short after a rather controversial umpiring incident (more on that later). Aidan played his best TT of the night in Match 8 but couldn’t convert his better play to a win. 5-3 down and a draw was still on the cards but a five end loss for Craig ended the hosts hopes. Richard won match 10 as Team 4 fell to their first defeat of the season, 6-4.
 
The final team in action at Ladywood was Team 6 of Roscoe Cairney, Mat Dyluk and Ian Millar. They hosted West Lothian 7 in Division 5. Our most consistent team in the League, but not a consistency they wished to maintain. They were hoping to break their run after 4 consecutive 9-1 losses. When Roscoe won match 1 things were looking really positive. Mat and Ian, however, couldn’t add to the score in the first round of singles matches. Game 4 saw Mat take on Stuart Herschell – two players who have only taken up competitive TT this season. 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 to Mat and the run was broken and not only that but Mat recorded his first victory of the season. Jump on to match 9 and Ian secured his first win of the season, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9. Mat also got an end in Match 8 against his opponent and for the first time this season our Player of the Night wasn’t Roscoe! A 7-3 defeat but a move in the right direction for Team 6.
 
Away from Ladywood on Thursday night, Team 5 travelled to Ocean Terminal to take on Murrayfield 11 in Division 4. Captain Jim Jack didn’t fancy the long trip by the looks of it and dropped himself – Patrick Shanks and Chamika Diyunugalge were joined by Rachel Petrie. The first three singles saw a loss for Rachel, a win for Patrick and a narrow four end defeat for Chamika (his fourth end loss went on and on before he finally succumbed 15-13). The second set of singles went the same way unfortunately as Patrick was the only winner. 4-2 down and the visitors were in trouble. When Rachel and Chamika lost the doubles only a point was available for the Penicuik trio. Unfortunately, only Chamika could win his last singles match as the visitors fell to a disappointing 7-3 loss. Whilst it probably wouldn't have affected the outcome, for some reason the games in this match were played out of the Scorecard order. For example the last match played was C v Y which ought to have been match 6 and the doubles was played second last! Our controversy of the week section is already too long so we're not going to dwell on this and ultimately our Team didn't object - but why on earth agree to that!! 
 
Finally in Week 7 it was a Friday night outing for Team 3 as they travelled to the wonderfully named St Leonards Land to face Edinburgh University 3 in Division 2. Gary McDougal and Bob Porteous joined team captain Krzysztof Laszkiewicz in the trip to Edinburgh hoping to bounce back from their bad loss in Week 6. It started well for the visitors as Bob battled his way to a five end victory in Match 1. Gary lost match 2 but Krzysztof gave the visitors the advantage again with a good win in Match 3. Match 4 was tight – Bob forced a fifth end but just fell short in the decider as the scores were levelled. Krys continued his good form with a four end win, but Gary’s second loss of the night meant the doubles was, as always, going to be crucial. The visitors won the first end but couldn’t keep it going as they lost in four and for the first time the University held the lead, 4-3 going into the last set of singles matches. Krys levelled the scores with his third win of the night before it was left to Bob and Gary to try and get a victory to at least secure a point. Bob came closest with a four end defeat, but it was ultimately a disappointing drive back to Midlothian for the Penicuik side as they fell to a 6-4 defeat.
 
And so, to our player of the week award. Krys had another undefeated night in singles play but he blames himself for “playing rubbish” in the doubles and that loss cost the team at least a point. Special mention to Krys, however, who after 18 games played sits top of the Division 2 individual averages – 17 wins out of those 18 games is impressive – looks like he is going to need to keep that consistency going if Team 3 are to challenge this season. No other Penicuik player was undefeated this week – there were some good performances, Colin winning Match 10 against West Lothian for a 5-5 draw is worthy of mention. It’s not often that this award is won by a player who manages to win just one singles match, but this week two players recorded their first league wins – our winner sneaks the award on the basis that he also won an end in another match and was more comfortable in his win than his teammate was – it was terrific to see Ian win his first league match but the award this week goes to Mat – congratulations to him.  
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. Loads to cover so we’ve saved up a couple for quieter weeks!! Umpiring issues first. In Team 4's match at Ladywood the doubles proved pivotal to the outcome. At 7-7 in the decider the match was in the balance. There was then a debate about the score! The Uni umpire was convinced the score was wrong and despite some protestations to the contrary 7-7 became 8-6 to the visitors – the problem here was that Craig and Aidan didn’t seem too confident about the score either! They never won another point after that as they fell to a disappointing 11-6 loss, no doubt caused, at least in part, by the confusion. Whether the Umpire was right or not remains debatable but if the home duo weren't able to challenge with any degree of certainty there was little that could be done - the lesson is clearly to pay more attention!

