The Grange 3s went round the houses, out of necessity thanks to diversions and dubious navigational aids, to reach Colinton Castle on Thursday to play Bank of Scotland. All five players located the match venue successfully, a minor triumph in itself.
Sam Collin and Ian Ross were first on court - Sam was on and off in a flash
with an efficient 3-0 win. Not a single exclamation nor clash of racket with wall was
audible (I could only hear from the court next door); only clinical drives that delivered a quick win.
Ian Ross was a pleasure to watch, with his considered shot choice proving too much for his opponent who was frequently seen scrabbling at the back of the court as lob after lob landed delicately in the back corner. 3-0.
Anthony (Fitz)closed out another quick 3-0, demonstrating typical Aussie ruthlessness.
Andrew (Reeve) avoided fluffing the first game as has often been the case in previous matches, helped by a frantic warm-up to get the blood pumping! A brief scare in the second saw his opponent back at 13-13, but he succeeded his teammates with another 3-0 win.
Match of the Day went to Stuart (Moff), who went head to head with a player of similar stature at 1. The power of the two men was evident with frequent long rallies of big hitting. Stu kept the crowded balcony entertained with some self-directed rants and apologies to his opponent for the low standard of his squash. It was balanced on a knife edge at 13-13 in the fifth before Stu snuck it on an error, to rapturous applause. Grange 5-0 winners, celebrated with lime and sodas (and the odd non-alco beer for the more adventurous).
A critical 18 points for the 3s who still have a lot of work to do to secure promotion at the end of the year. (Report: Andrew Reeve)
Showing posts with label Third team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Third team. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 February 2016
Monday, 8 February 2016
Thursday, 16 October 2014
Grange Team Calendar
The Grange Teams' fixture lists have now been loaded into the Grange Calendar gmail account at:
squashcalendar1@gmail.com
Alternatively you can load the fixtures directly into your own calendar using this file.
squashcalendar1@gmail.com
Alternatively you can load the fixtures directly into your own calendar using this file.
Thursday, 5 December 2013
GRANGE 3 vs EDINBURGH SPORTS CLUB 6
Tuesday 3rd December
"The Night of the Long Fives..."
Team Captain elect Richard Nisbet (now that Mark Dutton has gone AWOL
for a few months) put together a team to compete against ESC6, who were
only two places below GRG3 in Division 4, for our final match of 2013.
Richard and Ant Fitzgerald were first up against Moira and Matt
respectively.
Moira took control from the off and had Richard on the ropes with a
swift 9-3 win in the first.
But our Richard is a feisty fella and after taking stock of the
situation in the interval, came out swinging (the racket) and recovered
to take the second 9-1.
Fortunately for us, Moira recovered in the next two, but not enough to
knock our man to the canvas and Richard eventually closed out the game 3-1.
Ever the leader, Richard even took the opportunity to call Brian Sloan
(our #4) before his final game to find out whether Brian was ever going
to turn up that evening?
It turns out that at that moment Brian was at home with his feet up
tucking into a sumptuous dinner coz he planned to play on Wednesday!
Ant and Matt-the-younger had very similar styles: run like the flames
and leather the ball fek hard!
Ant was even wearing a go-faster stripe round his knee to help with the
image.
Ant was the victor in the first game, 9-6. But Matt came out fast &
furious in the second to burn Ant 9-2.
The third was a much more even affair and it was a long slog that took
them to 8 all.
Matt chose set 1 - always a risky choice - but it ended well, with Matt
recovering service and then serving to win the game 9-8.
2-1 to Matt.
Well, Ant must have had some special antipodean potion at the interval
because he came out in the 4th and scorched to a 9-3 win.
2 all.
Like the third, the fifth was even and yet another long slog took them
to 8 all for the second time. Set 2 was called this time, but like the
third, Matt won out 10-8 to take the rubber 3-2.
And so ended the first of the long five setters of the evening...
Andy Beames was up next to play Matt-the-taller. Now if you thought
Richard had been off to a slow start, you should have seen this fella.
Matt took the first 9-3 in a matter of minutes and not long after was
looking for his second at 8-2 up.
