Monday 18 December 2006

Team Christmas Blitz

We had a mix of regular team trainers and the irregulars, with Stokesy, Looby, Dougie mixed in with Todd, Peter C, Rupert and new member Jonathan Frame.

With 2 points handicap per position in ranking order, Jonathan beat Christy 2-1 and Alan beat Peter C 2-0 in the group of death. It was almost literally death as Stokesy was at 1-1 with Jonathan in the group playoff only to pull a calf twinge.

Dougie playing off -5 took out Rupert on +3 and Todd on -1 also beat Rupert. So it was hard fought playoff between Dougie & Todd to get in the final and the Texan Tornado blew Dougie away 2-1.

The final saw Jonathan have his 3rd 2-1 of the night but as he had given up the drink, he graciously passed on the prize to Todd. Everyone else played off some more games including Stephen Davey who was on a deadline and couldn't compete.

Saturday 9 December 2006

Seconds home v C-Rooks 2

Tweedster subbed-up for the second week and was under little pressure against Roddy Robinson's son, Euan;3-0. (Take the win now Pete, it might be different in a year or two.) Ian Sinclair was down at #4 this week and cleaned up against Kevin Vincent 3-0.

Kevin Roberts played another front-court merchant, Jack McWalter at #3. The ball never got to the back wall and Kevin empathised with the author's disdain for this type of girl's blouse squash; not so much disdain as not to claim a 20 minute 3-1 win.

Mark Dutton had half a first aid box around his tennis elbow and played well but lost out in 4; 1-3. Suggers took on Derek Wilson and the Colinton man was getting fat on the loose lobs feeding his volley. However Gerald tightened up enough to close out 3-1.

Man o' the Match: Gerald Suggett (best running-commentary, retrieved everything).

Overall a 4-1 win over one of the weaker outfits (16-5 on points).
Grange II remains in second spot in Div 5 league with an average of 14 (12.5 is the promotion zone). We would have to beat BOS at home (in Feb) convincingly to win it but are best positioned of the 4 Grange teams to get promoted.

Thirds home v Marcos III (Thurs, 7/12/06)

Stephen Davey kicked off at #5 and played a good first game but Neil Love soon took control for the next 3; 1-3. Pete Young got to the kitchen early as Dave Gillon cleaned up; 0-3 (N0t surprising, Peter probably left his best shots on the phone as he sorted out a selection muddle earlier).

Ian Mitchell at #3 blamed his warm bath for clouding his vision but in truth Richard Nisbet had age and weight of shot on his side; 0-3.

Match of the night was #4 Chris Molyneaux and Rocco Panozzo, the Marco's man is very expressive. In a competitive match played in a good atmosphere, Chris ran down a lot of dying boasts to bring it to 2-2 and ran away with the fifth; 3-2. It was left to Peter Cockburn to salvage some more points, he had Nick Wodd reeling for the oxygen but failed to deliver the knockout; 1-3.

Man of the Match: Chris Molyneaux (retrieved everything, hit a lot of low, tight and fast forehand winners,postponed a date to play)

Overall, a 1-4 (5-17 on points) loss. The thirds were in 3rd spot(promotion) in Div 6 league but this result will probably see the team slip to fifth with an average of 11 points per match as Marcos and Heriot Watt leapfrog us. We'd need to average 14 points in the second half to get back into the promotion zone.

Friday 8 December 2006

Grange I @ Marcos II (Fri, 08.12.06)

We had a tough time at Marcos. With 3 of our regulars out of action, and Marcos on good form, they came out on top.

Todd Mitchell lost to their new and untested no. 5 - who looks like he'll move up the order after Christmas. Christy brought Paul deMarco down to his level for 1 game, but lost the other 3 (his modest words, not mine). Stokesy lost to David Thompson 0-3. Dougie went to 5 with Matthew Hunter, but lost 2-3.
Al salvaged a few valuable points after everone else had gone home 3-1 win over Andy Whitelaw.

Man of the match: Dougie Brown - played really well and left nothing behind him on court.

Overall 1-4 (6-16 on points).
There are 2 teams on 112 and 3 teams incl. Grange on 101 points scrapping for the 3 promotion places in Div 4 league. The team is totally inconsistent, 6 heavy wins and 3 heavy losses compared to the second team who have the same number of wins/losses but always pick up 10+ points.
The key reason for this is, I believe, that the second team always turns up with either of its 2 no. 1 string players.

Friday 1 December 2006

Thirds @ Dunbar (Thurs, 30/11/06)

A difficult night at windswept Dunbar tonight.

Chris Molyneaux and Ian Mitchell came on first. Mitch started slowly against Willie losing the first but came back well after finding good length in the second and third. Willie kept it tight in game four with Mitch taking a breather and went on to close out the fifth.

Chris was up against a loud and hard hitting opponent but took the first well with his fitness. The Dunbar man, whilst short was not lacking in aggression. He edged out the next couple of closely fought games, before Chris came back strongly in the fourth to take the match into a decider. Alas, the Dunbar man took the fifth.

Peter Cockburn took a good first game against Phil at #1 and was 8-6 in the second. But the Phil's clever boasts and experience of the bouncy courts meant he took control to win the match 3:1.

Alasdair Gormly put in a gallant effort against their number 5 who was late turning up. Alasdair looked like he might go home pointless. However he fought back well in the third to edge it but ran out of steam to lose in four.

Pete Young was up against Duncan at #2 but whilst he put up resistence in games 1 and 2 briefly holding leads he lost out in 3 to come home pointless.

All in all a tough night against a strong team 18:6. Well done to our subs for fulfilling the fixture and hopefully you enjoyed your games.

Man of the match: Willie Paul (Dunbar)