Tuesday 16 December 2008

Results of 2008 Winter League 3

Another very busy league with 16 leagues and a record 97 players involved. However, the colder weather seemed to bring on a number of injuries and so total games played was down slightly at 161.

The results of the league are here ..... 2008 Winter League 3

We had the most competitive league 1 for some time, with all but 1 games played and Chris Mair scoring 22 points in 5th place! Tony Gribben managed a very impressive 2nd place in his first foray into the Grange top flight. Good to see two Roberts (Kevin and Ian) returning to the leagues with four straight wins in leagues 4 and 16 respectively. And namesake Peter was also unbeaten in getting promotion from league 6. Other players gaining promotion with an unbeaten record were Will Henderson, Robert Denholm, David Gillespie. Joanna Cowie, Darren Hall, George Adams and Jamie Halcro-Johnstone.

Alastair Ross (89) leads Jonathan Frame (85) in terms of total points scored. They are among a group of 6 who have managed a maximum 15 games so far. Overall we have 51 players who have played 10 or more games over the first three leagues - no wonder the courts are still busy.

With a few injuries and departures for foreign climes (good luck to Russell Langley who heads off to take the Vancouver squash scene by storm!) we are back down to 15 leagues this time, but still great support.

For those interested, here is the full set of new leagues ..... 2008 Winter League 4

Good luck and enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Monday 15 December 2008

Teams Xmas handicap (Sun, Dec 14, '08)

7 regulars turned up to contest the bragging rights this year. The champagne went to Brian Buchanan who won all 3 of his american-handicap matches, conceding just the one game (to Christy). Russell Langley and Chris Mair claimed joint second. Ali G turned a simple round robin into a conundrum worthy of countdown ;-)

The Xmas turkey was Dougie Brown, freshly recovered from injury, who had to smuggle the dodgy beer past his wife to avoid being asked how he did.

Thursday 11 December 2008

Firsts @ Colinton (Wed, Dec 10, '09)

Grangers took a 17-6 victory against now tradional sparring partners Colinton 2.

Mike H made an impressive 1sts debut with a 3-1 win after an edgy first game. Chris crumbled under the pressure of Mark Lords deft touch but strong wins from Ian, Brian and Mike P sealed the deal.

This takes it to 7 victories out of 8 for the first half and should see Grange 1 turn the year in second position. Bring on 09. (C Mair)

Monday 8 December 2008

Firsts away v ESC 3 (Tues 02.12.08)

In descending order, AH won 3-0, IG won 3-2, CM won 3-2, BB lost 3-2 and MP won 3-0.

It was a close run thing with ESC 3 fielding what looked to be their strongest team. Some good banter and some of ESC's finest cuisine much enjoyed afterwards. A good win on the night for the Grangers.

Overall 4-1. 19-9 on points.

C

Grange 3 versus Waverley 3 Friday 5th December 2008.

The Grange 3 juggernaut roles on with another 17 point haul to add to the last four weeks of excellent results.

At no 5 Russell Langley played a very good, fast, hard hitting match against Richard Nettleton. Some resistance from Richard in the third game but overall Russell too strong, running out to a 3-1 win. A 6-1 winning record for the first half of the season.

At no 4 we saw exactly the same pattern for Jonathon Frame against Neil Aitken. Jonathan played fast but controlled squash and was almost always in command with only one game of sterner resistance from Neil allowed to slip away. A comfortable 3-1 win. That's three good wins and one loss for Jonathon in the first half.

At No 3 Mark Dutton had a convincing 3-0 win over John Allan. For a change he came out of the blocks properly and picked up a 9-0 with only a few handouts conceded and will hopefully be able to keep in that mindset. A number of unnecessary first game losses was the only real blemish in a good first half of the season that saw a 5-1 winning record.

At No 2 Christy had a very entertaining match against the unorthodox but very effective Neil Tulloch (hang on...that's Christy too..). The term unorthodox doesn't so much refer to the style of play as they both are clearly very accomplished players, but more to the highly unusual directions that the ball takes around the court from all of the reverse boasts and and other such malarky. A togh one for Christy against a good opponent and a 3-1 win the result. That's a 2-2 record for Christy in the thirds so far.

In one of the most entertaining matches of the season, Patrick Langley took on Chris Jeffrey at No 1. ny casual observer walking past the court at almost any time during this match would have been forgiven for thinking that the result was a foregone conclusion in Patrick's favour. While Patrick seemed to be well in control and looked to have plenty to spare, the older Chris was a lather of sweat and puffing his near-to-last breath at almost all times. Somehow though he always managed to stay in the rallies and return some of the pressure and gradually started to bring some mistakes out of Patrick's game. This particular author has now seen quite a few of Patrick's matches and minileagues and has certianly never seen him miss as many volleys and drops as he did in a quite inexplicable sequence in the third and fourth games. All credit to Chris though for working so hard to help make that happen. The final game was a see-saw affair and could have gone both ways but Chris discovered a liking for the front backhand corner and played a series of near unreturnable drops that had Patrick in knots quite a few times. Nobody begrudged Chris his moment of Henman0like fist pumping when he finally took the last point since he'd worked so hard against an opponent who would have beaten him on most other occasions. A 2-3 loss for Patrick on the night and a 3-1 winning record for Patrick in the thirds in this half of the season (all other matches 3-0 too..).

Looking at the ESSA points table, we stil don't seem to be able to shake off ESC and Inveresk so those two matches will be key to teh second half and we'll be looking to do better than the 7 points we took off both those sides.

Saturday 6 December 2008

Thirds @ Waverley 3 (Fri, Dec 5. '08)

#5 Russell Langley bt Richard 3-1
#4 Jon Frame beat Neil Aitken 3-1
#3 Mark Dutton bt John Allan 3-1
#2 Christy Looby bt Paul Tulloch 3-1
#1 Patrick Langley l Chris Jeffrey 2-3.

Good banter in the bar over lashings of spag bol, Tall Paul kept us entertained with his tales of the casinos and online poker, so much so he persuaded Jon to head off to the Fountainbridge casino after playing.

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Seconds v Edinburgh Sports Club 4 (Wed 2.12.08)

Tough, close matches against the Sports Club. Sadly they took 3 out of 5.

Pete Cockburn gallantly played mini league match followed by team match against Chris Milne at 5. A big effort by Pete, but by the fifth, this was to Chris's advantage and he took it from us 3-2.

At 4, Stokesy had 4 match points in the 4th. Les Wilson clung to win 3-2.

Al lost 3-0 to Shane Presley at 3 and should have stayed at home until properly recovered from illness.

Our no.s 1 and 2 did the winning, with Will Kerr playing a fine game to beat Andrew "Slasher" Snowden 3-0.

And at 1, Mike Hall's debut appearance for Grange surprised a few people, not least his opponent JJ Tait, who was truly psyched. Tremendous pace and accuracy, plus some devious serving. 3-1.

There was great support on the balcony from both teams, plus Looby, Langley, Frame, Pollock, Marshall, and more.

Two and a half pints later, JJ had recovered from crushing defeat, his spirits riding high once more, Stokesy had put those harsh (but correct) reffing decisions behind him, Mike Hall turned out to be a lager drinker (perhaps that's the secret) and we recorded a season record on the bar tab.

These guys were beatable. Next half we'll have them AND drink their bar dry.

Monday 1 December 2008

Seconds @ Waverley 2 (26 Nov 08)

Waverley had an experienced team out and although some of the games were close Waverley always seemed to have the edge. A strong performance from Alan Stokes saved us from being grannied.

Will v Niven simpson 0-3
Tony v Douglas kempsell 0-3
Robert v Mike reid 0-3
Alan v Paul osinski 3-1
Michael v Damien Noade 0-3

Grange 5, Waverley 20.

Seconds @ Abercorn 1 (19 Nov 08)

A belated match report.

Grange 2 met a slightly weakened team due to Abercorn having players out so we won convincingly.

Will V A Mckenzie 3-2.
Tony v Bob Taylor 3-2
Alan v G Williams 3-1
Mike v Kevin Mcoll 3-1
Peter vK robertson 3-0

20 points to Grange.

