Grange Squash

Waverley 4 v Grange 5

2012-02-15T13:20:00.001Z

A hastily arranged lower order saw the "nil" twins, Bill Marshall and Mike Wagner take the court at numbers 4 & 5 respectively. Mike, who hasn't played many team matches before, struggled to get into his rhythm and whilst he did get stronger as the game progressed, ran out of time at 3-0. In similar fashion, Bill's game was brief however both will pick up points with just a little more composure and could possibly slow themselves down a little to gain this as there is no doubting the effort they put in.

Stephen Davie and I were next up at 3 and 2. Stephen looked to be cruising in the first with his own brand of tennis adapted for the squash court however he suddenly started to find the net (tin) and was determined to pass the ball back to his opponent in the 2nd which was narrowly lost. Fortunately Stephen managed to rally and went on to win the next two hard fought games to take his match 1-3. My game was somewhat uneventful and with my opponent struggling with injury in the 3rd it was a fairly straight forward win, 0-3.

The match even, we awaited TomMcEwan's arrival for the decider at number 1. Strolling in at 7.30pm I wondered if Stephen had been organising the evening rather than Captain Mike as Tom also appeared to have dressed for Wimbledon. Another hard fought game ensued but unfortunately Tom lost out 3-1 in a match which could easily have gone either way.

Once again thanks to Waverley for hosting another good evening. The mince & tatties were excellent followed by the usual banter and chat. It should perhaps be noted that Bill decided to miss out on the food and return to the Grange for a bit of practice after his performance. Whilst this dedication is to be admired he should be aware that missing out on calories will only hinder him in the up and coming BMI cup. (31st March for your diaries.)

David 'Sicknote' Grieve

Acting Captain (Also wondering how these people you thrashed the week before are retaining their places in the 4ths.)

Three's home v Mammas (Thu Feb 9)

2012-02-09T23:54:00.006Z

Matt was first up at #5 against the silver fox and did really well taking the first 2 games but after that Matt got drawn into the lob/drop old man's game and he just isn't old enough for that. 2-3.

Gavin also had to get away early and was up against Brian Clough who was in imperious Forest form and Gavin did well to take a game off him.
The man of the match was a woman, Catherine John lost heavily in the first to Lindsay Muir but came back strongly to out-hit and out-run the big fella.
Andy against #3 Scott "the comeback kid" Carey, some great rallies and fun, at 2-2 I handed over reffing to get on court myself. Hopeing I was playing John Davidson for the bonus points, in control for 3 games and but just about to run out of puff and get found out, thankfully the finish line came first.
I emerged to find the bonus points were long gone as Andy he came out on the wrong side of his five games. Overall 12-15 so good points.

Talk back at Portgower Pavilion was of the upcoming 5-nations with Catherine heading to Cardiff for the Scotland-Wales match and admitting that her parents were Welsh but she was English. I almost took back my MoTM award after choking on my lime and soda with that revelation.

Quality control is still unhappy with the Franco pizza product delivery just now, though the Mamma's boys were happy enough to chomp away and they have high standards. £14 bar tab, that is as low as I've ever paid - Mamma's definitely need to work on their reputation. (Loob)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	1	3	27	John Davidson	0	0	6
2	Gavin Fulton	0	1	23	Brian Clough	1	3	29
3	Andrew Whitelaw	0	2	36	Scott Carey	1	3	39
4	Catherine John	1	3	31	Lindsay Muir	0	1	23
5	Matt Pearson	0	2	21	John Rae	1	3	33
Total		2	11	138		3	10	130
Competition Points		11				13

The Grange Pro schools the world #2 (for a game anyway)

2012-02-08T23:11:00.006Z

Kev Moran made a tremendous impact for the club at the British Championships, coming through two tough rounds of qualifying to get into the main draw. The second match against Northumbria's experienced David Barnett (31yo, World ranked no. 109 a few years ago) was a long, close-fought 3-0 to earn him a random draw against one of the 24 seeded players.

Whose name should pop out of the hat but James Willstrop, the No1 seed from Yorkshire who topped the world rankings last month. A bit like getting the old firm in a cup draw.

Willstrop dropped a game before overcoming Scottish qualifier Kevin Moran 11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 in 35 minutes.“I’ve not seen Kevin before,” said the 28-year-old from Leeds who became world No1 last month.

Kevin is available at the club for coaching at a very reasonable £15 per 40 min session or BufGof(Buy five, Get One Free) and as I've found out first hand, brings the latest fresh techniques from the Scottish Squash Academy to The Grange.

GRG1 Vs Watsonians 1 (07 Feb 2012)

2012-02-07T23:21:00.003Z

Event: East Open 2011/12, Round: 13, Division: 1, Match Date: 8/2/2012
Last Modified: 8/2/2012, By MyMatrix Logon: Pete Cockburn

	Home Team: Grange 1				Away Team: Watsonians 1
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Will Kerr	0	2	19	Richard McIntosh	1	3	39
2	Richard Van Lienden	0	0	6	Paul Jenkins	1	3	27
3	Mike Hall	0	0	11	Martin Lamb	1	3	27
4	Pete Cockburn	0	0	12	Scott Thomson	1	3	27
5	Gordon Sloan	0	2	27	Chris Weare	1	3	37
Total		0	4	75		5	15	157

More of the same for the 1s again this week. Good results at 1 and 5! Gordy making his debut in Div 1 was in with a shout playing some of his most aggressive squash. Not that aggressive but some real conviction from the wee man was really paying off until chris grannied him in the 5th - Do'h. Similarly at 1 Will started terribly against Richie but played his way back in by going on the attack. This was really working as Richie struggled to get it past the big man. Attacking all out couldn't last forever as the mistakes crept in in the 5th.

2-4 well beaten although it should be noted that I got more points than both Rich and Mike. You have probably noticed I am trying to take anything I can get out this season.!!

Food report to come???

GrangeGirls roll over Dalgety Bay Divas at home(Mon, Feb 7)

2012-02-07T09:42:00.003Z

A newly-promoted Dalgety Bay team asked some questions of the Grange Girls, with Hayley and Linda in particular troubling Donna at #1 and Jacque at #4.
Nonetheless a 20 point score for the home side.
Teams:Grange 1 vs Dalgety Bay

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Donna Cruickshank	1	3	27	Hayley Cooper	0	0	17
2	Catherine John	1	3	29	Nicola Crosbie	0	1	15
3	Lottie Fulton	1	3	27	Verity Whiteside	0	0	10
4	Jacque White	1	3	44	Linda Murray	0	2	24
5	Julia Lutte	1	3	28	Lynn Verdon	0	0	20
Total		5	15	155		0	3	86
Competition Points		18				3

That puts us comfortably atop the standings with 3 consecutive 5-0 wins in 2012. Only Waverly left for a grand-slam, coming up at Portgower Place after term break, in 2 weeks.

Teams Ladder

Team	Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Bonus Points	Total
Grange 1	Comp Points	18	18		18							2	56
	Games	15	15		15								45
Watsonians 1	Comp Points	4	15	15								6	40
	Games	4	12	12									28
C.L.A.S.S. 88	Comp Points	15	1	3								6	25
	Games	12	1	3									16
Waverley 1	Comp Points		7	13								4	24
	Games		7	10									17
Dalgety Bay	Comp Points	4		11	3							4	22
	Games	4		11	3								18

Grange II lookalikes...

2012-02-05T20:03:00.008Z

One is a Grange II flyer from the T... and the other is an Auld Enemy flyer on the wing.....

Which is which? - fill in a comment.

One floats smoothly around the court.... and the other floats around Hogwarts

One is the muscley hard-man teamster with his minder... and the other is Clint Eastwood & Clyde in "Every which way you can"

GRG2 Vs Deer Park (01 Feb 2012)

2012-02-03T11:02:00.002Z

Deer Park’s 1st team were the visitors last night. The last slog between the two teams (October) resulted in a 15-4 defeat for Grange so we were up against it to make amends on a cold February evening in Stockbridge. However, we gave it a good shot...

Will Henderson & Stuart Moffat at no’s 5 & 4 for Grange showed real composure against their opposition to both walk off with 3-0 victories. Will’s seasoned opponent in the shape of Andy Duff was not a push-over but Will seemed to have a fairly good control of the match. At no. 4 Stuart (man of the match?) was also dictating the tempo allowing his opponent only 11 points across the 3 games.

At no. 3, we had Stokesy who was trying every trick in the book but was out-muscled in four games. Similarly, the Sloan Ranger was in at no.2 and couldn’t get the points on the board. Eric McMullan had the experience to see me off quite easily in the end after four games.

