Penicuik Table Tennis Club
Contact us via:
  • Home
  • About
  • Coaching
  • News / Results
  • TEAMS
  • News Archives / Links
  • Contact
  • GALLERY

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 16 Report - First Half Round-Up

31/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
So, the first half of the Edinburgh and Lothians League is complete, and it gives us an opportunity to assess the performances of our various teams thus far. 
 
Team 1’s composition for their Division 1 campaign was still up in the air in early September with Iain Johnstone the only name definitely on the team sheet! When he was eventually joined by Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Colin Green, on paper Team 1 looked like a difficult team to beat. When Week 2 saw Haddington secure a 5-5 draw, things were looking a bit dodgy! But other than that draw, Team 1 have not dropped another point. The first two weeks in November were crucial as first Murrayfield 4 (then top of the Division) visited Ladywood followed by a trip to title contenders Edinburgh International. When Team 1 came out of those matches with 4 points they had secured top spot in the Division. With neither Greig nor Colin available to play every week, there has been pressure on Iain and David to perform well – they have combined for 46 wins out of 60 matches played. When that is added to Greig and Colin’s combined total of 34 wins out of 39, the Team’s combined singles win rate is an excellent 80%. Doubles are always important to a team’s success, especially in close matches, and Team 1 have been undefeated in all of their 11 doubles thus far, including two crucial victories against Haddington which secured a draw and v Ed Int which gave them a 6-4 victory. So, a 3-point gap to Edinburgh International going into the 2ndhalf of the season. Team 1 know however that there are some really tough matches ahead. Edinburgh International will still fancy their chances of overturning that deficit and Murrayfield, Haddington and North Merchiston are all still in the hunt. It’s going to be a tough 2ndhalf.
 
Team 2 are facing a battle at the wrong end of the Division 1 table. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Charlie Brindley knew it was going to be tough to survive, Team 2 having only just avoided relegation last season. From 4-2 up in Week 2 v Murrayfield 5 they had to rely on a last match win to secure a 5-5 draw. From that point on, the team went on a horrendous run of 5 consecutive defeats. The last 4 weeks before the Xmas break, however, have been very positive for the Penicuik trio. When you’re struggling for points, matches against those teams around you are vitally important – they came out of their three games against Corstorphine 1, Fife 2 and Corstorphine 2 undefeated with two draws and a win. Those 4 points have moved them off the foot of the table and out of the relegation zone, but with 5 sides separated by only 2 points, it looks like this relegation battle is going to go down to the wire. Individually, there is definitely more to come from this trio, none of whom will be happy with their first half averages. Charlie leads the way but both he and Krzysztof are about 15% worse off than they were last season. As for Gary, if he plays like he did against Team 1’s prima donnas surely his average of just under 40% will also improve. 
 
Team 3’s Division 2 campaign has been somewhat up and down in the first half of the season.  James Wighton, Ian Hislop (when he’s not sunning himself abroad), Chris Markey (when he’s not gallivanting all over the country) and Abby Wighton look like a strong team on paper. Their problem this season is that there are two standout sides in Division 2. Edinburgh International 3 and Murrayfield 6 have been in superb form thus far. A 2-8 defeat to Ed Int and a 3-7 loss to Murrayfield leaves Team 3 4 points off top spot at Xmas. More annoying than those two defeats for Team Captain James, however, are two draws, one against a two-person University side, when Louis had to play up from Div 4 and the other, a night to forget v ESC. Had those draws been converted to wins, Team 3 would be very much in the hunt with the “big two”. As it is, it looks like they will have to reverse those two losses in the second half of the season, a difficult task against teams who have the two best players in the division as their number 1s, made all the more difficult by the fact that Ian, 3rdin the individual averages, will miss most of the second half. He has had a fantastic return in his 7 matches played, 19 wins out of 21 for 90%. Abby has shown that her season in the Premier has made her sharper, 23 wins out of 30 for 76%. James had a poor start to the season, but his end of year form should give him encouragement for the second half – he sits on 66%. Chris has hardly played, and his lack of match practice probably accounts for his 40% average. The second half will be tough, but Team 3 are still in with a shout of a promotion place.  
 
Team 4 welcomed back to the Club, Tony Brentnall and Gavin Hunter and they joined forces with father and son duo, Julian and Sonny Taylor in Division 3. The youngsters of Murrayfield 9 look like certainties for the title but it’s then a bit of a dog fight for the second promotion spot, currently held by Haddington 3. Although Team 4 have lost 4 matches in the first half, each of those losses was by the narrowest of margins – four 6-4 defeats. The team’s capabilities can be seen by looking at their game difference totals – although fourth in the table, they have the second-best game difference (+38) - 74 wins v 36 losses. That’s a whopping 30 games better than the team above them in 3rdplace. Despite some dodgy results (we’ll try not to spend too much time on the match they agreed to rearrange which they then lost because they played without a regular third player) Team 4 are only 3 points behind second place and if they can convert some of those losses into draws or wins, they must still stand a great chance of promotion. After a slow start (he hadn’t played for over two years), Tony is starting to look like the player he was and has finished the first half with 75%. Julian has been leading the team by example, although will be irritated by a couple of bad losses – 77% for him. Meanwhile Sonny continues to show good promise – he seems to play better against better players – he will be hoping to push on from his 66% in the second half.
 