Sunday 30 November 2008

Seconds @ Waverley 2 (Wed, Nov 26, 08)

will Kerr v Niven simpson 0-3. Tony Gribben v Douglas kempsell 0-3. Robert Pfab v Mike reid 0-3. Alan Stokes v Paul osinski 3-1. Michael Scott v Damien Noade 0-3. Grange 5- Wav 20. Waverley had an experienced team out and although some of the games were close wav always seemed to have the edge.

seconds @ Abercorn (Wed, 19 Nov, 08)

Will Kerr V A Mckenzie 3-2. Tony Gribben v Bob Taylor 3-2 alan v g williams 3-1. mike Scott v Kevin Mcoll 3-1. Peter Cockburn v K robertson 3-0 20 points to Grange. grange met a slightly weak team due to Ab have players out etc so we won convincigly

Friday 28 November 2008

Grange 3 home v Waverley 4 on 28th November 2008

Another successful night for the thirds who are really getting a roll on over the last few weeks. This time it was against some promotion-rival opposition which makes the 14-7 scoreline all the more valuable.

Mark Dutton went on first at No 4 against John Usher and like most weeks to date completely failed to get down to business in the first game and turned up to play only in the second. John was quite a tough opponent and in particular the enormous backhand crosscourts that he could unleash at will. Those big backhands, combined with a very deceptive backhand drop left Mark floundering (and diving)on numerous occasions. The second game just eluded him at 9-10 and the third was a close tussle too until three more of those backhands finished it off quick-smart. 0-3 for the first loss of the season.

Russell Langley went on at No5 against Neil Kimpsell and picked up his fourth 3-0 victory in a row. Russell played well within himself and was able to comfortably cope with Neil's occasional bouts of resistance by stepping up a gear when needed.

Patrick Langley was next at No 3 against young whippet David Munro. This reporter only managed to see the third game but if that was representative then it was a very good tussle indeed. David was a very fast and agile player with a big hit and excellent touch...but our own whippet was'nae a slouch either. Patrick played an excellent third game to come back from 4-7 down and responded to all of the young lad's tricks with some pretty tricksy hobbit stuff of his own and took the thoroughly entertaining match 3-0.

Next up at No 2 was Christy Looby against Damien Noade. Christy played very well for long periods and was able to dominate Damien but then would let himself down with some losses of focus and Damien would be back in it. Christy was dominating overall though and found himself 2-1 up in games and having closed out the third on a high the gallery was thinking that the wrap up was a formality. However, Damien really came out of the box and reeled off a sequence of unanswerable points and it was all Christy could do to stop the train with few handouts and points towards the end of the game. The final game was well fought but Damien pulled away at the end. 2-3.

Pete Cockburn opened up in very good form in his first game at No 1 against Don Shearer and was off the court in just a few minutes. Sterner resistance from Don in the second was also overcome by Pete but the third game was a different story with Pete losing to set up what promised to be an interesting and entertaining final two games. In the final analysis it only took the one and Pete continued his recent very good form to dominate the game in the face of some spirited resistance. 3-1.

Next week we take on Waverley 3 and despite their apparent ranking were convincingly beaten by this Waverley 4 crew in a recent outing, so we'll be looking for a good result at Suffolk Road to consolidate our spot at the top of the table at the end of the first half of the season.

Thursday 27 November 2008

Grange Firsts home v Tyne (Wed, Nov 26, 08)

Good win for the Grangers last night

Allan (Hamer) made his reliable return with a 3-0 win over Dave Jubb at 1, close and Allan wasn't playing great but just too quick and fit (9/7 10/8 9/2). Ian Green stepped it up and took out their number two Alan 3-1 (9/6 3/9 10/8 9/4).

Chris Mair ran out of puff and lost 3-2 to teenage prodigy Dan McEwen (9/7 9/3 7/9 5/9 2/9), Brian Buchanan had a comfortable win over Nigel pearman at four, 3 nil (9/1 9/1 9/5). Quote from a spectator "controlled agression. Brian would say 'That's a very good shot' when Nige would blast a roller into the nick, but Brian would say it in a tone of voice that said you'll-have-to-hit-27-consecutive-shots-like-that-to beat-me."

Mike Perring wrapped things up with a 3-1 win at 5 over Graham Morrison (6/9 9/0 9/0 9/6).

4 matches to 1, 17-7 Grange win after marking points (we didn't have a qualified counter) CM (CL)

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Grange Open 2008 - Results/Photos!

Called up for the prizes were...
(Click to zoom in)
Front: Elaine Inglis(Ladies champ), Brydie MacLearnon(Ladies R-up & Titan Sports sponsors), Eric Donohoe(C winner), Dougie Brown(C R-up)
Middle:
Karen Kennedy (Ladies plate), Allan Tasker (Open R-up), Peter O'Hara(Open champ), Chris Mair (B winner), Craig Pounder (B plate), Nick Wood(B R-up), Andy MacLearnon (Titan Sports, sponsors)
Back:
Jonathan Frame (C plate), Jonathan McBride (Open plate)

Open scores
Ladies scores
B scores
C scores

Click here for a summary of the final by the runner-up

While the finalists examine the loot downstairs, there are interested spectators looking down from the gallery....
(click to zoom in)
Gallery L-R: 2 of Elaine Inglis' fan club ;-), Fiona MacLaren, Alasdair Gordon, James Looby, Mr Tasker(Senior), Robin Pollok, Fiona Johnston, Alan Stokes, Mike Perring
Court L-R: Peter O'Hara making acceptance speech, Eric Donohoe, Jonathan McBride, Nick Wood, Allan Tasker, Chris Mair, Elaine Inglis, Brydie MacLearnon, Jonathan Frame, Andy MacLearnon(obscured)

Monday 24 November 2008

Firsts home v Waverley, Wed, Nov 19, 08)

Awaiting captain's report, here is some info from Chris Mair when I met him in the corridoor...
Ian Green at #1 got nothing from Chris Ferguson 0-3
Brian Buchanan #2 close but no cigar v Iain Murray 0-3
Chris Mair #3 likewise v Andrew Leitch, puffing a bit in the 4th.
Mike Perring #4 got the sole win of the night 3-2.
Ali G had a gruelling at #5 against Dave Ferguson who said it was the best match he'd played in years, 2-3

Overall 1-4, 8-17 on points. CL

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Dalgety Bay 3 vs Grange 3 Monday 17th Nov 2008

The third team's success on their travels continued with a convincing 18-2 win over Dalgety Bay 3rds. Lots of miles racked up over two weeks of visits to Dunbar and Dalgety Bay but a 36 point haul makes that worthwhile.

Mark Dutton started proceedings at No 5 against Sandy Lax and unlike the slow starts of previous weeks got on top right away and moved further away as the match went on, winning the last game with only a single hand-out conceded. A 3-0 win that maintained the undefeated start to the season.

RusselL Langley also did the 3-0 business on Bob Russell at No 4 (his 3rd 3-0 in a row) and also closed out the match with a 9-0 in the third game to underline his dominance.

Patrick Langley at No 3 was likewise untroubled by Peter Jones and closed out a 3-0 win.

Pete Cockburn at No 2 was dominant for the majority of his match with Scott Drummond. Scott looked quite handy and retrieved well and made Pete work for all his winners, but that was really all he could do as Pete played a good, controlled game to keep him at the back of the court. A 3-0 win was the result.

Dougie Brown at No 1 met some sterner resistance from Ken Clements. Doug's touch and depth/width play weren't initially up to his own standards and Ken was able to touch-shot him to a 1-2 game position. Doug got his act together a little more in the fourth game to deny ken the chances and that trend magnified in the final game which Doug won easily. 3-2 to Doug.

Apart from savouring the 18 points, the team also thoroughly enjoyed the lashings of Chicken Sweet and Sour at the t'riffic little pub they took us to after the match.

Grange 3 beat Dalgety Bay 3 by 18 points to 2.

Friday 14 November 2008

Firsts away v Watsonians 3 (Tues 11.11.08

It was close early on, but we finished well:

5. Mike Callaghan V Ton G 0-9, 9-7, 8-10, 3-9
4. Andy Forest V Ali G 3-9 , 9-5 , 5-9, 6-9
3. Gordon Fruish V Chris Mair 3-9, 4-9, 2-9
2. Ally Carruth V Brian 3-9, 9-8, 7-9, 9-1, 5-9
1. Mike Sinclair V Ian Green 9-4, 7-9, 5-9, 4-9

More good matches with Watsonians. A 20-5 win for the mighty Grangers.