Perhaps Andy thought he was playing on Wednesday with Brian?
Perhaps Matt took his foot off the gas?
Whatever it was, Beamesy found himself in the ascendency, and against
the run of play, not only recovered, but took the second 10-9.
The third also went Andy's way, 9-6, and now it was Matt wondering what
on earth had happened?
One should point out at this juncture that Matt was a veritable diving
machine on the squash court, rekindling memories of our erstwhile
captain Dutton. Ahhh...
The fourth game went on and on, Matt recovering from the shock of
finally having an opponent and the game went to 8 all.
Receiving serve on the forehand, Andy chose set 1 and recovered service
to serve for the match. Matt dug deep, saved the match point and
immediately won the game point to level the score at 2 all.
So, after having been on the court for nigh on an hour, Matt and Andy
squared up for the final game.
Except that Andy had left the building! Matt finished as he had started:
game over in minutes, 9-1, Matt wins 3-2.
And so ended the second long five setter of the evening...
Andy Whitelaw and Ronan, seeded #1, were playing on the other court, and
this was to be the last of the long five setters.
Andy and Ronan slugged through the first four games turn and turn-about:
9-4, 6-9, 9-7, 6-9.
And so it was down to the fifth.
Ronan was still skipping around the court like he'd just walked on,
whilst Andy was doing an excellent impression of someone who had played
9 cometition games in 7 days and was now an hour into his 10th.
Ronan forged ahead to 7-2 - the writing was definitely on the wall for
Andy - so it pains me to say it, but rather than see the culling of my
team-mate, I retired for a nice shower...
Which means the following transcription is based on the gossip bouncing
around the hallowed walls of Grange Bar in the pizza / beer session
later on...
'I have never seen such winners!'
'I played every shot hoping it was going to end the rally!'
'I thought he was out for the count!'
'Ahh, he always does that!'
Suffice to say, Andy came back to win the fifth 10-8!
But what happened to Brian? I hear you say. What indeed?!
Brian finally rolled up (literally since he was full of food!) in the middle of the
two Andys' matches.
By that stage it was getting really late and there was no sign of either
game finishing any time soon, so Brian and Thomas (and Ant, the ref)
were dispatched off to the Grange to play their game there.
Sadly Brian's messed up evening went from bad to worse with
(1) Thomas whupping him 3-0 so quickly that Brian offered to play
another game to at least make the evening worth his while
and
(2) Brian finding out that he had exited his house in such a rush he had
left his house keys in the front door...
He left to see whether his house was still there...
The remaining players eventually wound up proceedings just after 11. A long night indeed!
"The Night of the Long Fives..."
Team Captain elect Richard Nisbet (now that Mark Dutton has gone AWOL
for a few months) put together a team to compete against ESC6, who were
only two places below GRG3 in Division 4, for our final match of 2013.
Richard and Ant Fitzgerald were first up against Moira and Matt
respectively.
Moira took control from the off and had Richard on the ropes with a
swift 9-3 win in the first.
But our Richard is a feisty fella and after taking stock of the
situation in the interval, came out swinging (the racket) and recovered
to take the second 9-1.
Fortunately for us, Moira recovered in the next two, but not enough to
knock our man to the canvas and Richard eventually closed out the game 3-1.
Ever the leader, Richard even took the opportunity to call Brian Sloan
(our #4) before his final game to find out whether Brian was ever going
to turn up that evening?
It turns out that at that moment Brian was at home with his feet up
tucking into a sumptuous dinner coz he planned to play on Wednesday!
Ant and Matt-the-younger had very similar styles: run like the flames
and leather the ball fek hard!
Ant was even wearing a go-faster stripe round his knee to help with the
image.
Ant was the victor in the first game, 9-6. But Matt came out fast &
furious in the second to burn Ant 9-2.
The third was a much more even affair and it was a long slog that took
them to 8 all.
Matt chose set 1 - always a risky choice - but it ended well, with Matt
recovering service and then serving to win the game 9-8.
2-1 to Matt.
Well, Ant must have had some special antipodean potion at the interval
because he came out in the 4th and scorched to a 9-3 win.