Team 5’s season has been a good one so far in Division 4.  Craig Johnson, Stuart Bennett and Millie Bennett were bolstered this year by the inclusion of our second oldest player in the Club, 105-year-old John Bald. John’s experience has shown with only 3 defeats from 21 matches played. At the other end of the age range, 17-year-old Millie has also had an excellent season so far – only 5 defeats from 21 matches and with Craig winning 75% of his games, this trio have had a terrific first half. Whilst Stuart may be disappointed with his individual average, his contributions have been vital to the Team sitting top of the Division 4 table – in 3 matches won by a 6-4 scoreline, Stuart has picked up the vital 6thwin. That’s at least 3 points added to what may otherwise have been their points total at Xmas. Team 5 know they are in for a tough time in 2019 in what looks like being one of the most exciting divisions in the League. 2 points clear at the top, 3 points ahead of third place, but the top 8 are only split by 6 points! It seems like any one of 5 or 6 teams are capable of gaining promotion and that should result in this promotion race going down to the wire.
 
Team 6’s Division 4 season got off to the worst of starts with injuries to both Rachel Petrie and our oldest Club Member, Brian Bailey (is he really older than John Bald??). A team of 5 also included Louis McLeod, Adam Woodhouse and newbie, Craig Linton. Of their first four matches, two were played with only 2 players, one was conceded and the other resulted in a 7-3 defeat! They rightly claimed the title of the Club’s most shambolic team in the early part of the season. Perhaps buoyed by that criticism, Team 6 have done well since then to compete against everyone. Four 6-4 defeats were unlucky in the extreme, with their other four matches resulting in 2 wins and 2 draws. That must give Team 6 great confidence going into the New Year. Louis has led the way for Team 6 with 27 wins from 33 matches played (81.8%). Had Brian remained injury free, surely this side would have been challenging at the top of the Division. Craig, Rachel and Adam will be looking to turn some narrow losses into victories in the 2ndhalf of the season. 
 
And finally, in Division 4, Team 7. This is our only unchanged team from season 2017/18. George Wilson, Phil Daly, Kristian Skotzen and Hannah McDonell have had some great nights in the first half of the season. They take much of the credit for Team 5 being top of the Division 4 table – the two sides who defeated Team 5 (WL 7 & WL 8) both came unstuck against Team 7! Had Kristian’s romance not got in the way early in the season, a 6-4 defeat with only two players at Fife could probably have been turned into a win. The early season form certainly let some vital points slip and yet by Xmas, they are one of the teams who genuinely seem to have a chance of challenging for a top 4 place (who knows maybe even for promotion – 4 points behind 2ndplace). Team Captain George sits 3rdin the individual averages with only 4 defeats from 27 games played. Whilst Phil had a great start to the season, he will be disappointed by his slight fall off in level in the run up to the Xmas break which sees him fall out of the top 10 with a 70%-win rate. Both Kristian and Hannah have improved hugely on their first season in the League. Last year Kristian finished with 20% - thus far he has more than doubled that to 43% whilst Hannah’s 2017/18 average of 6% has been multiplied more than 8 times as she sits with 51%. Good signs for Team 7 who have their sights set on a good run in the New Year.  
 
Our Player of the First Half??? That’s a difficult one to judge. In terms of best percentage return, Ian Hislop leads the way with 90%. But hey, he’s arguably playing in a Division lower than he’s used to. Our Weekly Awards have seen three players receive the award on two occasions – well done to Millie, Abby and Hannah. Our most improved player?? According to Ratings Central that’s Hannah. But our choice of player of the first half is based on the importance of their wins not only to their own team’s position in the League but to the Club as a whole. This player has played up twice and won 6 out of 6 – add that to 23 out of 27 wins for their own team together with 6 out of 6 in two matches in the Handicap Cup gives this player a terrific record of 35 singles wins out of 39 played. In the Handicap Cup the two undefeated nights came in narrow 5-4 victories. When playing up, his undefeated night v Fife secured the win and his two undefeated nights against the teams 2ndand 3rd in the Division 4 table has resulted in Team 5 leading the way in Division 4. He has also increased his average by more than 30% from last season and according to Ratings Central is our most improved Senior player - well done to George for a fantastic first half. 
 
And finally, our controversial moment of the first half – No – we’re not doing that – a new year is upon us – everything is going to run smoothly in 2019 and this piece is going to be redundant!
 
Happy New Year to all our Members and TT Friends from around the League and beyond. Whilst we hope that only Penicuik players will play well in the New Year, we hope 2019 will be a good one for all away from the table!!

0 Comments

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 15 Report

23/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Week 15 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League saw the Last 16 Round of the Handicap Cup take place with all four of our Teams having progressed past the 1stRound stage for the first time in memory!
 
Team 1 maintained the same trio from the first-round victory over Fife as they hosted Haddington. Julian Taylor (Scr), Charlie Brindley (-7) and Craig Johnson (+4) got off to a good start after Craig came back from 2-0 down to win Match 1 in 5 ends and that was followed by a good 3-0 win for Julian. Needing only 6 points, John Robson was too good for Charlie and the scores were then levelled as Bruce Murie, with a 2-point start, defeated Julian. Craig certainly likes getting his money’s worth as he then took 5 ends to give the home side the advantage again before the match was squared at 3-3 when Charlie lost out to Bruce in 3 straight sets. Match 7 always looked like it was going to be crucial to the outcome, Julian v John – 0-5 to 11 and when John squeezed home 11-9 in the first end it looked bleak for the hosts, but back came Julian with an 11-9 in the second. He was also well down in the third but brilliantly came back to level at 10-10 – maybe Julian thought the hard work had been done as he lost the next two points and with that a slump in confidence as John ran out a comfortable win in the fourth end. Never mind though, Penicuik’s best handicap on the night, Craig would then have a chance to send the match into the decider……… Eh hold on – for some reason, only known to Team 1, they chose to play Craig on the long matches, 1, 5 and 9 – instead it came down to Charlie to try and save the match and with a Handicap Cup record thus far this season of played 5 lost 5, it is fair to say hopes were not great that he could overturn a 0-9 deficit in a race to 18. In fairness to Charlie he played his best TT of the night, and at 1 set all the third set went all the way – an 18-16 loss however seemed to knock the stuffing out of Charlie and the Haddington trio secured the win needed for a 5-3 victory, Craig looking on in bewilderment as to why he had only played two matches!
 
