Thursday 24 March 2011

GRANGE 5 v DEAN (Wed, Feb 23)

The easiest way to sum up this display is that we were all collectively pish.
Peter Roberts began the night's proceedings at number 4 against Ian and quickly established a 0-2 lead. Skill, grace and quality are terms which no-one would ever use to describe this match as Peter managed to throw away his lead and eventually lose 3-2 by a determined display of continually running all over the court to hit the ball back to his opponent.
Next up was Colin at 3 against Adam. To be fair this turned out to be a gruelling encounter which swung back and forth in favour of each player. Colin seemed to have the shots but Adam chased around the court and managed to retrieve everything. Unfortunately Colin also went down 3-2.
Richard took the court at 5 and despite trying his hardest to lose, managed to take the first game. Often a slow starter, we though a victory would be assured once the second got under way however Richard seemed to be intent on passing the ball from serve onto his opponents waiting racket. It was a bit like watching Groundhog Day as the second game was conceded. Thankfully our man woke up a little and proceeded to close the match out 1-3 for our only win of the evening.
Mike Gore took the court at 1 and having seen him race through the first game quite easily I went off to warm up for my game thinking a 0-3 win was surely inevitable. Unfortunately Mike thought different and managed to lose 2-3. I don't really know what happened here as I didn't see it but I can only assume an alarming change in play from Mike's opponent must have occurred later in the match.
I was last on at 2 against Ron who has been a good friend of mine for many years. Unfortunately the old git won 2-3. Ron is the only person I know who can commentate on the game whilst playing. After taking the 1st game easily I stupidly let the second game go having been in command. From then on it was nip and tuck although my lack of fitness probably cost me in the end as the 5th was narrowly lost 7-9. We both crawled off the court knackered although Ron was still talking. I will now have to get my revenge on the golf course in the summer.
The first season for the BABA's has been a great success and thanks from everyone involved are due to Captain Mike for all the organisation and effort (If not the points). It is fantastic that we have used around 20 players and stuck to the ethos of trying to involve as many as possible. There is no doubt that had we played our strongest team every week that we would have been promoted (I think we have probably ended up 4th) but that would probably not have been in the spirit of the team. We can now all look forward to our end of season tournament on the 2nd of April and reflect on the season over a few drinks if we are all still speaking after the BMI Cup. (5pm start on the 2nd April should anyone want to come and watch a bunch of old fat blokes pretend to be sportsmen).
David Grieve (with no sick note this week!)

Sunday 20 March 2011

Baba's home v HWU3(Thurs,Feb 16)

Another tough week for the Barbarians as our late season form continued it’s now predictable 3-2 losing streak. This week’s team suffered from sicknote’s world record sniffly cold. That meant I was playing 1, John Loftus, Stephen Davey, Matt Pearson and Dean Wood making up the rest of the team.

First up were Dean and Matt against a strong 4 and 5 from HWU. Pressure was on Dean to win well at 5 considering his ‘luck’ to have been recovering from injury when the team order was sealed for the season. But his opponent was quick about the court and Dean was struggling to move his hulking vegetarian frame around the court fast enough. In the end, a 3-2 victory saw guile triumph over talent and Dean bagged us a winning start.

Over on the other court, Matt was tense and finding it difficult to score. From the balcony, the match looked pretty even, but a little better consistency saw his opponent win most of the long rallys. The impact was a 3-0 loss with a miserly 8 points for Matt which does not reflect how close this match was.

Next up were John and I. The fact that I can write about John’s game shows you just how quickly my game was over. After a promising start to go 6-0 up, superior fitness and talent were too much and a 3-0 loss put us at 1-2.

John meanwhile was having a right contest as he continued his strategy of ‘running like an eejit’ after everything. When I arrived on the balcony, John has just won the third to go 2-1 up. As they both went for water we took the opportunity to bring on the squeegy sponges to remove John’s dripping sweat form the soggy court. As the fourth got underway, John kept making outrageous retrieval after outrageous retrieval and completely wore his opponent down to win 3-1.

That brought up the 2-2 for what seems like the tenth time this season.

Last up was Stephen Davey, another of our fit ‘run til you drop’ brigade. But like so many games this season, we were unable to close out the last match. Stephen went down 3-1 while bravely carrying an injury, but it was just a 7 point haul this week.

