Grange 4 vs. Watsonians 4

Grange 4 vs. Watsonians 4

Played at: Grange Sports Club

When: 24th Nov 2015 at 7:00pm

Tonight we entertained Watsonians 4 at the Grange, looking to bounce back from last week’s loss to Waverely 3 away.  

First up were Jamie Helme and John Kunze playing Barrie Turnbull and Sahib Maker at 4 & 5 respectively. Jamie got things off to a great start with some good tight squash, winning 3-0 and John was always in control winning 3-0 to put Grange 2 nil up after the first round of games.

Next up was Richard Nisbet and Christy Looby at number 3 & 2. Richard was playing Peter Thomson and after sharing the first two sets, Richard managed to assert himself on the game and went on to win 3-1. Christy was playing the 14 year old junior – David Taylor who had just turned up after a couple hours training at the National squash academy at Heriot Watt, the first 2 sets were shared with David running down everything that Christy could throw at him, it required Christy getting in touch with his inner self and he duly began to dominate the proceedings and in the end Christy had too much nuance and power in his game and prevailed with a 3-1 win.   

With an unassailable lead in the bag it was the turn of Dougie Brown to play David Hutton at number 1, an entertaining match ensued that kept the watching gallery enthralled and the marker busy, Dougie emerged the winner, taking the game 3-1 to complete a clean sweep for the 4ths.

The teams then retired to the bar to be treated to the usual offering of Pizza’s from Franco’s and a suitable choice of refreshments.  (Report: non-playing captain (Neil Love)

	Grange 4		Watsonians 4
1  Dougie Brown 3 - 1 15-11, 7-15, 15-13, 15-13  David Hutton 2  Christy Looby 3 - 1 15-6, 7-15, 15-8, 15-13  David Taylor 3  Richard Nisbet 3 - 1 15-10, 8-15, 15-7, 15-7  Peter Thomson 4  Jamie Helme 3 - 0 15-9, 15-13, 15-11  Barrie Turnbull 5  John Kunze 3 - 0 15-4, 15-9, 15-8  Sahib Maker
Games Won	15		3
Game Points Won	247		187
Penalty Points	0		0
Bonus Points	3.00		0
Total	18		3

3rds at ESC 7's (Div 4)

Finding myself with altitude sickness as I subbed up on the 3rds for the first time in a few years, I turned up with one court shoe left at home.
    So Sam Collin went on with 6ft6" Tom Utting and was good value for a 2-0 lead, taking everything early and getting Tom to leak errors under pressure. However the wheels came off slightly as Tom used his wingspan to close off the court while Sam had a slight lull. So on to the 5th and Sam got his second wind but Tom had the momentum to see it out.
   Andy Whitelaw went on with Graham Donaldson, I didn't see it but from the scores Andy seemed to just have enough control on it winning 3-0: 12, 11, 11. I'd got my 2nd shoe so I served off with Steven Sproule who has more experience in his pinkie toe than my 30 years in the game. It became a bit of a test of leftie-righty i.e. who could keep it on the other's backhand and then get the first attack in as neither of us are the best movers any more (I never was in the first place). I managed to lob and boast my way comfortably through the first 2 games. Steven then raised his game, had more success getting it on his forehand and we went point for point, in extra points I managed to get it. 3-0.
  So two matches to one, we needed Anto Fitz to clear up against Doug Brown. Did he hell! Straight to the fifth and Ant saw it out to grab the bonus points for us. Ian Ross went on against Scott Lothian at #1 and all 8 other players watching unshowered which show the team spirit is good in both camps.
Scott fizzed around court, hit the dots off the ball and reverse-angled Ian who just couldn't match the energy levels of his oppo on the night: 0-3.
   Overall 3-2 to us, 14-8 on points which puts us to second in the table. Over double-helpings of Lasagne, we debated the merits of a tram going down Leith Walk and whether ESSA should invest in a few clapped-out people carriers for the clubs so we could have a beer or two after squash. Report C.L.

Edinburgh Sports Club 7 (Violet) vs. Grange 3

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	Edinburgh Sports Club 7 (Violet)		Grange 3
1	Scott Lothian	3 - 0 15-9, 15-6, 15-13	Ian Ross
2	Tom Utting	3 - 2 16-14, 5-15, 10-15, 15-6, 16-14	Sam Collin
3	Graham Donaldson	0 - 3 12-15, 11-15, 11-15	Andrew Whitelaw
4	Doug Brown	2 - 3 10-15, 16-14, 12-15, 17-15, 12-15	Anthony Fitzgerald
5	Steven Sproule	0 - 3 10-15, 3-15, 15-17	Christy Looby
Games Won	8		11
Game Points Won	236		258
Penalty Points	0		0
Bonus Points	0		3.00
Total	8		14

Played at: Edinburgh Sports Club

When: 13th Nov 2015 at 7:00pm

Stag 4's home v Abercorn (Div 5)

Tonight we took on Abercorn with Beppe Andaloro making his debut for the stags at #5 after making the final of the East of Scotland Open on Sunday in his debut tournament.
Turns out that Beppe had played at Abercorn for a bit and some of the Abercorn players knew him.
He faced seasoned campaigner Ketan Lad who must have been sick of the sight of Beppe running everything down. Great intensity from Beppe taking the first 15-10, in the second he had a few tins which made it tight at 15-12 and ran out 15-10 in the 3rd.
   Stephen Thomas had an edgy start to be 4-13 down, got it back to 13-13 courtesy of an out serve from Steven Robb, then spooned up an out serve himself to give game ball before closing it 16-14, from there he controlled the next two.
   Jamie Helme was never in doubt against Neelu Sarkar (which means I didn't see it). So we had the bonus in the bag.
    Christy was playing catch up against fellow-leftie Martin Browse in the first, got it to extra points and then closed out with some cheap errors.  That spurred him on to upping the pace and Martin didn't seem to like that or the reverse angles so the next three went to Grange steadily enough.
  Top strings Piers Wilkinson thought at 2-0 that we'd be waiting too long for the pizza so he offered
up two soft games to Jamie Irving to prolong the on-court action. In the fifth he put in a charge
from the get go and got off court 15-5. Still some great rallies between 2 high-octane competitors.
   Conversation in the bar was erudite, ranging from humans evolving to hairless chests (Piers admitted he is there already), to metabolising lactose after infancy to New Zealand rugby evolving to
a different planet with Sonny Bill Williams becoming an alien boxer/rugby-league/union/sevens player. Only 1 pepperoni, one veggie, 1 ham and sweetcorn & one chicken & ham. Between
5 of us, as Steven Robb has evolved a gluten allergy(see what I did there :) ) so guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow!

Grange 4 vs. Abercorn

Played at: Grange Sports Club

When: 3rd Nov 2015 at 7:00pm

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	Grange 4		Abercorn
1	Piers Wilkinson	3 - 2 15-12, 15-11, 10-15, 12-15, 15-5	Jamie Irving
2	Christy Looby	3 - 1 15-17, 15-5, 15-7, 15-7	Martin Browse
3	Jamie Helme	3 - 0 15-10, 15-11, 15-9	Neelu Sarkar
4	Stephen Thomas	3 - 0 16-14, 15-8, 15-10	Steve Robb
5	Beppe Andaloro	3 - 0 15-10, 15-11, 15-10	Ketan Lad
Games Won	15		3
Game Points Won	263		187
Penalty Points	0		0
Bonus Points	3		0
Total	18		3