Having defeated a Murrayfield side in Round 1, Team 2 faced another trip to Roseburn in their quest to reach the last 8. Gary McDougal (-4), David Melrose (-8) and Louis McLeod, (+6) faced Masoud Nowbaveh (Scr), Haydn Jackson (+3) and Colin Clark (-8). When Masoud dispatched Gary in 3 straight sets (without Gary getting anywhere near him) and Haydn then disposed of David, this looked like being a quick night for the visitors. Louis got the team on the board with a comfortable win against Premier Division player, Colin but the lead was extended again as Haydn wasted little effort in disposing of Gary. Tactically, unlike Team 1, Team 2 had this one right with Louis to play the “quick matches” ensuring, they hoped, that he would get his 3 played before the match was over – he duly won Match 5 before Colin defeated David to give the hosts a 4-2 lead. Louis ended his terrific night with a terrific 11-8 in the fifth win v Haydn and the match was still alive at 4-3. We’re told that Gary had virtually put his shoes on and was ready for the trip home before he remembered that he quite likes playing players who are supposedly better than him – a four end win for Gary over Colin and the match was levelled for the first time since the start of the evening. David v Masoud was to be the decider – and what a decider it was – 0-8 to 19 and the match swung one way and then the other – into the deciding end of the deciding match and still no one had a clue who was going to come out on top – would you believe it – deuce was reached in the 5th– 17-17 before David held his nerve for a terrific comeback win for the visitors. A 5-4 victory sent the Midlothian trio home over the moon.
 
Team 3 had a good win over West Lothian in Round 1 and they travelled to ESC with Abby Wighton (-5) Sonny Taylor (+3) and George Wilson (+4) looking to reach the quarter final stage. This match definitely deserves a better write up than it’s going to get but no-one from Penicuik has provided any details, other than the fact that George had another terrific night, undefeated and Sonny added two wins in a 5-3 victory for the visitors. Abby is slightly worried about her place in the quarter finals after a winless night!  
 
And finally, in Week 15, Team 4 were ruthless in dropping 12 year old Hannah McDonell after a winless Round 1 for her (OK – maybe she was participating in a school concert or something like that) – she was replaced by James Wighton (-3) to join forces with Ian Hislop (-7) and Greig McDonell (-12) as they hosted Corstorphine, Stan Stoodley (-8), Amjad Mohammed (-6) and Alan Easton (+2). Although Ian lost in Match 1 to Stan, the hosts took control as both James and Greig had terrific wins v Amjad and Alan respectively. Stan restored parity with a comfortable win v James in Match 4 but further wins for Ian v Alan and Greig v Amjad put the hosts on the brink of a last 8 place at 4-2 up. Match 7 saw James take on Alan (0-5 to 14) and when James won the first end for the loss of only 3 points (14-8) the match was in the bag – off wandered Team Captain Greig to check out what was happening in Team 1’s match, relaxed in the knowledge that his night was over. When he returned for the handshakes, he found that Alan had won ends 2 and 3! Oh my goodness – a fourth end win for James and the hosts were back on track for a straightforward victory! Maybe not – the deciding end saw Alan play his best TT of the night for a 14-9 victory and suddenly the match was still alive. 9.40pm and suddenly a concession was a possible outcome – Matches 8 and 9 were hurriedly put on simultaneously – Team 1’s Craig and Charlie watched Greig’s first end v Stan (0-4 to 15) – they’d seen enough as Greig fell to a 15-2 defeat! Meanwhile Ian was involved in a mammoth first end with Amjad – in a match where the start was only 1 point in a race to 12, the first end went Ian’s way 19-17! Greig recovered for a 2ndend 17-15 win as Ian took control of his match with a 12-8 victory. As Greig won end 3 for a 2-1 advantage, Ian lost his third end – with Greig praying for a victory for Ian in end 4 he lost his fourth end only to see Ian lose his as well! How could it have come down to this!! At 10.15pm with the Ladywood Manager getting more and more annoyed both matches went into deciding fifth ends. Greig got a bit lucky as Stan missed a number of forehand drives as he secured a 15-9 victory in the deciding end (the other match was abandoned at 7-5 – who knows how that may have finished) and the most relieved man in the hall was none other than James!! 
 
And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 15. There were undefeated nights for Greig, Craig, George and Louis – Craig only played 2 so for that reason and for allowing that bad tactical decision to be made he’s out of the running! George seemingly had a great night at ESC and clearly his 3 wins were crucial to Team 3 getting over the line – but he forgot to take a picture of the scorecard on his new I-Phone 3 (we’re sure it can take pictures) – so he’s out! And so it’s a straight fight between Louis and Greig – there can only be one winner can’t there? His great experience, coming back from big deficits, helping his teammates through, saving the day at the very last minute before being thrown out of the Centre…….. Hang on – according to our Player of the Week Committee, anyone who is able to return Haydn’s serves and hold his nerve against an aggressive young up and coming player and see his team through two rounds where he has been undefeated, not to mention putting up with oldies Gary and David deserves this week’s award – Well done Louis!
 
