Week 20 was Handicap Cup Quarter Finals Week but two of our teams took the opportunity to catch up on outstanding fixtures.
In the Premier Division, Team 1 had agreed to a postponement of their match from the previous week against West Lothian 2 and the rearranged fixture took place at Bathgate on Monday 10th February. Regulars Colin Green and Peter Aird were joined by Ryan Docherty for his second match for the Club as they faced the young WL Team of Noah Fletcher, Jamie Toner and Rory Thomson. Match 1 saw Rory take on Peter – at 2-1 up Peter had a match point in the fourth end, saved by an edge from Rory who went on to secure the end 13-11 before comfortably winning the decider – advantage WL. Ryan then took care of Noah in four ends before Colin did likewise to Jamie. The match swung back in favour of the youngsters as Noah defeated Peter and Rory had an excellent win against Colin but in a tight match the scores were levelled again by Ryan’s win against Jamie. 3-3 and the doubles to come – Ryan and Colin took on Rory and Noah and after the youngsters won the first end 11-7, the veterans looked in trouble! Back they came, however, and with the help of some terrific play from Ryan, they won the next three ends 11-6, 11-6, 11-8. When matches 8 and 9 then went the way of the visitors the win was secured. Ryan had a cracker against Rory in Match 10, coming back from 2-0 down in sets only to lose out 11-9 in the fifth. A 6-4 win for the Penicuik side sent the oldies home happy.
At the end of the week Team 5 of Roscoe Cairney, John Bald and Jay Jayalath made the trip to The Gyle on Friday to play their rearranged match v Murrayfield 11. John was first up for the visitors – he lost the first end 11-8 but then won the second 11-9 and it was looking promising for the visitors. His opponent had other ideas as he comfortably won the next two ends. The match then turned in favour of the visitors as both Jay and Roscoe won their openers in straight sets. Back came the hosts with a win in match 4 before two further wins for the Penicuik side gave them a two-match lead for the first time, 4-2 going into the doubles. That match could not have been closer – from 2-0 down Jay and Roscoe forced a decider but agonisingly fell short losing out 12-10 in the fifth. The match was in the balance again before Roscoe secured a point with a win in match 8. John lost out in match 9 so a 5-4 lead going into the final game of the night. Jay had been on form, and he would surely secure the victory - hang on a minute, a 13-11 loss in the first end and his teammates were suddenly nervous. The second end was also close, but Jay came through that 11-9 and from there he seemed to grow into the game, winning the next two ends in comfortable fashion. An excellent 6-4 win for the visitors which surely confirms their safety from relegation even with half a dozen matches still to go.
And so, to our Week 20 Player of the Week Award. There is a limited pool to choose from this week, but some quality Table Tennis was played. Both Roscoe and Jay were undefeated for Team 5 in singles play resulting in a terrific 6-4 victory – surely it’s between those two for this week’s award. They lost the doubles though says our selection committee! And whilst it was absolutely a terrific win, the reverse fixture had seen them batter their Murrayfield opponents 9-1. Additionally, their opponents out of 13 matches played so far this season had only won 1 so perhaps the win was “expected”. In the premier league match, Team 1 took on a team who are “on the up” and who started the night three points behind the Penicuik side but with a game in hand – a win for the West Lothian youngsters would have brought them right onto the heels of Team 1. Colin and Ryan both produced some terrific play and a crucial doubles victory for the pair was vital to the overall win. The man of the match as voted for by WL played some terrific stuff, was close to winning all three of his singles and was the dominant force in the doubles victory. He came close in his first match for the club to winning the award, but good things come to those who wait – well done to Ryan for a cracking night. As an aside, that win v WL has somehow lifted Team 1 into 3rd place in the Premier Division – we doubt it will last, so a screenshot has been taken for posterity!
