Week 22 had a theme of North Merchiston v Penicuik with three of our four sides in action visiting the Edinburgh Club on Monday 2nd March
North Merchiston 4 v Penicuik 3 (Division 2) – Monday 2nd March 2026
In the reverse fixture at Ladywood, Team 3 had one of their worst nights of the season against a two person team - they had fallen to a 6-4 defeat. Kristian Skotzen, Charlie Brindley and Bob Porteous were looking to put that right and they made a good start with Bob and Kristian winning their first matches. Charlie had an epic encounter with Julia Domagala. At 2-0 up Charlie looked in control but Julia won the remaining three ends 11-9, 11-9, 11-9. Julia was at it again in Match 4 as she came back from 2-1 down to win 11-9 in the fifth against Bob. Kristian got the first 5 set win for the visitors in a cagey affair against Graham Booth, squeezing through 11-7 in the fifth and when Charlie won match 6 the visitors held a 4-2 lead going into the doubles. Julia had an excellent night for the hosts, first she was involved in the doubles victory and then she defeated Kristian in Match 8 – suddenly it was 4-4 and the match was on the line. From 2-0 up in match 9, Bob was pegged back but he ran away with the decider 11-3 and Charlie then secured the win with an excellent 3-0 win over Graham. A terrific 6-4 win for Team 3.
North Merchiston 6 v Penicuik 5 (Division 4) – Monday 2nd March 2026
Team 5 have had an awful run of results and with neither Rachel Petrie nor Iain Caddell available they once again called on the services of John Grant from Division 5 to join forces with Roscoe Cairney and Mat Dyluk. Team Captain Roscoe was irritated when he lost his first match of the night having taken the opening set and was even more mad at himself when from 2-0 up in his second match, he lost the next three ends all by 11-9 scorelines. He won his third match without dropping a set but that was as good as it got for the visitors as they fell to a 9-1 heavy defeat.
North Merchiston 2 v Penicuik 1 (Premier Division) – Monday 2nd March 2026
Team 1 were back to full strength for their visit to struggling NM 2. Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty were in no mood to mess around – only one end was dropped in the entire night, Peter winning his second match by a 3-1 scoreline. Apart from that, however, the visitors were too strong for their Edinburgh opponents as they produced a thumping 10-0 win.
Penicuik 4 v Haddington 3 (Division 3) – Wednesday 4th March 2026
The week was rounded off with Team 4’s home match against Haddington 3. Aidan Craig, Chamika Diyunugalge and Jay Jayalath took to the table for the hosts and they were under pressure when Jay lost the opener of the night 11-8 in the fifth. The ship was steadied however with four consecutive 3-0 victories before Chamika frustratingly lost an 11-9 in the fifth match in game 6. 4-2 for the hosts going into the doubles and at 2-0 down in the doubles the home pairing of Aidan and Jay looked in trouble. But from there they seemed to find some form to take the next three ends 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 and a point was secured. That point became two with wins for Aidan and Jay in the final three matches as the hosts secured a 7-3 victory.
Player of the Week
All of team 1 and Aidan from Team 4 were undefeated in singles this week. Aidan had a perfect singles night winning all three matches 3-0. But he dropped two ends in the doubles – caused by Jay apparently. In the Premier Division Peter won 9 out of 10 ends whilst both Ryan and Colin won 9 and lost none. They also combined for a doubles victory 3-0. But hold on – NM 2 are bottom of the Premier Division and had two players playing up from Div 1. Neither of you can win it on that basis we’re afraid. So Aidan? Not this week! A wander away from the League this week to a player who wasn't even in action on the table, but without whom the Club would struggle to keep going – not only does he get out his bed early each Saturday to coach the juniors but he takes time out late at night as well to come down on league match nights to lock up the premises. He helps out with getting blades and rubbers ordered and made up for players, he's always happy to hit with anyone at Club night, he's the go to man for any help with anything and despite being disliked by many opponents in the league we couldn’t cope without him! There's not enough recognition given to members who put hours and hours of their free time into running the club – this week’s award goes to James.
Controversy of the Week
Now it’s not often that our player of the week is also at the centre of our controversy of the week! James does put hours and hours into the Club but his memory at times can be a bit dodgy! We have an excellent new arrangement this season where we can lock up the centre ourselves on match nights. When the regular staff leave they lock up and our “key holder” needs to let everyone out. The problem this year with Division 1 is that it’s a small division and so compared to other teams, Team 2 have had fewer home games and therefore an added burden when not playing at home for James is to attend the Centre to let people out and lock up. He was reminded about that in Week 22 but lo and behold as you get older (and he’s just had a birthday) that mind starts causing you trouble! When Greig received a call from our Team trapped in Ladywood, it became clear that James may have forgotten about his burdensome duty! A hasty phone call made, our President worrying that James was away out – not to worry he was at home, tucked up in bed with his Horlicks! Oops says James! The Team were saved eventually from the nightmare of a night in Ladywood!