In the season of goodwill, we weren’t going to bother with a controversial moment this week but then we heard from that really nasty James about an incident at ESC in Week 15. One week, James is really nice, mild mannered, friendly and helpful and then the next week he is Mr Confrontation! That’s worth a write up in itself. In team 3’s match, George came back from the dead against one of his ESC opponents and gave out his now legendary yelp of joy when he secured the win. Maybe it was that which was taken exception to by his opponent who then declared for anyone who wanted to hear it that “he had just been lucky” and by inference didn’t really deserve the win. This seemingly went completely over George’s head who was oblivious to the comment. But hold on – one man in the room wasn’t prepared to let it go – step up Mr Confrontation himself, James. He challenged the ESC player and pointed out that George had deserved to win – support your teammates – even though James wasn’t even playing. Seemingly, the opposing players teammates also defended George’s win – George was still oblivious to it all – he was too busy thinking about being this week’s player of the Week well – nearly George! 
 
It’s been a quick first half of the season. We’ll be back with a Round-up of the first 15 weeks next Sunday – in the meantime we would like to wish our Members and all our TT friends from around the League and beyond a very Merry Christmas.

0 Comments

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 14 Report

16/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Week 14 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League saw 6 of our 7 teams in action with all of them playing on Wednesday night.
 
Team 1’s last match before the festive break was made much simpler by their opponents, Corstorphine 2, showing up with only two players. Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Iain Johnstone didn’t lose an end as they racked up a straightforward 10-0 victory, a win which confirmed their spot at the top of the Division 1 table at the conclusion of the first half of the season. 
 
Team 2 faced an important trip to Corstorphine 1 for a battle at the wrong end of the Division 1 table. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Charlie Brindley know they are in a bit of a battle to get away from the relegation zone and with Fife securing a surprise win against North Merchiston 3 to lift them of the foot of the table, this match was even more important. It transpired that the reason Corstorphine 2 were understrength against Team 1 was that one of their normal trio was playing up in this match! This really was one of those matches which could have been anything from a 7-3 defeat to a 7-3 win. Corstorphine’s top man, Stan Stoodley squeezed through in 5 against Charlie in match 1 before Krzysztof levelled the scores and Gary managed a 12-10 in the fifth win in match 3. When Charlie then won match 4 in five ends the signs were positive for the visitors as they led 3-1. Stan reduced the deficit and match 6 was then to prove pivotal. Team 2’s Dave Hall v Krzysztof – renewing their battle from a couple of weeks ago. The match see-sawed one way then the other, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 9-11 – the final end went all the way as Dave proved the importance of missing his Team 2 match with an 11-9 victory in the fifth. 3-3 going into the doubles and a comfortable win for the home side gave them their first lead since match 1 on the night. The Midlothian side, however, bounced back with wins in 4 ends for Charlie and Gary. The difference on the night was Corstorphine’s number 1, Stan – he completed an undefeated night in Match 10 as the spoils were shared between the teams, a 5-5 draw not really the result either team wanted but, in the end, probably a better point for Penicuik than for the hosts. Five teams within two points of each other at the foot of the Division 1 table with Team 2 a point clear of the relegation zone as the Christmas break arrives. It’s going to be a tough and nervy 2ndhalf of the season for Team 2.
 
Team 3’s Division 2 campaign has been somewhat up and down in the first half of the season and their last three matches have been tight anxious affairs (two 5-5 draws and a 6-4 win). They hosted Murrayfield 7 at Ladywood in need of a boost before the festive break. James and Abby Wighton were joined by Ian Hislop and when James squeezed home 11-9 in the fifth in Match 1, it looked like this was going to be another tense, close encounter. Abby, however, had other ideas as she didn’t drop a set in singles play and by the end of Match 6 the tie was over, 6-0 to Penicuik. Abby and Ian combined for the doubles win and with 5 and 4 end victories for Ian and James respectively in Matches 9 and 10 the whitewash was complete. A terrific result for the hosts and their promotion chances are just about still alive, 4 points behind 2ndplace as the first half of the season ends. 
 
Like Team 1, Team 5’s night was made all the more straightforward as their opponents, North Merchiston 6 could only muster a two-player team for their Division 4 match. John Bald, Craig Johnson and Stuart Bennett knew that a win would guarantee top spot in the division and the result was never in doubt as the hosts made quick work of their opponents with a 9-1 victory, young Kai Hely providing the solitary win for the visitors. So, a terrific return for Team 5 in their quest for promotion but they know they will probably have to play just as well, if not even better, in the 2ndhalf of the season in what is probably the tightest of all 5 divisions. 7thplace is only 4 points behind the second automatic promotion spot and with the top 6 or 7 teams all capable of beating each other, this looks like being a battle for promotion which could go all the way to the last week of the season.
 