In the last match at Bathgate on Wednesday night between Colin and Dariusz, Colin’s grunting came in for some criticism. Colin chased down an impossible to reach ball – on his way to the ball and as he somehow reached it, he let out one of his “Novak Djokovic” grunts – the ball somehow came back towards his opponent – lots of air on it and would you believe it as it fell towards the table it caught an outrageous edge. David and Greig were watching from outside the Court and David wasn’t happy that the grunt had been far too loud and prolonged – he felt that the point should have been awarded against Colin – Alicja who was umpiring saw nothing wrong with it and in fairness Dariusz never questioned it and the point was awarded to Colin. Whilst we don’t think the point should go against Colin, should a let have been played “because the conditions of play were disturbed in a way which could affect the outcome of the rally”? There is certainly a lot more noise these days in games of table tennis. Lots of shouts after points are won, in between rallies etc. But grunting or yelping before and as a shot is played? Interesting stuff!
 
The next issue is one we have tackled many times in the past - Player of the Match awards. One of our opponents from Week 7 was somewhat cheesed off by the fact that he didn’t get the player of the Match award despite, as he put it, playing his best match ever in Division 1. Team 2’s decision obviously troubled him a little. So, we thought we would look at various matches this week to see the basis on which the POTM awards were given. If we start with Team 6’s match, the award went to Ian – now with respect to Ian he was not the best player on show for Team 6 on Thursday night, either in terms of the level of play or statistically the amount of ends won / lost. Why did he win the award? Maybe because he was the nicest player in the team? Maybe because he was more chatty than his teammates? Maybe because the opponents didn't look at it from a statistical point of view? Who knows? Team 5 played Murrayfield in Division 4 – Murrayfield gave the award to Chamika despite the fact that he won 1 whilst Teammate Patrick won 2? Chamika probably was the nicest in this match and maybe he got the award for that – he smiles all the time! In Team 2’s match, the best players on the night were clearly David Melrose for us and Jonas Falter for Murrayfield. That’s what the statistics say. Murrayfield filled in their award first and gave it to Hannah (she won 1 as opposed to David's 2) and in fairness played well in the doubles with David. The reason given by Murrayfield was that she prolonged and kept the match in the balance by winning match 8. We think, however, it probably had more to do with the fact that she’s lovely on the table (just like her dad) and her teammate David was involved in some “lively discussions” with an opponent. Team 2 gave the award to Artur Chodacki who won 2 of his three singles (Jonas was undefeated). The reason? Twofold apparently – some controversial moments from Jonas meant he didn’t pass the “nicest person test” but also because Artur came back from 2-0 down in the final match against James and turned it around to secure a 6-4 victory. Maybe there should be a box next to the POTM Award section on the Website where we have to give reasons for our selection!! Imagine the fun we could all have with that! Ultimately it is a bit silly for the Murrayfield player to argue that he should have been given the award when his own team did exactly the same by giving the award to “not the best player on the night” from a statistical point of view. We’ve said for a long time, that unless the POTM is selected in the same way as it is for National League (the computer does it) then this is never going to be solely based on who played the best TT – and we like it like that – gives us stuff to write about!!

And finally - a last minute inclusion after some video footage was watched of James v Artur in their deciding Match 10 - Artur is leading 9-8 in the decider. His service is a good one. James returns the ball high. Artur hits a smash to win the point. 10-8 and Artur wins the next point to win the match. Nothing controversial? Hold on - As Artur hits the smash his whole body bumps into and moves the table. We cannot believe that this wasn't picked up at the time. In terms of Rule 2.10.1.9 a player scores a point if an opponent, or anything the opponent wears or carries, moves the playing surface! Video footage shows it clear as day!! What was the umpire doing? The player surely realised he moved the table? Why didn't James notice it? We were robbed! Maybe we should have given the POTM award to Jonas after all! Check out the video on our YouTube channel.
 
Week 8 is upon us!

Week 6 of the Edinburgh League saw five of our six teams in action.
 
