Week 23 of the League was a relatively quiet one for the Club.
With Teams 2 and 5 having free weeks, only three of our teams were in action in Week 23. Team 4, however, took the opportunity to catch up on an outstanding postponed fixture as they played two matches, and in both of them they required to call up a player from the team below - not great organisational skills!
Frustration for Team 1 v North Merchiston
Line-up: Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Greig McDonell
Team 1 had a huge opportunity to leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Premier Division but were left ruing missed chances in their 6-4 defeat. The turning point of the night came early in Match 2 when Colin faced Quentin Renau. Having narrowly lost the first end to deuce, Colin took complete control, or so it seemed, with an 11-4 second end win and then led 9-3 in the third – he had won 20 of the previous 25 points played over those two ends. He was stunned as Quentin made a remarkable comeback, taking the third end 12-10 before comfortably winning the next 11-4. That shift in momentum dented Colin’s confidence, and he went on to lose in straight sets against Merchiston’s No. 1. Despite Peter’s strong showing with two wins and one each from Greig and Colin, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide. A frustrating result in a match that could have made a big impact on the league standings.
Team 3 Bounce Back in Style
Line-up: Craig Linton, Bob Porteous, and Charlie Brindley
After a tough loss to University 4 last week, Team 3 faced another tricky test against University 3 in Division 2. Whilst the result suggests that this was an easy win for the hosts, nothing could be further from the truth. The match turned on some really close games - five of the ten matches played went to deciding fifth ends and three of them came right down to the wire and were won deuce in the fifth. The pivotal moments of the night came in Matches 4 and 5. Craig delivered a clutch performance to edge out the University’s top player 12-10 in the fifth. Bob then followed up with an equally dramatic victory, also winning 12-10 in the decider. With momentum on their side, Team 3 secured an 8-2 victory. Craig was the player of the match for the hosts, going undefeated in singles, while Bob and Charlie each picked up two wins. Craig and Charlie also combined to take the doubles. Although promotion remains a mathematical possibility, it would require a significant slip-up from the side currently in second place above them for that to happen.
Tough Week for Team 4 in Double-Header
Fixtures: Haddington 4 v Penicuik 4 & West Lothian 4 v Penicuik 4 – Division 3
Line-up: Rachel Petrie, Patrick Shanks, Jay Jayalath & Chamika Diyunugalge
With Chamika on holiday for the first fixture of the Week for Team 4 on Tuesday 4th March, Jay Jayalath stepped in and produced an excellent individual performance. He won two of his three singles, showcasing some superb play. Unfortunately, the only other win of the night came from Patrick, as Penicuik struggled against a solid Haddington side, falling to a 7-3 defeat.
A couple of nights later, Team 4 travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 4. With Rachel missing this time, Jay once again played up from Division 4 and continued his good form, picking up a singles win. Patrick matched that with a victory of his own, while Jay and Chamika combined to win the doubles.
This was another of those matches which was closer than the score suggests. Three of the encounters went to a deciding fifth end, and unfortunately, all of them went the way of West Lothian. That proved to be the difference on the night, as Team 4 suffered their second 7-3 loss of the week. A frustrating week, but some strong performances to build on.
Player of the Week
Two players stood out this week. Jay Jayalath, playing up from Division 4, showed great composure in a tough week for Team 4. He stepped up brilliantly, winning three out of six singles matches across two fixtures and contributing to a doubles victory.
However, only one player remained undefeated in singles this week, and that was Craig Linton of Team 3. Craig not only won all three of his singles matches but also played a crucial role in the doubles win alongside Charlie. His battling spirit was on full display, with all three of his singles matches going the distance, and he won every single one. Well done, Craig!
Controversy of the Week – Serving Issues Strike Again!