And finally, in Week 14, Team 6 played their second consecutive Derby match as they visited Team 7. Team 7 were on a high after their win over WL 8 the previous week but with other commitments (or as some at the Club saw it, a desire to protect his average), Team 7’s top man, George Wilson sat this one out. Phil Daly, Kristian Skotzen and Hannah McDonell therefore hosted Team 6 of Louis McLeod, Rachel Petrie and Craig Linton. Louis has, without doubt, been Team 6’s rock in the first half of the season with 25 out of 30 wins going into this match. Team 7 without Captain George appeared to have, in their minds at least, conceded three to him before the match started! When Kristian lost the opening match in 3 uninspiring ends to Rachel, Team 7 knew they were in for a long night. Hannah v Louis perhaps gave the “home side” some hope – it looked plain sailing for Louis with an 11-7 win in the first end but back came Hannah with an 11-5 win in the second. 15-13 in the third to Louis would surely knock Hannah’s confidence – it seemed to make her more determined as she won the 4th11-4! 10-10 in the fifth and this match could go either way – Louis gave the biggest sigh of relief ever seen at Ladywood as he squeezed over the line 12-10. No panic yet for Team 7 though, their replacement Captain and 500+ rated player Phil would take care of new boy Craig to get Team 7 on the scoreboard. Eh, a 4-end loss for Phil and suddenly Team 7 were 3-0 down and in big trouble! Matches 4 and 5 on the night were to prove crucial – first Hannah won in five ends against Rachel before Kristian came back from 2-0 down to do the same against Craig. 3-2 and Team 7 were back in the hunt. But in the blink of an eye, Louis defeated Phil and the “Kristian and Hannah” doubles combination faltered against Louis and Craig – a 5-2 advantage for Team 6 who were surely now on course for their second consecutive victory. Phil found his first win of the night against Rachel in Match 8 and Hannah kept the match alive with a win against Craig in what was probably the most entertaining match of the night. It was therefore left to Louis to secure the victory against Kristian – but hold on an 11-5 victory in the second end for Kristian and suddenly there were thoughts of an amazing comeback – but when Louis then won the third 11-5 and took 8-2, 9-4 and 10-7 leads in the fourth this match was over – not a bit of it – with some great attacking play, Kristian came back for a 13-11 win in the fourth – he was down in the fifth as well but kept in it and when he brought the scores level at 9-9 in the deciding end the unthinkable became possible – two serves from Louis drifted slightly long and with the same positive attitude that he always shows, Kristian went for both of them with topspin forehand returns and won both points for an amazing comeback victory. A fair 5-5 result in the end? Team 6 didn’t think so – after the start they had they should have won this match at a canter.
 
And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 14. Ian H, James and Abby were the only players to play three singles and win all three this week - all of Team 1 and John and Craig from Team 5 are disqualified because their undefeated nights were against two-player teams! There were some notable 2’s this week – Charlie and Gary’s wins were crucial in securing a draw for Team 2 whilst there has to be mention made of Kristian and Hannah winning two matches each and none more crucial (and astounding) than Kristian’s comeback from the dead to defeat Louis – but you can’t win it two weeks in a row Kristian, and in fairness your team would have won had you defeated Rachel! Our selection criteria is back this week to “who won most comfortably” and in style! Our winner this week played 12 ends of Table Tennis and won them all - Well done to Abby, Week 14’s player of the Week – and in part she wins due to her efforts to manipulate the selection process by passing on to Hannah at the end of the night how brilliantly she’d played and how she had strolled through the match without losing an end! Looks like Phil might have some competition for the “blow your own trumpet award”. Well done Abby.


Anything controversial this week? 
 
Team 5 top the Division 4 table at Christmas but are being hounded by West Lothian’s Teams 7 and 8. Both of those teams have bizarrely inflicted defeats on the league leaders. After Team 5’s loss to WL8, an enquiry was made of the league regarding the “ineligible player rule”. Those who pay particular attention to these things (well done George – but maybe you should get a life) noticed that one of the players who played in that match had played up more than the permissible amount of times from Team 9 but had played one match for WL 4 – the rule is clear that in such a scenario the player becomes committed to the highest team he / she has played for. We should point out that this controversy is not about anything that WL have done – the player in question is clearly a Division 4 player and it would be ludicrous to have committed that player to playing in Division 2. The issue relates to the non-transparency of decisions made by the League to “excuse” the one play up which would ordinarily have resulted in the player being committed to the higher team. Surely in a situation where other Clubs are affected by such a ruling, they should be notified that such a ruling has been made? If that had happened, the issue would not have arisen in the manner it did. There may of course in some situations still be an argument to be had regarding the decision made but in this scenario it was a done deal and other Clubs are completely in the dark about it – that leaves WL, in this case, in a difficult situation – they are then faced with a potential challenge which could have significant effects on their Team when they have done nothing wrong in raising the matter with the league and obtaining their approval to continue in the manner they did! As our friend and former Chairman of WL, John M has repeatedly indicated to the League, transparency is key!  
 
And finally, non-playing coaching roles comes under the microscope!
 
“Only a fellow member of a player’s team for that fixture or nominated non-playing captain / coach may offer playing advice to a player once a fixture has commenced.”
 
Team 6 were slightly aggrieved this week by the coaching in certain matches by El Presidente of two Team 7 players! They just about excused his coaching of Hannah – she is his daughter after all – but were heard to complain vociferously regarding the coaching of Kristian in two crucial matches against Craig and Louis! We think Team 6 are perhaps giving too much credit to his coaching ability!! We’re not sure what the rule is for “nominating” a non-playing captain / coach at the beginning of a match but certainly everyone at the Club is aware that for Team 6, Brian fulfils that role when he is available and El Presidente keeps a close eye on Team 7! The fact that Brian wasn’t there to provide some guidance to Team 6 probably highlighted the issue and perhaps the real issue has nothing to do with the League rules and was more about whether our Club President should be a neutral Switzerland type of observer rather than someone who was seen to be “taking sides”. Hmmm – an interesting one?? Our Club President’s response? He was unavailable for comment – seemingly he was too busy out for a pre-Xmas meal with Team 7 celebrating their comeback draw and plotting against Teams 5 and 6 for the second half of the season! 
 
Week 15 sees the return of the Handicap Cup – that will proceed without any difficulty!! Good luck to our 4 teams still in the Competition – let’s see if at least one of them can still be involved post Xmas!!  

0 Comments

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 13 Report

9/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Week 13 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League was Derby Week for the Club with Teams 1 and 2 in action in Division 1 and Teams 5 and 6 locking horns in Division 4.
 
