Edinburgh League action gets underway

Oct 1 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE first week of the new table tennis season saw four of the five West Lothian teams playing in the Edinburgh League in action.

For their first match of the current campaign the new West Lothian E team travelled to the capital to meet another new team to the league, the Blue Liners who, as their name suggests, are all serving members of the police service.

Captaining the West Lothian team and making his first foray into the league was Jim Stewart, supported by two club stalwarts Martin Rumsey and George Anderson.

Before the match had even started the Blue Liners asked for leniency, as novices, in their first-ever match but it soon became obvious that they were guilty of deception as they set about their opponents with no little skill and determination.

The more experienced Anderson kicked off for West Lothian but surprisingly lost in four sets and this defeat was followed by yet another when Stewart lost in straight sets to put West Lothian behind by two games.

These reversals were countered by subsequent victories for the impressive Rumsey and Anderson to tie the scores at two all.

At this point the Blue Liners Number 1 took on Martin Rumsey in what proved to be the most crucial match of the encounter. In a five-set thriller, Rumsey had to come from a two sets to one deficit to win.

At last West Lothian were in front. This narrow lead was extended further when Stewart recorded his first Edinburgh League game in fine style with a crushing straight-sets victory.

With a 4-2 lead, West Lothian were favourites to run out easy victors but the doubles game was lost on a deciding set and, again, nerves jangled.

Fortunately, Rumsey, who finished as player of the night, won the next and, although a deciding fifth set was again required, West Lothian took a 5-3 lead and required only one more win from the final two games.

Anderson duly completed the honours with a comfortable win but Stewart lost the last game of the night. Regardless, with a final score of 6-4 West Lothian took both points.

Team captain Stewart was delighted with his fledgling team’s first win and with the all-round team performance.

On the following evening the other new West Lothian team travelled to Corstorphine with two West Lothian schoolboys and one veteran within their ranks.

While Scotland over-70 international Drew McLaren, St Margaret’s Daniel MacKay and St Kent’s Kieran Boyle recorded a stunning 10-0 whitewash over their opponents, only two of the games were won in straight sets and of the remaining eight games five required deciding sets.

The experience and guidance of McLaren will play an important part in helping the youngsters find their feet in this division. That said, they both have great potential in the sport and by the end of the season will no doubt have claimed many more scalps.

The fact that the lads were able to deal with the pressure of tight games was particularly pleasing.

With both Third Division teams registering early wins there will inevitably be some rivalry between the teams when they meet later in the season with the winners probably in or near promotion position.

On the same night the C team hosted opposition from Penicuik, which featured former West Lothian member Gavin Hunter among its number.

It was no great return for him as he watched his team go down 8-2 to a very strong West Lothian outfit. For the home team both Kevin Milne and Keith MacKay won all their singles games, in the case of MacKay without dropping a set, and combined to win the doubles rubber with George Anderson chipping in with the other win.

Unfortunately, West Lothian A team were unable to make it a clean sweep of wins as they were at the wrong end of a 9-1 thumping from Penicuik’s top team.

Their first foray into the Premier Division finished in a disappointing defeat against what was probably mid-table opposition.

Of a team comprising current and former West Lothian champions (Lewis Hills and John McCulloch) and last season’s top performer in Division One (George Flanagan) West Lothian’s only win was in the doubles where Hills and Flanagan won at deuce in the fifth and deciding set.

However, the scoreline does not fully reflect the balance of play as the West Lothian players regularly found themselves at the receiving end of a series of net cords and edges, particularly at crucial points.

Hills, in particular, was desperately unlucky not to have recorded a singles victory as he lost two games in the fifth set and the other in the fourth set.

The more-experienced Flanagan and McCulloch found the pace just a little too hot on the night but playing more regularly at this level will, hopefully, find them more competitive.

By the end of the week the club had notched up three wins against one defeat, but that one loss was incurred by the flagship team in the flagship division.

It is to be hoped that they will turn the corner to retain premiership participation to eventually provide that level of competition for the large number of improving players at the club to aspire to.

Next week only the E team does not have a fixture and the B team enter the fray for the first time this season against Corstorphine.