2 all.
Like the third, the fifth was even and yet another long slog took them
to 8 all for the second time. Set 2 was called this time, but like the
third, Matt won out 10-8 to take the rubber 3-2.
And so ended the first of the long five setters of the evening...
Andy Beames was up next to play Matt-the-taller. Now if you thought
Richard had been off to a slow start, you should have seen this fella.
Matt took the first 9-3 in a matter of minutes and not long after was
looking for his second at 8-2 up.
Perhaps Andy thought he was playing on Wednesday with Brian?
Perhaps Matt took his foot off the gas?
Whatever it was, Beamesy found himself in the ascendency, and against
the run of play, not only recovered, but took the second 10-9.
The third also went Andy's way, 9-6, and now it was Matt wondering what
on earth had happened?
One should point out at this juncture that Matt was a veritable diving
machine on the squash court, rekindling memories of our erstwhile
captain Dutton. Ahhh...
The fourth game went on and on, Matt recovering from the shock of
finally having an opponent and the game went to 8 all.
Receiving serve on the forehand, Andy chose set 1 and recovered service
to serve for the match. Matt dug deep, saved the match point and
immediately won the game point to level the score at 2 all.
So, after having been on the court for nigh on an hour, Matt and Andy
squared up for the final game.
Except that Andy had left the building! Matt finished as he had started:
game over in minutes, 9-1, Matt wins 3-2.
And so ended the second long five setter of the evening...
Andy Whitelaw and Ronan, seeded #1, were playing on the other court, and
this was to be the last of the long five setters.
Andy and Ronan slugged through the first four games turn and turn-about:
9-4, 6-9, 9-7, 6-9.
And so it was down to the fifth.
Ronan was still skipping around the court like he'd just walked on,
whilst Andy was doing an excellent impression of someone who had played
9 cometition games in 7 days and was now an hour into his 10th.
Ronan forged ahead to 7-2 - the writing was definitely on the wall for
Andy - so it pains me to say it, but rather than see the culling of my
team-mate, I retired for a nice shower...
Which means the following transcription is based on the gossip bouncing
around the hallowed walls of Grange Bar in the pizza / beer session
later on...
'I have never seen such winners!'
'I played every shot hoping it was going to end the rally!'
'I thought he was out for the count!'
'Ahh, he always does that!'
Suffice to say, Andy came back to win the fifth 10-8!
But what happened to Brian? I hear you say. What indeed?!
Brian finally rolled up (literally since he was full of food!) in the middle of the
two Andys' matches.
By that stage it was getting really late and there was no sign of either
game finishing any time soon, so Brian and Thomas (and Ant, the ref)
were dispatched off to the Grange to play their game there.
Sadly Brian's messed up evening went from bad to worse with
(1) Thomas whupping him 3-0 so quickly that Brian offered to play
another game to at least make the evening worth his while
and
(2) Brian finding out that he had exited his house in such a rush he had
left his house keys in the front door...
He left to see whether his house was still there...
The remaining players eventually wound up proceedings just after 11. A long night indeed!
Friday, 4 October 2013
Grange 3s Vs Colinton 4s 03 Oct 2013
Folks,
The season opener proved a tough one for Grange 3 with a clean sweep for Colinton Castle 4.
Everybody performed very creditably though against opponents ranked anything from 40 to 95 points higher than them on the matrix.
Best performance of the evening was that of Brian Sloan who had Eric Donohoe (95 matrix points higher!) absolutely on toast with a 5-0 lead in the 5th game when he tore a calf muscle. He tried to carry on after the statutary 3 minute injury break in the hope that he could slam four straight winners into the nick….but he couldn't and chose wisely to retire once Eric had clawed back to 5-7.
Georgina Jamieson had a very close tussle with Mike Brown before succumbing late in the 5th game.
Richard Nisbet recovered from a bit of a nightmare first game (one handout all he had to show for it) to take the second game well. The remaining games were hard fought but Stuart Keane pulled away at the end of each.
Anthony Fitzgerald had a very tough match against the speedy Mark Williamson. The contest was a lot closer than the three 4-9 results would suggest but his opponent always had enough of an edge.
