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

Grange 5 at Dunbar 2 – Thursday 31/01/2013

The Fifth’s were playing down at Dunbar this evening and we were struggling for a full team, until Jordan Fleming agreed to play in the no 5 berth on the morning of the match. The travel arrangements were fragmented as well with Jonathan and Jordan (who were both making their fifth team outings for this season) opting to relax and let the train take the strain.

The leisurely journey obviously worked wonders for both players as they were first up on court with Jordan playing at number 5 and Jonathan at number 3. Jonathan settled quickly into the match and asserted control early on and went on to close out a comfortable 3-0 win, 9-2, 9-2, 9-0. Jordan who was only playing his second competitive match in three months returning from an injury, took the first set 9-2, A lapse of concentration and the inability to hit the ball a length saw Keith take the second set 5-9, a little pep talk and a bit of chuntering from Jordan soon sorted things out and Jordan went on to close the match out with a 3-1 win, 9-2, 5-9, 9-5, 9-4. 

Next on court was myself playing Richard Baty at number 4, Richard had come out of retirement to play for Dunbar and I had promised myself to play more lengths and crosscourt shots and limit the boasts until the point had been set up. This was a good plan until the third point in when the first boast was played and Richard was rooted at the back of the court, sensing that this would yield cheap points the game descended into a boast feast with tight, loose and indifferent boasts making their mark and a 3-0 win for the Grange, 9-1, 9-4, 9-0.

Meanwhile Andrew Beames was playing Martin Baty at number 1 on the other court and this match was a much tighter affair. Andrew always had his nose in front and went on to win the rubber 3-0, 9-6, 9-7, 9-5.

Last up was Brian Sloan playing Alan Murphy at number 2, and after Alan had a moan about the amount of leftie’s he has to play the game started and Brian soon found himself down 1-7, a rally from Brian saw him taking the first set 9-7. The second set saw Brian race into a 6-1 lead only for Alan to claw back to level a 6-6, a couple of changes of serve then saw Brian get over the line and take the second set 9-6. Similar story in the third set with Brian quickly going behind 0-8, and then of course the recovery which saw Brian get back to 7-8 before Alan got the point he needed to win the third set 7-9. The fourth set saw Brian control from the start and he closed out the match for a 3-1 win, 9-7, 9-6, 7-9, 9-5.

Match results including ref points was 20-2 to Grange 5 and our first full house of the season. Well played guys.

We were treated to Lasagne and salad, with enough leftover for second helpings for those were so inclined. Chat was good natured and then we said our goodbyes to make the journey back to Edinburgh. We had to ensure that Brian’s car started before we left the car park, which it did first time and with Jonathan opting to take the train back to Edinburgh Park, the remainder of the team started the journey back up the A1 and conversation turned to Stargazing live and vertical farming, before dropping Jordan off at his home in Dalkeith, which turns out to be a an octagonal polychrome brick water tower constructed in 1879 for the Dalkeith town council by James Leslie, Engineer of the Edinburgh water company. How cool is that.   

 

Match report – Neil Love

 

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Martin Baty	0	0	18			Andrew Beames	1	3	27
2	Alan Murphy	0	1	27			Brian Sloan	1	3	34
3	Neil Black	0	0	4			Jonathan Norrie	1	3	27
4	Richard Baty	0	0	5			Neil Love	1	3	27
5	Keith Nicolson	0	1	20			Jordan Fleming	1	3	32
Total		0	2	74				5	15	147
Competition Points		2						18

Grange 5away @ Watsonians 4 – Tuesday 15/01/2012

The 2^nd half of the season started with a visit to Myreside to play Watsonians 4

First up for the Grange at no 5 was Craig Watt playing Roger Weir. Craig started badly and quickly lost the first set 9-1. A slight recovery in the next two sets saw Craig get some more points on the board but he was unable to live with Roger who saw out the match 9-1, 9-4, 9-3 to see Watsonians go 1-0 up.