That promotion is looking a tall order now. (Report: Mike D)

Friday 18 March 2011

Two's home v Watsons II's(Wed, Mar 16)

Wednesday saw the Grange 2 team take on Watsonians 2 at Grange. Grange 2 started the match knowing that we had already done enough to secure our spot in Division 2 for next season, while the lame duck Watsonians already knew they'd be relegated. It was, however, an opportunity to hammer home the final nail in the Watsonian coffin, consigning them to the murky depths of division 3 squash for the entire 2011/12 season, so we went in psyched.

First up was Patrick "Cuddles" Langley, playing his final match for the Grange. Patrick emerged onto the court like a caged animal, eager to get his fangs into opponent Derek Davidson. Patrick eased home the first game 9-4, but found himself with a fight on his hands when the second game headed to 8-all. Patrick stood firm, clinching it 10-8, before putting his foot down and running away with the final game 9-2.

Next on court was Duncan "It always goes to 2-2" Walker against Peter Wilson. Peter initially moved Duncan around the court well, but Duncan quickly warmed up, taking the first two games for the loss of only one point. Peter fought harder in the third, but Duncan rammed home a convincing 3-0 victory.

Clive "Just don't make me run" Allison was up next, in a brilliant match against Mike Robson. Clive's accurate hitting helped him take the first game before Mike's relentless retrieving and speed around the court forced Clive to run, and allowed Mike to take the second. By the middle of the third game both were starting to flag. Clive managed to save 6 game points in this game before turning an 8-4 deficit into a 10-9 game win. On a couple of occasions he was able to pull off some return nicks and proceeded to win the match by taking the fourth game also.

Mike "Mutton" Hall was up next, taking on Watsonians' Chris Weare. Chris started strongly, keeping Mike behind him and seizing the first game 9-4. Mike paced around the court impatiently, planning a game plan for the second. The game plan worked. After serving, Chris only won two rallies in the game, with Mike romping home 9-1. Chris still struggled in the third, again only winning two rallies. 9-0 Mike!!! A pep talk in the break allowed a revitalized Chris to return the favour in the fourth, taking the game 9-1. All set for the decider - a long game which Chris finally managed to close out 9-7 to take the match.

Finally, Rob "The toothless gurner" Pfab was up against Graham Murray. Rob was also making his final appearance for the Grange. The first game saw Graham dominant, moving Rob around the court well, and keeping him under pressure. A straightforward 9-3. Rob changed tactics in the second, sticking with risky lob serves, and cutting the rallies off after just a few shots. Graham kept him moving, but Rob clinched it 9-3. Similar story in the third, going 9-4 to Rob. Graham competed more in the fourth, but Rob stuck to his game plan, and took the final game 9-5.

All in all a solid 4-1 victory to a strong Grange 2 team, and both departing players ending well with victories. Fond farewells to Grange team squash from Patrick and Rob. Any volunteers to captain the twos next season??? Rumour has it that the Cockburnator might step up. Watch this space... (Report: Cap'n Pfabuluous)

(Webmaster adds: thanks to the two's for a great season and keeping us hackers entertained with the reports, win lose or draw, great team spirit. Fare ye weel on yer travels, Rob & Patrick))

4ths @ Inveresk(Thur, Mar 18)

The cliff-hanger of the season, "Who shot JR Ewing" had nuthin' on this, who would stay up and who would go down, it all funneled down to this point in history. Cap'n Dutton set us a target of 13 points with bat, so obviously we needed to skittle them 3-2 with ball.
Cap'n Mark got us underway against the silver fox of Div. 4, Willie Wood. Willie slotted everything with feathered boasts and clinging drops, much to Cap'n's frustration: 0-3. Christy faced Sam Fearnley at #4 and cancelled the other result with a 3-0, Sam took a game to get used to the howitzer's from the big heffalump to contest the other 2 but Christy pulled away in the end of both.
Gary Walker faced Harald Nesse at #3, Harald looking like a norse viking about to plunder and pillage on court with colourful bandana and shorts. Gary was to one to enjoy the spoils in a well contested match, Harald's best shots were made look ordinary by Gary gliding around picking them up with ease. It was tight, one or two going 8-8 but Gary had the edge every time: 3-0.
The real drama was at #2 where Jonathon played out of his skin to claim the scalp of John Brown. The fourth was 8-8 when John elected to set-1 and Jonathon quickly slotted a winner: 3-1. Bonus points in the bag. We just needed 1 more point at #1 to guarantee safety.
Not to be, Steve Eyles came up against the immmoveable object that is Adam Lord and while Steve improved his score in each successive game, he'd have needed to play best of 19 to have got the necessary game for team safety. Adam finished off in what is likely the last Inveresk match ever with an ace of a corkscrew serve. Sad to see another team fold in the East, Inveresk having come out of Midlothian and George Purves has been involved since they first played in 1987/8 season when there were 8 open divisions(76 teams!!!) and 3 full ladies division(26 teams).