Grange 3 vs Dunbar 2 away 13/11/2008

Grange 3 faced a Dunbar 2 very much weakened by some top team absences and their pre-match warnings not to expect too hard a match turned out to not be the subtle psychological trick we'd expected...ie an 18-1 win to Grange 3 on the night.

Bizarrely, everybody's match followed exactly the same pattern, with all of us initially making heavy weather in their first games of seeing off opponents that we really ought to have beaten comfortably. I won't go into any individual detail of each match as they were all following the same script. I'll just summarise by saying that after everybody got their heads together they all won in fine style going away...

1 Christy Looby v Richard Baty 3-0
2 Patrick Langley v Graeme Jones 3-0
3 Russell Langley v Alan Murphy 3-0
4 Mark Dutton v John Brown 3-1
5 Jonathan Frame v Neil Black 3-0

Thirds @ Dunbar II (Thurs, Nov 13, '08)

Mark Dutton at #4 and fresh from his sojourn to Vietnam got us off to a good start 3-0 against John. Jonathan at #5 was making a match of it but never really in doubt, his opponent had a dodgy tummy and just made it to match ball before running off to the bathroom.
Russell against their #3 who holds a disabled badge, very entertaining with the gallery enjoying the ironic celebrations from their guy every time he won a point. 3-0. Patrick Langley at #2 had a slow start but recovered to take it 3-0 against Graham. Christy was crushing the ball so their number 1 tried to match him, to the extent that he twinged his hamstring. That old ploy works every time. 3-0.
Must have been 20-0 overall?

Talk turned to Bob Nicholson over soup and sarnies, plus Mark recounting the variety of objects that can be transported on a bike in Hanoi. Dunbar seem ready to chop their second team at xmas as they only have 9 players for 2 teams.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Results of 2008 Winter League 2

This was our busiest league yet with 15 leagues of 6 competing and an amazing total of 170 games played. This represents 78% of the possible games played, or 85% if I take into account the handful of players who were injured or did not make themselves available.

The results of the league are here ..... 2008 Winter League 2

There were 8 players gaining promotion with an unbeaten record - Brian Buchanan, Mark Dutton, Tim Hannay, Jules Lutte, Andrew Claymore, Alastair Ross, Tim Ferguson and Michal Gorczewski. Let's see if they can keep up this record in a higher league!
Nick Ford and Jonathan Frame are leading so far on total points scored with 67, along with 12 other players, they have played all 10 available games so far. Overall we have 60 players who have played 6 or more games over the first two leagues - no wonder the courts are busy.

With new players coming in and only a few injuries (commiserations and speedy recovery to Pete Tweedie with his snapped Achilles) and departures (good luck to Alasdair McLeish as he jets off to Oz!) we have enough for 16 leagues this time.

For those interested, here is the full set of new leagues (New players coming in are starred)..... 2008 Winter League 3

Good luck and enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Seconds Home to EU Students 2 (Tues 11th Nov 2008)

A tough night against the the younger generation, who actually seemed quite fit, despite their boozing and partying!

Pete C got off to a good start against Rick Keating, then got blitzed in the next two as Rick foumd the pace of the courts. Pete upped the aggression in the 4th and came close, but finally went down 10-8 (1-3). Mike Scott found Pete Brierley too steady in the first two, but came back strongly to take the 3rd 9-1. Unfortunately Pete regained his composure to close out in the 4th (1-3).
Dougie could see a potential granny after the first against Ben from Jersey, but competed better in the next two including a big lead in the third, but couldn't finish it off (0-3). Alan competed in a lot of rallies against Henry Pearce and was in all three games, but again the younger man prevailed (0-3).
Rob was up against a bit of a star in Ben Carpenter at 1, who admitted afterwards to playing his best game of the season. Great deception and some impossible boasts. Rob didn't play his best, but then Ben didn't let him get into the game (0-3).

Overall a convincing loss (4-20) against definite promotion contenders. Their club seems a bit like Grange - membership up from 35 to 110 in two years and very competitive. Maybe squash really has turned the corner?

Afterwards they were salivating over the Francos pizzas, the San Miguel was flowing and the kitty went into deficit! (DB)

Grange Open 2008 - Results/Scores!

Called up for the prizes were...

Front: Elaine Inglis(Ladies champ), Brydie MacLearnon(Ladies R-up & Titan Sports sponsors), Eric Donohoe(C winner), Dougie Brown(C R-up)
Middle: Karen Kennedy (Ladies plate), Allan Tasker (Open R-up), Peter O'Hara(Open champ), Chris Mair (B winner), Craig Pounder (B plate), Nick Wood(B R-up), Andy MacLearnon (Titan Sports, sponsors)
Back: Jonathan Frame (C plate), Jonathan McBride (Open plate)


Open scores (A grade)
Ladies scores
B grade scores
C grade scores

Sunday 9 November 2008

Grange III home v Inveresk (Thurs, Nov 6,'08)

Dougie had emailed Inveresk to make sure they turned up at St George's. Russell Langley had a bad head cold but manfully took on their #5 Robin Carse. Our man Russell edged a tight first game 10-8 (lesson learned ;-) which took the wind out of Robin's sails not to mention his lobs and drops, Russell eased the next 2 games; 3-0.
Peter Cockburn found himself slumming it at #3 but up against the stylish Harold. He went from 0-1 down to 2-1 up, went to sleep for the fourth but picked himself up for the fifth and took it; 3-2. The best Cockburn team performance I've witnessed.

Jonathan Frame was up against the evergreen Willie Wood at #4, won the first but Willie dialled in the lobs and drops to take 3 in a row; 1-3. Christy at #2 has had numerous battles with John Brown, this time he was flat as a pancake for a straight games loss.
Dougie at #1 was up against Adam Lord who last time I saw him was a 5 foot nothing whippet, now he's a 6 foot nothing powerhouse. For a 3-0 loss, it was a gripping match with Dougie doing everything to discomfit the young man while the young man pulled some amazing shots out of the bag, interspersed with with some glaring tins.
Overall 7-15. Back at the pavilion, talk turned to Tweedster's achilles mishap and, somewhat more seriously, Bob Nicholson's death after finishing his match with ex-Grange man John Graham just 2 nights before. Air dheis De' go raibh a h-anam (RIP). (CL)

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Firsts away v Watsonians 2 (Wed 05.11.08)

A close contest at Myreside.

Al was outclassed in the warm up by Mick Hay, but won the games 3-0.
Mike Perring lost to John Walbaum 2-3.
Brian beat Mike Robson with tight squash 3-0.
Ian lost to the efficient Colin Grant 0-3 at no.1.
That left the decider to Allan Hamer against Chris Wier at no.2. His first appearance of the season and outstanding court coverage as usual. It was a dead cert, 3-0.

Robin Pollock was out supporting, and will give us his verdict on Grange, Watsonians or Heros at 9pm on the BBC for entertainment value and supernatural powers.

Overall 3-2, 16-8 on points.

Next week it's back to Myreside for Watsonians 3. No room for complacency though, they're going as well as their 2nds so far.

Saturday 1 November 2008

Firsts home v Linlithgow 1 (Wed 29.10.08)


Linlithgow finished 4th last season, so a strong side.

Will beat Marc Osbourne 3-0 in convincing style.
Al lost to Derek Graham 1-3.
Chris beat Gordon Henderson 3-0.

Brian lost to Roy Miller 1-3.
Ian and the Titanic Andy McLearnon played the decider, 10-8 in the fifth to Grange!

Overall 3-2, 16-10 on points.

Thursday 30 October 2008

Seconds @ Heriot Watt 2 (Wed, Oct 29, 08)

Christy at #5 huffed and puffed against Russell to get it to 2-2 and then established control to take the fifth. Dougie Brown at #4 was too strong for Bruce Davies 3-0. Alan Stokes took on one-time Grange club champion Christine Graham and in the traditional Stokes warm-up (aka the first game), almost got caught cold 9/7. Alan comfortably closed out the next 2. At #1, Robert Pfab was too strong for Richard Gordon to win his first team match (of hopefully many to come) 3-0.
Match of the night was Tony Gribben against the HWU #2, Julian Fennema. Tony looked in control as he took the first two, the third was tight and Tony got to match ball first. From here, it was hard to anticipate what was to follow as Julian snuck that one, controlled the next two and in the end the fifth.