This set Mike up nicely at no. 1 with all to play for and the match didn’t disappoint with some scintillating squash at times, deft touches and sheer grit from both players. Mike walked the first 9-1 but Colin McMullan came back in style to win the second and gradually increased the tempo from there. Despite another game for Mike in the 3rd, Colin ended up taking the 4th and 5th to finish off an overall tight match.

Keen readers will already have established that Grange won a greater number of games on paper (10-9)… but the added match points for our opponents resulted in an overall loss 12 – 14… close, but no cigar. (GS.)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Michael Grinton	0	2	28	Colin McMullan	1	3	33
2	Gordon Sloan	0	1	20	Eric McMullan	1	3	31
3	Alan Stokes	0	1	17	Milan Govan	1	3	29
4	Stuart Moffat	1	3	27	John Miller	0	0	11
5	Will Henderson	1	3	27	Andy Duff	0	0	13
Total		2	10	119		3	9	117
Competition Points		10				12

'Jedward' Star for 4ths in Local Thriller

2012-02-03T09:20:00.006Z

This weeks adventure was a local trip up the hill to Dean with both teams looking for points to pull them away from the relegation zone. Our crew consisted of Andy, Johnny M, Mike (me), Brian and Matt.

The evening began with a chilly 15 minute wait at the gates as Matt and I tried to get in. Eventually the tennis players came up and opened the gate - thanks guys. Funnily enough, when we went into the clubhouse, Dean were on court warming up wondering if we had forgotten - great tactic. Maybe we should try the same when we play top-of-the-table ESC4!!!

As we were first there, Matt and I went on. I started slowly against a far too fit opponent and was soon 0-6 before some improved serving brought me back into the game for a 9-6 win. The second was similar, except for the coming back bit, and it was 1-1. But normal service was restored and the rubber was closed out 9-1, 9-7. 1-0 Grange.

I came off court to find a cooled-down Matt off court with what looked like a straight forward 9-3, 9-7, 9-0 win. 2-0 Grange.

Johnny and Brian up next. Johnny had an excellent game with many outrageous points including a stunning frame shot winner in the first to help Johnny to a 9-6 lead. The second was tougher and no amount of running could stop a 4-9 to bring the rubber even. But Johnny's superior fitness took over and he closed it out 9-0, 9-3 for the win; 3-0 Grange.

Brian came up from the basement court shaking his head, which I have learned over the years is not a good sign. Suffice to say a long day in the office contributed to a 3-9, 3-9, 6-9 loss. 3-1 Grange.

Last up was Andy who quickly raced into a 8-3 lead before being pegged back to 8-8. Both players defended game points before Andy came out on top for a 10-9. Looking in need of energy conservation, Andy stepped up a level and soon had the second 9-1. A call to the balcony to ask if we had won the game was met with a 'none of your business, we need the points' response. The third was tighter, but Andy prevailed 9-7 for an excellent 3-0 victory.

Final result was 4-1 with 15 points (+2 ref points) puting some clear water between ourselves and Dean. Upstairs pizza was washed down with beer in a familiar Grange-style supper.

And Jedward? Well they were spotted on the balcony watching Andy's match. Who would have thought ? (Report: Mike D)

Teams:

Grange 4 vs Dean 2

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Andrew Whitelaw	1	3	28	Craig Wallace	0	0	17
2	Jonathan Major	1	3	31	Chris Grier	0	1	18
3	Mike Douglas	1	3	34	Peter McCallum	0	1	23
4	Brian Sloan	0	0	12	Dougie McLaren	1	3	27
5	Matt Pearson	1	3	27	Michael Clarkson	0	0	13
Total		4	12	132		1	5	98
Competition Points		15				5

Fitness & Long racket rallies: squash/badminton or tennis ?

2012-01-28T23:33:00.008Z

Possibly controversial...

The Australian Open semi between our Muzza and the Joke-ovic was good, it even included 2 40+ shot rallies.

I submit this squash video of World #1 Nick Matthew v Daryl Selby in the Swedish Open to show that 44-shots was just half the length of the rally. 75+ shots. 1:50 mins. And they just played on, no taking a rest for a minute, then bouncing the ball 20 times before serving again. Serve again in 10 secs.

Here is the Australian Open tennis video (skip to 4:40-5:45to avoid the fluff)

Does anyone from Dyvours think that a male world tennis pro could stand toe-to-toe with with a squash pro, based on this evidence?

And that is without allowing the 50-60 seconds Nole/Rafa take between points compared to 5 sec max between points in squash or badminton. Never mind fiddling with the net cord rule on serve, enforce the 20 sec rule, tennis. If is 60 secs at the changeover, not between points.

What chance has Murray got when Djokovic and Nadal view every rally as a 60 sec break for towelling, crack-picking and ball bouncing.

For the record, here is the badminton one which is even better than the squash one and really shows up tennis...

Caption Competition 2012

2012-01-28T20:03:00.010Z

Captions please.... just fill in a comment and just put your name in the Name/URL field.

Free squash bauble for the best one!

Pic is of Grange #1 & Pro Coach Kevin Moran (in grey top) v Gareth Naidoo at the Artemis Edinburgh Open

Ali Ross in Barbarians/HWU Doppelgänger Mishap

2012-01-27T17:25:00.003Z

Apologies for the tardiness of this report for last week's Barbarians match - I've only just recovered enough to be able to write it. Last week's team was Richard Nisbet, Mike (me), Pete Young, Matt Pearson and Sicknote Grieve.

We arrived at Heriot-Watt on a wet and windy evening to be told that they had forgotten to book courts. But not to worry, they'd called Ali Ross who was trying to get some bloke called Pete Cockburn - all was in hand. Thinking it was a shame for Ali to get drawn into this - given how much else he does for the club - I texted Ali to say not to worry and that I would deal with it. But Ali (sounding a little confused) checked that the Accies courts were free and sent me the number to say we'd head there to play. The HWU guys then set about working out who could head into town to play and who still had homework to do. Things got a bit more confusing when they said they'd spoken to Ali Ross who was trying to sort transport. Above and beyond the call of duty I would say. I was just about to call Ali to apologise for all the hassle when a fair faced youth introduced himself as Ali Ross - playing number one for HWU. What're the chances of that?

As one of their team hadn't done his homework yet, Dave Grieve stayed to play his game at HWU and the rest of us headed into town.

By the time we arrived Dave had texted to say he'd won 3-0. And it wasn't long before Matt has shown great steel and determination to grind out a 3-0 victory; 2-0 to the Barbarians.

Peter was next on court and took the first as I went on court. When I came off having lost 3-0 in reasonably tight games against a player just too good, Pete was just 2-1 up. His opponent was beginning to get his range and it was soon 2-2. But in one of the grittiest performances of the season, Pete prevailed and we had won the match - fantastic result.

Lastly was Richard against Ali's doppelgänger. This was a bit crazy as Richard went down in 3. That's points. The young Ali was simply too fast and we wondered what the h*** he was doing in Division 5. Poor Richard didn't even get the chance to get warm.

Still, a great victory 14-8 against one of the Division's top sides.

Looking forward to next week already.

Mike

p.s. If it makes Richard feel any better, he might like to know that their Ali Ross won the previous week playing number 5 in Division 1 - and hasn't lost a match since last March !!!

p.p.s We had to buy our own tea - typical students.

Mike

Threes home v Dunbar (Thurs, Jan 26)

2012-01-27T11:44:00.002Z

Happy campers arrived at Dunbar which was mercifully clear of snow. Christy played David Legge first so he could be home early for brownie points and compete at the Artemis at the weekend.
Strange game with Christy stiff as a board to lose the first, then Dave slowed up to lose the second then Christy went AWOL to lose the next two.
Richard Nisbet looked like he was in for a long tough match as the first game took 10 minutes,
but by then had got the upperhand and closed out the next 2 games.
Andy Whitelaw was hitting some great boast against Allan Ramsay but lost out in 4. Gavin was hitting and moving well against Alasdair but his nemesis shot (the one into the tin) came to haunt him as he lost in 4.
Dougie played Graeme Jones who was also Artemis-bound. Dougie played some great shots but any
thing slow or short and Graeme cut it off. After taking a close first game, Graeme closed it out 3-0.
Overall 5-20. Baked tatties with 4 toppings curry, cheese, tuna or egg-mayo to choose from.
Most of the chat was about the pros playing in the Artemis and anecdotes of players losing it on court.

