Grange 5 home v Waverley 4 (Thurs Mar 29)

The final scheduled game of the season almost never happened as our selectors forgot it was going on. A lot of frantic phoning on Wednesday night eventually mobilised 5 players although none of us really knew who was playing until we all arrived.

 

In team order, Craig Watt took on Yvonne Ferguson at 5 and was put to the sword by Yvonne's more accurate placement to go down 0-3. Ali Ross took on Brian Scott who showed his experience to also edge out a 0-3 score for Waverley . Angus MacPherson, probably the youngest player ever to have turned out for the 5's went on at 3 against Mike Gibson. Angus was in fine form and always in control to take a 3-0 win for Grange. David Grieve saw off the hard hitting Bernard Chizange 3-0 whilst victory was sealed by Andrew Beames with another 3-0 win over Martin Robertson. Overall a 12-8 win after 5 friendly and enjoyable games.

 

Back at the clubhouse the evening was extended by Franco's sending our Pizzas to the Dean in error however chat turned to the up and coming Racketball season (which kicks off next week for the Grange with a home tie against Dalgety Bay on Tuesday) and also to the BMI Cup, the eagerly awaited end of season tournament where most of our seasoned players hope to exert some revenge on our younger fitter colleagues with a weight and age favoured handicap system. (4th May from 2pm. Posters on the notice boards)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Andrew Beames	1	3	27			Martin Robertson	0	0	14
2	David Grieve	1	3	27			Bernard Chizanga	0	0	11
3	Angus MacPherson	1	3	28			Mike Gibson	0	0	13
4	Alastair Ross	0	0	18			Brian Scott	1	3	28
5	Craig Watt	0	0	10			Yvonne Ferguson	1	3	27
Total		3	9	110				2	6	93
Competition Points		12						6

Fifths home v David Lloyd of Corstorphine(Thurs, Mar 21)

A nice friendly fun-but-competitive fixture. Christy won the same number of points as #1 Blair Lochrie but he was fortunate to get most of them in the 3 games he won, ensuring the team got off to a good start.
  David Grieve had too much running and shots in his locker for John Wallace while Andrew Beames was in control against Andrew Green, DLL's youth policy Part I.
Pete Young played Cameron Green, brother &  Part II of DLL-youth-policy , this one went to 5 with Pete just about stumbling over the line after a sustained comeback from the young man.
 4-0 up in matches so far, we gathered on the balcony for Anto versus Elaine "I even lost another few kilos since Grange Open" Inglis, to see if the clean sweep was on. Some good squash with Elaine sending Anto the wrong way a few times but Anto ran everything down apart from a collapse in the 3rd.
   Back at the pavilion, talk turned to DLL2's end of season celebrations given that Cameron would need to be in bed by 10pm, plus plans for the upcoming racketball season at Grange.

Comedy moments were Blair having an open court but from point-blank range he hit the one spot he needed to miss - himself.
Followed in the next match by Pete Young having an open court but from point-blank range he hit the one spot he needed to miss - himself.
   Just one more match, against Waverley who are in the hypothetical relegation zone - perhaps we should invent a Vauxhall Conference so that Div 5 teams can be relegated ;-? We are safely mid-table. Overall, headmaster gives this team a C for competitive.

	Home Team: Grange 5					Away Team: David Lloyd 2
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	1	3	33		Blair Lochrie	0	2	33
2	Anthony Fitzgerald	1	3	32		Elaine Inglis	0	1	17
3	David Grieve	1	3	29		John Wallace	0	1	25
4	Andrew Beames	1	3	27		Andrew Green	0	0	15
5	Peter Young	1	3	43		Cameron Green	0	2	34

Threes at David Lloyd of Corstorphine (Wed, Mar 20)

A good finish with a scratch team on the night sees the thirds finish safely mid-table, won 7 lost 11. 

Division:	4
Date:	20/3/2013
Teams:	Grange 3 vs David Lloyd 1

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Robin Steel	0	0	12			Neil Abbey	1	3	27
2	Aoife Kerrin	1	3	42			Gordon Hope	0	2	35
3	Donna Cruickshank	0	2	38			Richard Gordon	1	3	32
4	Matt Pearson	0	0	11			Colin Grieve	1	3	27
5	no player	0	0	0	Forfeit		Craig Lax	1	3	27
Total		1	5	103				4	14	148
Competition Points		5						17

The 4's were not so lucky, won 3, lost 15 which sees them demoted to Div 5 next season.

Team	Bonus	Total
	Points
Heriot Watt Uni 3	32	313
Watsonians 3	34	287
Bank of Scotland	36	286
Colinton Castle 4	32	232
David Lloyd 1	31	229
Grange 3	34	223
Heriot Watt Uni 2	20	215
Waverley 3	34	163
Colinton Castle 5	30	136
Grange 4	16	135

GRG1 Vs DLN1 (19 Mar 2013)

Last game of the season for the 1s last night!

We hosted DLN who have unfrotunately been in a bit of a decline of late due to the loss of some key players.