The attempt by the captain Mark Dutton to rescue Grange club honour at the end of the night proved a touch too difficult against the long reach and steady play of Colin Grant. All of the games were close with Mark leading two of them quite a long way in but ultimately Colin had the edge in tightness and asked a few more squash questions than Mark could pose in return.
Not a bad season start against a very strong team who must be amongst the favourites for promotion from this division.
The season opener proved a tough one for Grange 3 with a clean sweep for Colinton Castle 4.
Everybody performed very creditably though against opponents ranked anything from 40 to 95 points higher than them on the matrix.
Best performance of the evening was that of Brian Sloan who had Eric Donohoe (95 matrix points higher!) absolutely on toast with a 5-0 lead in the 5th game when he tore a calf muscle. He tried to carry on after the statutary 3 minute injury break in the hope that he could slam four straight winners into the nick….but he couldn't and chose wisely to retire once Eric had clawed back to 5-7.
Georgina Jamieson had a very close tussle with Mike Brown before succumbing late in the 5th game.
Richard Nisbet recovered from a bit of a nightmare first game (one handout all he had to show for it) to take the second game well. The remaining games were hard fought but Stuart Keane pulled away at the end of each.
Anthony Fitzgerald had a very tough match against the speedy Mark Williamson. The contest was a lot closer than the three 4-9 results would suggest but his opponent always had enough of an edge.
The attempt by the captain Mark Dutton to rescue Grange club honour at the end of the night proved a touch too difficult against the long reach and steady play of Colin Grant. All of the games were close with Mark leading two of them quite a long way in but ultimately Colin had the edge in tightness and asked a few more squash questions than Mark could pose in return.
Not a bad season start against a very strong team who must be amongst the favourites for promotion from this division.
Friday, 22 March 2013
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.
The 4's were not so lucky, won 3, lost 15 which sees them demoted to Div 5 next season.
| 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 |
Friday, 15 March 2013
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...
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 | |||||||||
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Thirds at Colinton 4's
| Date: | 28/2/2013 |
| Teams: | Grange 3 vs Colinton Castle 4 |
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |||
| 1 | Mike Gore | 0 | 0 | 20 | Kim Byers | 1 | 3 | 27 | |||
| 2 | Donna Cruickshank | 0 | 1 | 14 | Stuart Keane | 1 | 3 | 33 | |||
| 3 | Matt Pearson | 0 | 0 | 17 | Eric Donohoe | 1 | 3 | 28 | |||
| 4 | Angus MacPherson | 1 | 3 | 27 | Mike Halpin | 0 | 0 | 16 | |||
| 5 | Jonathan Norrie | 1 | 3 | 27 | no player | 0 | 0 | 0 | Forfeit | ||
| Total | 2 | 7 | 105 | 3 | 9 | 104 | |||||
| Competition Points | 7 | 12 | |||||||||
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Grange 3rds @ Colinton 5's (Fri, 8th Feb)
A
successful night for the extradinarily youthful Grange 3rds, emerging
victorious by 17 points to 6. Well….youthful on the whole….a couple of
ageing Loobys and Duttons dragging the average out a bit…..
First
up at no5 was the new Grange sensation, 14 year old Angus Mcpherson
against Gordon Robertson. Not only does Angus possess a whole bunch of
squash skill (and youthful legs…always handy) but also has a mature
squash head on his shoulders. Gordon was playing good squash and there
were plenty of lengthy rallies but was he was no match for Angus who
restricted him to just a handful of points per game. 1-9, 2-9, 1-9 to
Angus.
Colin
Williamson played an excellent match at no 1 against the useful CCS
stalwart John Brown. Good squash all round but Colin's placement and
particularly his crisp smacking of the ball proved too much for John and
he ran out a 5-9, 1-9, 2-9 winner.
At No 3 Christy was slightly hampered by a leg injury in taking on Derrick Simpson. Christy was hitting the ball well enough but Derrick was playing an excellent hard-hitting game that would have had Christy stretching at the best of times. Still a competitive game but in the end a 9-4, 9-2, 9-3 loss for Christy was about as good a result as he could have hoped for.