Man of the match: Jonathan Frame. Overall score 15-9. Pie 'n beans for dinner.
We've probably done enough(221 points) to stay up in Div. 4 at the expense of HWU2(219 points if they got 15-11 at Dalgety Bay as our scouts have said. Not sure if they earned 2 ref bonus points also which would tie them on 221 with us).
Back to the Grange for Patrick's leaving drinks where the Dean boys were getting tucked in to pizza after their match with the 3's.

Thanks to all the subs, players, opposition and club captain Ali Gordon for an enjoyable season for Grange 4. And Cap'n Mark for excellent organisation and enthuasiasm. (Report: Loob)

Thursday 10 March 2011

Grange2 @ The Watt (Wed, 9/3/11)

Penultimate match of the season for Grange 2 and an away trip to the brilliant facilities at Heriot Watt University to play their first team.

In reverse order of seedings:

5. Gary Walker v Andrew Moar: Supersub Gary did the business against a very hard-hitting opponent. Controlled most of the points and outmaneuvered Andrew to come through a 3-1 winner.

4. Gordon Sloan v Jim Watson: Gordon played well in this one with some great straight drops, but he was up against Jim who retrieves very well and does not give much away. Whilst Gordon bossed many rallies and dominated the T, he wasn't able to make this advantage pay. 3-0 loss in three close games.

3. Alan Stokes v Jonathan Taubert: Unfortunately didn't see this one, but Stokesy assures me that his opponent was much younger (confirmed) and was hard to get the ball around. Later Jonathan divulged that he has won every game this season with the loss of only five games (ooo errr). 3-0 loss.

2. Pete Cockburn v Scott Mosley: A respectable points haul for Pete despite going down 3-0. Was unlucky not to win at least one game that went to 8-8. Scott was crushing the ball as he did in the first half of the season.

1. Patrick Langley v Mark Beaumont: Brutal, brutal 3-0 loss.

MOTM was undoubtedly Gary, who was a last minute replacement and won all of our points. Food was nachos and burgers, which were consumed with relish (boom boom).

Whilst we only managed 3 points in an 16-3 loss this means we are definitely safe from relegation, much to the chagrin of my good friend Chris Weare, captain of Watsonians 2 who are unfortunately the last of the three teams to go down. I expressed my surprise at this outcome but was told to "Save it Langley". Oh by the way, we are playing Watsonians 2 in our last match of the season next Wednesday at home. (Report: Patrick.)

Match Result
Division: 2
Round: 17
Date: 9/3/2011
Teams:
Grange 2 vs Heriot Watt University 1

Pos Player Rubbers Games Points Player Rubbers Games Points
1
Patrick Langley 0 0 6 Mark Beaumont 1 3 27
2
Pete Cockburn 0 0 17 Scott Mosley 1 3 29
3
Alan Stokes 0 0 8 Jonathan Taubert 1 3 27
4
Gordon Sloan 0 0 17 Jim Watson 1 3 27
5
Gary Walker 1 3 33 Andrew Moar 0 1 21
Total 1 3 81 4 13 131
Competition Points 3 16

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Grange 4 at HWU2 - Tuesday 8th March 2011

The 4ths picked up valuable points against a stong HWU2 side. The 10-13 result (incl ref points) is just sufficient to see them remain above the students in the relegation battle with all to play for now against Inveresk in the last week.