Serving issues once again took centre stage in Week 23, with inconsistency in enforcement causing frustration across a couple of matches. In Team 4’s match against Haddington, League Head Umpire Roger Thomas was in action, so perhaps it was no surprise that there was a comment made about serving! Patrick was told he wasn’t throwing the ball up high enough on his serves, resulting in a warning. We recall a couple of seasons ago when the same umpire foul served Rachel in a match, no warning given that time and the argument of course is that a serve is either legal or it's not. If it’s not legal never mind warnings – just point to the opponent. A warning is supposedly given where the umpire might not be certain about the legality.
A similar issue arose in Team 3’s fixture against Edinburgh University, where Charlie was warned about his toss height. Having previously received a warning from the umpire, fast forward to a crucial point in the game, the umpire ruled a foul serve, awarding a point to his opponent without any further warning being given.
Both Patrick and Charlie accept that their serves aren’t perfect, but the real issue is the lack of consistency across the league. Our view? Absolutely, foul serves should be called out, but for fairness, this needs to be enforced consistently across the board. Never mind worrying about consistency across the league, let’s start by trying to get consistency throughout a single match. Charlie was quite right to point out that his own teammate, Bob, had various serves which were as “dodgy” as his serves – no points awarded against him, no warnings given. Charlie even brought into the equation our Club President who he had been watching playing in the other half of the hall – what do you mean his serves are dodgy? That’s a bit uncalled for Charlie! And it was the same story at Haddington. Patrick does have the occasional serve that’s not thrown up sufficiently but so does one of his teammates (we’re sworn to secrecy as to who that is, although it’s a regular teammate and Chamika wasn’t playing)!
We’ve said it many times before, the problem with officiating ourselves is that calling someone up for a “foul serve” is a bit like pulling out a yellow card against an opponent or indeed a teammate. The umpires need to be very strong and be confident in what they’re doing. Most of the time, we all just let things go because we don’t want to cause any animosity and ill-feeling in the matches. Some say that if the serve isn’t giving the player an advantage, then just leave it alone – but that of course is not what our Lead Umpire would tell us to do – advantage or not, if a serve is illegal, it should be called out. Right now, that simply isn’t happening.
Week 24 here we come!
With Teams 2 and 5 having free weeks, only three of our teams were in action in Week 23. Team 4, however, took the opportunity to catch up on an outstanding postponed fixture as they played two matches, and in both of them they required to call up a player from the team below - not great organisational skills!
Frustration for Team 1 v North Merchiston
Line-up: Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Greig McDonell
Team 1 had a huge opportunity to leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Premier Division but were left ruing missed chances in their 6-4 defeat. The turning point of the night came early in Match 2 when Colin faced Quentin Renau. Having narrowly lost the first end to deuce, Colin took complete control, or so it seemed, with an 11-4 second end win and then led 9-3 in the third – he had won 20 of the previous 25 points played over those two ends. He was stunned as Quentin made a remarkable comeback, taking the third end 12-10 before comfortably winning the next 11-4. That shift in momentum dented Colin’s confidence, and he went on to lose in straight sets against Merchiston’s No. 1. Despite Peter’s strong showing with two wins and one each from Greig and Colin, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide. A frustrating result in a match that could have made a big impact on the league standings.
Team 3 Bounce Back in Style
Line-up: Craig Linton, Bob Porteous, and Charlie Brindley
After a tough loss to University 4 last week, Team 3 faced another tricky test against University 3 in Division 2. Whilst the result suggests that this was an easy win for the hosts, nothing could be further from the truth. The match turned on some really close games - five of the ten matches played went to deciding fifth ends and three of them came right down to the wire and were won deuce in the fifth. The pivotal moments of the night came in Matches 4 and 5. Craig delivered a clutch performance to edge out the University’s top player 12-10 in the fifth. Bob then followed up with an equally dramatic victory, also winning 12-10 in the decider. With momentum on their side, Team 3 secured an 8-2 victory. Craig was the player of the match for the hosts, going undefeated in singles, while Bob and Charlie each picked up two wins. Craig and Charlie also combined to take the doubles. Although promotion remains a mathematical possibility, it would require a significant slip-up from the side currently in second place above them for that to happen.