At
No4 Aoife Kerrin continued her good contributions to the mens' teams
with a 1-3 win over Derek Wilson. A comfortable 1-9 win in the first
followed by a 9-0 reversal in the second momentarily gave the Grange
crew a sinking feeling that it was all about to go west, but she came
out in the third game and resumed control and ran out 4-9 and 2-9.
In
the "exhibition" match at No2 the evening was completed with Mark
Dutton facing Mike Halpin. Textbook squash it might not have been but,
hey, who needs textbooks. Not to say it wasn't of a good standard but
unorthodoxy ruled the day with plenty of tricksy shots from both sides
and plenty of YouTube aerobatic moments. All good fun and lots of
humorous exchanges on court. Mike took the first 9-7 and very nearly
had the second with Mark just nicking it 8-10. Mark on top in the third
at 3-9 and the fourth was good and close but ultimately 6-9.
The evening rounded off nicely with a plateful of pie'n'beans from the fine kitchen that the CCS folk run. Overall 4-1, 17-7 so good points staving off relegation (Report: Dutton)
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Thirds home v Bank o'Scotland(Thurs, Jan 31)
Matt Pearson came from his sick bed and gave Mike Smith a good run for his money in a long match,
I was on the the other court so didn't see much of it. I didn't see much of the ball for the first game of my match with John Burnet but stayed on court warming the ball and Gorzer told me to stop going for the boast so early. This got me into my hitting, so much so that John didn't trouble the scoreboard for 2 whole games. The fourth say John get a bit of a lead but luckily I was in control and reeled him in with the help of a few tins in winning positions from John.
Stokes and Robin both complained that court 1 was cold with it being difficult to get any pace on the ball. They shared to first 2 going to extra points on both but after that Robin pulled away 3-1. I reffed Gorzer v Phil Brown, this was a competitive match with no lack of controversy but good respect between the players, it went to five and Mike finished the better 3-2.
Colin Williamso was 2 games down to Rob Norris when I looked in, Colin was moving and hitting very well to get a lead but Rob is made of stern stuff and hunted him down to extra points where Colin did set-1.
Gasp! Followed by tin. From Colins racket. Cue a big rush back to the pavilion so we could catch his Dad to impress on Colin that "You never set-1 in a team match, son". Colin alleged he was tired but Rob said he was blowing a bit as he leant on his racket to stop himself crumpling in a heap on the floor.
Only Rob came back to the pavilion so the banter was a bit Grange-centric and there was enough pizza left over to feed the barman, Charlie and a doggy bag for Stokes lunch the day after.
I was on the the other court so didn't see much of it. I didn't see much of the ball for the first game of my match with John Burnet but stayed on court warming the ball and Gorzer told me to stop going for the boast so early. This got me into my hitting, so much so that John didn't trouble the scoreboard for 2 whole games. The fourth say John get a bit of a lead but luckily I was in control and reeled him in with the help of a few tins in winning positions from John.
Stokes and Robin both complained that court 1 was cold with it being difficult to get any pace on the ball. They shared to first 2 going to extra points on both but after that Robin pulled away 3-1. I reffed Gorzer v Phil Brown, this was a competitive match with no lack of controversy but good respect between the players, it went to five and Mike finished the better 3-2.
Colin Williamso was 2 games down to Rob Norris when I looked in, Colin was moving and hitting very well to get a lead but Rob is made of stern stuff and hunted him down to extra points where Colin did set-1.
Gasp! Followed by tin. From Colins racket. Cue a big rush back to the pavilion so we could catch his Dad to impress on Colin that "You never set-1 in a team match, son". Colin alleged he was tired but Rob said he was blowing a bit as he leant on his racket to stop himself crumpling in a heap on the floor.