At no 3 Gavin Fulton opened strongly against the very speedy Alistair Ross. Gavin dominated the front of the court and put Alistair away with numerous superb drives and well-placed cross-courts to take the first two 9-3, 9-4. In the third Alistair began adding some pressure of his own to his very good retrieval capability and that was way too much for Gavin who was also suffering some suspicious Achilles twinges and it went away 0-9. Alistair was likewise dominating the fourth game but Gavin was hanging in there and eventually did enough to take it 9-7 for a good 3-1 match win.

Sub Peter Roberts found the going extremely tough against the very useful Stuart Williamson at no5. Peter was under the kosh right from the start although the 0-9, 0-9 scoreline in the first two games was by no means an entirely fair reflection of how the rallies were going. Peter came back well in the third to show what might have been and was at one point leading 4-2 but Stuart gradually pulled away again to take it 4-9 to leave Peter with a 0-3 match loss.

Mark Dutton's hectic (and slightly ridiculous) match schedule since returning from Australia last week finally caught up with him against Brendan Forrester at no2. He would've needed to be at his sharpest to compete with the form Brendan was in at the best of times but on the night was the best part of a yard slower than his usual pace to every ball and struggling to stay in every rally. The 2-9, 2-9 start was a fair reflection of Brendan's dominance. With nothing to lose Mark mustered all the remaining petrol for an all-or-nothing third game and somehow managed to sneak that one 9-7, but that effort left him able to put up little resistance in the fourth and Brendan took it 3-9. A 1-3 loss for Mark.

Mike Gore was up against the hard-hitting Umair Saeed at no4. He was competing well throughout and wasn't too far off the pace in the opening two games which Umair took 5-9, 2-9. An excellent third game saw him dominanting Umair for a 9-3 win and a big match looked on the cards. Unfortunately Umair got back in the groove and Mike was pushed around the court quite a bit more in the fourth to go down 4-9 for a 1-3 loss.

At no1 Christy Looby was facing the very, very hard-hitting Orcadian, Andrew Moar. Christy's been around far too long though to be intimidated by a big hitter and took advantage of Andrew's failure to do very much more to take the first two 0-9, 0-9. In the third Andrew finally started to play with a lot more variety and court-craft and put the challenge to Christy who found himself down 6-7 with a big five-setter looking very likely. Christy tightened the noose though and ran out 9-7 for a very good 3-0 win.

The post match pizzas and conversation were very enjoyable and it would have to be said that the HWU cafeteria is a good place to watch big football matches if the atmosphere for the night's Arsenal v Barca match is anything to go by.

Man of the match…? A toss up between Christy and Gavin…with Gavin just shading it, methinks. Report by: Mark Dutton

Teams: Grange 4 vs Heriot Watt University 2

Pos Player Rubbers Games Points Player Rubbers Games Points
1
Christy Looby 1 3 27 Andrew Moar 0 0 7
2
Mark Dutton 0 1 16 Brendan Forrester 1 3 34
3
Gavin Fulton 1 3 27 Alastair Ross 0 1 23
4
Mike Gore 0 1 20 Umair Saeed 1 3 30
5
Peter Roberts 0 0 4 Stuart Williamson 1 3 27
Total 2 8 94 3 10 121
Competition Points 8 13

Monday 7 March 2011

Christy's internet squash federation

Just in case your run in the club champs is a short one (like mine is looking), here's some odds 'n ends from the world of internet squash:
Online squash game play Pit yourself against anyone in the world top 100, male or female

Sunday 6 March 2011

Grange 5 vs David Lloyd 2(Thurs,Mar 3,'11)