With the way Team 1’s free weeks have fallen, the last time Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Iain Johnstone played together was about 6 weeks ago. It has been much much much longer though since there was a derby match between the Club’s top two teams (we think at least 15 years!) Team 2 called up James Wighton from Team 3 to join Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Gary McDougal as they looked to spring a surprise on Team 1. After the first round of singles matches, a surprise result looked about as likely as there being nothing controversial to report this week as David, Iain and Greig all secured fairly straightforward victories. In the next round of singles there were further wins for Greig and Iain. David came up against an in-form Gary (who had taken an end of Iain in his first match) and David looked bewildered by Gary’s funny bat “attacking play” as he lost out in 4 ends. Greig decided he needed a closer look at Gary in the doubles so chose himself and David to face Krys and Gary and a three-end victory resulted. The match was over as a contest with a 6-1 advantage to Team 1. Fresh from viewing Gary up close, Greig then realised that it maybe wasn’t just David’s inability to play unorthodox players which cost him the win as Gary stormed into a 2-0 lead. The match was pulled back to 2-2 before Gary, who never stopped attacking, secured another terrific win, leaving Greig shell shocked. Wins for David and Iain rounded off an 8-2 victory for Team 1, a result which returned them to the top of the Division 1 table.  
 
As the 1 v 2 Derby match was taking place, in the other half of the hall, Team 5 of John Bald, Craig Johnson and Stuart Bennett took on Team 6 of Louis McLeod, Rachel Petrie and Adam Woodhouse. Team 5 knew that a win was essential to get their momentum going again after a disappointing defeat to WL 8 the previous week which had resulted in them losing top spot in the Division 4 title race. Louis has been a stalwart for Team 6 in recent weeks and he started the night off with an 11-9 in the fifth victory against John. Three wins on the bounce followed for Team 5 to give them the advantage before Louis was victorious against Craig. Match 6 between Stuart and Rachel was always going to be pivotal. When Rachel took a 2-1 advantage it looked like the match score was going to be levelled at 3-3 but back came Stuart to level at 2-2. Rachel got off to a cracking start in the final end and changed sides at 5-2 up and looked in control against a dejected Stuart. From there, however, something changed as Rachel won only one more point as she went down to an 11-6 fifth end defeat and Team 5 secured a crucial 4-2 lead. The doubles was equally as close. Rachel and Louis pulled back from 2-1 down to force a fifth end but seemed to run out of steam in the 5th losing 11-7. A point secured for Team 5 and that was quickly turned into two points as Craig defeated Adam in Match 8. In the end Team 5 comfortably won 7-3, Louis providing the three wins for Team 6 – but this match really could have been very different if matches 6 and 7 had gone the other way. 
 
Team 5's win briefly put them back to the top of the Division 4 table but they needed a favour from Team 7 to keep them there. They travelled to Bathgate trying to prevent WL 8 from returning to top spot. Having lost 7-3 to WL 9 the previous week, hopes were not too high for Team 7’s chances. Perhaps WL 8 took them too lightly as well – in what must be one of their best victories of the season, George Wilson, Phil Daly and Kristian Skotzen secured a fantastic 7-3 win to ensure that by Thursday morning Team 5 had retained their position at the top of the table. George’s form of late is worthy of special mention – he’s won 23 out of 27 matches whilst playing for Team 7 and has played up twice for Team 5 winning six out of six – that’s 29 out of 33 singles matches won this year compared to last season where he finished with 29 wins for the whole season – what a terrific improvement and if he can keep it going he’s surely in with a chance of being our “player of the Season” by April.
 
Staying in Division 4, Team 6 had the opportunity of putting their derby disappointment behind them as they faced Edinburgh International on Friday night. And it was a positive bounce back performance by Team 6 as they secured an 8-2 victory against a two-man side. Another undefeated night for Louis was added to by wins from both Rachel and Craig Linton. 
 
Team 3 faced a trip to Edinburgh Sports Club in Division 2 and for the second match in a row they were involved in a tight tense affair. James Wighton was joined by daughter, Abby and Chris Markey and when Abby lost a tight five-ender in Match 1, the visitors knew they were in for a tough night. Wins for James and Chris gave the Midlothian trio a 2-1 advantage before ESC then recorded two wins out of the next three matches to bring the scores level at 3-3. A win for James and Chris in the doubles saw Team 3 once again hold the advantage only for Match 8 to go the way of the home side – 4-4 going into the last two singles and the match was in the balance again – a win for Abby secured a point in Match 9 but James couldn’t quite pull off the victory as the spoils were shared between the teams – probably a fair result in a match where neither team ever held more than a 1 game advantage. 
 
After winning last week’s award for the most shambolic team, Team 4 had a point to prove as they took on ESC 4 at Ladywood in Division 3. Julian Taylor, Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor were in fine form as they raced out of the blocks and never looked back. In probably his best performance since returning to the Club, Tony was in terrific form in not dropping a set whilst Sonny bounced back from a couple of difficult matches as he too was undefeated. Going for a 10-0 whitewash victory, Team Captain Julian stumbled at the last hurdle as ESC won match 10 on the night. A terrific 9-1 victory for Team 4 returned them to third place in the Division 3 table. 
 