Overall 4-1, 19-7, we are on a roll here.
Off we went in the frost for Shepherd's pie and chips in the students uni. John Graham, ex-Grange captain, was there after playing for HWU3 and in good form having beaten Neil Thompson. He passed on congratulations to Ali G for now being custodian of the grey book "This is your team" containing all known results back into the mists of time.

Thirds @ Tyne 2 (Wed, Oct 29, 08)

With-out the leadership of Captain Dutton who is on walkabout, the Third team headed in to the depths of East Lothian for an encounter with Tyne 2 in Haddington

With total disregard to the established custom of team order, Peter Cockburn went on at No 1 for the opener and proceeded to dominate a fast paced game which suited Pete better than his opponent Donald and Pete triumphed in 3 straight sets (9-4, 9-7 9-1) (3-0)

Over on the other court, Ron Pearman faced up to our No 3 Jonathan Frame and Jonathan took the first 9-4 but was 0-2 down in the second when Ron overstretched and pulled his hamstring and had to retire (3-0)

Neil Love at No 5 faced Richard who was debuting in team squash and struggled to come to terms with the number and quality of Neil’s boasts (9-3, 9-3, 9-2) (3-0)

Peter Tweedie faced Glen Millar at 4 and Pete didn’t want to face the music, (Big band or otherwise from one so-named)and after an easy first game, some coaching from Mrs Pearman saw Glen rally in games 2 and 3 but the Tweedster had just enough in reserve to close it out in three (9-1, 9-5, 10-8) (3-0)

Last on, Russell Langley faced Raymond Jeffries at No 2 and Russell played some sublime lengths to race in to a 2-0 lead (9-6, 10-8) and was cruising 8-3 in the 3rd and the white-wash was in the bag – Oh no! Russell allows Raymond back to 8-8 and calls set 1. He wins the hand and looks as if he is going to close it out and spare his blushes but then loses the game (8-9) and never recovered from the shock to then lose the plot and the next 2 games in quick succession (1-9, 0-9) (2-3) – The jug is on you Russell! (I suspect we may all be there at some stage this season!)

Over-all a 17 – 3 win and valuable points in the bag. (PDT)

Friday 24 October 2008

Ladder order after Sept min-leagues

Here is the team order at the completion of the September min-leagues. Get yourself promoted to min-league #5 and register your interest in playing for the teams with the club captain, Ali Gordon (see noticeboard for contact details).
1 Ian Green ......................... 15 Dougie Brown ................... 29 Will Henderson
2 Allan Hamer ....................... 16 Patrick Langley ................ 30 Robin Pollock
3 Chris Mair .......................... 17 Russell Langley ................ 31 Tim Hannay
4 Brian Buchanan .................. 18 Mark Dutton
5 Mike Perring ...................... 19 Jonathan Frame
6 Robert Pfab ........................ 20 Peter Tweedie
7 Alasdair Gordon ................. 21 Peter Young
8 Will Kerr .............................. 22 David Thomas
9 Tony Gribben .................... 23 Stewart Robertson
10 Alan Stokes ...................... 24 David Grieve
11 Christy Looby .................. 25 Rupert Brown
12 Andy Whitelaw ................ 26 Colin Williamson
13 Michael Scott ................... 27 Rocco Pannozzo
14 Peter Cockburn ............... 28 Neil Love
--------------------------------------------------------- C Looby (out of the top 10 and sinking fast )

Mini-League #1 (Sept 08)

The first league of the winter season was a great success, with 135 games played - a new record by miles - despite a number of early season injuries.

I've now issued the new Oct league, lets hope we can keep up the momentum. We have 10 completely new players this time, plus a number of returnees, so we are able to run 15 leagues this month. The demand for courts will be high, so its a good idea to get organised early. For new members, you can arrange your (best of 5) games by phone or email and book online. The rules and points scoring are posted beside the scoresheets on the noticeboard. (Dougie Brown)
To give an idea of the breadth of squash being played at the club now, here is the top and the bottom of the mini-leagues..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
League top ............... League bottom
1 Ian Green............ Neil Christisan
2 Allan Hamer........ Przemyslaw Walerowski
3 Chris Mair............ Michal Gorczewski
4 Mike Perring........ Frances Reid Rowland
5Alan Stokes
6Will Kerr

and here is an idea of the 100% usage of peak time court slots
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon Court 1 ......................Court 2........................... Court 3
5:30 Tweedie/Ford X
6:15 Gray/Lyth X ............Sterthaus/Nie X ...........Thomas/Young X
7:00 Fry/Lutte X .............B.Marshall/I.Muir X ...Frame/ Pfab X
7:45 Addison X ............... Love/Pollock X ............ Buchanan/Guest X
8:30 Brown X................... Kennedy / Cowie X .....Burns / Maclaren X
(C Looby)

Monday 20 October 2008

Grange 3 vs C-Rooks 2 16/10/2008

The night began in the now-traditional confusion with some of the opposition turning up at the Grange instead of St Georges (this despite the C-Rooks captain having emailed a confirmation the day before that he knew the venue...) but eventually the match got under way.

Doug Brown opened proceedings at No 2 against the young bandana-wearing Sean Robinson. The contrast of (a) court attire (b) headgear and (c) age couldn't have been marked, but then again neither could (d) the final score. Wily Old Fox 3 vs Young Pup 0.

Mark Dutton then took on Gordon Robertson at No 4 and just like last week, played exactly into his opponents hands by letting him unleash his one killer shot (hard, low drive from the T) over and over for a 2-9 first game loss. Spotting the blindingly obvious tactical blunder the ball was then placed to the back of the court for the next three games which generated endless opportunities for simple point-winning drops and boasts (simple game, squash..) and a regulation 3-1 win ensued.

Pete Cockburn took the court at No 1 against the speedy and hard-hitting young jack-in-a-box Euan Robinson and judging by the warm up he was going to be in some difficulty. Unfortunately for Euan it takes a bit more than speed and jack-in-box-ness to beat a wily old fox like Pete Cockburn (hang on....isn't he our youth policy?) who just pushed him all round the court with some solid tactical shot placement which very often drew the error out of his opponent. Pete took the first two game very comfortably (the second with only a single hand-out) but Euan showed what he'll do when somebody takes him aside and teaches him a little slow squash and beat Pete in the next. The fourth game was tightly contested but Pete once again used his greater experience to dominate and took the match 3-1.

In the best match of the night Russell Langley took on the tricky Mike Halpin at No 3. It looked very much like it was going to be a very short match indeed with Russell playing (by his own assessment after the match) a shocker in the first game. The real Russell then turned up and in three more very hard fought games levelled proceedings at 2-2. The final game was a very good spectacle with chances both ways and Mike looked like he was going to take it but for some scurrying saves by Russell. Mike missed an easy drop to give Russell the serve back at 7-7 and allowed him to close out the match 9-7, ending with a particularly audacious nick. 3-2 to Russell.

Robin Pollock at No 5 put in a completely flawless performance in his 27-0 walkover. Nuff said.

Grange 3 beat C-Rooks 2 by 18 points to 4

Thursday 16 October 2008

Firsts away v Dunbar 1 (Wed 16.10.08)

The first match for Grange in division 2 for 12 years!! Three new players for Grange - all did well!

Will beat Willie Paul 3-0.
Al beat James Cunningham 3-2.
Mike beat Evan Green 3-1.
Brian made swift work of Alistair Nichol 3-9 1-9 0-9.
Ian beat David Legge in one of the longest 3-0 matches we have seen!

Good games and a very friendly bunch. Well worth the long drive!

Overall 5-0, 20-5 on points.

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Grange II home v Dalgety Bay II (Tue, Oct 14, 08)

Our opponents kindly let us know there would only be 4 of them coming across the bridge so Michael Scott stepped up to his new ladder position at #4 against Dave. His speed and touch saw him dominate the first game but Dave soon showed he was no slouch to take the second. Michael took the third but was rushing his shots, losing the fourth in a jiffy. Michael got a good start in the fifth to close it out 3-2.
Tony Gribben at #2 cruised through taking the first 2 games off Gerry Gemmell, fortunes then swung the other way to make it 2-2 before Tony rasserted himself in the fifth: 3-2. Alan Stokes faced his usual Dalgety opponent in Colin Boswell, used the first to warm up as usual before asserting himself in the second, a battle ensued with Boswell chasing down Stokesy's best shots, Alan just held on to shade the next 2: 3-1. Quote of the night from Colin: "There was too much squash in that match for me".
Robert Pfab debuted against Gerry Burton at #1. When Gerry cross-courted, Robert won. When Robert traded shots, Gerry won. 2-2, Gerry pulled out a few magic kills and took it: 2-3.