This week’s match was against table topping David Lloyd. We had pushed them hard at their place, so were looking to make the most of home advantage as we search for the points we desperately need to go up. This week’s crew were myself, Colin Williamson, Brian Sloan and Matt Pearson. Oh, and Robin Pollok, who is already man of the match for making the latest call-up ever recorded.
First up were Matt and Brian. For Matt, the match hung on the outcome of a tentative first game. After going 4-1 down, some aggressive play (effective coaching Mr Hall!) saw Matt take an 8-4 lead. But despite serving for the game 3 times, he was pegged back to 8-8 and called set 2. At this point Matt’s composure returned and he won back serve before closing out 10-8. This game under his belt, Matt went into overdrive and in a controlled performance, took the next two games 9-4, 9-2 for a 3-0 victory.
Meanwhile on the other court, Brian was finding his speedy opponent quite a handful. The first game started tightly before Brian got his nose in front 6-3. But some lightning speed about court saw his opponent rescue some points he had no right to win, and the game fell away 6-9. The next two games were much the same as Brian struggled to cope with the perpetual chasing down of all shots, and the game was lost 7-9, 4-9. 1-1.
As our late call up Robin got out his skipping ropes to warm up, Colin and I took to court. Two humdinger games split 1-1. Colin started slowly, losing the first game 4-9, before coming back like a train for a 9-1, 9-3 run to take a 2-1 lead. But in true Barbarian style, he couldn’t finish his opponent off and lost the fourth from 6-3 up 6-9. Into the fifth and Colin motored ahead from 3-3 to take the fifth tie 9-4.
On my court, a scrappy game had us both apologising for frame shots and mishits. The first was lost 4-9 but was followed by a rally in form as I took the next two games 9-3, 9-3. At 1-6 down in the fourth, a fifth game looked certain until a great run took me to 8-6 and serving for the match. That was lost to another frame shot and nick combination and at 8-8 I called set 2 and promptly lost 8-10. By now, talent was beginning to show through and the fifth was lost tamely 1-9. So another 2-2.
Last up was our late call up Robin, playing for the match against the team top of the table. No pressure then. His speedy opponent quickly went 0-5 up and despite a mini-rally at 8-2 down, Robin lost the first 5-9. The second game was very tight and after what seemed like an age, Robin was 3-1 up. But superior speed and fitness was beginning to tell and a run of 8 straight points saw the second lost 3-9.
So just eight points tonight, and we’re beginning to fall off the pace in division 5. Three games left and a heroic effort required from all. (Report: Mike Douglas)

Grange 2 v David Lloyd Newhaven Weds March 2nd

Wednesday's penultimate home game of the season witnessed Grange 2's against David Lloyd Newhaven's first team.
First on court [a game which I didn't see] were the number 3 seeds Pat Langley against Dave Jubb. Pat appeared to be slightly apprehensive with regards to playing his opponent saying to me prior to going on court that " this was going to be a tight match" --- And so it it turned out with Pat managing to close out a hard fought skillful battle 3 games to 1.

On the opposite court were the no2's Ali Flemming against yours truly.
This proved to be a feast of hard attacking squash for the 'public 'spectators,
'Mike' produced some of his best squash of the season, hitting "trade mark" nicks brilliant deft touch and amazing retrieving. Superb play!!! None of my team mates apparently witnessed my game so you will just have to take my word on this. Oh, by the way I lost 0-3 [6/9 7/9 0/9

Andy Whitelaw kindly took time out from his heavy squash schedule [ 5 games in 5 days] to turn out at no 5. Andy started poorly and then began to fade against his "classy" opponent from S. Africa ---Tarenye Lowe. During the post match interview Andy mentioned that he realised he was 'doomed' from the second rally of the first game. It went through my head -does Andy watch a DVD of the 'Titanic' movie as a means to psyching himself up before his game? Joking apart thanks again Andy for stepping in at short notice. 0/3

Next game saw the no4 seeds Pete [Cockburn] against Charles Robertson.
If you've never seen Charles play he always plays in grey tracksuit bottoms which he never takes off during the whole match!!! I have a theory on this, on the basis that Charles traps his opponent into thinking that you are still 'knocking up' and the actual game has never started. Before you realise your self imposed sartorial hypnotic state, you wake up to realise your beaten.
And so my theory turned into reality with Pete losing to Charles 0/3
Having said that Pete played some high quality and skillful squash during 'The knockup'

Last match --- no1 seeds Rob Pfab against Ken Maxwell. Rob came out of the traps first suprising Ken with his speed onto the ball and hitting some great winning drives. Rob took the first game and it was game on.
At the beginning of the second game Ken slowly began to wake up and smell the coffee.{Maxwell - quite good eh?] finding his deft touch game ken started to mix up his 'silky' lob and drop game. Rob still managed to give as good as he got resulting in several high quality and skillful long rally's. Rob eventually losing 1/3 which is an improvment from the away fixture against the same opponent who is one of the best of his age group in Scotland. All credit to Rob .

