Week 18 was another quietish one for the Club in the League with four of our six teams in action.
North Merchiston 1 v Penicuik 1 (Premier Division)
The week started with Team 1’s trip to North Merchiston in the Premier Division on Monday 2nd February. Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty took to the table for the visitors, the same trio who had inflicted a 10-0 defeat on their opponents in the first half of the season. The first three singles ties all went the way of the visitors, Colin getting over the line 3-2 in Match 2 and Peter and Ryan winning their encounters 3-1. The match was over as a contest after the second round of singles, two further 3-1 wins for Ryan and Peter and a 3-0 victory for Colin. The doubles was tight but went to Colin and Ryan 3-2 and the night was rounded off in style with three further wins for the visitors who repeated the job on their opponents with a 10-0 victory.
Penicuik 4 v Dunbar (Division 3)
It was a top of the table clash at Ladywood on Wednesday evening as Team 4 took on Dunbar. Jay Jayalath, Chamika Diyunugalge and Aidan Craig were selected for the hosts who got off to a bad start losing the first two matches – Chamika was unlucky losing in five including an 18-16 loss. Aidan took on Antonio Cassino in a much anticipated contest – at the end of 2025 both players were undefeated in singles play and going into the match the Dunbar player had won 29 out of 30 matches whilst Aidan had won 27 out of 30. It was thought this would be and it was. From 2-0 down Aidan brilliantly pulled it back and secured a 11-8 fifth end win to get the home side on the board. When Jay won match 4 the scores were level. Matches 5 and 6 on the night proved crucial – both went to five ends, Chamika desperately unlucky again losing out 11-8 in the fifth before Aidan agonisingly lost 14-12 in the fifth, and when the doubles was lost Dunbar held a 5-2 advantage. A terrific win for Jay and another for Aidan kept the match alive but Chamika couldn’t pull off the miracle recovery as the home side lost out 6-4. The home side can take solace in the fact, however, that the individual average leader, Antonio was beaten by both Aidan and Jay and the difference on the night was their new player Paul Marshall who has a rating of 1386, miles ahead of anyone in Team 4. Dunbar leapfrogged Team 4 into the lead of the Division but promotion very much still in Team 4’s grasp.
Penicuik 6 v Edinburgh International 4 (Division 5)
Team 6 were also in action on Wednesday night at Ladywood as they hosted Edinburgh International. John Grant, Tony Walker and Stuart Bennett were looking to bounce back from a couple of difficult weeks John got the side off to a great start with a 3-0 victory over the very experienced Alan Gracie. Stuart had a mammoth encounter in Match 2 against Mike Eggar – it went all the way and then some! A 17-15 loss in the fifth was a hammer blow for the home side. Three of the next four matches went the way of the visitors and it was 4-2 going into the doubles. A fifth end win for John and Stuart kept the match alive but losses for Stuart and Tony ended the contest. John finished with a flourish – his third 3-0 victory of the night to round off a terrific night for him personally. Overall, a 6-4 defeat and that 17-15 in the fifth game was the difference. Unlucky for the hosts.
Murrayfield 11 v Penicuik 5 (Division 4)
The week was rounded off for the Club with a trip to The Gyle for Team 5. Roscoe Cairney, Rachel Petrie and Iain Caddell took to the table in the knowledge that they need to start winning quickly or relegation awaits them. This match saw five contests go to a deciding fifth end – the visitors won two of them and lost the other three. If nothing else it proves that Team 5 are competing and despite their results they have the ability to win matches at this level. Rachel and Rosco both had two five end singles matches and were involved in the doubles match which went to five, Unfortunately one win for Roscoe and one for Rachel saw them slip to another heavy defeat, 8-2 and with confidence low, it’s difficult to see how they can get out of this predicament. Winning breeds confidence and a win for the side would give them a huge boost – Unfortunately for them their next match is against the Students of Heriot Watt who are going to be promoted this season!
Player of the Week
Shout outs this week to both Jay and Aidan – only a 14-12 defeat in the fifth stopped Aidan picking up his three and securing a point in the top of the table clash in Div 3. Team 1 had an excellent week, all three players undefeated in an excellent 10-0 win v North Merchiston. But this week, it’s a first undefeated night that wins the award. He only started competitive play for the Club this season and it was great to see him stroll through his three matches for his first ever undefeated singles night – well done to John.
Controversy of the Week
Well away from the action in Edinburgh, we were told of a rule in the West of Scotland League which seems harsh by anyone’s standards. If we post a score late then there is a fine involved but in the West, apparently, if you don’t submit the scores appropriately you forfeit the match! Wow! Can you imagine if we had that in the Edinburgh League. The rule states:
“Completed League scorecards must be provided to the appropriate League Manager by 6.30 pm on Sunday of the week in which the match is played. Failure to do so will result in the home team forfeiting the match.”
And that’s just what happened in a recent West match! Some of the rules of the West of Scotland do seem to go far further than ours do – whilst Clubs can be fined for failing to turn up for a match etc. what about the following rule:
“Should less than 72 hours’ notice be given of a match cancellation, then the home team may claim the match, purvey costs to a maximum of £5 and hall hire costs to a maximum of £30. The Exec Committee will consider such claims, which must be presented in writing within 21 days of the cancellation, and if upheld will collect agreed amount on behalf of that team.”
Jings! Can you imagine the league committee of Edinburgh basically acting as debt collectors for Clubs who might have a claim against other clubs! We get the rationale behind it – if clubs are booking premises and incur costs then if cancelled late why shouldn’t they be able to recover such costs! Who’s going to propose these new rule changes at the end of the season!!