Overall 4-1, 19-10 on points to make up for last week's poor points.

Friday 10 October 2008

Grange 2 @ David LLoyd Leith (Wed, Oct 8, 08)

Three players making their debut for Grange against the team formerly known as Edinburgh Accies 2, now playing as David Lloyd Leith, (formerly known as Next Generation) but the catering to take place at Edinburgh Sports Club!

Michael Scott from Orkney played at #5 for us against Dave McCall, this was a ding-dong tussle and they shared the first two games. From then on, Michael had too much fitness and movement for his man, a winning debut 3-1. Christy Looby played Matthew Ross at #4, could do no wrong to go 9/2, 8/2 until Matthew lowered the errors to win the second and rattle off 2 more games as Christy ran out of ideas, shots and, er, running. 1-3.

Tony Gribben made his debut at #3 and went point-for-point against Taren in the first game but Tony had to work hard while Taren seemed to be relaxed and balanced for every shot, Taren shaded the first and dominated the next 2. 0-3. Will Kerr also debuted for us against #2 Ali Fleming. Only saw the scoresheet, Will seemed to get to half-way in each game on level terms with his opponent and then Ali would stretch his lead. 0-3.

Ali G made a short notice appearance at #1 against Ken Maxwell. Lost the first game 3-9, it looked like it would be an early night. 40 minutes late, Ken was lucky to escape with two 10-8's as Ali seemed to be inspired by the weight of being captain to try and salvage whatever he could against a class act. 0-3.

Overall we lost 1-4, 6-20 including bonus points.

Back to ESC for food and chat, the Lasagne was superb, the former Accies 1 team now known as ESC2 was also there. Much amusement at Ken's corkscrew showboating shot resulting in a stroke.

Grange 3 vs ESC5 09/10/2008

The season opener at our new St Georges school venue began in a little confusion when the captain realised that there were no balls, scoresheets or scorecards available as there would be at the Grange and a little more forward planning will be required each week. Thanks to Pete Young for nipping down to the Grange for the necessaries.

The night started with Neil Love up against Graeme Parry at No5. Neil didn't really get into the match in the first two 1-9, 1-9 games but began playing good squash in the third that showed what could have been but a 6-9 loss in that game saw him quite disappointed to lose 0-3 to a player he felt he could have beaten.

Captain Mark Dutton was up next at No 2 against the very hard hitting Graeme Hunter. He didn't get to grips with Graeme's pace and extraordinarily good boasting in the first game to lose it 3-9. After that though, it was a different story with an endless sequence of uncharacteristically excellent (for him) forehand and backhand dropshots from everywhere in the court eventually sapping Graeme's will to live (shame to have used up a whole season's worth in one match). Throw in a number of very characteristic full length dive-drops and a corkscrew serve that actually worked (for once) and it was enough to run out the rest of the games 9-1, 9-3, 9-7 for a 3-1 win.

Pete Tweedie began very well at No3 against Richard Kent with a display of well-controlled pace and accurate lobbing to win 9-3. A close fought second game saw Richard back in it with a 6-9 but Pete then re-asserted dominance and continued with the controlled and accurate play and took the next two 9-7, 9-7 despite Richard's stubborn resistance to take the match 3-1. Pete's speed around the court was worthy of note, particularly one chased-down drive that had the gallery in some disbelief at Pete's ability to move that fast for anything other than last orders at the bar.

Pete Young took on Callum McKenzie at No4 and just failed to grab the first game, going down 7-9. A total domination of the second game followed with a 9-1 win leading the casual observer to believe that the rest would be a formaility. T'wasn't to be though with a 1-9 reverse demolition being dished out by Callum in the third. The fourth game could have gone either way but Pete was never quite on top and the 6-9 loss put the matter to an and for a 1-3 match loss.

Pete Cockburn had been playing well at the Grange lately (well..he beat me, anyway) but that form didn't transalte to his No 1 match with Chris Milne. He was very out of sorts for the first two games with a high proportion of mis-queued drops and failures to put away easy shots. Occasional glimpses of the real Pete came through and wwhen things were going well he dominated rallies completely, but seemingly inevitably it would unravel again. 1-9, 2-9 was the result of all that. A new Pete came out in the third game and a close tussle ensued with some good fast squash played on both sides. Unfortunately, the odd mistake would still crop up and Chris also chose that game to pull out some very tight dropping and boasting and the 5-9 loss left Pete with a 0-3 match to start the season.

Result: ESC5 beat GRG3 by 14 points to 7

Friday 18 July 2008

Open Team night out 2008

L-R: Stokesy, Peter Cockburn, Ali Gordon, Ruth Suggett, Chris Mair, Mike Perring

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Summer mini-leagues

The first summer league was very popular with an amazing 67 games played in 7 divisions among 40 players. We have an extra league for the next set through to Sunday 13th July. There are one or two new players, who will find the rules on the notice board.
Click here to join, include name, Email, phone numbers and playing standard

Tuesday 3 June 2008

Team players rogues gallery

One is the star of The Beechgrove Garden... and the other is Monty Don.












One is a star of The Ryder Cup...
...and the other is Seve B






One had an embarrassing moment with Cameron Diaz's Mary... and the other is Ben Stiller.


One is a playboy footballer... and the other is George Best


For those not familiar with the team players: CAST

Gerald Suggett (1st team) as Monty Don, Mike Perring (Club Champ) as George Best

Chris Mair (1st team) as Seve Ballesteros, Christy Looby (any team) as Ben Stiller

Friday 2 May 2008

Grange Old Fogies home vs Dean Youngsters: Over-35 Team Plate final

Grange won 5-0 in cup scoring. We took some photos with a plate, ate some pizza off
a plate and watched the Fiorentina penalty horror show ;-)

Here are the winners, Grange O-35 team.

Titan Grange Old Fogies home v Dean Youngsters
1. Suggett G bt Wallace C 3-1 1/9 9/1 9/3 9/5
2. Whitelaw A bt Anderson R 3-0 9/3 9/4 9/5
3. Dutton M bt Todd R 3-1 2/9 9/5 9/2 9/4
4. Young R bt Griffiths N 3-1 7/9 9/0 9/4 9/5
5. Roberts R bt Jones P 3-0 9/4 9/6 9/6

Peter Roberts won his team debut in fine style with trademark retrieving and even reffed the next match. Peter Young had a slow start but soon got control over Nikki Griffith. Similarly Dutton slow-started against long-time adversary Ron Todd while Andy Whitelaw made his debut in Grange colours, the ex-Marco's man been just too canny for Dean captain Ross Anderson (i.e. I didn't see it).
Suggett got a topspin forehand drop/fake-drive out of his system and a sublime push down the wall but also a lot of rubbish down the middle against Craig Wallace.



Here are the runners-up, Dean O-35 team. Names listed above.








So the team season finally came to a close with our first win in the Over-35 plate. Well done guys.

Tuesday 11 March 2008

Highlights of 6th Minileague

This latest league saw a bit of a fall back in games played - down to 87 from 99. There were a few injuries this time - perhaps the cold winter months taking their toll. A few others didn't play their games with no explanation given - do please let me know what is happening, otherwise my policy is to drop non-players!

The results of the sixth league are here ..... Feb/Mar league

League 3 was very competitive this month with all games played and everyone winning at least one game. Mark Dutton won through unbeaten bouncing back up to league 2. League 7 also managed all games and the star there was Robin Pollok with 4 straight wins, proving his injury is well and truly behind him. Other players making decisve moves included Nick Ford (again), Brian Sloan, Mike Moyes, Mike Dougall and new member Darren Hall who dominated league 13.

Well done to 14 year old Tim Ferguson who joined the leagues for the first time and managed to play all his games, winning one and drawing one.