Match Score Grange 6 points DLN 18 points (Reporter: Mike H)

Saturday 5 March 2011

Grange 4s @ Colinton Castle 4 – Friday 4th March 2011

CCS4 was a somewhat stronger team than the one we faced earlier in the week in the match potsponed from the first round and the 4ths went down by 19 points to 7 on this occasion. That 7 points was just sufficient to see the 4ths creep to the top of the relegation zone log-jam of teams ....equal 7th now....so lots to play for in the final two weeks.

At no3 Andy Whitelaw started poorly against James Chalmers with a 1-9 loss but came back well with a 9-4 and then a very narrow 9-10 loss. The fourth game was evenly fought but just slipped away from Andy 7-9 to leave him with a 1-3 match loss. A bit of luck here and there on key points could have seen it the other way round.

At no 4 was Mark Dutton against Derek Wilson. It was looking all over for Mark as Derek’s big-hitting was putting him away regularly to see him down 6-9, 4-9 and then trailing 2-5 in the third. But, digging a bit deeper Mark grafted a very hard fought 9-5 come-back in that game and then 9-6, 9-5 in the final two for a good 3-2 win. No quarter given by either player throughout in either the squash department or the verbal department...it would have to be said. An item of note would have to be the rare crowd-pleasing consecutive double-dive rally that saw Mark save an unlikely point at a key stage of the match.

Jonathan Frame at no2 had drawn the short straw to be facing Kim Byers. Kim controlled the match throughout forcing Jonathan to run to all corners of the court. Jonathon lost the first 2-9 and was well behind in the second before he finally managed to start forcing Kim to the back of the court more regularly. Not quite enough though as he lost that 7-9 and then the next 5-9 for a 0-3 loss.

By his own admission, Dougie Brown was just outplayed by Bob Bakie at No5. Doug was moved around the court too easily and couldn’t really manage to control the match at any point himself. A 7-9, 6-9, 4-9 loss was the result.

In a fast and hard-hitting final match at no1, Stephen Eyles just went down 2 games to 3 to Gareth Wright. Stephen snatched the first 10-9 and then Gareth began to get more control of the front of the court to take the second 5-9. Stephen easily took the third 9-2 as he improved his tightness to draw a series of errors from Gareth. The fourth game was the key one where it slipped away from Stephen. The game was there for the taking but control deserted him with a bizarrely high number of strokes given away from balls returned straight past himself being notable. He was also tiring a little (not surprised....so were we in the audience just watching) and began playing a few too many drops which was quite too Gareth’s liking as he picked the majority up and put them away convincingly. Having narrowly lost the fourth game, that same playing pattern featured in the final game with Gareth taking it comfortably 3-9. A very entertaining and high quality match, although bizarrely peppered with unforced stroke errors (mostly from Stephen) and unforced drop-shot errors (mostly from Gareth).

All to play for in the next two weeks to avoid relegation. The table is pretty tight and every game will need to be fought for tooth and nail.

Mark Dutton

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Grange Ladies First Team Review

At the half way stage of this league, Grange Ladies first team are sitting very comfortably in 4th Place (out of 6 teams). I’d like to say that this feat was the result of the team players squash improving week on week and maybe it is but it is also down to the fact that a certain man has a very sore foot which prevents him from playing football on a Monday night.

However, every cloud has a silver lining, and so, Donna, our #1, has played every game so far in this league, which means that we have been at full strength for every game so far. Get better soon TonyJ

It also helps when your newest player can also do some serious damage with a squash ball and has already earned her #3 slot in the team – a big hello to Catherine.

The Firsts hosted CLASS88 on Mon 21st. We were hoping to pick up points at three, four and five so it was a very pleasant surprise when Lottie, our #2, played some awesome squash to beat Sam Fearnley 3:2. Donna also played really well and again managed to take a game off a somewhat perplexed Kim Byers, the third time Donna has done this in their meetings. Kim’s superior fitness told in the end and she won 3:1. To note - Kim is the third highest ranked woman in East of Scotland, behind the two Macfie sisters.