Monday night saw Team 2 travel to Edinburgh to face North Merchiston 3 in Division 1. James Wighton, Hannah McDonell and David Melrose were looking to get some confidence back after a difficult couple of weeks. Their opponents, however, contained two very experienced players in Eddie Scott and Alan Nisbet, both with Premier League experience. When David lost the first match to Eddie in four, the signs weren’t good, but James then defeated Michal Jesionowski in a mammoth five set match – James likes doing things the hard way and got over the line 11-9 in the fifth. Alan lost the first end to Hannah in his first match but then won the next three to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Match 4 probably should have gone the way of the Penicuik side, David losing out in 5 to Michal but Hannah then kept the visitors in it with an excellent four end win against Eddie. Matches 6, 7, 8 and 9 were all close and could have gone either way. James was 2-0 down against Alan in Match 6 but fought back brilliantly to force a decider. Unfortunately for the visitors, James got off to a dreadful start in the fifth and fell to a 3-2 defeat. The doubles also went to five ends – James and Hannah fell just short against the experienced Eddie and Alan. Hannah then lost out in five to Michal and the story of the night continued for the visitors as David lost in five to Alan in Match 9.  Eddie rounded off the night with a win against James but the 8-2 scoreline in the Edinburgh outfit’s favour doesn’t do justice as to how close this match was. SIX matches on the night went the distance with the visitors only able to win one of those – despite the loss, however, the performance was promising for Team 2.
 
Tuesday night then saw Team 6 travel to the Gyle to take on Murrayfield 12 in Division 5. Roscoe Cairney, Mat Dyluk and Ian Millar have, if nothing else, been consistent so far this season. Three matches played and three 9-1 defeats going into their Week 6 encounter. Only one match on the night went beyond three ends – that was match 8 where Roscoe continued his consistency of winning 1 in each match played thus far – he had a good four end win to keep that record going. Mat and Ian, we have no doubt, will improve throughout the season – they can take some confidence from the fact that although neither of them won an end on Tuesday night, they both came close and were involved in “deuce games”, Ian losing one 14-12 and Mat losing one 12-10. Although consistency is a terrific thing to have, we would like to see you guys break that run in Week 7!
 
A further two matches took place at home on Thursday night. Team 3 hosted North Merchiston 4 in Division 2 and in the absence of Charlie Brindley and Gary McDougal, team captain Krzysztof was joined by regular Bob Porteous and Craig Linton, playing up from Division 3. The first two matches were shared with a win for Krzysztof but a loss for Bob. Match 3 was really topsy turvy as Craig took on Nick Thomas. An 11-3 first end win for Craig and he looked in control, but he then lost the second 11-6 – that was just a blip though as he won the third even more convincingly, 11-2. But hold on an 11-5 fourth end win for Nick and in the fifth the tables were completely turned as Craig fell to an 11-3 loss – what a strange game but a hugely important win for the visitors. Krys got the scores level again but that was followed by two four end losses for Bob and Craig – 4-2 down going into the doubles and the hosts knew they needed a win – the doubles went the distance, but it was the visitors who secured it in five and the writing was on the wall. Krys won his third of the night, but neither Bob nor Craig could win their final matches as the Penicuik trio fell to a 7-3 defeat – a real setback in their campaign to get promotion straight back to Division 1.
 
Team 5 hosted Corstorphine 5 in Division 4. After her player of the week award in their last match, Rachel Petrie was unceremoniously dropped by Team Captain Jim Jack for this encounter. Jim was joined by Chamika Diyunugalge and Patrick Shanks. This was Jim’s first match of the season, and he started well with a four end victory in Match 1. When that was followed by Chamika’s match 2 win, it looked comfortable for the hosts. Patrick has already this season been involved in some lengthy battles and match 3 was one of those games – 11-9, 12-14, 11-9 put him 2-1 up but his Edinburgh based opponent then won the fourth 11-5 to force a decider – it went the distance as an 11-9 win was recorded by the Corstorphine player. Chamika restored the two game advantage before Jim fell to the player who had defeated Patrick. Going into the doubles, however, it was 4-2 for the hosts after Patrick got on the board with a straightforward three end win. Chamika and Patrick combined in the doubles and as we say so often, the importance of the doubles cannot be overestimated. 5-2 or 4-3 makes a huge difference to the final three games of the night. The Penicuik duo came back from 2-1 down to give the hosts that 5-2 advantage. Just when the team thought they could relax, however, Chamika and Patrick then lost matches 8 and 9 and it left Jim to play match to try and secure a 6-4 victory. Jim says it was never in doubt! A good three end win saw the hosts over the line and puts the team into third place in the Division.
 