Tough Week for Team 4 in Double-Header
Fixtures: Haddington 4 v Penicuik 4 & West Lothian 4 v Penicuik 4 – Division 3
Line-up: Rachel Petrie, Patrick Shanks, Jay Jayalath & Chamika Diyunugalge
With Chamika on holiday for the first fixture of the Week for Team 4 on Tuesday 4th March, Jay Jayalath stepped in and produced an excellent individual performance. He won two of his three singles, showcasing some superb play. Unfortunately, the only other win of the night came from Patrick, as Penicuik struggled against a solid Haddington side, falling to a 7-3 defeat.
A couple of nights later, Team 4 travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 4. With Rachel missing this time, Jay once again played up from Division 4 and continued his good form, picking up a singles win. Patrick matched that with a victory of his own, while Jay and Chamika combined to win the doubles.
This was another of those matches which was closer than the score suggests. Three of the encounters went to a deciding fifth end, and unfortunately, all of them went the way of West Lothian. That proved to be the difference on the night, as Team 4 suffered their second 7-3 loss of the week. A frustrating week, but some strong performances to build on.
Player of the Week
Two players stood out this week. Jay Jayalath, playing up from Division 4, showed great composure in a tough week for Team 4. He stepped up brilliantly, winning three out of six singles matches across two fixtures and contributing to a doubles victory.
However, only one player remained undefeated in singles this week, and that was Craig Linton of Team 3. Craig not only won all three of his singles matches but also played a crucial role in the doubles win alongside Charlie. His battling spirit was on full display, with all three of his singles matches going the distance, and he won every single one. Well done, Craig!
Controversy of the Week – Serving Issues Strike Again!
Serving issues once again took centre stage in Week 23, with inconsistency in enforcement causing frustration across a couple of matches. In Team 4’s match against Haddington, League Head Umpire Roger Thomas was in action, so perhaps it was no surprise that there was a comment made about serving! Patrick was told he wasn’t throwing the ball up high enough on his serves, resulting in a warning. We recall a couple of seasons ago when the same umpire foul served Rachel in a match, no warning given that time and the argument of course is that a serve is either legal or it's not. If it’s not legal never mind warnings – just point to the opponent. A warning is supposedly given where the umpire might not be certain about the legality.
A similar issue arose in Team 3’s fixture against Edinburgh University, where Charlie was warned about his toss height. Having previously received a warning from the umpire, fast forward to a crucial point in the game, the umpire ruled a foul serve, awarding a point to his opponent without any further warning being given.
Both Patrick and Charlie accept that their serves aren’t perfect, but the real issue is the lack of consistency across the league. Our view? Absolutely, foul serves should be called out, but for fairness, this needs to be enforced consistently across the board. Never mind worrying about consistency across the league, let’s start by trying to get consistency throughout a single match. Charlie was quite right to point out that his own teammate, Bob, had various serves which were as “dodgy” as his serves – no points awarded against him, no warnings given. Charlie even brought into the equation our Club President who he had been watching playing in the other half of the hall – what do you mean his serves are dodgy? That’s a bit uncalled for Charlie! And it was the same story at Haddington. Patrick does have the occasional serve that’s not thrown up sufficiently but so does one of his teammates (we’re sworn to secrecy as to who that is, although it’s a regular teammate and Chamika wasn’t playing)!
We’ve said it many times before, the problem with officiating ourselves is that calling someone up for a “foul serve” is a bit like pulling out a yellow card against an opponent or indeed a teammate. The umpires need to be very strong and be confident in what they’re doing. Most of the time, we all just let things go because we don’t want to cause any animosity and ill-feeling in the matches. Some say that if the serve isn’t giving the player an advantage, then just leave it alone – but that of course is not what our Lead Umpire would tell us to do – advantage or not, if a serve is illegal, it should be called out. Right now, that simply isn’t happening.
Week 24 here we come!
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