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	0	1	10	David Legge	1	3	29
2	Dougie Brown	0	0	6	Graeme Jones	1	3	27
3	Andrew Whitelaw	0	1	25	Allan Ramsay	1	3	32
4	Gavin Fulton	0	1	23	Alistair Nichol	1	3	30
5	Richard Nisbet	0	0	16	James Cunningham	1	3	28
Total		0	3	80		5	15	146
Competition Points		3				18

GRG1 V Dalgety Bay 2 (17 Jan 2012)

2012-01-26T13:07:00.006Z

Slightly better result from last week. New number one doing the biz!!

Two's at Edin Uni Studs 1 (Wed, jan 25)

2012-01-26T10:54:00.004Z

Reporter 1:

· Golden goblet of fire goes to Mike as man of the match for boasts tighter than two coats of paint

· Alan Stokes ‘same old performance’

· Tired motions from the captain "not-so-braveheart" Wallace trailing in the wake of better shots and stamina from the opposing no. 3 – never in the hunt

· Ominous omen for Sloan Ranger and Wallace for this weekend’s Artemis – fatted calves have been bought for sacrificing to the squash gods

Reporter 2:

· History repeating – Edinburgh Uni 1’s pumped us last week so last night wasn’t totally unexpected!

· Mike’s game was good at #5 and he showed resilience at the front of court with tricky drops. His opponent (surely half his age?!) had no reply.

· Mark, you must get something for your three spectacular dives towards the front wall!

· Sloppy (but not Giuseppe) - I think the lame pizzas should also get a mention!

Reporter 3: Did the technical coaching tip below work?

Mark/Mike – get listening to Eye of the Tiger now so that you’re adequately pumped up.

	Home Team: Grange 2				Away Team: Edinburgh University 2
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Gordon Sloan	0	0	9	Mahmoud Moaz	1	3	27
2	Alan Stokes	0	2	36	Dominic Gaffney	1	3	35
3	Allan Wallace	0	0	10	Elliot Bourge	1	3	27
4	Mark Dutton	0	1	13	Richard McClay	1	3	35
5	Mike Gore	1	3	35	Moishe Steinbok	0	1	28
Total		1	6	103		4	13	152

GRG1 Vs Dalgety Bay 1 (25 Jan 2011)

2012-01-25T22:33:00.003Z

Well what can I say. With results like these it is with good reason the 1s keep their results to themselves!!

Ian Forbes played Mike Sutherland at 5 and had the most success of the night almost taking it to 5! None the less putting a point on the board for the boys with enough for us!

Next door at 4 I got wiped by Ian Paltiel. 2 less points than last week. Didn't get a bloody serve until the second game!

RVL was up against Richard "the machine" Northin at 2. A rematch from the first half where RVL picked up a game in close fought encounter. The machine had been tuned up and was ready for Rich. Rich fought well but the Bay man was on clinical form. 3-0.

Allan Hamer back with us for the second time this season was hopeful of claiming a game this time against Alan Tasker. Zero points in the first not looking so hot! Al nabbed a point in the second which i missed. By the time a re-joined in the third Tasker was in mischievous mood and was playing some crazy shots. Craig Pounder marking -"Howay man ya cannae day that !" But he did! 3-0!

Will K rocked up to tackle John Meadley - Hooray!

Will again showing more signs of his old self but was never going to be enough against a player of John's quality, 3-0

Our combined points tally was probably not even enough to win a match but we enjoyed ourselves none the less, sort of. Good banter back at the Hillend Tav! Night not a total bust!

Pete

Archive: mini-league 4, season 2011-12(final standings)

2012-01-25T10:44:00.003Z

Here is a record of Winter League 4 showing the final standings, if you want to track your progress. Click here for all previous mini-leagues
"I'm pleased to say the last league was even more active than the previous with 192 games played, despite it being the holiday period. Let's see if we can keep this up for the rest of the season as it does help people to find the right level and get better games. " D.Brown (Grange League Sec.)

Click in the frame and scroll down to see your particular league.

Grange 2nd Ladies at ESC2(Mon, Jan 23)

2012-01-23T23:35:00.005Z

Captain Caroline was 2-0 up and serving well despite the low ceiling but ran out of legs in the fifth.

Alex Stewart battled 1 game in 4 out of her opponent as did Dawn. Jennie lost in 3.

At #1, Karen Kennedy took out her frustration at being relegated to the seconds with a 3-1 win over Anna Cumming.

Overall 1-4, 9-18 on points.

Supper was fab baked tatties with a selection of 10 toppings. Not necessarily all at once, Mackers!

Ladies home v C.L.A.S.S... (Mon, Jan 23)

2012-01-23T23:11:00.005Z

The Colinton colleens turned up at "Fortress (in terms of ladies squash these days, that is) Grange", both teams having won their first match in the 2012 season last week. So someone was going to lose their unbeaten status, who would it be?

Jacque White beat Kirstin Everett for the loss of just 7 points total and Georgina Jamieson maintained her winning stats with a 3-1 over Kirsty MacLachlan.

Lottie Fulton at #3 secured the bonus points with a 3-game win over Lynn Grant. Catherine John conceded just 11 points to Joan Shanks at #2 so CLASS were looking to Kim Byers to salvage some pride- unfortunately for her and Donna, it was not to be - a cracking match was in prospect only for Kim to pull her thigh after just 6 points and concede.

Overall 5-0, 20-3 for the Grange girls who remain unbeaten and yet to drop a point. Hopefully this goes toward preventing a repeat of the 1-point league loss of 2011.

Now the food bit, in italics so that Richie Mac can skip straight to it:

Unlike the men last week, the ladies enjoyed an unspoilt tea and possibly savoured a crushing win over their Old Firm rivals by pushing the total bar tab over £6, an astronomical sum for ladies leagues! A selection of choccy cakes finished things off nicely. ;-)

Teams:Grange 1 vs C.L.A.S.S. 88

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Donna Cruickshank	1	3	27	Kim Byers	0	0	0	Forfeit
2	Catherine John	1	3	27	Joan Shanks	0	0	11
3	Lottie Fulton	1	3	27	Lynn Grant	0	0	11
4	Georgina Jamieson	1	3	33	Kirsty Maclachlan	0	1	11
5	Jacque White	1	3	27	Kirstin Everett	0	0	7
Total		5	15	141		0	1	40
Competition Points		18				1

Grange 3 home v Dalgety Bay 3 (Thu 19th Jan)

2012-01-20T15:20:00.002Z

An inauspicious start to the second half of the season for the thirds despite the on-paper strength of the selected team.

Christy Looby at No5 had a slightly shaky start against Colin Boswell to lose the first before a good second game saw him level the scores. Unfortunately he increasingly fell away in the next two as Colin took very firm control and never really gave Christy a look in after that. A 1-3 loss for Christy.

Alan Stokes at No1 was up against the young David Beaumont. David took the first off Alan very comfortably but then Alan dug in and took the next two with increasing dominance. Alan tried to mess with David's mind as befits a wily old stager against a young pup…but David was made of sterner stuff than that and ran out with the last two to leave Alan with a 2-3 loss.

At No2 Mike Gore took on the hard-hitting Scott Boswell. Mike played well in patches, particularly in the third game which he could well have stolen but in the end was well beaten 0-3.

At no 4 Stuart Moffat was given a hard time by the deceptively agile and very wily Gerry Burton in the first two games. In the third game Stuart's identical twin brother came out on court (the one that can really play..) and only conceded a single point in the next two games. An absorbing struggle in the last saw Stuart grab it 9-7 and thus the match 3-2.

The evening ended (rather quickly) with Mark Dutton up against the useful Craig Pounder at No3. The first game went Craig's way after some early resistance from Mark and the second was reasonably close but the third was over in the blinking of an eye with Craig hitting a purple patch and Mark being ..well...distinctly non-purple.

A 7-19 loss overall. Pizzas slightly disappointing….not up to the usual Franco's standard. (Mark reports)

Teams:Grange 3 vs Dalgety Bay 3

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Alan Stokes	0	2	26	David Beaumont	1	3	33
2	Mike Gore	0	0	10	Scott Boswell	1	3	27
3	Mark Dutton	0	0	8	Craig Pounder	1	3	27
4	Stuart Moffat	1	3	36	Gerry Burton	0	2	26
5	Christy Looby	0	1	18	Colin Boswell	1	3	33
Total		1	6	98		4	14	146
Competition Points		6				17

GRG2 Vs Edinburgh Uni 1 (18 Jan 2012)

2012-01-19T13:07:00.004Z

The 2s were back on the road this week up against the Edinburgh Uni 1st team who are currently flying very high in Div 2 in comparison to our lowly standing at second bottom. None of us were expecting any sort of upset tonight, having said that we were up for it as we definitely has our strongest team of the season so far.