Final score on the night was 16:5 to us, excluding bonus points. A very good night for Grange, who are now in 3rd place in the league. Finally, our thanks to our growing number of supporters who make the trek all the way from the bar to the squash balcony to watch our matches, much appreciated.J Report: Karen

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Thirds home v Colinton 4's(Tue, Feb 2)

These Colinton boys are looking to go up so tonight was going to be tough. Allan Wallace went on at #2 against Stuart Keane and went point for point in the first half game, then drew away. He got Stuart to twinge his hamstring in the second and it was game over at that point, though Stu battled on gamely. 3-0.
Andy Whitelaw was down love-1 pretty quickly against Derek Barr at #4 but he snuck a titanic second game 10-9. He fought off a concerted fightback in the third and then went 8-1 up in the fourth, closing that out. 3-1.
Jonathan Frame took on Gareth Wright at #1 and was being outplayed... up until Gareth sprained his thumb doing a hand-push get. Jonathan got one game back but Gareth got his momentum back to close out. 3-1.
Mark Dutton I didn't see at #5 as I was on court at the time, but he corkscrewed, dived and talked his opponent out of the match- 3-1. Christy played Jamie at #3, was in the games early on but Jamie's fitness meant he had the better finish of the first 2. Christy grannied him in the 3rd and controlled the fourth to take it. The fifth was not a good finish as Jamie closed it out better: 2-3.
Overall 3-2, 17-9 on points putting us in good position for the rematch with this team on Fri. Talk over pizza mainly concerned the imminent demise of Inveresk as a team and how Colinton 4 got wiped out by Dalgety Bay. (Report: Loob)

Second team Vs Mamma’s Pizza (25/02/11)

The 2s were up at Myreside yet again to face the Mamma’s boys. Not usual 2s mob but keen for a result none the less On at 5 was super sub Andy Whitelaw who squared up to old Marco’s sparring partner Brian Clough. Brian had the fitness and Andy had the shots. A close battle ensued with some mammoth rallies. Andy kept his nose in front with some excellent shot making. Brian kept up the pressure on but it was Andy who came through at the decisive moments to snatch it 3-1

Gordon Sloan was too much against Lindsay Muir at 4 taking it 3-0 with relative ease. About time the Sloan ranger moved himself up the pecking order!??

Stokes at 3, who normally brings the “experience” to the team was up against an opponent in John Rae who was packing even more experience than our resident “match winner”. The more experienced man took it with John edging it in an edgy game. Luckily Johnny Everett kept the old boys in line!!

Elevated up to the number 2 spot Pete Cockburn took on John Davidson. A rematch from many a year ago where Pete had lost 3-2 after being 2 games up. Could revenge be had?? After losing the first and then being 7-2 down in the second things did not look good. Plus all the noise from Stokesy’s match did not fill anyone with much confidence!! Pete dug in deep and finally started to run through the gears and got back in getting the second game back. The next 2 followed but not with out some hard work from Pete and some great battling from John. 3-1 Grange

Rob Pfab, who has had a mixed season occupying the top spot (by his own admission), took on Johnny Everett at one. Both players were striking the ball nicely and both looked to get the measure of the Myreside courts straight away. Rob came out the blocks quickest and managed to keep his nose out in front despite some gritty resistance from Johnny. Rob took it 3-1 although methinks Johnny will be looking for a re-match soon!!

4-1 (13-6) to Grange which will go a long way to keeping the Grange boys safe and sound in Division 2. The usual exceptional hospitality was our reward as we hit the Grassmarket for haggis pizza and beers. A pretty descent start to the weekend!! (Report: Cockburnator)

Grange Ladies home to CLASS 88(Mon 21,'11)

In an upset that has reverberated thru the East squash scene, Grange Ladies beat the poster-girls of squash in the region for the last 2 decades, CLASS 88. A convincing 4-1 win at that.

Ian Muir and Bill Marshall witnessed a feast of great squash. Lottie Fulton must get player of the match, edging out Sam Fearnley who has embarrassed many a Grange men's team player in her time. Overall 18-7 incl bonus points.

That leaves our ladies first team sitting pretty at 3rd in Div 1 with a few matches to go. You could do worse on the next home match Mon Mar 217pm, come down and watch some great squash.

Pos

PlayerRubbersGamesPointsPlayerRubbersGamesPoints
1Donna Cruickshank0123Kim Byers1335
2Lottie Fulton1342Samantha Fearnley0231
3Catherine John1327Lynn Grant009
4Julia Lutte1327Kirsty Maclachlan005
5Karen Kennedy1327Helen Jamieson0012
Total4131461592
Competition Points165