Only two or three games left for most of our teams as the season hurries towards its conclusion. Where does the time go!
North Merchiston 4 v Penicuik 3 (Division 2) – Monday 2nd March 2026
In the reverse fixture at Ladywood, Team 3 had one of their worst nights of the season against a two person team - they had fallen to a 6-4 defeat. Kristian Skotzen, Charlie Brindley and Bob Porteous were looking to put that right and they made a good start with Bob and Kristian winning their first matches. Charlie had an epic encounter with Julia Domagala. At 2-0 up Charlie looked in control but Julia won the remaining three ends 11-9, 11-9, 11-9. Julia was at it again in Match 4 as she came back from 2-1 down to win 11-9 in the fifth against Bob. Kristian got the first 5 set win for the visitors in a cagey affair against Graham Booth, squeezing through 11-7 in the fifth and when Charlie won match 6 the visitors held a 4-2 lead going into the doubles. Julia had an excellent night for the hosts, first she was involved in the doubles victory and then she defeated Kristian in Match 8 – suddenly it was 4-4 and the match was on the line. From 2-0 up in match 9, Bob was pegged back but he ran away with the decider 11-3 and Charlie then secured the win with an excellent 3-0 win over Graham. A terrific 6-4 win for Team 3.
North Merchiston 6 v Penicuik 5 (Division 4) – Monday 2nd March 2026
Team 5 have had an awful run of results and with neither Rachel Petrie nor Iain Caddell available they once again called on the services of John Grant from Division 5 to join forces with Roscoe Cairney and Mat Dyluk. Team Captain Roscoe was irritated when he lost his first match of the night having taken the opening set and was even more mad at himself when from 2-0 up in his second match, he lost the next three ends all by 11-9 scorelines. He won his third match without dropping a set but that was as good as it got for the visitors as they fell to a 9-1 heavy defeat.
North Merchiston 2 v Penicuik 1 (Premier Division) – Monday 2nd March 2026
Team 1 were back to full strength for their visit to struggling NM 2. Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty were in no mood to mess around – only one end was dropped in the entire night, Peter winning his second match by a 3-1 scoreline. Apart from that, however, the visitors were too strong for their Edinburgh opponents as they produced a thumping 10-0 win.
Penicuik 4 v Haddington 3 (Division 3) – Wednesday 4th March 2026
The week was rounded off with Team 4’s home match against Haddington 3. Aidan Craig, Chamika Diyunugalge and Jay Jayalath took to the table for the hosts and they were under pressure when Jay lost the opener of the night 11-8 in the fifth. The ship was steadied however with four consecutive 3-0 victories before Chamika frustratingly lost an 11-9 in the fifth match in game 6. 4-2 for the hosts going into the doubles and at 2-0 down in the doubles the home pairing of Aidan and Jay looked in trouble. But from there they seemed to find some form to take the next three ends 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 and a point was secured. That point became two with wins for Aidan and Jay in the final three matches as the hosts secured a 7-3 victory.
Player of the Week
All of team 1 and Aidan from Team 4 were undefeated in singles this week. Aidan had a perfect singles night winning all three matches 3-0. But he dropped two ends in the doubles – caused by Jay apparently. In the Premier Division Peter won 9 out of 10 ends whilst both Ryan and Colin won 9 and lost none. They also combined for a doubles victory 3-0. But hold on – NM 2 are bottom of the Premier Division and had two players playing up from Div 1. Neither of you can win it on that basis we’re afraid. So Aidan? Not this week! A wander away from the League this week to a player who wasn't even in action on the table, but without whom the Club would struggle to keep going – not only does he get out his bed early each Saturday to coach the juniors but he takes time out late at night as well to come down on league match nights to lock up the premises. He helps out with getting blades and rubbers ordered and made up for players, he's always happy to hit with anyone at Club night, he's the go to man for any help with anything and despite being disliked by many opponents in the league we couldn’t cope without him! There's not enough recognition given to members who put hours and hours of their free time into running the club – this week’s award goes to James.
Controversy of the Week
Now it’s not often that our player of the week is also at the centre of our controversy of the week! James does put hours and hours into the Club but his memory at times can be a bit dodgy! We have an excellent new arrangement this season where we can lock up the centre ourselves on match nights. When the regular staff leave they lock up and our “key holder” needs to let everyone out. The problem this year with Division 1 is that it’s a small division and so compared to other teams, Team 2 have had fewer home games and therefore an added burden when not playing at home for James is to attend the Centre to let people out and lock up. He was reminded about that in Week 22 but lo and behold as you get older (and he’s just had a birthday) that mind starts causing you trouble! When Greig received a call from our Team trapped in Ladywood, it became clear that James may have forgotten about his burdensome duty! A hasty phone call made, our President worrying that James was away out – not to worry he was at home, tucked up in bed with his Horlicks! Oops says James! The Team were saved eventually from the nightmare of a night in Ladywood!
Only two or three games left for most of our teams as the season hurries towards its conclusion. Where does the time go!
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