Gordy Sloan was on first at number 5 against Alex Iveson. Both players were evenly matched and played very similar games. The first 2 games were shared and looked like it could go either way however Alex showed real determination and went up a few gears to make sure he kept Gordy at bay. 3-1 to uni.

Robin Steel was on at 4 versus Zahan. When I arrived both were having a wee knock up. When Robin found out that this guy was going to be his opponent he was less than impressed! From what I hear Robin stuck in and worked hard. Unfortunately not enough against an opponent of this level.

Ian Forbes at three was in a similar boat to Robin playing against Tom Metcalf. Another very handy individual meaning the result was only going to go one way.

At 1 and 2 was myself and the returning Duncan Walker. Dunc gave a good account of himself at 1 against Nick Roberts getting to 8-8 at one point so I was told.
Myself at 2 against nasty Nigel narrowly avoided the triple bagel. Nuff said!!

All in all a solid beating was taken, but we took it well! We hit vodka revolution afterwards where Gordy and I attempted to re-live our youth! God knows what would have happened if we didn’t “have the car”, “have to get up in the morning” or had been 10 years younger!! Great food (best of the season). Plenty of room for my burger after my 2 bagels – Yum!

Pete

Grange 4 home v ESC4 – Tuesday 17/01/2012

2012-01-18T11:03:00.010Z

The second half of squash fixtures rumbled back into town and the fourth team entertained the league leaders at the Academy. The opening fixture at the sports club saw the fourths pick up 3 points and we were looking for an improvement in our home fixture.

First up were Brian Sloan and Dougie Brown playing at 4 and 1 respectively.
Brian was playing Scott Beard with myself marking, the opening set was typical with both players trying gauge their opponents strengths and weakness. Brian took the first set 9-5 with some good hitting and Scott’s reluctance to ask for anything. The next 2 sets followed a similar pattern to the first with each player bagging a set a piece with Scott taking the 2nd 6-9 and Brian taking the third 10-8. A change in marker and a bit of fatigue creeping in saw Brian lose the next 2 sets 2-9, 3-9 for a 3-2 loss for the Grange.

Meanwhile Dougie was taking on Mark on the court next door. The first set was cat and mouse with both players settling into their rhythm with Mark eventually winning 5-9. The next 2 sets followed a similar pattern with lots of early change of serves, Dougie getting his nose in front only for Mark to impose himself on the match taking them, 4-9, 5-9 for a 3-0 loss for the Grange.

Next up was myself and Jonathon Major playing at 5 and 3 respectively.
I was playing Tony (apologies for not writing down Tony surname) and a seesaw first set saw me prevail 9-5. The next set saw Tony race to 0-8 before I woke from my slumber and managed to get on the board before losing it 2-9. The third set saw Tony getting to 2-8 before I somehow managed to claw my way back into the set taking it 10-8. I was again generous in the fourth allowing Tony to race into 1-8 lead before any sort of resistance was mounted, a number of change of serves followed with Tony closing out the set 2-9. The fifth set was much more competitive with me getting the first points on the board for a change, and a tight struggle ensued with the score 6-7 to Tony, unfortunately I was unable to impose myself on the game and Tony eventually took the last set 7-9 for a 3-2 loss for the Grange.

Meanwhile Jonathon was playing Sean on the next court and two players very similar in build, style, technique and temperament started the match. It became apparent the Sean was just a better version of Jonathon and took the 3 sets 2-9, 5-9, 3-9 for a 3-0 loss for the Grange.
Last but not least was Will playing Mark Adderly at number 2 and a close 1st set was edged by Mark 10-8. The remaining sets saw Mark taking control with some strong controlled hitting and despite some strong running from Will, he was unable to turn things around losing them 3-9, 4-9, 3-0 loss for the Grange.

Match results including ref points was 20-6 to ESC4 and overall a disappointing result for the 4th’s against a very strong side, but on a plus point we did manage to get 1 more point than our last outing against them.

It was then back to the clubhouse for the traditional Beer and Pizza feast, where the dreaded Ham and Pineapple variety managed to sneak through the quality control,

It may just be me but cooked pineapple is just evil.

Talked turned to Captain’s responsibilities and just as Brian was looking a bit perplexed it turned out to be if you were in charge of a big liner that had just sunk in the Mediterranean and not the squash teams. Very newsworthy. Report N. Love

Teams:Grange 4 vs Edinburgh Sports Club 4

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Dougie Brown	0	0	14	Mark Hallam	1	3	27
2	Will Henderson	0	0	15	Mark Adderley	1	3	28
3	Jonathan Major	0	0	10	Sean Morgan	1	3	27
4	Brian Sloan	0	2	28	Scott Beard	1	3	31
5	Neil Love	0	2	30	Tony Newell	1	3	40
Total		0	4	97		5	15	153
Competition Points		4				18

Ladies debut a new player at Myreside (Mon, Jan 16, '12)

2012-01-16T22:31:00.007Z

Welcome aboard the good ship Grange to Georgina Jamieson whose vital stats can be clicked here. Although she was 1 game down against #4 Margaret Clarke before remembering how she played squash and closing out 3-1.

Tonight the Captain left the crew to the ship, but unlike a certain Italian cruiser, it was not sinking at the time. In fact, the Captain and the

Kiwi have been thrown off the ship due to the wealth of female talent at Grange Squash. That despite taking the team to within a point of the title in the first half.

Donna at #1 had Rachel Collins crushing the ball to little effect.

Catherine John beat Alexis at #2 and Jules won 3-2 against #5 Christine Cochrane.

Match of the night was Lottie who beat ex-Grange Club Champ Christine Graham 3-1 in a very entertaining match where rallies ebbed and flowed. Including one great save from oor Lottie 0-7 down and avoided what would have been a tense 5th game.

Overall 20-6 and the Grange Dreadnought makes a good start to 2012.
Supper was a fab vegetarian lasagne, unbelievably some ladies had seconds depriving Richie Mac who was lurking in the background on the pretence of "training". Desert consisted of home-made cake.

The greater spotted world ranked player seen at Grange

2012-01-08T21:26:00.008Z

For thirty five years, Grange has not seen a world-ranked player, then in 2012 two come along at once.

Gorzer, Loobzer and The Claymore turned up for team training and were treated to some scintilating viewing as Alan Clyne and Kev Moran had the same idea.

17 inch tins are now being considered for Court 4 & 5 to cope with the influx of world-ranked pro's to the club.

Well qualified addition to Grange's coaching panel...

2012-01-07T19:53:00.004Z

The Grange Squash Club is pleased to announce Kevin Moran is available to team players and other members as a professional performance coach.

Kevin is ranked #1 in Scotland on The Matrix, and currently #191 in the world rankings. He will also be the highest-qualified pro coach in Scotland as he is completing UKCC Level 3 with Sarah Fitzgerald's former coach Roger Flynn & he is currently certified to UKCC Level 2.

Kevin promises to be a great addition to the coaching and playing panel at Grange, which already consists of full-time coach Mike Hall and and part-tim coaches John Bain, Alan Stokes, Fiona McLaren and Christy Looby.

The second ladies on the rise...

2011-12-19T22:38:00.003Z

Congrats to GRG2 Ladies, who not only improved their position over the previous leagues, they also beat two experienced teams in Tyne & Watsonians2 and topped the meals table afterwards.

Division 3 Results

Teams Ladder

Team	Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Bonus Points	Total
Waverley 2	Comp Points		15	15	15	18		16	12	15	13	14	133
	Games		12	12	12	15		13	9	12	10		95
Tyne	Comp Points	8	14	3	15		14	9	15		7	16	101
	Games	8	11	3	12		11	9	12		7		73
Watsonians 2	Comp Points	12		13	3	12	8		8	16	10	0	82
	Games	9		10	3	9	8		8	13	10		70
Grange 2	Comp Points	7	3	8		1	3	14		9	14	6	65
	Games	7	3	8		1	3	11		9	11		53
Abercorn 2	Comp Points	15	5		6	8	15	4	6	3		0	62
	Games	12	5		6	8	12	4	6	3			56

The captain's Xmas grog

2011-12-19T13:15:00.003Z

9 teamsters competed for the grog this year. Rocco & Robin Pollok played as ex-Grog-winners & we welcomed back Duncan Walker.
In the A round robin of 4 players, Dougie Brown won while Mike Douglas came second. Mark Dutton similarly beat all in the B round robin of 5 players while Nick Wood ran up.
In the semi, Mike struck good form to end Mark's run and Nick was too strong for Dougie.
Nick won the final with Mike unable to keep the winners flowing.
Thanks to Peter Cockburn for sourcing a nice bottle of Bowmore for the prize.

