2024 East of Scotland League Match Results -  Week 6

Ladies 1’s (Div 1), captain: Suzie Provan

Braid were away to Hatton this week, and despite dull skies, the rain kept away. The team won 9-4 with Sarah and Mhairi, and Emily and Heather, winning all four sets, but Suzie and Alice losing both their matches. Suzie would like to publicly apologise to Alice for her severe lack of tennis playing ability on the night! 🙄 

Ladies 2’s (Div 2), captain: Amy Allen

We managed to get our match in on Tuesday before the rain stopped all play!  We were looking forward to the challenge of playing the Meadows. Currently they were unbeaten in the season and the only team we had lost to in the first half, we were hoping to get our revenge. And that we did.  Lisa and Juliet remain undefeated this season with a long fought win over the 1s followed by a quicker game against a young 3rd couple.  Amy and Marianna overcame the 2nd couple this time around in a good battle and went on to face the 1s in the second round. We were close to not finishing before the floodlights cut out at 10pm in another long match, 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 to the Meadows pair. 

Janine and Maki joined us this week and started with a strong win over the 3rd couple.  They went on to face the 2nd couple in the second round and as was the theme of the evening had a long and well fought match, narrowly losing out 7-5, 7-5!

Thanks to all for some great tennis to secure an 8-4 win to take us top of the table. 

Ladies 3’s (Div 3A), captain: Diana Dalton

It was an unexpectedly tricky rematch against Merchiston this week for the ladies 3s, with Braid having convincingly won the first match against them at the beginning of the season. Both teams had different pairings which, it turned out, were more evenly matched overall. At the halfway point we were two matches to one down (Cat and Diana came back from 5-0 down in their second set to frustratingly lose 7-5). At this point Braid notched up a gear with Eileen and Maeve quickly dismissing the second couple, Cat and Diana comfortably beating the thirds and Hazel and Mhairi only very narrowly failing to conquer the firsts in the match tie break 10-6. We finished the evening with a 7-7 draw.

Ladies 4’s (Div 5B), captain: Mhairi Reid 

Cancelled due to weather. To be rearranged. 

Ladies 5’s (Div 9), captain: Kerry Cooper 

Cancelled due to weather.  To be rearranged.

Men 

Braid men's first team hosted St Serfs T1 at home, but despite the great weather and a nice evening for tennis, St Serfs took the win. Our team was Russell Dickson, Tom Johnston, Mark Brocklebank, Jimmy Wood, Danny McLaren, Jesse Phitidis.

Men's T2 had a close match away to David Lloyd Newhaven 1, finishing up in a draw 7-7, leaving Braid 2 top of their division with 4 weeks left to play. The team was Ewan McMillin, David Rigterink, Alexey Dronov, Max Chen, Zac Davies & Peter Thomson.

Braid men's third team were away to a strong Hatton T2, losing 2-10. The team was John Charlton, Ross Cobban, Alexander Westmoreland, Gilberto Martinez, Gary Kedney & Eugene Creally. 

Men's T4 match rearranged due to weather.

Match Results - Week 5

Ladies 1’s (Div 1), captain: Suzie Provan

A very convincing win against Waverley this week, losing just nine games across the board. All the matches were really enjoyable though and the rain stayed away! We also thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful match tea afterwards, in typical Waverley style 😊

At the halfway point of the season, Braid firsts are unbeaten and top of the table, with a very healthy percentage lead from their nearest rivals, Blackhall, who sit in second place. 

Ladies 2’s (Div 2), captain: Amy Allen

Sitting just below us in the table and having beaten us by a whisker in both legs last year, Barnton Park promised to be a tough match for us, and they didn’t disappoint.  Some really great tennis and close matches despite the mist and needing the floodlights on from the beginning of the evening!  Both our 1st couple of Lisa and Juliet and our 2nd couple of Amy and Alice went to 3 sets against BPs 1st couple.  Lisa and Juliet clinched their match tie break to leave them unbeaten this season as they also won round 2 against the 3rd couple.  Amy and Alice won their first round match against the 2nd pair but lost out in the MTB against the firsts.  Not to feel left out on the MTB front, Andrea and Lorraine clinched theirs against the 3rd pair and then went on to defeat the 2nd couple in 2 sets. This gave Braid a very strong 11-4 win overall, well done!  

We are currently sitting top of the table owing to the Meadows not playing their match against DL Corstorphine last week due to the courts not being playable. 

Meadows are currently undefeated, we play them next week and are hoping to reverse the result from last time and stop their unbeaten run.

Ladies 3’s (Div 3A), captain: Diana Dalton

North Berwick drew with the team the Ladies 3s lost to last week (David Lloyd Newhaven), so we travelled East in the dull, grey drizzle with some trepidation of how we’d get on. I needn’t have worried, as the steely-nerved Braid team pushed comfortably through round one, losing only to a strong first couple (with Margaret and Maki giving them plenty to think about on the way, mind you). We repeated the sequence in the second round to end 8-5 up. This leaves us second on the leaderboard at the mid-way point of the league season. The rest of the team was made up of Eileen and Maeve, Rachel and Diana.

Ladies 4’s (Div 5B), captain: Mhairi Reid 

This week’s match was at home against Corstorphine.  The team came down from division 4 last year and was sitting second on the leaderboard.  

Viv and Hazel played against the first couple and took two sets, 6-3, 6-3.  Anne and Mhairi won 6-2, 6-4 against the second couple.  Catriona and Jacqui narrowly lost the first set in a tiebreak to a strong third couple and were just edged out of the second set.  

In the second round, the second couple from Corstorphine had to retire due to injury. Anne and Mhairi won in two against the first couple.  Anne and Viv had a good match against the third couple finishing up just before the lights were due to go out, securing two sets and giving Braid 4 a 10-2 victory.  

Ladies 5’s (Div 9), captain: Kerry Cooper 

The 5th women’s team played away against Barnton Park. The weather provided great sunshine, the perfect evening for tennis. We won 8-4. The first pair had a challenging match that went on so long the rest of us had a sneak preview of the lovely light supper and a warm drink... and still it went on, sadly for us losing 6-3,6-3. The score didn't reflect the effort! We discovered later one of their 1st players had dropped from their 1st team in the 4th division to play in the 9th division. It’s allowed - rules is rules!! The rest of us romped it in and gave away very few games. As expected the second round was a challenge for the 3rd pair having to play BP first pair. They put up a good fight and tried brilliantly hard but unfortunately succumbed to a loss.  Well done great effort....and the BP 2nd and 3rd pair were again wiped out by awesome Braid talent. We had a second supper and won, so a successful evening! And Brenda, I promise to make sure you don't play the 1st couple in the next match.

Men

Braid Men's T1 secured a very tight draw 7-7 against Barnton Park 1s away, giving them the first point of the leagues this year. Team was Gregor Stott, Russell Dickson, Tom Johnston, Stef van Walstijn, Joe Edmunds & Angus Edward.

The men's second team has gone top of their division with a 12-1 win over Meadows City 1 at home. The team comprised of Jimmy Wood, Mark Brocklebank, Danny McLaren, Jesse Phitidis, David Rigterink & Ewan McMillin.

Braid Men's T3 had a close match away against Dunfermline 2s, unfortunately losing out 5-8. The team was Alexey Dronov, Felix Freund, John Charlton, Finn Mitchell, Graham Moffat & Peter Thomson.

The men's fourth team secured a good win 12-4 against Murrayfield 2 at home to maintain 3rd spot in their division. The team was Eugene Creally, Roger Layton, Ross Cobban, Peter Traynor, Gilberto Martinez and Juan Carlos Varona Sanchez.