Week 19 saw four of our five teams in action, Team 1 having agreed to a request for a postponement from West Lothian 2.
Team 2 v WL 3
The match of the week saw the top two in Division 2 go head to head at Ladywood on Thursday 6th February as West Lothian 3 visited Team 2 of James Wighton, Gary McDougal and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz. Krzysztof got the hosts off to the perfect start with a 3-0 victory over Keith Mackay, but top of the averages man Andrew Morrison soon levelled the scores with a 3-0 win over Gary. The lead was restored when James defeated Dave Fraser 3-0 and when Gary and Krzysztof then won their next matches, the hosts held a 4-1 advantage. Andrew pulled another back for the visitors before the doubles. James and Krzysztof took on Keith and Andrew in a match that both teams knew would be crucial to the outcome. After an 11-7 first end win, James & Krzysztof lost the next 2 ends but squeezed home in the fourth 11-9 to force a decider. The fifth end proved to be nail-biting for both sides, but it was the hosts who secured a 13-11 win, and that victory gave them a 5-2 advantage with three matches still to play. Gary v Dave and James v Keith were played simultaneously – Krzysztof made it clear that one of his teammates needed to win as he wasn’t hugely confident that his form was good enough to defeat Andrew in Match 10! He needn’t have worried, wins for both Gary and James gave the hosts the victory and Krzysztof wasn’t too bothered that he lost out to the West Lothian Number 1 in the final match of the night – a 7-3 win for the hosts was a terrific result which takes them 3 points clear at the top of the table, although their opponents still have a game in hand.
Team 3 v Murrayfield 7
Away from Ladywood on Thursday, Team 3 were looking to stay in the title race after their draw against Team 2 the previous week as they travelled to Ocean Terminal to take on second from bottom, Murrayfield 7. In the first half Team 3 had disposed of the Edinburgh outfit by a comfortable 8-2 margin. The first two matches set the tone for the night. Craig Linton battled to an 11-9 fifth end win in Match 1 before Kristian Skotzen battled hard but fell just short as he lost out 11-9 in the fifth in Match 2. Any thoughts this fixture was going to be as easy as the first half game were well and truly put to bed after Bob then lost his second match of the night. Kristian then had another mammoth 5 ender squeezing home 13-11 in the fifth. 3-3 and like so many close matches the doubles was going to be crucial. Craig and Bob fell in four ends to give the hosts their second lead of the night. When Bob then lost match 8 the best the visitors could do was a draw – that was disappointingly taken off the table after Craig fell in match 9. Kristian was left to pick up his second win of the night, proving to all that he loves spending as much time on the table as possible – all three of his matches went to five ends but on this occasion the fifth end didn’t quite make it to deuce – an 11-8 win made the final score 6-4 to the hosts.
Team 4 v WL 5
Back at Ladywood, Team 4 called up Jay Jayalath to join Rachel Petrie and Chamika Diyunagalge as they hosted West Lothian 5 in Division 3. This looked like another tough match on paper and when Chamika and Rachel lost their openers, Team 4 were immediately under pressure. Jay held his nerve in Match 3 for a good 11-9 in the fifth victory but that was the only win in the first six singles for the hosts as they trailed 5-1 going into the doubles. Chamika and Jay produced an excellent 3-0 win to keep the match alive, but only Chamika managed to pick up an end in the final three singles games as the West Lothian outfit secured an 8-2 victory.
Team 5 v WL 7
Team 5 of Roscoe Cairney, John Bald and Jay Jayalath made the trip to Bathgate on Wednesday 5th February to take on West Lothian 7 in Division 4. Jay was undefeated on the night, but this match was overshadowed by other events. The match was tragically abandoned with the doubles left to play and the visitors trailing 5-4. A West Lothian player, in the hall practicing, collapsed and emergency services had to be called. It appears that the team captains have agreed to call the match a draw in the circumstances.
Player of the Week
And so, to our Week 19 Player of the Week Award. Only Team 2 managed a victory this week – and a great victory at that in a battle of the top two in the Division. WL 3 have only lost two matches this season, both to Team 2! All three of our players won two singles so how do we split them – in Week 18, Gary’s confidence hit an all time low after a winless night against Team 3 – fast forward a week to a match he didn’t particularly want to play in, and it was a different Gary who emerged victorious – WL gave him the player of the match award and that’s good enough for us – well done to Gary.
Controversy of the Week
We’re not doing a controversy this week. Table Tennis was put into perspective by the awful events that unfolded at WL on Wednesday night. Who cares about arguments over postponements, battles about dodgy let calls, strange umpiring decisions, bad behaviour etc. Whilst it’s a sport we love, we need to recognise that it’s just a silly game that we play to give us something to do on a cold winters evening. Life is too short to get hung up on trivial and insignificant matters. Above all else this week, our thoughts go out to the player’s family and our friends at West Lothian, after a truly horrific night.