Grange ladies last match - the title at stake

2011-12-12T23:32:00.007Z

Well Grange bt Waverley 4-1, 19-6. Click here for team list. So who does go down, and who wins overall, depends on CLASS v ESC happening simultaneously at Colinton Palace.
CLASS now need 17 or more to win, and ESC need 9 to stay up and send Waverley down.

CLASS bt ESC 17-6

CLASS win overall after a few years of Sports Club dominance, Sports Club now face 3 months in Div 2, if they had consistently had a qualified referee, they'd have stayed up!
Congrats to Kim Byers and her team and well played all 5 teams for such a tight sporting league.

Teams Ladder

Team	Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Bonus Points	Total
C.L.A.S.S. 88	Comp Points	12		15	9	5	12		12	16	15	16	112
	Games	9		12	9	5	9		9	13	12		78
Grange 1	Comp Points	8	8	9	13		8	14	18		17	16	111
	Games	8	8	9	10		8	11	15		14		83
Watsonians 1	Comp Points	9	16		10	15	11	12	2	3		16	94
	Games	9	13		10	12	11	9	2	3			69
Waverley 1	Comp Points		5	15	12	15		8	9	5	4	16	89
	Games		5	12	9	12		8	9	5	4		64
Edinburgh Sports Club 1	Comp Points	13	12	5		4	14	8		16	7	8	87
	Games	10	9	5		4	11	8		13	7		67

Hard luck, the Grange girls and well fought. You might have lost out by 1 point this time, but this is a team on the up and your day will come.

2012 holds the promise of another tight league with Dalgety Bay coming up and Grange possibly introducing another signing to beat the transfer window.

Grange Ladies set for a breakout season finale THIS Mon

2011-12-11T22:03:00.004Z

Ladies play Waverley at home on Mon Dec 12, in a dramatic finale to East Div 1 Oct-Dec 2011.

At the same time, at Colinton, C.L.A.S.S.1.9.8.8.l.o.t.s.o.f.f.u.l.l.s.t.o.p.s entertain Edin Sports Club. Whichever of the 2 home teams has a decisive win, will win the title. Conversely, whichever of the away teams has a decisive loss, will be relegated. Or the underdogs could both triumph overwhelmingly, to walk away with the prize.

Good luck, Go Grange girls! Some good squash to watch at Grange tomorrow night.

Team	Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Bonus Points	Total
C.L.A.S.S. 88	Comp Points	12		15	9	5	12		12	16		12	93
	Games	9		12	9	5	9		9	13			66
Grange 1	Comp Points	8	8	9	13		8	14	18			14	92
	Games	8	8	9	10		8	11	15				69
Watsonians 1	Comp Points	9	16		10	15	11	12	2	3		14	92
	Games	9	13		10	12	11	9	2	3			69
Waverley 1	Comp Points		5	15	12	15		8	9	5		12	81
	Games		5	12	9	12		8	9	5			60
Edinburgh Sports Club 1	Comp Points	13	12	5		4	14	8		16		4	76
	Games	10	9	5		4	11	8		13			60

Grange 5 vs Waverley 3

2011-12-09T19:02:00.007Z

Last night was the eagerly awaited chance to beat the table-topping Waverley 3. Or not.

Played on the night of the storms, I was a little concerned to arrive at Accies to find the car park closed and most of the lights out. We parked on the main road and then risked life and limb to walk like a drunkard to the sports centre to find everyone else there waiting. Unfortunately, I'd left my bag in the car so had to make the trip twice more. Even St George's courts would have felt warm after that.

This week, our arctic adventurers were Mike (me), Neil Love, Dave Gibson, John Matthews and Bill Marshall.

First up were John and Bill. John, in only his second match, started well and seemed to have the measure of his opponent moving to 6-4 before an almighty crash with a wall left him impersonating Sylvester with little Tweety Pie's circling his head. This clearly impacted his game and it's probably best to pick this game up 19 points later with John 6-9, 0-9, 0-5. As the pain subsided he had a mini-rally to 4-6 before losing 4-9. Stiff shoulder, pained looks, but you should see the wall!

On the other court Bill was clearly intimidated by his opponents shots during the warm up. But as they started the match it felt pretty even. But while his opponent took a point here and there, Bill struggled to score on his serve and lost 1-9. The next two followed a similar pattern with Bill having plenty of serve opportunities, but not getting that run of points and went down 4-9, 4-9. Best of the action was a handful of precision drives straight to his opponents racket, who had given up on the back wall, when a drop would have been a winner. Key stat? 34 serves and only 9 points, it was a lot closer than the score suggests. 0-2.

Dave Gibson was next in his third ever match having won the first two comfortably. But his opponent was just too quick and crisp and the game was over in a trice 3-9, 0-9, 1-9.

Neil was meanwhile puting up a stronger show after losing the first 1-9. But his opponent was again too strong and that was over 4-9, 5-9.

So, 0-4 down and it was just after 8.30pm. We weren't sure if Franco's served pizza this early, so Neil went to check.

Last up me. Captain and facing a whitewash - no pressure then.

My opponent looked perky, not as in Pinky, but as in eager, quick, fast, lithe - you get the picture. The first game was cat and mouse and after 15 serves the score was 2-2. But some uncharacteristically tight play saw me pull into a lead and close it out 9-6. Phew, the quintuple bagel was off. The second was a similar game and was won 9-7. Now by this stage, my opponent hadn't broken sweat, which I wasn't sure was a good thing. The next game over quickly 1-9. Unfortunately, the next two were identical with close play to 4-4 before superior fitness and talent brought up 4-9, 4-9.

So, all in all just 4 points from the evening. But at least I managed to postpone the pizza call to a respectable time of the evening.

Worth closing with a comment about the great spirit the game was played in. Good game and good banter. Thanks guys, and good luck with promotion.

Mike

GRG1 Vs Waverly 1 (05 Dec 2011)

2011-12-08T20:24:00.002Z

Was a chilly winters night when we rocked up to Waverly. Cold outside, nice and toasty inside in the new(ish) looking Waverly. The new courts were looking fantastic! Hopefully I'll be saying the same about the new grange ones sometime soon??

The heaters were blowing hard when Me and Nick Wood went on. I played David Munro who I have played before. Giving away a few years I had to resort to old man tactics to try and slow things down given the temp on court. Especially after I got blasted of the court in the first. Was kinda of working in the second as I went 7-3 up, after about 4 hours of rallies! Didn't make the most of it though. Pumped 3-0 in the end!

Nick next door up against Greg Nicholson, a man that seems to be expert in nearly every sport he plays! The heat seemed to be effecting Nick as well as long long rallies took their toll. Another long game but the same result 3-0 to Greg.

RVL finally popped his head over gallery towards the end of my match. At 1 he went straight on which was probably a mistake. By the time I got upstairs he was already 1-0 down against Scott Tulloch. Rich was playing pretty loose allowing Scott to power ahead. 9-2 to Scott in the second, not looking good! the start of the third saw Scott shift into overdrive which was a bit terrifying for me so I went to mark next door!. Surpirsed to hear Rich bagged that one! Unfortunately the come back wasn't on though. 3-1 to Scott

Big Robin Steel went on at 5 against Waverly's Andy Murray. Not a good season so far for Robin but I always new he had it in him. Tight drops massive drives, andy had nothing. the big man was back! 3-0 Boom!

Points on the board now so not a total disaster. Michael Grinton at 3 went up against Niven Simpson. Match of the night. Michael played superbly to clinch it 3-1. The match was swinging both ways. Either could have taken it but it was Michael who came through to make sure we got some more points on the board. Awesome!

Pizza and beer afterwards. Good laugh with the boys. will be looking forward to the return match. Time for a rest!

Hopefully we can field something slightly stronger next year. Been tough 1st half for the boys but big smiles all round means onwards and upwards for GRG1!

Pete

Grange 2 v David Lloyd Newhaven, Wed 7th Dec

2011-12-08T15:38:00.001Z

It was never going to be an easy outing against a very good DLN1 side with every one of our players well below his opponent in Matrix rankings (as unreliable a guide as that can be…)

The Grange team started out very promisingly with Mark Dutton taking the 5th string match against Frenchman Gregory Leplatre 3-1. Gregory took the first game but then Mark wisely decided to go the "unorthodox" route with plenty of corkscrew serves and dives. That seemed to unnerve Gregory just enough to give Mark the edge…particularly the two point-winning dives in the last two rallies of the match.

