All of the Club’s eight teams were in action in a busy Week 4 of the Edinburgh & Lothians League. One of the downsides of getting bigger is that we're running out of room at the Club and it was a tight squeeze on Wednesday last week with 4 teams all in action. It was, however, great to see so many youngsters playing and there was a real buzz at Ladywood with matches from the Premier, Division 2 and Division 4 all taking place - I could hardly hear the dogs because of the noise!
The 1st Team were forced into a change as they faced a home tie against Murrayfield 3. Greig McDonell and Stuart Gow were joined by Iain Johnstone who deputised for the absent Aussie, Colin Green. When Iain lost match 1 of the night, the home side were under pressure but Greig won match 2 before Iain, playing out of order, won a vital match 3 beating Colin Clark in straight sets. That took the pressure of the home side and by the time of the doubles the home side held an unassailable 5-1 lead. After their first doubles outing was lost, both Greig and Stuart won their final games as Team 1 triumphed by 7 games to 3. Greig and Stuart both won 3 whilst Iain added 1. Given that there are many difficult matches to come, you have to take the good news when it's available so with that in mind it's great to see the 1st Team sitting proudly in 3rd place in the Premier Division.
Life in Division 1 is proving difficult for our Division 2 winners from last year and having lost in Week 3 to Corstophine 2, matters weren't going to get any easier as James Wighton, Gary Mcdougal and Abby Wighton faced a home tie against Corstorphine 1. The 8-2 defeat doesn't really tell the whole story of how close the match actually was. James lost the first match in 5 ends before Abby lost in 4 tight ends (deuce in each end) to Dave Grant. Abby lost her 2nd match of the night deuce in the fifth to Thomas Grant before dad James lost in five ends to Dave Hall - you get the picture - on the night 5 of the first 7 matches went to five ends and Penicuik only won 1 of them. Gary was the only home player to get on the scorecard with wins against Dave and Thomas Grant. With only 1 point from 3 matches Team 2 are in need of a confidence boosting win soon.
Team 3 travelled to face Corstorphine 2 who, as mentioned previously, had been victorious against Team 2 the previous week. Clive Liddiard, Iain Johnstone and Brian Bailey went one better than their clubmates but were still disappointed at the end of the night as they recorded their second draw of the season. The star of the show was Iain Johnstone who won all three of his singles matches and combined with Clive for a win in the doubles. Unfortunately for Team 2, Iain didn't have much support on the night as Clive recorded the only other win for the visitors. Remarkably, despite only picking up one win in the first four weeks, the Division 1 table shows Team 3 in 4th place at this early stage in the season.
With two draws and a win in the first three weeks of the season, Penicuik's only undefeated side going into week 4 was Team 4 and they were looking to maintain their unbeaten Division 2 record as they travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 6. Chris Markey, Gavin Hunter and Krysztof Laszkiewicz were never in trouble as they recorded an emphatic 9-1 victory. Chris and Krysztof both won 3 and combined for a win in the doubles whilst Gavin won 2.
In Division 3 Team 5 also faced Bathgate based opposition as they took on West Lothian's 8th Team at Ladywood. The player of the night was the visitors' Nathan Lander who won all his three singles matches and combined with Tommy Hammill for a win in the doubles. He had no support however as Gregory Leplatre, John Bald and Phil Daly each won two to record an important 6-4 win.
All three of Penicuik’s Division 4 teams were in action in Week 4. Having lost their first two matches Team 6 took on Haddington 2 and recorded their first victory of the season. Luke Hennessey won 3 whilst Louis Myatt and Louis McLeod both won 2 and combined for a win in the doubles in the resultant 8-2 victory.
Elsewhere in Division 4 results weren't so positive. After their 10-0 win last week, Team 7 of Craig Johnson, Stuart Bennett and Millie Bennett were brought back down to earth with a bump as they lost out 8-2 to Edinburgh University. Stuart and Millie both won 1.
In another busy week for the Club, Team 8 fell to a heavy 9-1 defeat at the hands of North Merchiston 5. Neither Sean Lennon nor Lewis Baldock troubled the scorers, Penicuik’s only win on the night being provided by Rachel Petrie.
So to player of the Week this week - a few in the running - Iain Johnstone for a maximum for Team 3 not to mention an important win when playing up for Team 1; Phil for winning the player of the night award - a bit like Brian Bailey last week - doesn't happen very often; Stuart and Greig for holding the fort for Team 1 whilst Colin couldn't be bothered turning up and young Luke for winning 3 in Team 6's first win of the season - but this week and for one week only the prize goes to a non-Penicuik player - Edinburgh University's Tom Bell who ended a remarkable run of victories in the Premier Division for Murrayfield's Calum Morrison - 57 wins out of 57 in the 2014-15 season and an undefeated first 3 weeks of this season was brought to an end on a Friday night at the Pleasance - well done Tom.
And finally (and worryingly) our "controversy of the week award" seems to be becoming a regular piece in these weekly round-ups! Having convinced our own Team 8 to grant a postponement to Team 7 as they had nobody available to play next week, El Presidente sought a postponement from Murrayfield 2 of next weeks' Premier League match - no chance was the response (or words to that effect) - and who can blame them after our Team 8 refused Murrayfield 8 a postponement in Week 3! Team 1 therefore holds Rachel responsible if they end up on the losing end of the result next week!! (only joking Rachel!) Sporting? No. Fair? Probably not. Would we have done the same? ....... You reap what you sow!
