Wednesday 23 January 2008

Firsts home v David Lloyd 1 (Tues 22.01.08)

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

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

Overall 5-0, 20-5 on points.

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

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

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

Friday 18 January 2008

Firsts away v Colinton Castle 3 (Fri 18.01.08)

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

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

Overall 2-3, 11-16 on points.

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

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

Seconds vs Linlithgow 2 Thursday 17th Jan 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 17 January 2008

Grange Open "home" wins

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

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

The Finalists 2007

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

Wednesday 16 January 2008

O'Brien Bucket 2007






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


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



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


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

Tuesday 15 January 2008

Seconds away vs Hatton Wed 9th January

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Signed...Granny Dutton.

Monday 14 January 2008

Fourth Mini League Highlights

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your games!

Dougie Brown

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Firsts home v Mammas (Tues 08.01.08)

A good effort given the extra weight from Christmas.

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

Overall 4-1, 17-7 on points.

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

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