Mike Gore likewise gave the Grange some hope when he was 2 games to 1 up against the useful Taryne Lowe . Taryne pegged him back though in the last two and Mike went down 2-3.

The remaining three matches were all very tough encounters indeed and I don't think any of the Grange players would mind if I just summarised by saying that while they all played very decent squash they were simply outclassed by better players on the night (results below). Each Grange player had periods where they matched their opponents but were never in with a realistic chance of taking a match given the way their respective opponents were playing.

A 7-18 loss for the troops….

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Alan Stokes	0	0	5	Ali Fleming	1	3	27
2	Allan Wallace	0	0	9	Ken Maxwell	1	3	27
3	Gordon Sloan	0	0	5	Charles Robertson	1	3	27
4	Mike Gore	0	2	28	Taryne Lowe	1	3	36
5	Mark Dutton	1	3	33	Gregory Leplatre	0	1	21
Total		1	5	80		4	13	138
Competition Points		5

Grange 2 v David Lloyd Newhaven 1 - 7th December 2011.

2011-12-08T14:36:00.001Z

It was never going to be an easy outing against a very good DLN1 side with every one of our players well below his opponent in Matrix rankings (as unreliable a guide as that can be…).
The Grange team started out very promisingly with Mark Dutton taking the 5th string match against Frenchman Gregory Leplatre 3-1. Gregory took the first game but then Mark wisely decided to go the "unorthodox" route with plenty of corkscrew serves and dives. That seemed to unnerve Gregory just enough to give Mark the edge…particularly the two point-winning dives in the last two rallies of the match.

Mike Gore likewise gave the Grange some hope when he was 2 games to 1 up against the useful Taryne Lowe . Taryne pegged him back though in the last two and Mike went down 2-3.
The remaining three matches were all very tough encounters indeed and I don't think any of the Grange players would mind if I just summarised by saying that while they all played very decent squash they were simply outclassed by better players on the night (results below). Each Grange player had periods where they matched their opponents but were never in with a realistic chance of taking a match given the way their respective opponents were playing.
A 7-18 loss for the troops….

Three's at Dean, Wed Dec 7

2011-12-07T22:14:00.003Z

Across the cobbles at our neighbours. Richard Nisbet faced Ian Black at #5 for a 3-0 win. Christy got wiped out by Drew Mackenzie at #1. Even stevens so far. Or Shakin stevens if you were on court 2 ;-)

Dougie was getting beat to the punch by Matthew Hunter and 1 down, thought he scraped a game for the team, shading the third 10-9. Matthew comfortably took the next one, then inexplicably eased off on the pressure and Dougie saw out a surprise but welcome win.

Moff at 4 shaded the first 10-8 with David Thompson but a hard-hit turning ball by David saw Stu go into overdrive to win the other 2 comfortably.

Will Henderson at 3 against James Birkhead, giraffe-like in his reach. Easy peasy Will, throw up your best lobs and lobs serves, sure that will feed the beast. No chance, Will even threw in 5 clean serve aces to come back from 2-7 in 1 game, won 3-0.

Overall 4-1 17-7 to keep us in contention for escaping relegation in the second half. If we pull that off, we'll be the Lazarus team of the East. Just need to complete personal terms with the big name signing before the transfer window.

Francos pizza and ginger beer in the sun lounge, just like a good night at Grange. I managed to stayt sober, by leaving before swigging the ginger beer.(Report Loob)

Grange 4 v Dalgety Bay 4, More ladies please…….

2011-12-07T22:11:00.001Z

Not a lot to be said about this extremely poor performance by the 4's. The whole evening was a bit of a shambles with very poor performances seeing all the guy's lose 3-0 and needlessly throw away points.

Thankfully Donna was on hand to spare the team blushes with an excellent battling performance to win 3-2 at number 5 against an opponent who couldn't come to terms with her variations in play finding good length amongst some fantastic boasts. I think rest of the ladies team would have put up a much better performance had they turned out instead of the male contingent tonight.

It is a pity the Christmas break didn't arrive a week earlier however a few weeks off will give us all a chance to recharge the batteries. (Report: David Grieve)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	David Grieve	0	0	14	Colin Boswell	1	3	27
2	Tom McEwan	0	0	4	Stephen Literacki	1	3	27
3	Dean Wood	0	0	8	Willie Shultz	1	3	27
4	Mike Slack	0	0	9	Stuart Greg	1	3	28
5	Donna Cruikshank	1	3	40	Scott Drummond	0	2	35
Total		1	3	75		4	14	144
Competition Points		3				17

O'Brien Bucket final

2011-12-05T10:12:00.006Z

The 2011 O'Brien Bucket final was played on Friday, in a very tight 5 setter in which both players had match point. A gripping final which ebbed and flowed and frankly left players, spectatators and referree exhausted by the end.
The fifth game score was 16-14, won by Richard Nisbet over Brian Sloan!
Well done to all Bucket contestants, particularly Richard & Brian on a great run in the competition this year and an entertaining final. Enjoy the racket bag and wine, guys, you earned them!

Colinton Castle 7 versus Grange 5 – Friday 2 nd December 2011

2011-12-03T14:28:00.005Z

A much changed side assembled for this attractive fixture, a Friday night at Colinton Castle.

With people keen to be elsewhere we started right on time with Bill Marshall and Rocco Pannozzo playing at 5 and 4 respectively.

Bill was playing Mark Fairbairn and the first set was a close affair with Mark edging it 9-7, the second set followed the same pattern with Mark keeping his nose in front and closing it out 9-7. We weren’t prepared for what happened next, perhaps it was Mark’s recent 4 week visit to Thailand catching up with him or that Bill was suddenly hitting every shot a millimetre above the tin, but the result was sets 3 and 4 went to Bill 9-1, 9-0. We were eagerly awaiting the final set, was it to be Bill closing out another quick set or Mark refinding his touch from the earlier in the match. Unfortunately for us Mark got back on top and took the set 9-4 for a 2-3 loss for the Grange.

Meanwhile Rocco was taking on a familiar adversary in the form of Bob Baikie on the court next door. The first set saw Rocco having chances to impose himself on the game, but in many cases after setting up the point to apply the deadly finish, the ball somehow found the tin. First set to Bob 9-2. The remaining 2 sets followed a similar pattern with Rocco tinning regularly from strong positions. Bob taking sets 2 and 3, 9-3, 9-5 for a 3-0 loss for the Grange.

Remarkably both games finished exact at the time and this brought myself and Dean on court playing at 3 and 2 respectively. I was playing Adam Hill and to keep with the theme of the Evening Adam was keen to get things over with as the kids were home alone. Adam raced out of the blocks and was quickly 8-0 up in the first and I eventually got on the scoreboard and preceded to get the game back to 8-8, after a few handouts, I was unable to close the set out and Adam went on to win the first 10-8. My generous spirit continued in the second and Adam took it 9-2. A bit of a revival in the third saw me edge in front 6-4 only for my opponent to take the set 9-6. After a couple of wins for teams it was back to familiar score of Neil Love Love, 3-0 loss for the Grange.

Meanwhile Dean was playing Jamie Davidson on the other court and proceeded to take the first set very comfortably 9-2. Little did we know that this was the worst thing to do, as Dean was thinking about not beating Jamie too badly, he forgot to play any squash and lost sets 2 and 3, 9-1, 9-1. The die was cast in the 4 ^th set and Jamie was finding his range and regular nicks, Dean couldn’t find his mojo from the 1 ^st set and lost the 4 ^th 9-3 for 3-1 loss for the Grange. Dean was found to be wandering around the corridors muttering “I hate winning the first set too easy and how did I lose that one” A trip to the sports psychologist couch appears to be in order or some words of wisdom from our all-knowing readers.

Last but not least was Tom playing Derek Barr at number 1 and a close 1 ^st set was edged by Derek 10-8. The remaining sets saw Derek taking control and despite some strong running from Tom he was unable to turn things around losing them 9-3, 9-4, 3-0 loss for the Grange.

Match results including ref points was 20 -5 to CC7 and overall a disappointing result for the 5 ^th ’s.

The people who stayed were treated to Tuna pasta bake, Dean was able to get the vegetarian option from CC4 who were hosting Dean 1 and talk turned to the terrible start of the season that CC7 had endured and how strong the top 3 teams in the division are, a quick look at the fixture list reveals that the 5 ^th ’s next 4 games are against the top 3 with an away trip to Dunbar for good measure.

A bit of a challenge if I ever saw one.

