A Team miss chance to secure league place in relegation scrap

Apr 21 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE West Lothian Table Tennis Club A Team missed the chance to all but seal their Edinburgh Premier Division status as they fell to a narrow defeat in what had been billed as a four-pointer away to North Merchiston.

Their cause was not helped pre-match when illness forced George Flanagan out of the tie leaving them with only two players.

Captain Lewis Hills and Brian Hunter fought valiantly with very little room for error but lost by the narrowest of margins by 4-6.

Of late it has been Hills who has led by example but it was Hunter who won two to his captain's one and a win in the doubles to make four.

This loss now leaves them second bottom of the division but the team below them are only one point behind with a game in hand.

In Division One both the A Team and the B Team completed their seasons with postponed home fixtures, but with differing conclusions.

The A Team finished with a flourish by winning 7-3 against Murrayfield with a line up of Dariusz Szymczak, Barrie Hills and Kieran Boyle.

Each player won two games and the duo of Szymczak and Boyle also took the doubles. Playing in his first season at this level Boyle has now certainly found his feet among more experienced players.

The C team, on the other hand, suffered a 1-9 heavy defeat at the hands of a good Edinburgh University team, although they were without their top two players, Andy MacDougall and Kevin Milne. Replacing them were Ian Wodecki and junior Aaron Cameron who have been in good form in divisions two and three respectively and they joined team regular Keith MacKay.

The sole win was registered by MacKay and Wodecki in the doubles.

However, at 1-7 down both MacKay and young Cameron were unlucky not to put a better gloss on the eventual result when they went down only in deciding sets.

These results confirm the A Team in fourth position but their final position might have been third had Edinburgh University not beaten the C Team.

In their case, the C Team had a much more successful second half of the season which saw them move from the bottom echelons to mid table.

In Division Two both the C Team and the D Team had already completed their fixtures but only now can the final placings be confirmed.

With a regular trio of Drew Mclaren (captain), Ian Wodecki and George Anderson the D Team finished in fourth place.

The E team had a pool of Jim Stewart, John Swift, Martin Rumsey and Sam Stanton to thank for their creditable mid table finish.

Like the A Team, the F Team are also involved in a play off but in this instance it is for promotion to the second division.

Over the season it utilised a pool of six players. Ably led by captain Benny Flockhart the others were Stephen Gray, Aaron Cameron, Graham Chambers, Paul Keddie and Kevin Boyle.

With the Edinburgh League coming to fruition, there was much more activity in the West Lothian League.

Among the games played was a 5-3 defeat inflicted on Murieston by Dedridge and a 6-2 win for Deer Park against Deans.

Starring for both winning teams was West Lothian's oldest competitive player Davie Dall who was in sparkling form.

Murieston fielded John McCulloch, Graham Chambers and James Marris against a Dedridge team comprising of Keith MacKay, Sam Stanton and Dall.

For the losing team McCulloch won both his singles and combined with young Marris to take the doubles.

However, it was Dedridge's better team performance which won the day with Dall taking the scalp of Murieston's second string player Chambers. The best encounter of the match though was between Dall and Marris with the veteran just edging out his much younger opponent.

In the other match Deer Park was represented by Andy MacDougall (captain), Bill Weir and Davie Dall, guest for the night ,while Deans had Barrie Hills, Jeff Yates and Allan Ewing. It was the unbeaten displays of both MacDougall and Dall which won the day for Deer Park.