Week 19 here we come.
North Merchiston 1 v Penicuik 1 (Premier Division)
The week started with Team 1’s trip to North Merchiston in the Premier Division on Monday 2nd February. Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty took to the table for the visitors, the same trio who had inflicted a 10-0 defeat on their opponents in the first half of the season. The first three singles ties all went the way of the visitors, Colin getting over the line 3-2 in Match 2 and Peter and Ryan winning their encounters 3-1. The match was over as a contest after the second round of singles, two further 3-1 wins for Ryan and Peter and a 3-0 victory for Colin. The doubles was tight but went to Colin and Ryan 3-2 and the night was rounded off in style with three further wins for the visitors who repeated the job on their opponents with a 10-0 victory.
Penicuik 4 v Dunbar (Division 3)
It was a top of the table clash at Ladywood on Wednesday evening as Team 4 took on Dunbar. Jay Jayalath, Chamika Diyunugalge and Aidan Craig were selected for the hosts who got off to a bad start losing the first two matches – Chamika was unlucky losing in five including an 18-16 loss. Aidan took on Antonio Cassino in a much anticipated contest – at the end of 2025 both players were undefeated in singles play and going into the match the Dunbar player had won 29 out of 30 matches whilst Aidan had won 27 out of 30. It was thought this would be and it was. From 2-0 down Aidan brilliantly pulled it back and secured a 11-8 fifth end win to get the home side on the board. When Jay won match 4 the scores were level. Matches 5 and 6 on the night proved crucial – both went to five ends, Chamika desperately unlucky again losing out 11-8 in the fifth before Aidan agonisingly lost 14-12 in the fifth, and when the doubles was lost Dunbar held a 5-2 advantage. A terrific win for Jay and another for Aidan kept the match alive but Chamika couldn’t pull off the miracle recovery as the home side lost out 6-4. The home side can take solace in the fact, however, that the individual average leader, Antonio was beaten by both Aidan and Jay and the difference on the night was their new player Paul Marshall who has a rating of 1386, miles ahead of anyone in Team 4. Dunbar leapfrogged Team 4 into the lead of the Division but promotion very much still in Team 4’s grasp.
Penicuik 6 v Edinburgh International 4 (Division 5)
Team 6 were also in action on Wednesday night at Ladywood as they hosted Edinburgh International. John Grant, Tony Walker and Stuart Bennett were looking to bounce back from a couple of difficult weeks John got the side off to a great start with a 3-0 victory over the very experienced Alan Gracie. Stuart had a mammoth encounter in Match 2 against Mike Eggar – it went all the way and then some! A 17-15 loss in the fifth was a hammer blow for the home side. Three of the next four matches went the way of the visitors and it was 4-2 going into the doubles. A fifth end win for John and Stuart kept the match alive but losses for Stuart and Tony ended the contest. John finished with a flourish – his third 3-0 victory of the night to round off a terrific night for him personally. Overall, a 6-4 defeat and that 17-15 in the fifth game was the difference. Unlucky for the hosts.
Murrayfield 11 v Penicuik 5 (Division 4)
The week was rounded off for the Club with a trip to The Gyle for Team 5. Roscoe Cairney, Rachel Petrie and Iain Caddell took to the table in the knowledge that they need to start winning quickly or relegation awaits them. This match saw five contests go to a deciding fifth end – the visitors won two of them and lost the other three. If nothing else it proves that Team 5 are competing and despite their results they have the ability to win matches at this level. Rachel and Rosco both had two five end singles matches and were involved in the doubles match which went to five, Unfortunately one win for Roscoe and one for Rachel saw them slip to another heavy defeat, 8-2 and with confidence low, it’s difficult to see how they can get out of this predicament. Winning breeds confidence and a win for the side would give them a huge boost – Unfortunately for them their next match is against the Students of Heriot Watt who are going to be promoted this season!
Player of the Week
Shout outs this week to both Jay and Aidan – only a 14-12 defeat in the fifth stopped Aidan picking up his three and securing a point in the top of the table clash in Div 3. Team 1 had an excellent week, all three players undefeated in an excellent 10-0 win v North Merchiston. But this week, it’s a first undefeated night that wins the award. He only started competitive play for the Club this season and it was great to see him stroll through his three matches for his first ever undefeated singles night – well done to John.
Controversy of the Week
Well away from the action in Edinburgh, we were told of a rule in the West of Scotland League which seems harsh by anyone’s standards. If we post a score late then there is a fine involved but in the West, apparently, if you don’t submit the scores appropriately you forfeit the match! Wow! Can you imagine if we had that in the Edinburgh League. The rule states:
“Completed League scorecards must be provided to the appropriate League Manager by 6.30 pm on Sunday of the week in which the match is played. Failure to do so will result in the home team forfeiting the match.”
And that’s just what happened in a recent West match! Some of the rules of the West of Scotland do seem to go far further than ours do – whilst Clubs can be fined for failing to turn up for a match etc. what about the following rule:
“Should less than 72 hours’ notice be given of a match cancellation, then the home team may claim the match, purvey costs to a maximum of £5 and hall hire costs to a maximum of £30. The Exec Committee will consider such claims, which must be presented in writing within 21 days of the cancellation, and if upheld will collect agreed amount on behalf of that team.”
Jings! Can you imagine the league committee of Edinburgh basically acting as debt collectors for Clubs who might have a claim against other clubs! We get the rationale behind it – if clubs are booking premises and incur costs then if cancelled late why shouldn’t they be able to recover such costs! Who’s going to propose these new rule changes at the end of the season!!
Week 19 here we come.
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