Looking at all the results so far, Allan Hamer is still in the lead with 150 points scored, Mike Moyes has overtaken Fiona McLaren to take second place on 142 points against Fiona's 131. Mike and Fiona also top the games played table with 25 and 23 respectively. We still have 49 players who have managed to play 75% or more of the possible games. Keep it up.

Here is the new league ..... Mar/Apr league

Just one new player this month - Sarah Marshall rejoining. There have been a few drop-outs, so down to 12 leagues this time. Please note that this is the last winter league and I'm asking for you to mark on the score sheets if you want to remain in the leagues over the summer months

Good luck and enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Thursday 6 March 2008

Grange Seconds versus Tyne 2 5th March 2008

Grange Seconds versus Tyne 2 5th March 2008.

Why change the habits of a season right at the last match. With that sentiment in mind we managed to lose 18-4 against the team coming second last and thus really and truly ensured that the wooden spoon would have pride of place in Grange's trophy cabinet.

The success story of the night was Stuart Robertson called up at short notice to give Ron Pearman a convincing sorting out 3-1 at No 5. Stuart is now officially the Grange 2 season best performer with a 100% one out of one winning record.

Ian Sinclair was looking very comfortable against Donald Smith at No 3 taking the first game with little bother. A sudden change was apparent part way through the second with Ian's strategy being to stand on the service receiving box and attempt to win every point without having to move. T'was clear that he'd re-damaged to leg first damaged last week and a 1-3 loss was never in doubt after that.

Pete Tweedie at No 4 was never really in the race against R Jeffries and a 0-3 result was the inevitable result to end a pretty poor season for him (along with the rest of us..).

Likewise, at No 2 Mark Dutton found life just too difficult against the very capable John Booth. Simply couldn't get the ball past him and despite a good start to the third game yet another 0-3 result was added to the impressive list of them that Mark strung together this season.

Pete Cockburn was once again given the task of being our headliner at No 1 and once again very much regretted having the honour. He played a very young D McEwan who was clearly a chap destined to be a very very good squash player (already being a very good one now). Pete played well, as he has done all season, but the young lad simply had too much talent and another 0-3 was added to Pete's season record.

Thank goodness that's all over....

Wednesday 5 March 2008

Firsts away v Heriot Watt 2 (Wed 05.03.08)

It was all a bit of a blur - Dougie and Allan H won, Christy and Suggers lost, and Al clinched it.

Overall 3-2, 15-6 on points.

What a season - a great effort by all who played: Alan S, Allan H, Al, Chris, Christy, Dougie, Gerald, Kevin, Mark, Mike and Pete.

That's promotion for the 2nd year running, lets see if we can do it again in 2008/9...

Sunday 2 March 2008

Firsts away v Edinburgh Sports Club 4 (Fri 29.02.08)

Away to the Sports Club - with Perring and Mair missing, the team did well.

Pete Cockburn was neck and neck with Paul Atkinson, but nudged ahead each time, 3-0.
Dougie lost out 8-10 in the fifth against Bruce Johnstone.
Christy lost beat Chris Milne 3-0.
Al beat Rodd Binns in 5 - a long close match.
But battle of the night was Chris Mair v JJ Tait. JJ displayed Sinclair ability to last out - from appearing dead on his feet in the 2nd he went late into the night and stole it in the 5th.

Overall 3-2, 18-10 on points.

Man of the match: Pete Cockburn. Neck and neck, rally after rally, but pulled ahead each time. Consistent stuff.

And for those still standing, chicken curry for tea.

Thursday 21 February 2008

2nds vs Waverley 20th Feb 2008

Not that much to report, really.

The team of Cockburn, Dutton, Sinclair, Tweedie and Hannay we're all had 0-3 results versus Donny Hay, Mike Read, Paul Oczinsky, Allan Ramsay and Colin Cruickshank respectively.
All matches went exactly the same way with the stronger Waverley players simply being too tight and consistent for their Grange 2 counterparts, all of whom were playing a few positions above normal on the night. Nobody was badly beaten and we nearly snuck a couple of games but couldn't argue with the 0-18 result in the end.

Wednesday 20 February 2008

Firsts home v Watsonians 3 (Tues 19.02.08)

A good contest, but we lost this one. Bad news is it will take a minor miracle to beat Colinton after that. Good news is that we have secured second placed and promotion to Division 2.

Stokesy, who made as much work for the referee as his opponent, Mike Callaghan, won 3-2.
Gerald, went down 2-3 to Ed Murray.
Christy had a frustrating time with Jim trickle boast Dougal 1-3.
Al had a good shot at Ali Carruth, but got nothing, 0-3.
Man of the match Mike Perring played a steady game against Mike Sinclair, 3-2.

Overall 2-3, 11-17 on points.

Franco did food. Closing balance for subs is £24.15. Suggestions so far are a) team night out on the town with Stokesy or b) reinvest into a crash course in drop shots for Chris Mair.

Man of the match: Mike P - the trusted Perring formula combined with some good speed around the court did the trick! And he is expecting a baby - apparently this was announced a fortnight ago, but I hadn't quite realised the full magnitude of what he had said. Congratulations to all concerned. That's going to be tough with the division 2 training regime!

Tuesday 19 February 2008

Firsts home v Watsonians 3 (Tues 19.02.08)

A good contest, but we lost this one.


Stokesy made as much work for the referee as for his opponent, Mike Callaghan, winning 3-2.
Gerald, went down 2-3 to Ed Murray.
Christy had a frustrating time with Jim Dougal 1-3.
Al had a good shot at Ali Carruth, but got nothing, 0-3.
Mike played a steady game against Mike Sinclair, 3-2.

Overall 2-3, 11-17 on points.

Franco did food. Biggest bar bill of the season.

Man of the match: Gerald. An impressive result against Colin Boswell - a tough opponent who will run and run, given the chance. In past meetings with Grange, he's won most of them and taken a game of Alan Hamer!

Friday 15 February 2008

Seconds @ Edin Uni Studs (Thu, Feb 14, '08)

The students we're pretty hot ...at least the ones I saw playing before having to be called in to work just as my own match completed.

Doug Browne at No 2: Played well but was always under the hammer from a very skilled and quick opponent. Quite a few points per game but the opponent always had another gear in store. 0-3.
Pete Cockburn at No 3: Poor sod had no chance at all against a very good player. The casual observer of a few rallies at a time would have seen a quite even-looking contest and would have been very surprised to be told it was 0-9, 0-9 to start with. The third game was once again very well contested but a sole point was the only reward. Nothing at all wrong with Pete's play....just totally outclassed by a good'un.
Mark Dutton at No 5: Consolidated the recent return to winning form with a very solid win against another very good young, fit opponent. Hard fought first game taken 10-9 but then against any casual observer's expectation it was the student who wilted and Mark ran out 9-2, 9-0 for a 3-0 win.
Kevin Roberts at No 1: .....didn't see any of it....think he lost the first game..
Iain Sinclair at No 4: Iain was unluck to lose the first game. An unfortunately missed double bounce would have given it to him. .....didn;t see any more...

We were playing next to the new gym facility they've built for the students.
...never seen so many sweating and scantily clad young ladies in one place at one time before... t'was also the general concensus of opinion from the other chaps. (seems to concur with Richard's comments)

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Firsts home v Dalgety Bay 2 (Tues 12.02.08)

An awesome performance tonight.

Stokesy took out the young Scott Drummond 3-0.
Man of the match, Gerald, demolished Colin Boswell, 27-5.
Al kept Alan Jones at bay, 27-4.
Chris won 3-0 against Gerry Gemmel with fast pace.
Mike went up 9-2, 9-2 against Gerry Burton, but took his foot of the gas 3-9, 2-9. Then applied the Perring formula to bag the all important 20th point, 3-2.

Overall 5-0, 20-2 on points.

Gerald subcontracted the cooking to Franco.

Man of the match: Gerald. An impressive result against Colin Boswell - a tough opponent who will run and run, given the chance. In past meetings with Grange, he's won most of them and taken a game of Alan Hamer!

Monday 11 February 2008

Highlights of 5th Minileague

Yet another fantastic month with a new record of 99 games played! Allowing for injuries and dropouts, this represents 86% of possible games played! Well done to leagues 1, 4, and 8 for playing all of your games and leagues 5 and 9 for managing all but 1 game. It was also good to see a very active league 13 this month.