Good matches played with a good bit of banter.  Will managed to beat Ken for what I think could be the first time.  Stuart had another close run with Matt who he played in the first half.  Alot of howling and grunting going on in this one!!

Up in the bar we celebrated our protomotion and comiserated DLNs demotion.  Alot of chat coming from our resident sports/mind guru Mike Hall as he bigged up his latest seminar on sports psychology!

Ken later enquiring if the same theories may be applied to his sex life!

Mike Hall - Sex Guru!!

You have been warned!!

Home Team: Grange 1					Away Team: David Lloyd Newhaven
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Will Kerr	1	3	32		Ken Maxwell	0	1	20
2	Pete Cockburn	1	3	28		Gregory Leplatre	0	0	17
3	Stuart Moffat	1	3	36		Matt Ross	0	2	22
4	Mike Hall	1	3	27		Pernille Thomson	0	0	2
5	Gordon Sloan	1	3	27		Jamie Helme	0	0	6
Total		5	15	150			0	3	67

Ladies conclude their season with a win to take Runners-up spot

Well done to the ladies first team who pushed an unbeaten ESC hard for the win of East Division 1. Their only 2 losses were to the eventual winners.
   With true strength-in-depth and even with losing Lottie next season, we can look forward to  being at the sharp end of ladies Div. 1 next year. A replacement blonde has already been recruited to this end. Important for the line-up to keep the blonde/brunette ratio unchanged ;-)

Date:	11/3/2013
Teams:	Grange 1 vs Dalgety Bay

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Aoife Kerrin	0	2	34			Hayley Cooper	1	3	34
2	Donna Cruickshank	1	3	27			Verity Whiteside	0	0	7
3	Catherine John	1	3	27			Nicola Crosbie	0	0	17
4	Georgina Jamieson	1	3	27			Linda Murray	0	0	9
5	Karen Kennedy	0	0	15			Lynn Verdon	1	3	28
Total		3	11	130				2	6	95
Competition Points		14						6

Teams Ladder

Team	Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Bonus Points	Total
Edinburgh Sports Club 1	Comp Points	12	17		13	14	18	18	18	18		13	13	18	15	16	203
	Games	9	14		10	11	15	15	15	15		10	10	15	12		151
Grange 1	Comp Points	16	5	13	11		15	18	13	18	18	8		14	14	12	175
	Games	13	5	10	11		12	15	10	15	15	8		11	11		136
Waverley 1	Comp Points	18	7	15	9	6	5		7	10	14	18	7	7		22	145
	Games	15	7	12	9	6	5		7	10	11	15	7	7			111
Dalgety Bay	Comp Points	5		18	13	13	1	2	14		7	18	8	2	6	18	125
	Games	5		15	10	10	1	2	11		7	15	8	2	6		92
David Lloyd	Comp Points		5	7	12	7	13	7		0	2	2	14	13	15	18	115
	Games		5	7	9	7	10	7		0	2	2	11	10	12		82
C.L.A.S.S. 88	Comp Points	3	14	0		17	8	2	7	14	12		4	10	3	18	112
	Games	3	11	0		14	8	2	7	11	9		4	10	3		82
Watsonians 1	Comp Points	6	15	9	10	3		15	3	1	9	0	15		8	16	110
	Games	6	12	9	10	3		12	3	1	9	0	12		8		85

Two's at Hatton put themselves safe from relegation (Mon, Mar 18)

We’re stumbling to the finish line but at least we’re safe in Division 3 for another year!  At 210 points and only 1 more match to go, it’s impossible for any of the bottom 3 teams to reach us.  Well done lads & lassies! (Sloan Ranger)

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Gordon Sloan	1	3	33			David Tinning	0	2	28
2	Duncan Walker	0	1	21			Nick Tinning	1	3	31
3	Allan Wallace	1	3	33			Alan Love	0	1	26
4	Georgina Jamieson	0	1	26			Danny Pollock	1	3	32
5	no player	0	0	0	Forfeit		Malcolm Mitchell	1	3	27
Total		2	8	113				3	12	144
Competition Points		8						15

Teams Ladder

Team

Round

Total

Dunbar 1

Comp Points

287

Edinburgh Sports Club 4

Comp Points

275

Deer Park

Comp Points

263

Tyne

Comp Points

226

Hatton

Comp Points

213

Grange 2

Comp Points

210

Mamma's Pizzeria

Comp Points

195

Dean 1

Comp Points

171

Waverley 2

Comp Points

157

Dalgety Bay 4

Comp Points

148

Club championships finals night

Club championships well attended with top squash in junior cup, both plates, handicap & cup finals. Angus Macpherson bt Andrew Boyd in the juniors, Dawn MacBrayne wins the ladies plate 3-0, Colin Williamson wins the plate 3-1, Aoife Kerrin wins the ladies championship 3-2 overCatherine John and Will Kerr retains his club champ title 3-0 over Stuart Moffat. MLOTY and Jim More to be decided at a later date.