And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 13. Iain, Tony, Sonny, Louis and George were all undefeated this week in singles play. We’ve already commented upon the terrific play from George this season and he was crucial in Team 7’s win against then League Leaders WL 8 – but he lost the doubles! (and you won the award in Week 4, George – don’t be greedy!) Special mention also goes this week to Louis who has won 25 out of 30 matches for Team 6 – without him, Team 6 would have taken some real batterings – but Louis, you also lost the doubles so you’re out of the running! Tony and Sonny were both undefeated for Team 4 – Tony never dropped a set – but hold on, ESC voted Sonny as Player of the Match – what did you do to antagonise your opponents Tony?? Sonny also won the doubles, but wait a minute, we think Tony played a better match than you Sonny so you’re both out of the running! That only leaves Iain – he never played in the doubles – it would be unfair to award it to him! This award is not just about being undefeated – two players stand out from the crowd – in the Division 1 Derby match not only did Gary play some fantastic TT in defeating two players rated much higher than him (allegedly 300 and 200 points behind Greig and David respectively), but he did so whilst completely maintaining his control whilst his opponents were losing theirs! He had the confidence to keep on attacking and the concentration to ignore some mind games from the other end of the table – a terrific night for Gary and you were so nearly our player of the Week! That award, however, goes to a player who hopefully has made a breakthrough in match play over the last few weeks. His two wins were not just hugely important to his own team’s victory, they were also crucial to keeping Team 5 at the top of the Division 4 table and who knows how important that might be at the end of the season! He also defeated a player rated more than 200 points higher than him and unlike previous matches, he managed to pull through two tight five-enders – Well done to Kristian, Week 13’s player of the Week.
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. 
 
Umpiring again came under the microscope at Penicuik on Wednesday. In Team 4’s match v ESC, there were issues raised regarding the service rule and what amounted to a legal service. This first reared its head during a game umpired by ESC involving Julian. Julian was pulled up as it was indicated that he wasn't serving from the flat of his palm and it looked like the ball was touching his fingers. After a slight re-adjustment he just carried on with the game, aware of the apparent issue. According to Julian this may have actually ended up putting off his opponent more than him. So, an Umpire who had clearly been reading up on the rules! Well maybe not – in a chat afterwards with said Umpire it was seemingly mentioned that the only reason Julian had been pulled up was because Chris from Team 3 had pulled up said Umpire the previous evening when he had been playing up in Division 2!! Team 4’s view was that this, and another incident when Sonny was pulled up by another ESC umpire, somewhat spoiled what was otherwise a well-tempered game. 
 
But hey, if there are infringements to the service Rule, they should be pulled up. The problem, as we see it, is that there is so much inconsistency about the enforcement of this Rule that it causes ill-feeling when it is raised! If everyone took the same view on the Rule, then at least serving in general would probably improve. As it is, those who do bring it up are viewed as pedantic and are seen to be argumentative and confrontational. People get upset by being told that they are doing something illegal – they shouldn’t but it’s a natural reaction. Of course, the other thing we need to all accept is that the Umpire is always right! It’s his / her job to enforce the Rules. Challenging the Umpire, a la John McEnroe, doesn’t help and is not conducive to a happy atmosphere – just ask Krzysztof – he had to put up with our President’s various challenges to his Umpiring errors this week (sorry decisions not errors!) The Umpire is always right – unless it’s not in your favour!
 
Only one week of league play left before the first half of the season comes to an end – where has the time gone?? Roll on Week 14.  

0 Comments

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 12 Report

2/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Week 12 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League was a very busy one for the Club with all of our seven teams in action. 
 
Team 1 saw the return of Iain Johnstone after missing the last two matches and the rotation system was back in operation with Colin Green replacing Team Captain Greig McDonell who chose instead to watch some torrid stuff from Team 7 at Bathgate! David Melrose, fresh from some sunshine abroad, completed the team (Please can everyone else note that David, although on holiday during the season, had his week away during a free week – top marks to him!). Murrayfield 5 were the opposition at Roseburn and their position in the league table seems to be somewhat out of kilter with their abilities. Match 2 on the night was a classic between former Penicuik young gun Luke Hennessey and the returning Iain. At 2-0 down Iain was in trouble but he dug deep to win the final 3 ends for a great comeback win – Luke, who doesn’t hide his emotions very well, didn’t take that defeat too well. He put that behind him, however, when he continued his good form against David – 3 times in a row he’s now come out on top. The home side’s only other victory though was provided by Stella who defeated Iain as Team 1 continued their good form with an 8-2 victory. 
 
Team 2’s Division 1 season has been a struggle so far. They faced two crucial matches in Week 12 against teams also in relegation trouble. On Wednesday night Gary McDougal, Charlie Brindley and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz faced Fife 2 at Ladywood. The night started brilliantly for the hosts with good 5 and 4 end wins for Charlie and Krzysztof, but Fife roared back with the next 3 matches before Gary restored parity with a match 6 win – 3-3 with the doubles next up. Gary and Krzysztof combined for a crucial win before Fife’s Lance Stockdale completed an undefeated night to level the scores again at 4-4. Gary secured a point and it was left to Charlie to play match 10 – with Team 2’s first win within touching distance Charlie lost a 1-0 advantage to go 2-1 down – with his teammates nerves shattered he levelled the contest before a fifth end marathon which went the distance – 13-11 in favour of Charlie to the relief of all home supporters. 
 
The following night the same trio hosted bottom of the table Corstorphine 2. Could they pull off 4 points in a week. At 3-2 up it looked positive for the hosts but matches 6 and 7 were pivotal. Two fifth end losses for the hosts and they were suddenly 4-3 down and it got worse when Krzysztof lost match 8 in 3 straight sets. A defeat was suddenly on the cards but back came Gary and Charlie to win the final two matches to secure a 5-5 draw. A point gained? After an off night for Gary and Krzysztof it was a good point but against a previously pointless opposition, Team Captain Krzysztof felt this was a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, having started the week second bottom of the Division, 3 points out of 4 has moved the team up the table to 4th bottom, 2 points clear of the relegation zone.   
 