Dave Grieve was playing Derek Davidson at No3 on the other court. The first set was a tight affair with Derek getting his nose in front in the early stages, only for Dave to claw his way into the set with a mixture of generous mistakes from his opponent, tight hitting down the line and good solid drop shots to take the first set 9-5.  Dave continued to have the edge in the 2^nd set and always had his nose in front to take the second set 9-7. The third set continued in the vein as Dave was inching towards a 3 set victory, when disaster struck while trying to retrieve a cross court ball and Dave twisted his knee. This has a visible impact on his mobility and Derek took advantage to take the third set 7-9. Derek sensing blood was quick around the court and mixing up his shots to put Dave under pressure and quickly took the fourth and fifth sets for a 3-2 win. 5-9, 7-9, 9-7, 9-2, 9-1  

Next up was Bill playing David Hutton at No.4, David had the upper hand in this match from the start and Bill was always behind, losing the first set 9-3. A rally in the second set saw a much closer affair with Dave taking the second set 9-7. The third set saw David impose himself on the match once more winning the third set 9-4. Win for David 3-0.

I was up on the next court playing Andrew Constable at No.2. Andrew quickly rattled through the first set 9-2. Coming off the court Anthony who was on marking duties remarked that I was just not hitting the ball cleanly enough and these word must have inspired me as I took the second set 9-2. Change of marker and change of fortune saw Andrew impose himself on the game taking the next 2 sets 9-2, 9-2 to take the match 3-1.

Anthony was taking on Paul Macari at No.1, Paul took the first 2 sets 9-3, 9-6 by playing percentage squash and allowing Anthony to throw in unforced errors at critical times. Anthony cut out the error count in the third and took the set 9-6 with some good clean hitting down the line. Anthony was unable to keep the same intensity going in the 4^th set and Paul managed to cover and return everything Anthony had to offer and won the set 9-2 to take the match 3-1.

Match result 20-6 to Watsonians 4.

Food was served and we treated to Chicken Curry & Rice with poppadoms, which was very tasty and talk turned to the up and coming visit to Twickenham for the first match of RBS 6 Nations and of the art of pickpocketing in various locations throughout Europe.

Match report – Neil Love

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Paul Macari	1	3	35			Anthony Fitzgerald	0	1	20
2	Andrew Constable	1	3	29			Neil Love	0	1	15
3	Derek Davidson	1	3	39			David Grieve	0	2	28
4	David Hutton	1	3	27			Bill Marshall	0	0	14
5	Roger Weir	1	3	27			Craig Watts	0	0	8
Total		4	15	157				0	4	85
Competition Points		20						6

Sad news of a fallen teammate... (Fri, Dec 7)

It is with regret that I post the news of the untimely death of Gavin Fulton. I won't write too much here, except to say Gavin was taken to hospital on Fri night and unfortunately he didn't make it. He leaves behind his wife Jill and 2 young daughters who are also members of the club. My condolences go to them. Gavin was a great guy to be around, always smiling and recounting funny stories from the squash courts of Agilent and Grange. This picture taken after he won a final in the Grange Open recently is the only image I ever have of Gavin - always smiling! May he rest in peace.

Funeral is 2pm Tue Dec 18  at Warriston, function at Grange pavilion afterwards.
(His widow Jill would be happy for all his clubmates and those from other clubs to attend.)

Initial The Scotsman Report

TV report after the court case

Another report

Full Page tribute in Evening News

Deadline News PA report

List of people with message of condolences (apologies for omissions):
------------
Ross Anderson - The Dean SC
Matthew Hunter

Ken Steele - ESC
David Coutts
Mark ~Adderley

Bill Brown - Colinton Castle SC
Robin Nisbet - Bank of Scotland SC

David Legge - Dunbar SC

Claire Gray - ESSA/HWU

Richard McIntosh - Watsonians SC

Peter O'Hara - Newlands
Andrew McSherry - Whitecraigs

Agilent
--
Iain Gourlay
Charlie Patrick
Jim Watson
Gordon Hunter
Alec Allan
Alan Murray

Grange SC
--
Peter Cockburn (Club Captain)
Neil Christison (Chairman, The Grange Club)
Gordon Tolland (Secretary, The Grange Club)
Bill Marshall(Club President)
Ali Ross (Vice President)
Christy Looby (Tournament Sec)
Will Kerr (Club champ)
Brian Sloan
Patrick Langley
Stuart Moffatt
Dougie Brown
Alan Stokes
Mike Douglas
Allan Wallace
Allan Hamer
Gordon Sloan 

Barbarians home v ESC6 (Thurs, Nov 29)

