Mixed bag for West Lothian table tennis

Sep 29 2011 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

COMPETITIVE table tennis was restricted to the Edinburgh and Lothians League where three of West Lothian's six teams played with varied success.

With one win, one draw and one defeat there was a genuine mix of results.

The pick of the matches was in Division One where the C Team hosted a side from Edinburgh International. Throughout last season this team was regularly represented by Andy MacDougall, Kevin Milne and Keith MacKay but in the absence of Milne because of work commitments Andy Wyles deputised.

First to the table was Wyles who gave his side the best possible start with a deciding set victory, coming from a two set to one deficit. In yet another five set struggle MacKay further increased the lead. At this point team captain MacDougall carried on with last season's fine form with a straight sets victory to give the home team an excellent 3-0 early lead.

Looking a heavy defeat in the face the Edinburgh outfit then turned the tables by winning all three of the second series of singles games to parity at 3-3. The surprising result of these three games was the defeat of MacDougall in straight sets by their opponent's reserve for the night. But the hardest to take was Wyles' defeat in the fifth end at 7-11 after holding what should have been a winning 7-3 lead.

Both teams then each won one of the next two games to keep the final result on a knife edge. First MacDougall and MacKay combined to take the doubles in four sets before MacKay lost in four sets. At 4-4 one point effectively became the reward for the winners of each the last two games.

In the first of these MacDougall managed to regain his composure with an excellent straight sets victory to give his team one point. With a score of 5-4 Wyles had the responsibility to win the last game to give West Lothian both points but gradually succumbed to a four sets defeat.

In the final analysis a draw was probably the fairest result.

In Division Two, West Lothian D Team must be considered among the favourites for the title having finished in third place last season and provided three of the top individual performers. Given these facts a 3-7 reverse away to Edinburgh Sports Club must be considered a shock result.

In fielding the regular trio of Drew McLaren, Ian Wodecki and George Anderson they looked to have more than an edge in terms of experience. However, they lost out in a series of four and five set encounters to their much younger adversaries.

When Wodecki won the opening game, the first of two wins from him, to give his team its only lead throughout the match the local team probably never considered the final result a possibility. Their only other win was registered by team captain McLaren. Without a win, Anderson can consider himself unlucky in losing no fewer than two games in the deciding set.

Last season the West Lothian F Team just missed out on promotion after finishing in second spot in Division Three but losing out in a play off. In their first game of this season they were able to field two of the division's top performers in team captain Benny Flockhart and Stephen Gray alongside Graham Chambers.

Playing away to another of Edinburgh International's teams they scraped a 6-4 win with Flockhart setting the standard by finishing undefeated in three singles and the doubles alongside Gray. Gray won the other two but Chambers found himself a little off the pace after a long summer lay off.

Since joining this league nine years ago West Lothian has become one of the largest and strongest clubs competing but the top team still lacks the quality to compete in the Premier Division without concerns over relegation.

With number one Brian Hunter on an extended holiday and George Flanagan still recovering from the effects of a serious accident it leaves only Lewis Hills from the top team regulars available for selection next week against Edinburgh Sports Club.

Having spent several years attaining this position at the top table club officials will be keen to preserve this status in the hope that those players still developing will eventually take the club to an even higher level.