Only Rob came back to the pavilion so the banter was a bit Grange-centric and there was enough pizza left over to feed the barman, Charlie and a doggy bag for Stokes lunch the day after.
| Home Team: Grange 3 | Away Team: Bank of Scotland | ||||||||
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |
| 1 | Colin Williamson | 0 | 0 | 19 | Rob Norris | 1 | 3 | 27 | |
| 2 | Alan Stokes | 0 | 1 | 29 | Robin Nisbet | 1 | 3 | 36 | |
| 3 | Mike Gore | 1 | 3 | 41 | Phil Brown | 0 | 2 | 31 | |
| 4 | Christy Looby | 1 | 3 | 30 | John Burnet | 0 | 1 | 16 | |
| 5 | Matt Pearson | 0 | 1 | 25 | Mike Smith | 1 | 3 | 29 | |
| Total | 2 | 8 | 144 | 3 | 12 | 139 | |||
Thursday, 24 January 2013
GRG3 @ HWU2 Wed 23rd Jan.
First
up was Mark Dutton at no 4 against the tall Olivier Whettem. The match
was played on the exhibition court which does take a bit of getting
used to given the clunky see-through glass front wall. Consequently the
first game was characterised by cautious play mixed with the odd
mistake and Mark managed to snatch it 10-8 after saving a couple of game
points. The second and third games saw Mark becoming increasingly
comfortable and dominant to run out 9-6 and 9-3 for a good 3-0 victory.
At
no 5, men's team debutante Aoife Kerrin was up against James
Robertson. Aoife is returning to squash after a number of years out but
if this is anything to go by she must've been pretty handy back then.
She considers herself still a bit rusty by her historic standard but
will clearly soon be back up to full speed. She was put to a decent
test by James but always had an edge and ran out a 10-8, 9-6, 9-7
winner.
At
no1 it was Alan Stokes versus the very useful Santino Piccoli. A
contrast of styles with Alan's measured touch and weight and Santino's
hard hitting and court speed. Alan as just pipped 8-10 in the first and
similarly 6-9 in the second but took the third very easily 9-3. It was
to be a false dawn though as Santino stepped on the gas and Alan lost
it 3-9 for a 1-3 loss overall.
At
No 3 Doug Brown was on the exhibition court against Gary Diggins.
Similarly to the 4th string match, neither player looked entirely
comfortable with the feel of the court and both were content to play
primarily percentage squash with only the occasional foray into all out
attack. The game scores were all close but Dougie was always a bit
ahead on the percentage front and was always a little more in control of
the rallies than Gary and he managed to take all three games 9-7, 9-5,
9-7.
Finally
at No2 Mike Gore had the toughest assignment of the night against
Claire Gray. Mike played very will indeed but those that have seen
Claire play will know that she's a class act with excellent skills and
touch. For much of the match Mike put her to the test as much as she
did him but Claire was able to take punishing advantage of anything in
the least bit loose (didn't have to be that loose, to be honest..) and
Mike ended up on the end of a 2-9, 6-9, 6-9 loss.
Back to the Student Union afterwards for lashings of Macaroni Cheese with Chicken and Garlic Bread…and a cleansing pint.
A good night's work all round. (M. Dutton)
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |||
| 1 | Alan Stokes | 0 | 1 | 23 | Santino Piccoli | 1 | 3 | 34 | |||
| 2 | Mike Gore | 0 | 0 | 13 | Claire Kidd | 1 | 3 | 27 | |||
| 3 | Dougie Brown | 1 | 3 | 27 | Gary Diggens | 0 | 0 | 19 | |||
| 4 | Mark Dutton | 1 | 3 | 28 | Olivier Whettem | 0 | 0 | 14 | |||
| 5 | Aoife Kerrin | 1 | 3 | 28 | James Robertson | 0 | 0 | 19 | |||
| Total | 3 | 10 | 119 | 2 | 6 | 113 | |||||
| Competition Points | 13 | 6 | |||||||||
Friday, 18 January 2013
Three's home v Watsons (Thurs, Jan 16)
Christy up first, in control for the first game against fellow-leftie Ian Clark. Took it too casual in the second and paid the price, screwed the nut for the next two to just sneak home in 4.
Dougie faced the hard-hitting Chris Green, it was nip and tuck going into the 5th, Chris got a good lead which was all Dougie needed to haul it back and take the win.
Mark "Serve weird or dive until you drop" Dutton on against Gordon "boast you until you top yourself" MacDonald, the boast won it this time 3-1.