Not much to report here, we were all outclassed including late call-ups Ali and Bill.
    Interesting to hear afterwards that Moira thought ESC could field a 7th team and also the return of Lauren Gray to the women's squad at ESC, a player that took a game off Lisa Aitken last season.
   This looks like a complete whitewash, but I'll update it when the league sec. validates the ref bonus points and it reads 2-20 ;-)

Event: East Open 2012/13 Div5, Round: 9, Division: 5, Match Date: 29/11/2012
Last Modified: 30/11/2012, By MyMatrix Logon: Christy Looby

	Home Team: Grange 5					Away Team: Edinburgh Sports Club 6
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	0	0	15		Des Creasey	1	3	27
2	Stephen Davey	0	0	14		Matthew Le Roux	1	3	27
3	Peter Young	0	0	12		Peter Mackenzie	1	3	27
4	Alastair Ross	0	0	7		Moira Atkinson	1	3	27
5	Bill Marshall	0	0	9		James Gill	1	3	27
Total		0	0	57			5	15	135

Barbarians home v Colinton 6's(Thurs, Nov 22)

"The Big Man" fronted up at #5, fresh from his jackpot win in GameBall. Sank without trace in the first, a bit of coaching and better length had him almost sneaking the second. His oppo Mike Gibbs was belting the skin off the ball and Derek reverted to short shots in the third but a good debut nonetheless.
   Andrew Beames faced Jamie Davidson at #2, it started at the same time as Big Derek and was still on when I came off court so two normal matches in length. I didn't see much, there was a bit of discusion of Jamie standing over his own dropshots but unfortunately that gave him the idea to drive it long instead and that won him the fifth. Good coaching from Stephen Davey.
   Bob Baikie dropped David Grieve to death and exposed a dodgy hip injury but Dave got a point for the team out of it.
Christy was making his debut down in the dirtrackers and was in control most of the time against Derek Barr.
    Stephen Dave was MoTM with a demonstration of controlled tight squash, no fuss, pick up everything he throws at you and sling it back stuck to the wall. Adam Hill can move and hit, he just couldn't outlast Stephen who confined him to 11 points.
    Overall I was impressed with my sojourn to the 5's, good team spirit and banter in the bar, a top squash night. (Loob)

	Home Team: Grange 5					Away Team: Colinton Castle 6
Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points		Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Christy Looby	1	3	27		Derek Barr	0	0	15
2	Andrew Beames	0	2	29		Jamie Davidson	1	3	34
3	David Grieve	0	1	23		Bob Baikie	1	3	33
4	Stephen Davey	1	3	27		Adam Hill	0	0	11
5	Derek Addison	0	0	8		Mike Gibbs	1	3	27
Total		2	9	114			3	9	120

Grange 5s home v. HWU 4...Thursday 8th November.

In sharp contract to last weeks venue, the courts at our home venue of the Academy were warm. Quite warm. Very warm, Rather hot actually – or am I just out of condition?
Anyhoo, stepping on to the court for the ‘warm’ up I felt the ball was chasing me around the court it was bouncing so much, I couldn’t find a corner to hide in. This game took a lot longer than last weeks drubbing, but the end result was the same – 0-3. One of those days.
Craig lost his first game a startling 0-9, but gathered his wits and battled for a 10-9 win in the second, before succumbing in the 3^rd and 4^th.
The next three games were pretty much one-sided affairs, David Tom and Stephen closing out their matches fairly easily. All of the games were played in a great spirit, and we returned to the Grange club for our weekly pizza fest. Due to a wedding function we were banished to the committee room which was far enough away from the DJ to make the volume of music just bearable. Old? Me?
The conversation ranged from the luxury of having pineapple on a Pizza when Neil isn’t on the team, skiing in Scotland, sub-aqua diving around the world compared to the delightful visibility under Loch Long, and the dangers of hanging upside down in a dry suit due to pockets of gas trapped in the feet!!! Oh, and the leisurely and relaxing pastime of cycling in towns and cities.
Bill.

Pos	Player	Rubbers	Games	Points			Player	Rubbers	Games	Points
1	Stephen Davey	1	3	27			Darren Buckley	0	0	9
2	Tom McEwan	1	3	27			Rob Daley	0	0	1
3	David Grieve	1	3	27			Alistair McConnell	0	0	4
4	Bill Marshall	0	0	21			James Robertson	1	3	29
5	Craig Watt	0	1	20			Clive Shannon	1	3	36
Total		3	10	122				2	6	79
Competition Points		13						6

Who am I?