Angus MacPherson(Junior cup winner) & Andrew Boyd(junior R-up)

Back: Stuart Moffatt(Open R-up), Rocco Pannozzo(Over 50's H'cap), Alan Stokes(Open Plate R-up) & Peter Roberts(Jim More H'cap finalist), Colin Williamson(Open Plate winner)
Front: Dawn MacBrayne(Ladies plate), Caroline Burns(Ladies Plate R-up), Aoife Kerring(Ladies champion), Catherine John(Ladies R-up), Will Kerr(Open club champion)

Seconds home v ESC4 (Tue, Mar 13)

Last week was a  bad week (we postponed/cancelled one team and sent out another with only 4 players), and the coming week is going to be even worse (cancelling 1 team and probably sending out another incomplete team).
Should we drop a team next season?

Home Team: Grange 2					Away Team: Edinburgh Sports Club 4
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Colin Williamson	0	0	15		Andrew Snowden	1	3	27
2	Ian Forbes	0	0	16		Mark Adderley	1	3	28
3	Robin Steel	0	0	19		Ronan Beale	1	3	27
4	Alan Stokes	0	0	22		Sean Morgan	1	3	34
5	Mark Dutton	0	0	13		Ken Steele	1	3	27
Total		0	0	85			5	15	143

Derby match: 3's v 4's (Thurs, 14/03/2013)

The long awaited derby match between Grange 3 and Grange 4 went right down to the wire last night with bragging rights resting on the very last game of the evening.  The 4ths very nearly caused a shock horror upset but were pipped at the post with the 3rds taking the match 14-12 (with applicable ref points to be added).
The night started with the Grg4 secret weapon Angus Macpherson taking on Brian Sloan at no 3.   Angus came out of the blocks quickly and soon racked up a 9-1 first game win.  Angus raced away again in the second game but Brian dug in and brought it back to 7-5 but had left himself a bit too much work and Angus grabbed the last two points.   The third game went the way of the first to see Angus run out a comfortable 3-0 winner, leaving Brian to haunt the corridors for the rest of the evening muttering "good player, that kid…" to anyone who would listen.
At No 1 Mike Gore for the thirds took on the fourth's Richard Nisbet.   This reporter never actually saw that match but both players were heard to be grumbling afterwards about having p'raps not played the highest quality match ever seen.  Mike took the first in close 10-8 with Richard coming back well with a 3-9.   The highlight for Richard was then a 0-9 straight-through with not so much as a hand-out or let to trouble the scorer.  Stung by that, Mike closed the match out 9-3 and 9-5, coming back from 3-5 down in that last.
At No5 Craig Watt took on Anthony Fitzgerald.   The scoresheet shows a comfortable 1-9, 2-9, 2-9 win to the fourth team man Anthony.  That scoresheet is a little unfair to Craig as the match was somewhat closer than that, but a 0-3 win for Anthony nonetheless.
At No 2 Mark Dutton took on Georgina Jamieson.  The first corkscrew serve of the match from Mark caught Georgina a bit by surprise but she quickly become wise to all of the unorthodoxdy that Mark could muster and replied with quite a lot of tricks of her own and an absorbing squash spectacle ensued for the gallery.  Georgina took the first 6-9 and Mark replied in kind 9-6.  The third game was blitzed by Mark 9-0 but if he thought it was all over he had another thing coming.  Two very vigorously contended see-sawing games followed but Georgina was just the stronger and took them both 5-9, 6-9.   A 2-3 match win for Georgina.
The night culminated in an excellent match between Donna Cruickshank and Anthony Beames at No4.  Donna took the first two hard fought games 9-5, 9-5 and then Andrew replied 6-9, 5-9.  Lots of good squash from both players with tight boasting and dropping being a particular feature.   It all came down to the last game for team boasting rights and it went point for point in the early stages.   The game looked to be set to be a very long one but Donna reeled off four quick points in a row to get up to 8-4.   Andrew dug in and forced a couple of handouts but Donna finally sealed it 9-4 for a 3-2 win.
The post-match festivities we're of a high calibre as you'd expect of a Grange derby match, despite the pizzas looking like they'd been carried vertically by the delivery guy.  All the toppings on one side….culminating a single 3kg veggie slice being consumed by Donna.   Brian had earlier noted that the biggest bar bill the 4ths had all season was when they hosted the thirds.  I can report that the 4ths returned the favour and set a record for any bar bill I've ever had to cough up….at £73 (pizza included).   We'll cede that victory to the fourth team and call it evens on the night. 
Finally….possibly the remark of the season by Mr Gore…."Ok folks…must go now…I have to get home and relieve the babysitter".    Most people just pay them a bit of money...

Division:	4
Round:	17
Date:	14/3/2013
Teams:	Grange 3 vs Grange 4

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Mike Gore	1	3	31			Richard Nisbet	0	2	25
2	Mark Dutton	0	2	35			Georgina Jamieson	1	3	33
3	Angus MacPherson	1	3	27			Brian Sloan	0	0	8
4	Donna Cruickshank	1	3	38			Andrew Beames	0	2	32
5	Craig Watt	0	0	5			Anthony Fitzgerald	1	3	27
Total		3	11	136				2	10	125
Competition Points		14						10