As for controversies, as stated at the outset of this report, it was quarter finals week in the Handicap Cup – we’re still in the Cup and were due to play Murrayfield on Thursday at Ladywood. No report from the game as the fixture didn’t take place. For a number of seasons now, the arrangement has been that the home team plays the fixture on their home night as per the online system. That is what has happened in previous rounds, and we were again reminded of that by the Handicap Cup Secretary when the fixtures were confirmed and helpfully the date was given for those fixtures. Now clearly, we’re not saying that this precludes requests for re-arrangement of games and if both sides can agree and a suitable alternative date can be arranged then the matches can take place other than the one date identified. But as with league matches, whilst a team can request a postponement, there is no obligation on a team to agree to such. It’s bad enough rearranging league fixtures (normally into handicap cup weeks like we’ve just seen this week) but rearranging handicap games is even more of a headache. Our team is made up of three players from different league teams and so finding a date when they’re all free is a nightmare. Murrayfield contacted us requesting a postponement. They couldn’t make the date scheduled. The Handicap Cup Secretary was copied into the communication and asked Murrayfield if they could propose other dates. The response from Murrayfield was very straightforward but utterly staggering – “We are available on 13th March”. What? A month down the line, in a league fixture week when three of our teams are in action. That absolutely riled our Handicap Cup Captain who responded to say that the suggestion from Murrayfield was not acceptable. Here’s the thing about the handicap cup – it has specific weeks set aside from the beginning of the season. We have limited availability. We could have offered two dates in handicap cup week if we had been forced to do so but it wouldn’t matter because the whole of the Murrayfield team were unavailable for the entire week. The handicap cup week has been known since September 2024. The last round was played early December. To say on the eve of the handicap cup week that we can’t make it but here’s a date we can, is ridiculous. Previous rounds have shown what happens in these situations. In round 1 we couldn’t field a side against Murrayfield on their allotted night. There was no question about rearranging / postponing – the match was conceded. In fairness to Murrayfield, they faced the same situation in earlier rounds against us and against Haddington – two concessions because they couldn’t fulfill the fixture on the allotted date. So, what is the issue here? We have said we don’t agree to a postponement. Murrayfield are not happy with that and have asked for the committee to decide what should happen to the fixture. How ridiculous! But hey that’s what keeps these reports going.
Finally, as we near the last quarter of the season, we’re intrigued as to how Haddington 1 are going to complete their fixtures. They brought a match forward from the end of March to this week past but still have four postponed matches to rearrange. This must be a record – in a 20-match season, they have remarkably rearranged NINE matches! And we suppose they could still rearrange more! Who cares about the rule allowing only one postponement request per half season. The difference of course is probably that everyone likes the nicest man in table tennis, Peter Lugton, and we would all bend over backwards to accommodate him and his team. It looks like a busy six weeks in store for Haddington!
Week 21 here we come.
In the Premier Division, Team 1 had agreed to a postponement of their match from the previous week against West Lothian 2 and the rearranged fixture took place at Bathgate on Monday 10th February. Regulars Colin Green and Peter Aird were joined by Ryan Docherty for his second match for the Club as they faced the young WL Team of Noah Fletcher, Jamie Toner and Rory Thomson. Match 1 saw Rory take on Peter – at 2-1 up Peter had a match point in the fourth end, saved by an edge from Rory who went on to secure the end 13-11 before comfortably winning the decider – advantage WL. Ryan then took care of Noah in four ends before Colin did likewise to Jamie. The match swung back in favour of the youngsters as Noah defeated Peter and Rory had an excellent win against Colin but in a tight match the scores were levelled again by Ryan’s win against Jamie. 3-3 and the doubles to come – Ryan and Colin took on Rory and Noah and after the youngsters won the first end 11-7, the veterans looked in trouble! Back they came, however, and with the help of some terrific play from Ryan, they won the next three ends 11-6, 11-6, 11-8. When matches 8 and 9 then went the way of the visitors the win was secured. Ryan had a cracker against Rory in Match 10, coming back from 2-0 down in sets only to lose out 11-9 in the fifth. A 6-4 win for the Penicuik side sent the oldies home happy.
At the end of the week Team 5 of Roscoe Cairney, John Bald and Jay Jayalath made the trip to The Gyle on Friday to play their rearranged match v Murrayfield 11. John was first up for the visitors – he lost the first end 11-8 but then won the second 11-9 and it was looking promising for the visitors. His opponent had other ideas as he comfortably won the next two ends. The match then turned in favour of the visitors as both Jay and Roscoe won their openers in straight sets. Back came the hosts with a win in match 4 before two further wins for the Penicuik side gave them a two-match lead for the first time, 4-2 going into the doubles. That match could not have been closer – from 2-0 down Jay and Roscoe forced a decider but agonisingly fell short losing out 12-10 in the fifth. The match was in the balance again before Roscoe secured a point with a win in match 8. John lost out in match 9 so a 5-4 lead going into the final game of the night. Jay had been on form, and he would surely secure the victory - hang on a minute, a 13-11 loss in the first end and his teammates were suddenly nervous. The second end was also close, but Jay came through that 11-9 and from there he seemed to grow into the game, winning the next two ends in comfortable fashion. An excellent 6-4 win for the visitors which surely confirms their safety from relegation even with half a dozen matches still to go.