Gorzer against Mike "running man" Sinclair, this too was nip and tuck until the 5th when Sinclair's stamina saw him through.
All to play for between Andy Whitelaw and Jim Dougall. Something was not right with Andy and while he completed the match, he didn't really contest it. Doctor has since diagnosed "health issues. The problem last night was spondylitis. Also tennis elbow. She also wants an x-ray on the cold hand".
Overall a good points score against the top team in the league.
Back for pizza and beer (or wine in Ian's case... Watsons attract a better class of player these days ;-) where talk turned to the racket sport development at Grange.
Dougie faced the hard-hitting Chris Green, it was nip and tuck going into the 5th, Chris got a good lead which was all Dougie needed to haul it back and take the win.
Mark "Serve weird or dive until you drop" Dutton on against Gordon "boast you until you top yourself" MacDonald, the boast won it this time 3-1.
Gorzer against Mike "running man" Sinclair, this too was nip and tuck until the 5th when Sinclair's stamina saw him through.
All to play for between Andy Whitelaw and Jim Dougall. Something was not right with Andy and while he completed the match, he didn't really contest it. Doctor has since diagnosed "health issues. The problem last night was spondylitis. Also tennis elbow. She also wants an x-ray on the cold hand".
Overall a good points score against the top team in the league.
Back for pizza and beer (or wine in Ian's case... Watsons attract a better class of player these days ;-) where talk turned to the racket sport development at Grange.
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |||
| 1 | Andrew Whitelaw | 0 | 0 | 1 | Jim Dougal | 1 | 3 | 27 | |||
| 2 | Mike Gore | 0 | 2 | 34 | Mike Sinclair | 1 | 3 | 34 | |||
| 3 | Dougie Brown | 1 | 3 | 41 | Chris Green | 0 | 2 | 31 | |||
| 4 | Mark Dutton | 0 | 1 | 26 | Gordon MacDonald | 1 | 3 | 34 | |||
| 5 | Christy Looby | 1 | 3 | 34 | Ian Clark | 0 | 1 | 23 | |||
| Total | 2 | 9 | 136 | 3 | 12 | 149 | |||||
| Competition Points | 9 | 15 | |||||||||
Friday, 14 December 2012
Funeral Arrangements - Gavin Fulton RIP
Service to be held at Warriston Crematorium Lorimer Chapel, on Tuesday, December 18, at 2.00 pm to which all family and friends are invited. No flowers please, donations if desired may be made on retiral of service in aid of Scottish Sports Aid and Organ Donation Support. Dress code optional.
Funeral is 2pm Tue Dec 18 at Warriston, function back at Grange pavilion afterwards.
(His widow Jill would be happy for his clubmates and folk from other clubs who have come across Gavin who so wish, to attend & pay their respects.)
So far 60 hits on the original thread, I just want to pop this to the top of the blog. Christy
 |
| Gavin would have been delighted to finish the year in League 1 above the current club champion! Click here for League results Divisions 1-19 |
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Sad news of a fallen teammate... (Fri, Dec 7)
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 ReportTV 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
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
Sunday, 2 December 2012
GRG4 Vs GRG3 Derby Match
Request for some random drug testing at the Grange!
I was first up, (Brian Sloan), against Andrew Beames and all I can say is that it was like playing Skippy the Kangaroo on speed. Andrew was well up for it and sprang about the court as if his life depended on it. I did manage to win our second game but I suspect Andrew sneaked off to the toilet for another line and his spring returned to see out the match 3-1. However, our match did last a reasonable length of time to the extent that on the other court two matches were completed in the same duration. Both were 3-0 wins for the 3s. Mike Gore and Mark Dutton comfortably seeing of Doug Sherriffs and Rocco. Unfortunately I can’t comment on either of these games as I was too busy wrestling with Skippy!
I then umpired an excellent tight game between Dougie Brown and Anthony Fitzgerald. Dougie won 3-1 but two of the games went to 10-8 in each players favour and the one Anthony lost could easily have gone his way which would have taken it to the fifth. Well done Anthony for showing that the 4s can at least compete with the 3s!