Match report by Neil Love

Editor's comments:

Bill Nil no more
Neil Love no more
Dean, whats the score?
Play the whole game mate!

Artemis open for entries

2011-12-03T14:15:00.004Z

Entry Form (click to download)

Threes home v Colinton 3's(Thurs Dec 1)

2011-12-02T00:22:00.004Z

Frustrating night. Richard Nisbet lost in 5 to Michael Brown and so did Will Henderson to Stuart Keane.

Dougie was getting picked off by boasts from the back by Kim Byers and Christy was not at the races against Hamish Reid. (So much so, Hamish had to go for a cycle to burn a decent number of calories on the night). Mike Gore fought the brave fight with Adam Lord, similar end result though.

MotM was probably Michael Brown who was on the verge of boiling over but kept a lid on it and channelled his energy positively for 41 points (48 is the theoretical max)

Some good banter over pizza, including increduluous stories of the Colinton 1 v 2's derby tie featuring the McBride brothers match, the squash equivalent of Kramer vs Kramer.

Overall 0-5, 6-20 in points. Bring on The Dean next week.
Match Result

Division:	3
Round:	8
Date:	1/12/2011
Teams:	Grange 3 vs Colinton Castle 3

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Mike Gore	0	0	13	Adam Lord	1	3	27
2	Christy Looby	0	0	13	Hamish Reid	1	3	27
3	Dougie Brown	0	0	15	Kim Byers	1	3	28
4	Will Henderson	0	2	29	Stuart Keane	1	3	40
5	Richard Nisbet	0	2	29	Michael Brown	1	3	41
Total		0	4	99		5	15	163
Competition Points		4				18

GRG2 Vs ESC3 (29 Nov 2011)

2011-11-29T22:36:00.002Z

Another heroic performance by the 2s tonight which makes 8 in a row by my count! Unfortunately we met with some stiff opposition in ESC3 who are flying high in the league I think (hope!).

Mark Dutton was on first against Slasher Snowden. Slasher was slashing and Mark was diving in what was an entertaining bout! Slashers just crushed the ball far to much for Mark whose heroic court coverage could only get him so far. 0-3

Gordon (100%) Sloan was on against old nemesis JJ Tait. Damn close 9-7, 7-9 ,9-7 to JJ. Gordon was playing some lovely squash hitting good lengths and moving JJ well. 9-5 to JJ in the fourth with all on the balcony (mainly ESC) conceding he is just a lucky b*stard! Still no victory for Sloan . His nemesis continues.

Match of the night was the 2 Ians playing at 3. Fast and furious stuff with Ian Forbes grabbing the lead with some attacking boasting! Ian sanders settled in though nicely in the second to take it 9-0 with some tight driving which weathered Ian F's attacks. Ian F battled back as they shared the next 2. The 5th game was tight with Ian F demanding "2 more minutes!" from himself. Unfortunately Ian S didn't have that amount of time and closed out 2-3.

Big Robin Steel back in the fold! Previous matches this season had not been too pleasant for old Robin. Hopefully now in the 2s he would find his stride! Stuart Tennent was having now of it though and quickly went on to grab the first 2. I missed the rest but was glad to hear Robin grabbed one to go down 1-3. I decent result against a tidy player.

Myself got fairly well battered at one against lefty Barry Masson. Kept myself in it for as long as possible but was fairly out gunned. 0-3

Great scran afterwards however (prob best of the season so far if anyone really cares!!). Good craic with the boys as well over a few beers. All good!

Grange Girls on top

2011-11-28T22:36:00.007Z

A 5-0 clean-out of table-topping Watsonians - the first time this season a team has scored maximum points. The first time in years that Grange has won away to Watsonians' lovely but cold courts. Thank you rain for keeping the temperature in double figures.

Donna Cruickshank bt Alexis Manson 3-0. Very close game with two games going to 10. Both players were experts at drop shots but Donna was more hungry. Lots of wheezing on court... Catherine John bt Christina Graham 3-0. Great game to watch, some excellent squash on display but young legs outshone very experienced ones. Lottie Fulton bt Christine Cochrane 3-0. Tentative start to the game, bit of a lapse but then back on track to close the match. Anna Gaskell bt Margaret Clarke 3-1. Demon Anna strikes again.

Karen Kennedy bt Suzie Laughland 3-1. Cat and mouse game, but the mouse was more agile this time....looking forward to the next encounter.

Supper was lovely - baked potatoes with veggie ratatuille and cheese followed by some very nice Crimbles. There was also some tortilla chips but bit of confusion as to where the dips had gone.

------------------------

Overall the score was 20-4 which overturns a 12-point lead and puts Grange 1 in first place, for now. We have a bye next week but we are in danger of being top of the division at the end of this league... Bit dizzy up here but I'm sure we could get used to it.(KK)

EAST DIV 1 Ladies

Team

Round

Bonus
Points

Total

Comp Points

Comp Points

Comp Points

Comp Points

Edinburgh Sports Club 1

Comp Points

Grange 4 Reach Mid-Table Heights

2011-11-25T14:50:00.010Z

The fourths were perhaps a little fortunate to catch CCS 5 with 4 call-offs this week. But as we thought about it, two of our team played for the fifths last year and two were reserves for the fifths. This weeks intrepid heroes were Mike (myself), Brian, Matt, Neil and David Gibson (don't confuse the initials on the matrix with our very own Sicknote).

First up was David whose opponent had the oddest receive of serve from the forehand court - he was standing IN the service box. Most unusual. However, Dave got off to a great start taking the first with ease before his opponent began to get to grips with the running down of every ball and David lost the second 1-9. But normal service was quickly restored, and David won 3-1, a great start.

Over on court 2 (or was it 27 - can't remember, they have so many to choose from) 'Neil Love Love' was restoring pride with a confident display. The first was over to 4 in a game where Neil lived on the 'T' and at 8-5 in the second all was well. But just to prove we can take the Barbarian spirit anywhere, Neil proceeded to go 8-9 down before saving 2 game points and rescuing it 10-9. The third was over quickly to 5 and we were 2-0 up.

Matt's game was a battle of styles with Matt's 'whack it and run' game up against his opponent's 'how did he hit a drop from there' game. The first game was tight and Matt just lost out 6-9. As he got a drink, he was heard to mutter "It's just like playing bl**dy Harvey". But Matt soon got the measure and after edging the second 9-6, he ran out 9-0, 9-1.

Brian was in masterful form and really gave his poor opponent no chance and was quickly 9-2, 9-1 up. A minor rally by his opponent saw a tighter third game, but still a victory at 9-7.

Last up was me playing an opponent I now realise is third ranked in the division. The first was tight to 5-5, but was lost 5-9 to some cheap points. The second was better with fewer errors and a 9-6 brought the game level. But his better length began to tell and the third was gone 3-9. The fourth was tight to 4-4 before more cheap points brought up 4-8. Some brave defending and good luck saw several match points saved, but two 'out of court serves' didn't help and the game was lost 7-9.

All in all an 18 points well deserved - and showed the depth of talent the club has in the Division 4 - 5 standard.

Up in the bar for pie and beans. As someone left early there was an extra one. Who ate all the pies? I don't know, best ask David Gibson.

Threes at Watsonians 2's(Wed, Nov 23,'11)

2011-11-24T13:07:00.002Z

After the maiden win last week hopes were high that the thirds could topple the Watsonians 2nds and it looked very much on the cards after the first two rubbers were won in fine style by Christy Looby and Stuart Moffat. But then reality struck and ..well…read on…

Christy Looby was first up at No 1 against top-performing Chris Weare and it has to be said that a routine win would have been anticipated by the Watsonians man given historic performance data. Christy however had other ideas and simply outplayed him in all departments to run out a very comfortable 9-2, 9-1, 9-4 winner. Christy's best performance of the season and two in a row for him now.

Fresh back from his Bahamas rugby trip, Stuart Moffat got quickly into his stride in his no5 match with Derek Davidson. Stuart has only recently resumed squash after quite a while out and he's been getting in a lot of matches lately and it's definitely showing. A very confident performance with power and touch in equal measure. A close 9-5, 9-5 tussle in the first two but Stuart always looked the more likely to move away with it and so it proved with a strong 9-0 last game.

Mark Dutton then went on at No2 against the very capable Graeme Murray. Graeme was simply too good with the volleys and drops and Mark was unable to move him from the middle of the court other than for a few brief hopeful periods. 2-9, 6-9, 5-9.