A few leagues were affected by injuries this month, which can't be helped. For next season I've been wondering whether it might be better to have leagues of 6 rather than 5 and give an extra week to play games? This might reduce the impact of holidays etc and give more chance of games being played. Any views on the merits or otherwise of this would be most welcome.

The results of the fifth league are here ..... Jan/Feb league

A number of players managed four straight wins this month - Allan Hamer (once again!), David Grieve, Nick Ford, Robin Pollok and Jamie Halcro-Johnstone. Difficult to pick out a winner of "Minileaguer of the month" this time - I'll pick Allan for getting all games played in less than a week before heading off to work in Abu Dhabi! Other close contenders would be Nick for his relentless rise up the leagues, or either Robin or David for spectacular returns from injury! Also good to see Grange legends Ian Sinclair and Ian Mitchell back in the leagues and both securing promotion - competitive instincts undiminished!

Looking at all the results so far, Allan Hamer has jumped into the lead with 127 points scored, Fiona McLaren is second with 118 and Mike Moyes third with 115. Mike and Fiona also top the games played table with 21 and 20 respectively. We have 49 players who have managed to play 75% or more of the possible games. Keep it up.

Here is the new league ..... Feb/Mar league

Welcome to 4 new players this month - Kate Fry, Tim Ferguson (aged 14) and new members Nick Gray and Ralph Benson. For your benefit the rules are posted on the notice board next to the leagues.

Enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Friday 8 February 2008

Seconds home v Colinton Muscles (Thurs Feb 7,08)

At #4, Mark Dutton went one down to John Hamilton, levelled it 9-7 but then John took command, played some real early ball and won the next 2 without Mark doing anything particularly loose.
At #3, Peter Cockburn was on the warm court with Derek Wilson, it went point-for-point, game-for-game and Peter was the last man standing to take it 3-2, 9-7 in the fifth.
At #5, Ian Sinclair was on the cooler court but Hamish Williamson battled back from a fast Sinclair start before Ian tightened up to take the last two; 3-1.


Gerald Suggett at #2 against Tricky Ricky Easton had a very intense match, Gerald gave the guy as good a test as I've seen anyone at Grange do and won the first, keenly contested the other three but Ricky was playing deft drops from the back and unreadable drives from the front; 1-3.


The bonus points were up for grabs and Christy got the first game but turned petulant and got out-retrieved and out-shot by Colin Grant to lose 1-3.

Overall 2-3, 9-16 on points. A keenly contested tie with some good chat over pizzas afterwards with the opposition. Next week sees us visit The Pleasance on Thurs 7pm in a change to the advertised program.

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Firsts away v Abercorn 1 (Wed 06.02.08)

Some crafty players at Abercorn, but we did well.

Dougie beat Craig Sandilands 3-1.
Alan got the miles out of Tom Neil 3-1.
Al lost the first to Alastair MacKenzie, then pulled back to 3-1.
Mike had volley drops galore from super-wiley Ian Ross, but outpaced him 3-1. (We need to work out a game-plan for these old guys - we have Watsonians' Jim Dougal in 2 weeks).
Chris took the 3rd off old timer Eric Duncan, but lost 1-3.

Overall 4-1, 18-9 on points.

We refuelled on excellent chilli cooked by Ian Ross.

Man of the match: Stokesy for model behaviour.

Keep an eye on www.essasquash.co.uk/Oa3.txt for Colinton's position. 12 points ahead at last count, we have scored 20 and 18 since and have 4 games to go.

Friday 1 February 2008

Firsts away v Deer Park 2 (Thurs 31.01.08)

With leaders Colinton losing for the first time last week against Dalgety Bay, there are now only 12 points between us and 6 matches remaining. The contest for 1st place is back on!

It's cold courts at Deer Park. Talent Hamer and Mair were out of action, and whilst 4 of us were making our mental rehearsals, Perring sat in snow drifts for half the day. This one was not going to be easy. Half the tubes were blown on one court so it was like playing in a cave.

Dougie played Mark, Deer Park 3's T-dominating unbeaten no.1, in a close match, but Dougie's consistency and touch won through 3-1.
Christy won against Malcolm Lochrie 3-1.
Gerald and Sandra's match took place in the coldest and darkest room in the building. Gerald's fat reserves did not serve him so well against the cold but his night vision proved superior 3-0.
Al took a cold dip next and plunged into darkness with John Miller. It was looking bad at 1 game and 4-8 down in the 2nd, but Al defied 5 game balls and finished 3-1.
Mike was cruising against Milan Govan and won 3-1. (apart from playing the first like he was still stuck in the car behind a snow plow and getting grannied).

Overall 5-0, 20-6 on points. Colinton, we're coming to get you!

We tucked into soup, sarnies and soft drinks in the bar.

Man of the match: vote this week for Ali G's comeback, Gerald's night vision, or Dougie's tough win. Christy says Ali G!

Seconds Home vs BOS 31-01-2008

At No 2 Alan Stokes took on Robin Nisbet. The first two games were very level in terms of chances. The third 0-9 game was just one of those freak things where Robin simply got every break and Stokesy got none. He also was pretty drained by a long and tough second game plus having to play all the games on the weekend before.

Mark Dutton's game at No 3 was quite a good one against Rob Norris. Mark gave Rob a very hard time in the first two games and looked like he'd take it comfortably. However, Rob returned teh favour and gave Mark a hard time in the next two. The 2-9 in the last game wasn't a good reflection of how hard fought it was. Tons of handouts with Rob just gradually creeping away with the scraps of a point after each set of handouts.

Pete Cockburn played very well at the thankless No1 spot against Ralph Bain. Had a real shot at taking the third game but Ralph had just a teensy extra gear to go to to save the day for himself.

Steve Davey at No5 was just a few points adrift of the pace in games 1 and 2 against Bruce Melvin. He should have had the third in the bag and went to 8-8 but was done in the end.

Iain Sinclair made a comeback to the team at No4 against Aussie Mark Tucker. He played very well and won 3-1 and Mark Tucker's mangled racquet in the bin afterwards was an eloquent enough commentary on the game.

Loss 5-16.

Wednesday 23 January 2008

Firsts home v David Lloyd 1 (Tues 22.01.08)

A strange kind of a night with David Lloyd's men dropping like flies - sadly three out of five left with injuries, and missed out on Pizza.

Al opened at no.3 and went one up against Paul Sherry, but Paul twisted an ankle in the second and had to concede in what should have been a great match, 3-0.
Gerald got the measure of Julian Fennema after going down 9-10 in the first, and was forging ahead 2-1 up when Julian broke his own hand in a moment of self destructive madness, 3-1.
Christy fought hammer and tongs with Neil Flemming for five long games. Neil had match point at 8-7, but Christy closed out 10-8, 3-2.
Mike had an easy ride against Graham Muir who was carrying an injury, 3-0.
And Chris was convincing against Alex Killick, 3-0.

Overall 5-0, 20-5 on points.

Then up to the committee room for Franco's and a chinwag, because burns supper was in the bar and kitchen.

Man of the match: Christy. A massive effort against an equally determined opponent, and our only man that was really tested.

Paul, Graham and Julian - we wish you all a speedy recovery, and we'll invest in padded walls for next time Julian is with us.

Friday 18 January 2008

Firsts away v Colinton Castle 3 (Fri 18.01.08)

A hard-fought match against top team Colinton Castle 3.

Dougie subbed in and won 3-1 against Kim Byers, in a battle of the text books.
Christy lost 0-3 to Stuart Keane, who hadn't forgotten his first half beating.
Al lost 1-3 to Hamish Reid.
Alan Hamer lost a long first game against Mark Lord, then won the next 3 in sensational style 9-4, 9-0, 9-0.
Meanwhile Mike and whippet-like Gary Spiers were still plugging away at no.2, in what turned out to be an epic match and decider of the night. It the end, Gary found the extra energy to bag the last few rallies to win 3-2, and uphold Colinton's unbeaten run.

Overall 2-3, 11-16 on points.

Colinton are clear favourites for the league now. We are the only team close, and this widens their gap. On a positive note, we did better than in the first half, and tonight's score is the best result anyone has had off them yet. And they fed us generous portions of pizza.

Man of the match: A tough call - is it Dougie Brown for subbing in with an hours notice, having already played Pete Cockburn earlier in the evening, or Mike Perring for slogging it out. Click on comments to cast your vote.