And so, to our Week 20 Player of the Week Award. There is a limited pool to choose from this week, but some quality Table Tennis was played. Both Roscoe and Jay were undefeated for Team 5 in singles play resulting in a terrific 6-4 victory – surely it’s between those two for this week’s award. They lost the doubles though says our selection committee! And whilst it was absolutely a terrific win, the reverse fixture had seen them batter their Murrayfield opponents 9-1. Additionally, their opponents out of 13 matches played so far this season had only won 1 so perhaps the win was “expected”. In the premier league match, Team 1 took on a team who are “on the up” and who started the night three points behind the Penicuik side but with a game in hand – a win for the West Lothian youngsters would have brought them right onto the heels of Team 1. Colin and Ryan both produced some terrific play and a crucial doubles victory for the pair was vital to the overall win. The man of the match as voted for by WL played some terrific stuff, was close to winning all three of his singles and was the dominant force in the doubles victory. He came close in his first match for the club to winning the award, but good things come to those who wait – well done to Ryan for a cracking night. As an aside, that win v WL has somehow lifted Team 1 into 3rd place in the Premier Division – we doubt it will last, so a screenshot has been taken for posterity!
As for controversies, as stated at the outset of this report, it was quarter finals week in the Handicap Cup – we’re still in the Cup and were due to play Murrayfield on Thursday at Ladywood. No report from the game as the fixture didn’t take place. For a number of seasons now, the arrangement has been that the home team plays the fixture on their home night as per the online system. That is what has happened in previous rounds, and we were again reminded of that by the Handicap Cup Secretary when the fixtures were confirmed and helpfully the date was given for those fixtures. Now clearly, we’re not saying that this precludes requests for re-arrangement of games and if both sides can agree and a suitable alternative date can be arranged then the matches can take place other than the one date identified. But as with league matches, whilst a team can request a postponement, there is no obligation on a team to agree to such. It’s bad enough rearranging league fixtures (normally into handicap cup weeks like we’ve just seen this week) but rearranging handicap games is even more of a headache. Our team is made up of three players from different league teams and so finding a date when they’re all free is a nightmare. Murrayfield contacted us requesting a postponement. They couldn’t make the date scheduled. The Handicap Cup Secretary was copied into the communication and asked Murrayfield if they could propose other dates. The response from Murrayfield was very straightforward but utterly staggering – “We are available on 13th March”. What? A month down the line, in a league fixture week when three of our teams are in action. That absolutely riled our Handicap Cup Captain who responded to say that the suggestion from Murrayfield was not acceptable. Here’s the thing about the handicap cup – it has specific weeks set aside from the beginning of the season. We have limited availability. We could have offered two dates in handicap cup week if we had been forced to do so but it wouldn’t matter because the whole of the Murrayfield team were unavailable for the entire week. The handicap cup week has been known since September 2024. The last round was played early December. To say on the eve of the handicap cup week that we can’t make it but here’s a date we can, is ridiculous. Previous rounds have shown what happens in these situations. In round 1 we couldn’t field a side against Murrayfield on their allotted night. There was no question about rearranging / postponing – the match was conceded. In fairness to Murrayfield, they faced the same situation in earlier rounds against us and against Haddington – two concessions because they couldn’t fulfill the fixture on the allotted date. So, what is the issue here? We have said we don’t agree to a postponement. Murrayfield are not happy with that and have asked for the committee to decide what should happen to the fixture. How ridiculous! But hey that’s what keeps these reports going.
Finally, as we near the last quarter of the season, we’re intrigued as to how Haddington 1 are going to complete their fixtures. They brought a match forward from the end of March to this week past but still have four postponed matches to rearrange. This must be a record – in a 20-match season, they have remarkably rearranged NINE matches! And we suppose they could still rearrange more! Who cares about the rule allowing only one postponement request per half season. The difference of course is probably that everyone likes the nicest man in table tennis, Peter Lugton, and we would all bend over backwards to accommodate him and his team. It looks like a busy six weeks in store for Haddington!
Week 21 here we come.
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