The last game was expected to be a close game between Andy Whitelaw and Richard Nisbet. I certainly expected it to be given the way Richard played for us the previous week. I confidently headed off for a shower expecting to come back and watch the closing stages of the game. You can imagine my surprise when I came out of the shower to see Andy changing for a shower! It appeared that he played superb squash to the extent that Richard was questioning why Andy needed a shower! However in the bar afterwards when Andy was asked how he was managing to play so well given his recent injuries it appears he takes quite a number of pills before taking to court. Yet more drug taking!
The chat afterwards was very good natured and I learnt something new as well. Mark is Australian! A number of people were surprised that I didn’t know this given his accent but I have to be honest and say I don’t understand anything Mark says. If I had been told he was German I would have believed it.
Well done to the 3s for their win and for managing to rack up our biggest bar bill of the season so far! Hopefully it will be closer next time when we should have Stokesy, Mike Douglas and Georgina playing for us and your drug bans will have kicked in.
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |||
| 1 | Andrew Whitelaw | 1 | 3 | 27 | Richard Nisbet | 0 | 0 | 13 | |||
| 2 | Dougie Brown | 1 | 3 | 39 | Anthony Fitzgerald | 0 | 1 | 33 | |||
| 3 | Mark Dutton | 1 | 3 | 27 | Rocco Pannozzo | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 4 | Mike Gore | 1 | 3 | 27 | Doug Sherriffs | 0 | 0 | 14 | |||
| 5 | Andrew Beames | 1 | 3 | 31 | Brian Sloan | 0 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Total | 5 | 15 | 151 | 0 | 2 | 83 | |||||
| Competition Points | 18 | 2 | |||||||||
Thursday, 22 November 2012
GRG3 @ Waverly Vs WVY3s (Wed 21 Nov 2012)
A very good night for the resurgent Grange 3 side with a 20-0 victory over Waverley 3rds.
First up was Mark Dutton at no4 against Yvonne Ferguson. Some good hard hitting and liberal use of some tricky serving saw Mark go to a strong 9-1, 9-0 lead. Yvonne intelligently changed her game plan to a much slower and softer one and it nearly paid off but Mark managed to claw back from a 4-8 deficit to take it 10-9. Only the two dives worth mentioning.
At No5 Mike Gore took on Jo Watts. Mike was hitting the ball hard and accurately and raced to a 9-1, 9-1 lead. Jo dug in a bit more in the third and was in touch at only 5-4 down but Mike put his foot a bit harder on the gas and ran out a 9-4 winner.
At No2 Dougie Brown took and Bernard Chizanga. Bernard led all of the games early on being up 1-4, 1-3 and 2-5 respectively but in every game Dougie put a halt to that and frustrated Bernard with some excellent length and width and took all the games 9-4, 9-5 and 9-6.
Andy Whitelaw at No 2 was up against hard-hitting Martin Robertson. Andy played well but Martin remained in touch throughout all the games. Andy always had the edge though and ran out 9-8, 9-7 9-7.
The final match at no1 was between Robin Steel and Heather Spens. Robin's hard hitting had Heather on the back foot much of the time but she retrieved well and was able to match Robin with touch for periods in the match. Robin was able to put the foot down though whenever it looked like Heather would threaten and ran out 9-5, 9-5, 9-6
Post match food very good and plentiful as it always is at Waverley
| Pos | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | Player | Rubbers | Games | Points | |||
| 1 | Robin Steel | 1 | 3 | 27 | Heather Spens | 0 | 0 | 16 | |||
| 2 | Andrew Whitelaw | 1 | 3 | 27 | Martin Robertson | 0 | 0 | 22 | |||
| 3 | Dougie Brown | 1 | 3 | 27 | Bernard Chizanga | 0 | 0 | 15 | |||
| 4 | Mark Dutton | 1 | 3 | 28 | Yvonne Ferguson | 0 | 0 | 9 | |||
| 5 | Mike Gore | 1 | 3 | 27 | Jo Watts | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Total | 5 | 15 | 136 | 0 | 0 | 68 | |||||
| Competition Points | 18 | 0 | |||||||||
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