Team 3’s scheduled fixture v West Lothian 4 in Division 2 was postponed at the request of WL. Looks like James Wighton is trying to wrestle back the nicest team captain award. They however played a match v Haddington, brought forward from the New Year. James was joined by Chris Markey and Abby Wighton as they travelled to East Lothian. Having defeated Haddington 10-0 at home only 3 weeks ago this was going to be a walk in the park for the visitors wasn’t it? It proved to be anything but! Chris showed probably his lack of match practice with only one win and Abby lost a bad one to a player playing up from Div 3. With a father and daughter loss in the doubles, suddenly the pressure was on James to make no mistakes. And he showed his true form with an undefeated night to secure a nervy 6-4 victory for Team 3. 
 
This week’s award for the most shambolic team of the week goes to Team 4. They granted a postponement to Edinburgh International who couldn’t field a full team on the scheduled match night – and guess what – Team 4 then couldn’t field a full team. Millie played up from Division 4 but in a match, which went the distance, the home side really only have themselves to blame after a 6-4 defeat. Team Captain Julian almost salvaged a draw but lost the last match of the night 12-10 in the fifth. They’ll need an unbeaten second half of the season to try and secure a promotion spot.  
 
In Division 4 there was a top of the table clash between Penicuik 5 and West Lothian 8. Having defeated WL9 the previous week, Stuart and Millie Bennett and Craig Johnson were hoping to give themselves some breathing space at the top of the Division. When the West Lothian trio raced into a 4-1 lead this match looked over. A crucial win for Stuart kept the visitors in it but a loss in the doubles ensured a point for the Bathgate side. Craig then inflicted only the second defeat of the season on Dave Stephen before Millie won match 9 to reduce the deficit to 5-4. The difference on the night, however, was Tommy Hamill who completed an undefeated night for him and with it a 6-4 victory for the hosts. Disappointment for Team 5 but they know that two wins to finish the first half will see them return to the top of the Division.
  
Team 6 also faced two matches in Week 12 and it was a week to forget for them. Wednesday night saw them host West Lothian 7, who themselves are still heavily involved in the promotion race. Louis McLeod won 2 and Craig Linton won 1 and they combined for a 5 set doubles win in a narrow 6-4 defeat. The following night, Rachel Petrie replaced Adam Woodhouse, but it made no difference as Haddington 5 secured a 6-4 win. Louis was again the player of the match for the visitors with 3 out of 3 singles wins, whilst Craig added one win. With Louis and Craig having had a good run in the doubles, it was perhaps surprising that Rachel replaced Craig to join Louis - it nearly paid off but, on this occasion, a 12-10 final end defeat resulted in another narrow loss. 
 
And finally, in Week 12, Team 7 lined up with George Wilson, Phil Daly and Hannah McDonell as they visited West Lothian 9 looking for an unprecedented 4th victory on the bounce! The less said about this match the better. Team 1 captain Greig spent the night wishing he’d gone instead to Murrayfield – at least there seemed to have been some fireworks there. A somewhat lacklustre performance from the visitors saw them fall to a 7-3 defeat. The highlight of the night was 5 points in a row from 10-3 down by a completely disinterested and out of sorts Hannah due to the promise of a McFlurry on the way home if she could show some interest! Pity this was the last match of the night – a tactic though which may be used in future matches at an earlier stage! 
 
And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 12. Colin and James were the only two players undefeated this week in singles play. But there were also notable performances this week from Louis and Charlie with 5 wins out of 6 singles played. Unfortunately for Louis those 5 wins were not enough to even win a point for Team 6. The undefeated night for James included a doubles loss so sorry James not this week! A late contender for the award is Phil – despite a shocking night for him at West Lothian, he gave our intrepid Reporter two boxes of chocolates – a bribe? If only he’d played better, he was a cert for the award this week!  For the importance of his 5 singles wins to his team – including two last match wins to secure a draw and a victory well done to Charlie! 
 
And finally, our controversy of the week section. 
 
With umpiring taking centre stage recently and Clubs being told to have their umpires take more control of matches, we think Corstorphine may have missed the relevant email. In their match against Team 2 this week, a rather toxic atmosphere was created by one of their trio who took exception to an edge being given to the home team player. It wasn’t an edge claimed the opponent. Charlie, who was playing the match, said it definitely was an edge – umpire and Mr Nice Guy, Krzysztof gave it as an edge to Charlie much to the annoyance and frustration of the visiting player. No doubt fuelled by that, the poor atmosphere rumbled on as the opposing player then started to question the fact that Charlie was supposedly using “speech play” to disrupt the match and no doubt his concentration. The alleged unfair actions apparently related to very occasional grunts from Charlie as he played certain shots – nothing untoward so far as we understand the rules.
 
It got worse seemingly as the same player then had a moan about young Sonny, who was playing a different match, because he was walking, outwith the playing area, supposedly in his vision. Words were seemingly exchanged, and the resulting atmosphere was entirely unnecessary. 
 
Team Captain Krzysztof was greatly irritated by all of this – not because of a lack of respect towards him as an umpire, not because of the, on one view of it, ridiculous behaviour, but because he had been helpful and generous in agreeing to a postponement of this match because the opposing team at the scheduled date had all been unavailable due to a certain Football Derby Match in Edinburgh!! He had rearranged this match to a Thursday, much to the ire of other club members as it interfered with Club night, much to the annoyance of his own teammates who had to play two matches in two days - and the thanks he gets was this!

Lesson learned for Krzysztof – be more like that nasty James Wighton and just point-blank refuse postponements – we’ve got far too many nice people in our Club!!

0 Comments

    Penicuik TTC

    Midlothian's only ELTTL representatives.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.