Finally in Week 6, Team 4 travelled on Friday evening to take on Murrayfield 10 at The Gyle in Division 3. Craig Linton, Aidan Craig and Kristian Skotzen have only played 1 match so far this season and that was a 10-0 win in Week 1 of the season. Three straight 3-0 wins got the visitors off to a flyer. Whilst a single end was lost in the next three singles, suddenly the match was over as the Penicuik side held a 6-0 lead. Craig and Kristian kept the run going with a 3-0 win in the doubles before Kristina made it 8-0. Match 9 and Craig, to everyone’s surprise, fell to a 3-1 defeat to Krzysztof Markowski. That was just a blip, however, as Aidan rounded the off the night with another terrific 3-0 victory. A 9-1 win to add to their 10-0 Week 1 victory – things will get harder for this side but at the moment they’re looking good.
 
And so, to our player of the week award. Krys, Kristian and Aidan all had undefeated nights in singles play this week. Of those three, particular credit to Aidan who completed his three matches without the loss of a single end – well done to him on a terrific performance. Ordinarily that would probably be enough for our player of the Week award but we’re sure Aidan will be challenging for that again soon. In a much tighter match where every game was vital to the outcome, Jim and Chamika both won two in their 6-4 victory against Corstorphine. Both of them won 6 ends and lost 4 in singles play – Jim won under pressure to bring home the win. But on this occasion the doubles was crucial and Chamika played a huge part in that – the opponents must have also thought he showed something more as they gave him player of the match – this week’s award goes to Chamika – well done to him.
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. Let’s have a go at ourselves this week. Team 3 have played five matches so far this season. They have the realistic goal of being promoted back to Division 1, having been relegated from there last season. They have a four man team, Bob being the only player who hasn’t played at a higher level. Of their five matches played they’ve fielded a “full team” on three occasions. They have twice had to call up a player from Division 3. Lo and behold they have won three matches and lost 2, the two losses being in matches where neither Gary nor Charlie have been available – for a team with a real chance of promotion that is a real setback. Now obviously we cannot say that had a regular played, the outcomes in the two “understrength” matches would have been different – a 6-4 loss and a 7-3 loss. Craig, who has played up twice from Div 3 is due a great deal of credit - he’s played some excellent stuff winning 1 in the 6-4 defeat and he came closest this week to adding to the 7-3 loss. But when a team is chasing promotion, in a division where there are some quality teams, surely every effort has to be made to get a “full side” out every week – whilst we appreciate there’s not much you can do about last minute difficulties or things which just can’t be rearranged, we do wonder whether trying to postpone matches where two regulars are unavailable would be better – of course there is no guarantee that a postponement would be given but…… Before Krys gets angry with our Reporter, this is not a “dig” at him as Team Captain – Division 2 is full this season with 12 teams and the schedule, unlike some other divisions, is full on. We can understand a desire to get the matches played and avoid disruption and the headache of trying to rearrange. We blame Gary - he has never paid attention to our Ban on holidays during the league season! Let’s just hope these matches don’t come back to haunt Team 3.
 
Speaking of the set-up of the Divisions, here we are going into Week 7 and Team 4 in Division 3 have only played two matches! Their division only has 10 teams in it and so has plenty of “free weeks” – add to that a match against Edinburgh Uni that was postponed due to the Uni’s late start (even though they didn't in fact need a postponement) and our Team 4 players have had little in the way of a “run of games”. Richard has enjoyed his 10 weeks away in the sun and has only missed a couple of matches! The position is worse in Division 5 where there are only 9 teams competing – a free week in Week 2, handicap cup week in Week 5, free weeks again in Weeks 8 and 9 and the first half of the season for this side will be over by the end of November. Whilst obviously it’s up to the Clubs to register their teams and no doubt there will be players who can’t play every week, looking at the number of registered players, we could easily, it would appear, increase the number of teams in the league to give all divisions a good number. Looking at Div 5, our friends from West Lothian have 9 players in their bottom team, Murrayfield have 8 and Edinburgh Uni have 10. That’s 27 players registered over three teams! PTTC would make a whole division out of 27 players! Looking back at old Handbooks (being published on the ELTTL Website) that’s another thing that has changed radically over the years – in the good old days if a club had 12 players you entered 4 teams! Ah how times have changed - Oh well, it is what it is, and we should be grateful that we have five divisions this season.

Week 7 here we come!