Clues

for 5 points: I am a Grange Squash member

for 4 points: I also play racketball

for 3 points: I may swear on court

for 2 points: I'm the most westerly Granger in terms of birthplace

for 1 point: I'm a sometime Barbarian and prolific tweeter

Free squash bauble for first correct answer: fill in comments

with your guess

and your name in the Name/URL part of the form#

(See here for the last caption competition result)

Ali Ross in Barbarians/HWU Doppelgänger Mishap

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

Grange 5 vs Waverley 3

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

-

Watsonians v Grange 5 Barbarians

It was noticeable that I was the only survivor from last years team playing here tonight, mainly due to the others concern that the after match buffet may not materialise and Captain Mike's inflated ego at being selected for the 4ths meaning he couldn't possibly play two games in a week as he would need to save himself.

Having been told to arrive for a 7pm start we were beginning to think that Captain Mike, was taking the p*** as no opposition seemed to have arrived as 7.15pm approached. Luckily however we eventually found one of them and the rest started to arrive by about 7.30pm. The lack of
opposition players meant a slight re-jigging of the order but the games were under way.

They said they would never catch Saddam, but eventually they did.

They said they would never depose Ghaddafi but eventually they did.

They said Bill (Nil) would never win a game at number 5, eventually he will but not tonight. 0-3 in another close fought encounter. A little composure at the business end of games will see Bill turn some of these zeros into points.

I dropped a place to number 4 since Tom had not arrived and instantly regretted it against Iain who proved to be a bit of a whippet round the court. With some miraculous balls dug out of the back corners the first game was lost. With the need to regain some self esteem I eventually
managed to get my legs moving and pulled out a hard fought 1-3 win.

Tom moved up to 3 and after a ding dong battle with Roger, which saw more lets that seen in the average estate agents window, scored another 0-3 victory for the away side.

New recruit Johnny took the court at number 1. The remaining Baba's were impressed to have such youth in the team bringing the average age down to around 45 however we were even more impressed that he was a doctor. Given the state of some of us after recent games Johnny should be selected for the remainder of the season even if it's just in case he is required. In true Baba's style however he lost 0-3 albeit in a very close match where the experience of his opponent just made the difference. 2-2 - the decider.

Last up was Peter and true to form he managed to lose the first two games. The remaining Baba's were just beginning to turn our minds to what flavour of crisps may be on offer tonight when Pete sharpened up his game and the fight back began. At 2-2 and 4-1 up in the 5th it was looking good but unfortunately the mountain had taken its toll and Pete ran out of steam after a
brave effort to go down 3-2.

Thanks again to Watsonians for a good night and a rather nice sausage casserole.

David Grieve (Still standing in and still injured).

Barbarian BMI Cup (Sat, Apr 3,'11)

