Week 23 of the Edinburgh & Lothians Table Tennis League saw three Penicuik Teams in action.
With Penicuik 3's match postponed, Team 2 had an opportunity to increase their lead at the top of Division 2 as they faced a home tie against Corstorphine 4, the same team who had gone down to a heavy 9-1 defeat against 2nd placed Penicuik 3 the previous week. The Penicuik trio of Clive Liddiard, Brian Bailey and Tony Brentnall were determined to avoid any slip ups and although four of the ten matches on the night went all the way to a deciding fifth end the home side won all of them as they matched their Clubmates scoreline from the previous week with a resounding 9-1 victory. Clive and Tony both won their three singles matches whilst Brian won 2 and combined with Clive for a win in the doubles.
The victory assures the 2nd Team of a top two finish as they sit 6 points clear of third placed Edinburgh International who can only pick up a maximum of 4 points from their remaining two fixtures. The battle for the title rages on, however, with the 3rd Team 3 points behind but now with two games in hand. A win in Week 24 would mathematically seal a top two finish for the 3rd Team as well.
In Division 3 Penicuik 4 had been poor at the start of the season but an amazing run in the second quarter had catapulted them into contention for a play off spot and going into week 23 they sat in 3rd place. Gavin Hunter, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and John Bald travelled to take on Corstorphine 6 who were hot on the heels of the visitors in 4th place in the division. When Penicuik won 3 of the first 4 matches on the night a victory looked on the cards for the visitors. Game 5 between John Bald and his opposite number turned out to be crucial as John narrowly lost out in a very tight deciding 5th end. When that was followed by a 5 end defeat for Team Captain, Gavin the scores were level. A win in the doubles gave the visitors hope that they could come away with the vital 2 points but two of the last 3 matches went the way of the home side resulting in a 5-5 draw. The draw does neither club much good and in particular it appears that Penicuik's challenge for 2nd spot is all but over. With West Lothian winning, Penicuik now find themselves 5 points behind second place and they now need help from other teams if they are to finish in the top 2. A point for the West Lothian side in week 24 would effectively end any remote possibility of a play off spot for Penicuik.
With Penicuik 3's match postponed, Team 2 had an opportunity to increase their lead at the top of Division 2 as they faced a home tie against Corstorphine 4, the same team who had gone down to a heavy 9-1 defeat against 2nd placed Penicuik 3 the previous week. The Penicuik trio of Clive Liddiard, Brian Bailey and Tony Brentnall were determined to avoid any slip ups and although four of the ten matches on the night went all the way to a deciding fifth end the home side won all of them as they matched their Clubmates scoreline from the previous week with a resounding 9-1 victory. Clive and Tony both won their three singles matches whilst Brian won 2 and combined with Clive for a win in the doubles.
The victory assures the 2nd Team of a top two finish as they sit 6 points clear of third placed Edinburgh International who can only pick up a maximum of 4 points from their remaining two fixtures. The battle for the title rages on, however, with the 3rd Team 3 points behind but now with two games in hand. A win in Week 24 would mathematically seal a top two finish for the 3rd Team as well.
In Division 3 Penicuik 4 had been poor at the start of the season but an amazing run in the second quarter had catapulted them into contention for a play off spot and going into week 23 they sat in 3rd place. Gavin Hunter, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and John Bald travelled to take on Corstorphine 6 who were hot on the heels of the visitors in 4th place in the division. When Penicuik won 3 of the first 4 matches on the night a victory looked on the cards for the visitors. Game 5 between John Bald and his opposite number turned out to be crucial as John narrowly lost out in a very tight deciding 5th end. When that was followed by a 5 end defeat for Team Captain, Gavin the scores were level. A win in the doubles gave the visitors hope that they could come away with the vital 2 points but two of the last 3 matches went the way of the home side resulting in a 5-5 draw. The draw does neither club much good and in particular it appears that Penicuik's challenge for 2nd spot is all but over. With West Lothian winning, Penicuik now find themselves 5 points behind second place and they now need help from other teams if they are to finish in the top 2. A point for the West Lothian side in week 24 would effectively end any remote possibility of a play off spot for Penicuik.
In Division 4, the youngsters of Penicuik 5 faced a difficult trip to Bathgate to take on 2nd placed West Lothian 8. Luke Hennessey, Louis McLeod and Lewis Baldock are all playing their first season of competitive table tennis and all have benefitted from the 2014/15 season having gained invaluable experience against quality opposition. On the night, only Luke managed a win as the Bathgate based team ran out 9-1 winners.
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