Week 25 of the Edinburgh & Lothians League kicked off on Monday 18th March with the visit of Team 4 to North Merchiston in Division 3. Following their win in Week 24, Kristian Skotzen, Craig Linton and Aidan Craig knew they had already secured 2nd place in the Division and so no pressure as they travelled to Edinburgh. For the Merchiston outfit, Fares Cabrera stood out – 3 singles wins including a terrific turnaround against Craig to win in five and a doubles victory gave the hosts 4 matches on the night. The Penicuik trio, however, didn’t drop any other matches as they recorded a tight, but relaxed, 6-4 victory.
Fast forward to Thursday evening 21st March at Ladywood and Teams 1, 3 and 5 were all in action. Peter Aird, Colin Green and Greig McDonell hosted the Premier League Champions, Murrayfield 1 and an 8-2 victory for the visitors was maybe a little harsh. Peter can think himself particularly unlucky as he lost in five ends to both Charlie McGowan (11-9 in the fifth) and to Gordon Muir (11-8 in the decider). The only wins on the night were a singles victory for Colin and a doubles win.
Team 3 meanwhile hosted Corstorphine 2 in Division 2. The reverse fixture had ended in a draw. Corstorphine’s James Grant had been the difference back in November winning his three singles. On this occasion he only won 1 but for Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Bob Porteous and Gary McDougal the result was exactly the same – a terrific night for Gary, undefeated in singles play and two wins for Krys secured the draw. It perhaps should have been a win after Gary and Krys went 2-0 up in the doubles only to lose in five.
Finally on Thursday night, Team 5 of Rachel Petrie, Patrick Shanks, and Jim Jack hosted the Division 4 runaway leaders and Champions, West Lothian 5. The Penicuik trio went one better than their 10-0 defeat in the first half of the season as Patrick got the team on the board in a 9-1 defeat. This result brought the season to an end for Team 4 who will be disappointed to have only picked up 4 wins out of 17 matches played. Thankfully, however, they managed to finish above the relegation zone and will be hoping for improvement next season.
Week 25 came to an end on Friday night as Team 6 travelled to the Gyle to take on Corstorphine 6 in Division 5. Roscoe Cairney and Ian Millar were joined by John Bald making a rare appearance for the Penicuik side. The reverse fixture at Ladywood had resulted in a 9-1 victory for the Edinburgh side and history repeated itself, John picking up the only win for the visitors. This has been the first season for Team 6 and although the results have not necessarily shown it, there has definitely been improvement shown throughout the season. Next year the results will come!
And so, to our player of the week award. It’s straightforward this week we think – only one player was undefeated in singles play – well done to Gary – his three wins were crucial in Team 3 securing a 5-5 draw.
And finally, our controversy of the week section. An update on our complaint from Week 23 – Murrayfield responded with a mammoth PHD length thesis as to why our complaint should be thrown out and why their counter complaint should be upheld! That will be discussed at next week’s Committee meeting.
Also to be discussed next week is an appeal against a result from Week 25 in the Division 3 match between Haddington and Corstorphine. It appears that everyone in attendance proceeded on the basis that the old “turn up late rule” was still valid. A number of years ago the rule stated that if a player turned up more than 30 minutes late, they were effectively out of time and would forfeit their matches. Haddington have lodged an appeal after their third player turned up more than 30 minutes late and that’s exactly what happened. The result was a 6-4 win for Corstorphine. The problem of course, and the basis of the appeal, is that this rule was changed a number of seasons ago. Now a player can turn up as late as they want and the only “punishment” that is faced is if the match cannot be completed before time constraints at the venue kick in – any games which cannot be played when time runs out are awarded against the team who had a player turn up late. Neither Haddington nor Corstorphine appear to have known about this rule – Haddington are seeking a replay – over to the committee to decide.
This rule has been the subject of discussion before. We think it does need to be changed. In venues where there is no time limit, the current rule effectively means that a player can turn up at any point before the match is finished and insist on being allowed to play. That cannot be what was intended.
For most of our teams, next week sees them play their final match as the 2023-24 season comes to an end. How did that happen?
Fast forward to Thursday evening 21st March at Ladywood and Teams 1, 3 and 5 were all in action. Peter Aird, Colin Green and Greig McDonell hosted the Premier League Champions, Murrayfield 1 and an 8-2 victory for the visitors was maybe a little harsh. Peter can think himself particularly unlucky as he lost in five ends to both Charlie McGowan (11-9 in the fifth) and to Gordon Muir (11-8 in the decider). The only wins on the night were a singles victory for Colin and a doubles win.
Team 3 meanwhile hosted Corstorphine 2 in Division 2. The reverse fixture had ended in a draw. Corstorphine’s James Grant had been the difference back in November winning his three singles. On this occasion he only won 1 but for Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Bob Porteous and Gary McDougal the result was exactly the same – a terrific night for Gary, undefeated in singles play and two wins for Krys secured the draw. It perhaps should have been a win after Gary and Krys went 2-0 up in the doubles only to lose in five.
Finally on Thursday night, Team 5 of Rachel Petrie, Patrick Shanks, and Jim Jack hosted the Division 4 runaway leaders and Champions, West Lothian 5. The Penicuik trio went one better than their 10-0 defeat in the first half of the season as Patrick got the team on the board in a 9-1 defeat. This result brought the season to an end for Team 4 who will be disappointed to have only picked up 4 wins out of 17 matches played. Thankfully, however, they managed to finish above the relegation zone and will be hoping for improvement next season.
Week 25 came to an end on Friday night as Team 6 travelled to the Gyle to take on Corstorphine 6 in Division 5. Roscoe Cairney and Ian Millar were joined by John Bald making a rare appearance for the Penicuik side. The reverse fixture at Ladywood had resulted in a 9-1 victory for the Edinburgh side and history repeated itself, John picking up the only win for the visitors. This has been the first season for Team 6 and although the results have not necessarily shown it, there has definitely been improvement shown throughout the season. Next year the results will come!
And so, to our player of the week award. It’s straightforward this week we think – only one player was undefeated in singles play – well done to Gary – his three wins were crucial in Team 3 securing a 5-5 draw.
And finally, our controversy of the week section. An update on our complaint from Week 23 – Murrayfield responded with a mammoth PHD length thesis as to why our complaint should be thrown out and why their counter complaint should be upheld! That will be discussed at next week’s Committee meeting.
Also to be discussed next week is an appeal against a result from Week 25 in the Division 3 match between Haddington and Corstorphine. It appears that everyone in attendance proceeded on the basis that the old “turn up late rule” was still valid. A number of years ago the rule stated that if a player turned up more than 30 minutes late, they were effectively out of time and would forfeit their matches. Haddington have lodged an appeal after their third player turned up more than 30 minutes late and that’s exactly what happened. The result was a 6-4 win for Corstorphine. The problem of course, and the basis of the appeal, is that this rule was changed a number of seasons ago. Now a player can turn up as late as they want and the only “punishment” that is faced is if the match cannot be completed before time constraints at the venue kick in – any games which cannot be played when time runs out are awarded against the team who had a player turn up late. Neither Haddington nor Corstorphine appear to have known about this rule – Haddington are seeking a replay – over to the committee to decide.
This rule has been the subject of discussion before. We think it does need to be changed. In venues where there is no time limit, the current rule effectively means that a player can turn up at any point before the match is finished and insist on being allowed to play. That cannot be what was intended.
For most of our teams, next week sees them play their final match as the 2023-24 season comes to an end. How did that happen?
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