After a year of breaking the mould, doing away with tradition and basically bringing everyone down to our level, the Barbarians celebrated the end of their inaugural year with a jolly good knees up at the Grange.
To show our dedication, we thought it only fitting to play a little squash beforehand. So a tournament was held to uncover the Barbarian of the Year 2011 – sponsored by Avista (thanks Neil).
Now at last year’s Squash Dinner, (see you all on Friday), a group were lamenting the rise of the youngsters and their running shoes. I distinctly remember discussing with ... someone... that I always thought the Krypton Factor was unfair. I remember George Burns explaining the rules and the old people getting a head start in the obstacle course - which I can see is fair. But I don’t remember the young people getting a head start in the general knowledge. That’s not fair! They weren’t even born when question’s event took place (Please read twice to fully understand Quizmaster Harvey!). The discussion then moved on to our handicapped competitions where handicaps are decided on mini-league positions. But that disguises the fact that some of us are a little more disadvantaged than others – for example, some of us are carrying a little more weight than others. And some are just plain old – Stokesy never actually played for the Barbarians, but more of that later.It was then that a brainwave formed. The BMI Cup. The handicap competition that created an egalitarian level playing field for all.
The evening started in the traditional Grange manner with no-one arriving on time. That was to prove our downfall. Eventually, with 6 players we decided to have just one group instead of two groups. Of course,when we ended up with 9 players it meant we had to play 8 matches each – not such a good idea.
Our evening’s participants consisted of myself, Dave Grieve, Richard Nisbet, Brian Sloan, Jordan Fleming, Bill Marshall, Matt Pearson, John Loftus and Pete Young.
First up was registration. While the first of us hit the scales at around 100Kg, Matt was reluctant to stand on the scales (presumably in case it didn’t register anything). When a number of 65 came up he asked if that was good. “Of course it is” we cooed “Well done” whilst wondering where the other one third of him was. A quick height measure led to a BMI score which was adjusted for age and a range of +4 (Bill Marshall) to -3 (Matt Pearson) was established.
Our scoring clearly worked well with 20 games ending with more than 12 points for the loser.
During the match, we tested the Barbarians knowledge of the season with a Quiz of the Year. Needless to say no-one got more than 6/10. But we did manage to establish that we missed out on promotion by just 15 points, Richard Nisbet was our highest ranked player at the end of the year, we’d used 20 different players during the season and that it was Dean Wood who asked his opponent “How much of the f***ing court do you want?”.
Some of the tournament highlights include
• Matt (at -3 for size and age) got his comeuppance and won just one game.
• Jordan was unable to complete his games – not due to injury, but because his girlfriend arrived and said he had to play with her instead
• John Loftus does indeed run 27 miles in every game
• Dave Grieve can’t win all his matches when he can’t bring on his Victor Meldrew
• Why can Mike (me) win mini-leagues 3-2 but always loses matches 3-2?

But the highlight of the tournament was the match between Richard and Brian. Richard won 15-1 which sounds pretty one-sided. Until you realise it was American scoring. And Brian started 1-0 up. Yes that’s right. In true Babas fashion, Brian lost 15 points in a row.
The last match, by coincidence was between Peter Young and me (Mike). Pete had won all but two games, but had scored 14 in each of his losses. I had won all games to date. We took to court knowing that the winner would be Barbarian of the Year. The balcony was heaving – sorry – I meant drinking pints of heavy.
Stokesy, ever able to smell free beer, agreed to referee. I got off to a great start to lead 11-9, but Pete started to get his eye in and the game was won by Pete 15-12 to see him crowned Avista Barbarian of the Year 2011. We retired to the bar to toast our sponsor and spend the £80 left over from subs (great idea that £7 per game). We awarded prizes, answered the quiz then retired to Francos to put some full-price money in his till. Unfortunately, Stokesy (being honourable Barbarian for the evening (first time I’ve heard honourable and Stokesy used in the same sentence)) still managed to lower the tone by slugging the grappa.
A great night to end a great season. If we do have a sixth team next season it has to be Barbarians 1 and 2.
Thanks to everyone for a memorable season and a great night out.
Here’s to 2012.
Mike

p.s. I didn’t find out until Wednesday that they’d bribed Stokesy to make sure I didn’t win. Wouldn’t have made any difference tho !

GRANGE 5 v DEAN (Wed, Feb 23)

The easiest way to sum up this display is that we were all collectively pish.

Peter Roberts began the night's proceedings at number 4 against Ian and quickly established a 0-2 lead. Skill, grace and quality are terms which no-one would ever use to describe this match as Peter managed to throw away his lead and eventually lose 3-2 by a determined display of continually running all over the court to hit the ball back to his opponent.

Next up was Colin at 3 against Adam. To be fair this turned out to be a gruelling encounter which swung back and forth in favour of each player. Colin seemed to have the shots but Adam chased around the court and managed to retrieve everything. Unfortunately Colin also went down 3-2.

Richard took the court at 5 and despite trying his hardest to lose, managed to take the first game. Often a slow starter, we though a victory would be assured once the second got under way however Richard seemed to be intent on passing the ball from serve onto his opponents waiting racket. It was a bit like watching Groundhog Day as the second game was conceded. Thankfully our man woke up a little and proceeded to close the match out 1-3 for our only win of the evening.

Mike Gore took the court at 1 and having seen him race through the first game quite easily I went off to warm up for my game thinking a 0-3 win was surely inevitable. Unfortunately Mike thought different and managed to lose 2-3. I don't really know what happened here as I didn't see it but I can only assume an alarming change in play from Mike's opponent must have occurred later in the match.