The 1st Team were forced into a change as they faced a home tie against Murrayfield 3. Greig McDonell and Stuart Gow were joined by Iain Johnstone who deputised for the absent Aussie, Colin Green. When Iain lost match 1 of the night, the home side were under pressure but Greig won match 2 before Iain, playing out of order, won a vital match 3 beating Colin Clark in straight sets. That took the pressure of the home side and by the time of the doubles the home side held an unassailable 5-1 lead. After their first doubles outing was lost, both Greig and Stuart won their final games as Team 1 triumphed by 7 games to 3. Greig and Stuart both won 3 whilst Iain added 1. Given that there are many difficult matches to come, you have to take the good news when it's available so with that in mind it's great to see the 1st Team sitting proudly in 3rd place in the Premier Division.
Life in Division 1 is proving difficult for our Division 2 winners from last year and having lost in Week 3 to Corstophine 2, matters weren't going to get any easier as James Wighton, Gary Mcdougal and Abby Wighton faced a home tie against Corstorphine 1. The 8-2 defeat doesn't really tell the whole story of how close the match actually was. James lost the first match in 5 ends before Abby lost in 4 tight ends (deuce in each end) to Dave Grant. Abby lost her 2nd match of the night deuce in the fifth to Thomas Grant before dad James lost in five ends to Dave Hall - you get the picture - on the night 5 of the first 7 matches went to five ends and Penicuik only won 1 of them. Gary was the only home player to get on the scorecard with wins against Dave and Thomas Grant. With only 1 point from 3 matches Team 2 are in need of a confidence boosting win soon.
Team 3 travelled to face Corstorphine 2 who, as mentioned previously, had been victorious against Team 2 the previous week. Clive Liddiard, Iain Johnstone and Brian Bailey went one better than their clubmates but were still disappointed at the end of the night as they recorded their second draw of the season. The star of the show was Iain Johnstone who won all three of his singles matches and combined with Clive for a win in the doubles. Unfortunately for Team 2, Iain didn't have much support on the night as Clive recorded the only other win for the visitors. Remarkably, despite only picking up one win in the first four weeks, the Division 1 table shows Team 3 in 4th place at this early stage in the season.
With two draws and a win in the first three weeks of the season, Penicuik's only undefeated side going into week 4 was Team 4 and they were looking to maintain their unbeaten Division 2 record as they travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 6. Chris Markey, Gavin Hunter and Krysztof Laszkiewicz were never in trouble as they recorded an emphatic 9-1 victory. Chris and Krysztof both won 3 and combined for a win in the doubles whilst Gavin won 2.
In Division 3 Team 5 also faced Bathgate based opposition as they took on West Lothian's 8th Team at Ladywood. The player of the night was the visitors' Nathan Lander who won all his three singles matches and combined with Tommy Hammill for a win in the doubles. He had no support however as Gregory Leplatre, John Bald and Phil Daly each won two to record an important 6-4 win.
All three of Penicuik’s Division 4 teams were in action in Week 4. Having lost their first two matches Team 6 took on Haddington 2 and recorded their first victory of the season. Luke Hennessey won 3 whilst Louis Myatt and Louis McLeod both won 2 and combined for a win in the doubles in the resultant 8-2 victory.
Elsewhere in Division 4 results weren't so positive. After their 10-0 win last week, Team 7 of Craig Johnson, Stuart Bennett and Millie Bennett were brought back down to earth with a bump as they lost out 8-2 to Edinburgh University. Stuart and Millie both won 1.
In another busy week for the Club, Team 8 fell to a heavy 9-1 defeat at the hands of North Merchiston 5. Neither Sean Lennon nor Lewis Baldock troubled the scorers, Penicuik’s only win on the night being provided by Rachel Petrie.
So to player of the Week this week - a few in the running - Iain Johnstone for a maximum for Team 3 not to mention an important win when playing up for Team 1; Phil for winning the player of the night award - a bit like Brian Bailey last week - doesn't happen very often; Stuart and Greig for holding the fort for Team 1 whilst Colin couldn't be bothered turning up and young Luke for winning 3 in Team 6's first win of the season - but this week and for one week only the prize goes to a non-Penicuik player - Edinburgh University's Tom Bell who ended a remarkable run of victories in the Premier Division for Murrayfield's Calum Morrison - 57 wins out of 57 in the 2014-15 season and an undefeated first 3 weeks of this season was brought to an end on a Friday night at the Pleasance - well done Tom.
And finally (and worryingly) our "controversy of the week award" seems to be becoming a regular piece in these weekly round-ups! Having convinced our own Team 8 to grant a postponement to Team 7 as they had nobody available to play next week, El Presidente sought a postponement from Murrayfield 2 of next weeks' Premier League match - no chance was the response (or words to that effect) - and who can blame them after our Team 8 refused Murrayfield 8 a postponement in Week 3! Team 1 therefore holds Rachel responsible if they end up on the losing end of the result next week!! (only joking Rachel!) Sporting? No. Fair? Probably not. Would we have done the same? ....... You reap what you sow!
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