Team 2 v WL 3
The match of the week saw the top two in Division 2 go head to head at Ladywood on Thursday 6th February as West Lothian 3 visited Team 2 of James Wighton, Gary McDougal and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz. Krzysztof got the hosts off to the perfect start with a 3-0 victory over Keith Mackay, but top of the averages man Andrew Morrison soon levelled the scores with a 3-0 win over Gary. The lead was restored when James defeated Dave Fraser 3-0 and when Gary and Krzysztof then won their next matches, the hosts held a 4-1 advantage. Andrew pulled another back for the visitors before the doubles. James and Krzysztof took on Keith and Andrew in a match that both teams knew would be crucial to the outcome. After an 11-7 first end win, James & Krzysztof lost the next 2 ends but squeezed home in the fourth 11-9 to force a decider. The fifth end proved to be nail-biting for both sides, but it was the hosts who secured a 13-11 win, and that victory gave them a 5-2 advantage with three matches still to play. Gary v Dave and James v Keith were played simultaneously – Krzysztof made it clear that one of his teammates needed to win as he wasn’t hugely confident that his form was good enough to defeat Andrew in Match 10! He needn’t have worried, wins for both Gary and James gave the hosts the victory and Krzysztof wasn’t too bothered that he lost out to the West Lothian Number 1 in the final match of the night – a 7-3 win for the hosts was a terrific result which takes them 3 points clear at the top of the table, although their opponents still have a game in hand.
Team 3 v Murrayfield 7
Away from Ladywood on Thursday, Team 3 were looking to stay in the title race after their draw against Team 2 the previous week as they travelled to Ocean Terminal to take on second from bottom, Murrayfield 7. In the first half Team 3 had disposed of the Edinburgh outfit by a comfortable 8-2 margin. The first two matches set the tone for the night. Craig Linton battled to an 11-9 fifth end win in Match 1 before Kristian Skotzen battled hard but fell just short as he lost out 11-9 in the fifth in Match 2. Any thoughts this fixture was going to be as easy as the first half game were well and truly put to bed after Bob then lost his second match of the night. Kristian then had another mammoth 5 ender squeezing home 13-11 in the fifth. 3-3 and like so many close matches the doubles was going to be crucial. Craig and Bob fell in four ends to give the hosts their second lead of the night. When Bob then lost match 8 the best the visitors could do was a draw – that was disappointingly taken off the table after Craig fell in match 9. Kristian was left to pick up his second win of the night, proving to all that he loves spending as much time on the table as possible – all three of his matches went to five ends but on this occasion the fifth end didn’t quite make it to deuce – an 11-8 win made the final score 6-4 to the hosts.
Team 4 v WL 5
Back at Ladywood, Team 4 called up Jay Jayalath to join Rachel Petrie and Chamika Diyunagalge as they hosted West Lothian 5 in Division 3. This looked like another tough match on paper and when Chamika and Rachel lost their openers, Team 4 were immediately under pressure. Jay held his nerve in Match 3 for a good 11-9 in the fifth victory but that was the only win in the first six singles for the hosts as they trailed 5-1 going into the doubles. Chamika and Jay produced an excellent 3-0 win to keep the match alive, but only Chamika managed to pick up an end in the final three singles games as the West Lothian outfit secured an 8-2 victory.
Team 5 v WL 7
Team 5 of Roscoe Cairney, John Bald and Jay Jayalath made the trip to Bathgate on Wednesday 5th February to take on West Lothian 7 in Division 4. Jay was undefeated on the night, but this match was overshadowed by other events. The match was tragically abandoned with the doubles left to play and the visitors trailing 5-4. A West Lothian player, in the hall practicing, collapsed and emergency services had to be called. It appears that the team captains have agreed to call the match a draw in the circumstances.
Player of the Week
And so, to our Week 19 Player of the Week Award. Only Team 2 managed a victory this week – and a great victory at that in a battle of the top two in the Division. WL 3 have only lost two matches this season, both to Team 2! All three of our players won two singles so how do we split them – in Week 18, Gary’s confidence hit an all time low after a winless night against Team 3 – fast forward a week to a match he didn’t particularly want to play in, and it was a different Gary who emerged victorious – WL gave him the player of the match award and that’s good enough for us – well done to Gary.
Controversy of the Week
We’re not doing a controversy this week. Table Tennis was put into perspective by the awful events that unfolded at WL on Wednesday night. Who cares about arguments over postponements, battles about dodgy let calls, strange umpiring decisions, bad behaviour etc. Whilst it’s a sport we love, we need to recognise that it’s just a silly game that we play to give us something to do on a cold winters evening. Life is too short to get hung up on trivial and insignificant matters. Above all else this week, our thoughts go out to the player’s family and our friends at West Lothian, after a truly horrific night.
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