Richard Nisbet at no4 is playing better squash every week that he turns out for the thirds but on the night had a very difficult assignment against the very wily and unorthodox Peter Wilson. It was always very difficult to be sure what sort of shot Peter would conjure up out of thin air but Richard did a superb job of matching him virtually all the way. The first game went 7-9 and the second was a monster struggle that stayed 7-8 for what seemed like dozens of handouts till Peter grabbed it 7-9. The final game was similar and went the wrong way 6-9. A 0-3 loss was certainly not a fair reflection on the state of the match, but nonetheless that was the story.

It all depended on club stalwart Dougie Brown in his No3 match against Mike Robson. Nothing was given away by either player in a very cagey match where both players were content with protacted periods of percentage play each waiting their opportunities to strike. The only real difference in the end was the slightly higher success rate that Mike had when he chose his moments to go for it and maybe a tiny bit more fuel in the tank towards the end of a very long match. The final result was 8-10, 7-9, 5-9 and once again the 0-3 match result was a little unfair on paper to the Grange player.

The evening was completed in very fine style in the Watsonians bar with the usual monster servings of lasagne and salad and some fine beer and conversation. (Report: MD)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	1	3	27	Chris Weare	0	0	7
2	Mark Dutton	0	0	13	Graeme Murray	1	3	27
3	Dougie Brown	0	0	20	Mike Robson	1	3	27
4	Richard Nisbet	0	0	20	Peter Wilson	1	3	27
5	Stuart Moffat	1	3	27	Derek Davidson	0	0	8
Total		2	6	107		3	9	96
Competition Points		6				12

GRG2 Vs Waverly 2 (23/11/11)

2011-11-23T22:54:00.002Z

On a roll now .....sort of!

Second win for the 2s. Bottom of the table tester, came through with flying colours! Great result!

Home Team: Grange 2					Away Team: Waverley 2
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Pete Cockburn	1	3	30		Mike Read	0	1	28
2	Alan Stokes	1	3	29		Stephen Gullan	0	0	23
3	Allan Wallace	1	3	27		Richard Nettleton	0	0	19
4	Gordon Sloan	1	3	43		Dave Ferguson	0	2	36
5	Mike Gore	1	3	27		Donald Shearer	0	0	14
Total		5	15	156			0	3	120

Santa Spied Playing for 4ths

2011-11-23T15:09:00.007Z

As we head into the festive season, the 4ths turned up to play CCS6 with an interesting team of Mike (me), Matt, Doug, Dave (sicknote) and Catherine. Changed days from last season when only two of that team were regulars for the Barbarians.

Doug got us started at number 3 as he needed an early departure. But we didn't realise quite how early he meant, as he struggled to haul his Santa paunch (from his hols) around the court. Whilst he battled bravely, he just couldn't turn the rallies into points scoring just 9 points from 32 serves on his way to a 4-9, 2-9, 3-9 defeat.

Next up Catherine took to court at 5 and showed us scramblers what the game is all about. Like a playful lioness she ran her opponent around the court before ruthlessly dispatching him 9-6, 9-1 and 9-4.

Meanwhile, Sicknote was making a game of it on the other court. Having trailed for most of the first game, Dave put in a late spurt to close it out 9-7. The second game began tightly and with 15 rallies played the score was an exciting 1-1 before Dave pulled away for a 9-4. Dave was now completely in control and was soon 7-0 up before DISASTER STRUCK. Sicknote came down with man-flu in the middle of the game. Now obviously this impaired his movement and it is completely understandable that his opponent should claw back point after point to win 7-9 and give Colinton some hope. But, luckily, the man-flu left as mysteriously as it arrived and Dave edged the 4th game 9-4 to bring it up to 2-1.

Matt was next on court. Now Matt's game has come on leaps and bounds in the past year under the tutelage of Mr Hall. But this comes at a price. When told he was playing number 2 for the 4th team he went into a state of shock from which he didn't really recover. The last time I saw that look was when he discovered that his svelte frame and youthful years would give him a handicap of -5 in the BMI Cup! The first game started well enough and Matt was soon 6-1 up. But as his opponent began to get his measure, the game began to slip and it was soon over 6-9, 1-9, 3-9. 2-2 and into the deciding rubber.

Last up was yours truly ready to lead from the front to victory. The first three points were excellent and I was soon 3-0 when all of a sudden a little Santa's Elf appeared from behind the ventilation grill and just like Scrooge, I knew what Christmas was all about. As the game wore on, my top began to turn red and had this irresistable urge go give out presents. before I knew it I had put a couple in the tin and boasted from everywhere and the first was gone 3-9. The second followed the same path and by now my white beard was impairing my vision; 4-9. By the third, play was almost impossible with bushy eyebrows covering my eyes, I couldn't see, and the sound of jingling bells was most distracting. The presents continued amongst the most shocking shot selection and the game was lost 0-9 and an overall 2-3 defeat.

As has been so often this season we have been strong at the bottom of the order and struggled a bit at the top.

Anyone for coaching?

Yo ho ho.

(and the picture? It's Santa and squash of course...)

Ladies seconds record FV... good points too

2011-11-22T09:57:00.001Z

Teams:

Grange 2 vs Tyne

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Fiona McLaren	0	0	5	Katie Craig	1	3	27
2	Jo Petty	1	3	33	Julie Pearman	0	2	20
3	Dawn MacBrayne	1	3	31	Fiona MacKenzie	0	1	30
4	Alex Stewart	1	3	27	Caroline Wright	0	0	11
5	Jennie Guise	0	2	32	Susan Pirie	1	3	34
Total		3	11	128		2	9	122
Competition Points		14				9

Thirds get their FV(First Victory) @ Bank of Scotland

2011-11-18T10:14:00.001Z

Date:	17/11/2011
Teams:	Grange 3 vs Bank of Scotland

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Mike Gore	0	0	4	Ralph Bain	1	3	27
2	Christy Looby	1	3	31	Rob Norris	0	1	29
3	Mark Dutton	1	3	32	Robin Nisbet	0	2	31
4	Richard Nisbet	0	2	27	Phil Brown	1	3	43
5	David Gibson	1	3	27	Stuart Macdonald	0	0	8
Total		3	11	121		2	9	138
Competition Points		14				9

Grange 2 @ Home Vs Linlithgow 2s (16/11/11)

2011-11-16T23:33:00.004Z

After getting bagelled out at Linlithgow last week against their first team we were keen to put that behind us and get back in the chase for the elusive first win of the season.

Number 1 string was on first. Michael Grinton against LIN's Craig Mitchell. I clearly remember the stuffing Craig gave me last season so I was keen for Mike to go out and get me some pay back! first game easy! 9-1. Craig then seemed to remember the horsing he dished out last time he faced the Grange started hitting some great attacking boasts, lengths, widths, drops and kitchen sinks! 8-7 up in the 4th and serving for the match - Mike looked beat!! A long rally commenced with Craig stopping and asking for "just a let"!! I was ready to call a stroke but did not argue and bowed to his request. More back and fourth, more match balls but Mike dug deep and fought back to take it. 2-2 could we pinch the 1st string match?? Nah. Craig had enough of this back and fourth carry on and went on a 6 point role in the 5th to clinch it. A tough cookie!

Meanwhile Stokesy was battling Drew Purdie on court 1. Stokesy playing down at four feeling much more at home. 3-1 to the stokes. Still in the game.

Ian Forbes back in the fold at 3 against Ross Haston. Cruising after going 9-2, then 8-1 up. Looking good. Nabbed it 10-8 only to loose the third 2-9. Come on Ian!! Got the heid down and closed it 3-1 Great to have him back!

Dougie got off to a flyer at 5 against Alex Allan. Easy in the first 9-1. Alex got back in though to set up a stormer. Dougie had many a match ball in the fourth to clinch our first win of the season. Willed on by the growing crowd myself very much included could he do it?. Alex wanted more and claimed the fourth as i went on last against Sean Graham. Luckily Dougie sealed the deal before I kicked off. A young opponent who I easily beat a few years back. No chance these days 3-1 to Sean.

15-10. first win. I'll take it!

Event: East Open 2011/12, Round: 6, Division: 2, Match Date: 16/11/2011
Last Modified: 17/11/2011, By MyMatrix Logon: Pete Cockburn

	Home Team: Grange 2				Away Team: Linlithgow 2
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Michael Grinton	0	2	33	Craig Mitchell	1	3	37
2	Pete Cockburn	0	1	22	Sean Graham	1	3	34
3	Ian Forbes	1	3	30	Ross Haston	0	1	26
4	Alan Stokes	1	3	33	Drew Purdie	0	1	27
5	Dougie Brown	1	3	41	Alex Allan	0	2	27
Total		3	12	159		2	10	151