Seconds vs Linlithgow 2 Thursday 17th Jan 2008

Stop Press....a win for the seconds....is this a record...?

Well..no..more like the start of a full-scale recovery through the second half of the season, methinks.

We started off with Alan Stokes at No2 against Drew Purdie. Alan carried on in the same vein as last week with some nice touch and a well-paced game against an equally committed opponent. An entertaining five setter resulted with Alan running out a 3-2 winner.

Dougie Brown at No 4 came up against Mark Osborne and was also put to a stern challenge with games going one way then the other till the last when Dougie finally took control and closed it out. 3-2.

Mark Dutton at No 5 played the capable Ian Forshaw. In both of the first two games he allowed Ian to get to 8 points before turning up to play and frustratingly got to 7-8 in both games before the inevitable happened in each. The same start in the third game but the inevitable final point for Ian came a bit sooner than the scriptwriter demanded this time. Note to self....must start games the way I intend to finish them. Result 0-3.

Kevin Roberts was protecting a long winning streak at No 3 against Jack Purdie. He tells me that it's lasted several years, although the long gaps between team matches explains quite a bit of that...mebbe. The streak did continue on the night with a reasonably untroubled 3-1 victory.

Gerald Suggett at No 1 had to contend with that sturdy little nugget Joe Andrews. A very entertaining five-setter ensued (when is a Suggett match NOT entertaining...?) with no certainty going into the fifth game as to who was getting on top of whom. In the event it was Gerald and in no uncertain fashion with a 9-0 close-out.

Overall a 15-10 win which is our second of the season...the second of many more....

Seconds home v Linlithgow Seconds- Thurs, Jan 17, '08

Kevin was the extra firepower we needed last night- I picked up the markers sheets in the balcony at lunchtime

#1 Suggers bt Joe Andrews 3/2
#2 Stokesy bt Drew Purdie 3/2
#3 Roberts bt Jack Purdie 3/1
#4 Dougie bt Mark Osborne 3/2
#5 Dutton lost Ian Forshaw 0/3

way hey, a 4-1 win! 15-10 on points by my count. (Christy)

Seconds home v Linlithgow Seconds- Thurs, Jan 17, '08

Kevin was the extra firepower we needed last night-
I picked up the markers sheets

#1 Suggers bt Joe Andrews 3/2
#2 Stokesy bt Drew Purdie 3/2
#3 Roberts bt Jack Purdie 3/1
#4 Dougie bt Mark Osborne 3/2
#5 Dutton lost Ian Forshaw 0/3

way hey, a 4-1 win! 15-10 on points by my count.

Thursday 17 January 2008

Grange Open "home" wins

Well done to Alan Stokes and Jonathan Frame on representing the club in the C final of the 2007 Grange Open where Stokesy triumphed to claim a new Titan racket to the value of £70.

Congratulations to first team players Mike Perring and Chris Mair on representing the club in the B final of the 2007 Grange Open where Mike triumphed to claim a new Titan racket to the value of £80.

The Finalists 2007

Back-Ken Maxwell(Edin Accies, A plate win), Neil Shepherd(Dunfermline, B plate win), Nick Wood (Marco's, B plate Rup), Stephen Gregg (stirling Uni), Graham Kirk (Stirling Uni, C plate Rup) Chris Mair (Grange, B Rup), Mike Perring (Grange, B win), Jonathan Frame (C Rup), Andy McLearnon (Linlithgow, Titan Sports sponsors), Alan Stokes (Grange, C win)
Middle- Christy Looby (Grange), Julia Lutte (Grange, Ladies plate Rup), Roddy Robinson (Colinton, A Rup), Linda Duncan (Stirling Uni, Ladies Rup)
Front- Brydie McLearnon (linlithgow, Ladies plate), Simon Boughton (edin Sports Club, A winner) Elaine Inglis (David Lloyd, Ladies winner)

Wednesday 16 January 2008

O'Brien Bucket 2007






An entry of 21 players whittled down to the final between Peter Menzies and Colin Williamson.


Watched by over 20 spectators, U-19 Colin Williamson was playing off -3 while Peter was off scratch. A match played to a very high squash standard and in a very sporting spirit, Peter won it 3-2 to make the intensive off-season training he put himself through in the summer worthwhile. A great game to watch, it's not often there are loud cheers, oohs and ahhs from the viewing balcony. Well done to both finalists for some great entertainment.



The O'Brien Bucket tradition of never being won twice by anyone continues for the 31st year. Everyone repaired upstairs for the presentation and to listen to Harvey's rock band. Thanks to Peter Young for another superb competition.


Looking forward to a big entry in the O-40s cup in Feb.

Tuesday 15 January 2008

Seconds away vs Hatton Wed 9th January

...or should this be more correctly titled..."In Hatton, nobody can hear you scream..".

I'm afraid that the Second's nightmare season continues with another loss, this time in the wooden-spoon battle with Hatton. Tricky courts to find (we did go up and down that section of the A71 four times before managing to actually locate and then get into the life-threatening driveway) and tricky to play on. The enclosed boxes make every shot sound like a rifle bullet...very tricky to judge the true pace of the ball.

At No 4 Mark Dutton took on youngster D Tinning (I didn't write down the first names and now can't remember them...) and, quite frankly, was sorry he did. Mark had beaten this opponent in five in the first round and had high hopes of registering another rare win, but in the end could only dream of getting that number of points. In the end he did at least exceed (only just) that number of hand outs. I won't embarrass myself any further by revealing the actual point score. Game score 0-3.

At No 5 Pete Cockburn came up against D Pollock at No 5. Should really have won but somehow contrived to be 0-2 games down before coming to life with a 9-0 third game. Fell back into bad habits of the first two games and went down 1-3.

Dougie Brown at No3 hads a similar story. Looked like he ought to have had the better of the elder N Tinning but only managed the one game in the end. 1-3.

Alan Stokes at No 2 against J Gordon was our success story for the night. A contrast of styles with Alan taking on the sof touch role (soft touch as in delicate, that is..) and his opponent the hard-hitting route. Numerous very good boasts and drop volleys saw Alan victorious but also laying prostrate on the floor at the end.

Gerald Suggett took on M Mitchell at No1. The conditions (superfast courts) should have suited Gerald but his opponent was up for it too and Gerald was 1-2 games down but still looking very much in it. A 0-9 fourth game soon put paid to any hopes of win.

All in all...we continue looking for that elusive second win of the season...

Signed...Granny Dutton.

Monday 14 January 2008

Fourth Mini League Highlights

A great response over the Christmas and New Year season with another new record of 89 games played! Obviously a lot of people were determined to offset the heavy food and drink intake! Well done to leagues 1, 4, 6 and 10 for playing all of your games.

The results of the fourth league are here ..... Dec/Jan league

A number of players managed four straight wins this month - Allan Hamer (surprise, surprise!), Kevin Roberts, Nick Ford, Dawn MacBrayne and Brian Sloan who wins "Minileaguer of the month" for his maximum points and getting all of his games played in double quick time. Several leagues had close finishes with the following edging thiers by a single point - Pete Cockburn in league 2, Peter Young in league 4 and Malcolm Crawford in league 7. And in league 9, Douglas Paul and Ian Weir Gordon managed to secure identical points from playing everyone else, but failed to play the decider between themselves! Unfinished business there I feel!

Here is the new league ..... Nov/Dec league

Looking at all the results so far, Mike Moyes is still in the lead in terms of point scored with 106, Fiona McLaren is now on her own in second place with 104 and Peter Menzies in third on 99. Needless to say all of these leaders have a 100% playing record!

Enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Firsts home v Mammas (Tues 08.01.08)

A good effort given the extra weight from Christmas.

Christy beat John Rae 3-1. I didn't see this one, but imagine John was suitably bamboozled.
Al lost 3-0 to fast hitting Neil McAllister (last half's no. 1).
Mike had a comfortable win against Stuart Williamson, 3-0.
Chris played for the 7th night on the trot and went well (except for calling set 1 and promptly losing the third) he won 3-1 against Scott Carey.
Allan Hamer sped round the court, clearing up 3-0 against John Davidson.

Overall 4-1, 17-7 on points.

We may have done better with their players in the usual order, but who knows, a good result anyway.

Al made the nosh, tuna pasta.
Man of the match: Allan Hamer.