I was last on at 2 against Ron who has been a good friend of mine for many years. Unfortunately the old git won 2-3. Ron is the only person I know who can commentate on the game whilst playing. After taking the 1st game easily I stupidly let the second game go having been in command. From then on it was nip and tuck although my lack of fitness probably cost me in the end as the 5th was narrowly lost 7-9. We both crawled off the court knackered although Ron was still talking. I will now have to get my revenge on the golf course in the summer.

The first season for the BABA's has been a great success and thanks from everyone involved are due to Captain Mike for all the organisation and effort (If not the points). It is fantastic that we have used around 20 players and stuck to the ethos of trying to involve as many as possible. There is no doubt that had we played our strongest team every week that we would have been promoted (I think we have probably ended up 4th) but that would probably not have been in the spirit of the team. We can now all look forward to our end of season tournament on the 2nd of April and reflect on the season over a few drinks if we are all still speaking after the BMI Cup. (5pm start on the 2nd April should anyone want to come and watch a bunch of old fat blokes pretend to be sportsmen).

David Grieve (with no sick note this week!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grange 5 home vs Watsonians 4(17/2/11)

Strength in Depth

At the start of tonight’s game, the Barbarians were lying sixth in the table, albeit with a game in hand. Watsonians were just below us. After a couple of call-offs, tonight’s team was Dave Grieve, myself, Pete Roberts, Richard Nisbet and Dean Wood – a testimony to the strength in depth in our Barbarians.

First up was Dean against a late Watsonians replacement who was playing his first competitive match for 2 years. Dean, of course, was professional throughout and was quickly off to play a mini-league game with a 9-1, 9-0, 9-2 win under his belt.

On the other court, Richard was having a tough game. In the first he went 5-2 down before coming back one point at a time as his opponent served 7 times at 5 points without scoring. But Richard’s perseverance endured and he won 9-6. In the second he raced off to a 7-1 lead before his opponent began to find range. As Richard tightened up, so the rallys got longer and longer and at 8-3 he lost 4 game points as the score moved on to 8-7. But he held his nerve to take it 9-7. The third followed a similar pattern with Richard moving to 6-2 up before being pegged back to 7-7. But some great retrieving saw him win out 9-7 for an excellent 3-0 win. 2-0 to Grange.

Next up was Peter Roberts in just his second competitive match. The steely look on his face said that last week’s hiccup was not going to be repeated. In the first game 8 serves were exchanged before the first point was on the board and the game ebbed and flowed back and forth to 6-6. At this point Pete continued his phenomenal running and closed it out 9-6. His superior fitness was beginning to tell now and roars of ‘how did you get that?’ and ‘not again’ told the story as he closed the match out 9-1, 9-3 for his first competitive victory. A great confidence booster. 3-0 Grange.

I was next on court in what turned out to be the match of the evening – but for the wrong reasons. In the changing room before hand I had been chatting to Peter from Watsonians and we’d been saying how it is good to get a good run about and not take it too seriously, after all it is the 5^th Division. The first game was even to 2-2 when a run of points took me to 8-2 before closing out 9-4. That was fine, except for the constant whining and moaning from my opponent who challenged every point and the complained to the ref if he didn’t get the call. The same continued into the next game. At 5-4 up, he got a run to be 8-4 up when more poor behaviour led me to ask him ‘Do you want to play properly? Or do you just want to ‘leave’ off now?’. He just looked at me, but said nothing. Anyway, I managed to save the game point (again, more whinging) and recovered to 8-8 when he called ‘set 1’. I couldn’t close it out, neither could he, nor me, nor him before I eventually won (deservedly I thought) 9-8. Not much more to say from here except that his game improved, his behaviour didn’t and I began to tire and the next three were lost 5-9, 7-9, 2-9.

Dave meanwhile had had a tough match at number 1. A game against a strong opponent was made harder by a lack of match fitness following a bout of flu. The first were lost 3-9, 1-9 before a great recovery saw Dave take the third 10-8. But he couldn’t hold on and lost the third 5-9.

So, all-in-all a good 17-6 victory. Dinner was Franco’s finest and some good, if rather embarrassed, banter. That win takes the Barbarians up to second in the table. Next games are top of the table clashes with Edinburgh Sports Club and David Lloyd 2. (Report: Mike D)