Men’s first team

After several years prior of tough battles to remain in division 3, in 2024 the team had comfortably stayed up and in 2025 was eager to push on to contend for promotion to the lofty heights of the second division. This confident belief was helped by a team coming in (reasonably) fit and on (reasonable) form, aided by the arrival of young hot shot, Alexander Hart.

The team got off to our typically slow start, losing in disappointing fashion to Braid 2 on the first evening of play. We thought we may be destined for a battle to remain in Division 3 again, however the team then went on an incredible run, winning the next 5 ties in a row and sitting in the driving seat at the halfway stage. In amongst that run of form, there were 4 ties in a row (24 matches) where the team only lost a total of 2 matches, showing not only the confidence that the team was playing with but that it truly was a team effort. We were also aided by a very consistent team week in week out, which helped provide stability. Other teams in the league seemed to have a different team every week, Drummond 1s were lucky enough to have 5 people who played at least 8 of the 10 matches.

Week 7, our run was stopped away to Dalgety Bay, meaning it was back to an incredibly tight 3 horse race between Drummond, Braids and the Grange for the one promotion spot available. The following week, playing the bottom of the table Aberdour and knowing a win was essential, we unfortunately were struck by a lack of availability… but no problem, up stepped super-subs, Iain Watt and John Foxwell, returning from injuries to help the team by contributing 3 sets each, earning the team a crucial victory.

Moving into week 9, we had the Grange returning to Drummond, knowing that whoever lost was likely to be out of the running for getting promoted. In what was a very close evening and a high calibre of tennis, we managed to grind out an 8-6 win, primarily thanks to the star pairing of Marc K and Ali Stivs, who picked up 2 wins and saved our bacon on several occasions this year! In the final week of the season, we went to Barnton Park knowing that the title was in our hands and that if we won we would be promoted. After a tight first round, every Drummond pair won their second round match, kicked off by Lukas M and James G picking up a “double bagel” in about 20 minutes, to more or less seal promotion!

I am not aware of when a Drummond team last played in the 2nd Division, I appreciate that it has been some time and I am sure there will be an elder statesman in the club who will be able to inform me of when that was, however it is a huge achievement for the club to get up to this level of tennis. I want to thank all 11 players who played for the team this season (all doing their part by picking up at least one win), but particularly Alexander Hart who was the only player to play all 10 matches (winning 16 out of 20 rubbers) and also had the second best record in the whole league.

The 2nd division is going to be a huge test, but the team is excited for the opportunity and it would be great to have as many people along to support at the club as possible. The 1st team has only lost 2 matches at Drummond in the last 2 years (out of 10) and this is undoubtedly thanks to our comfort with the beautifully prepared courts but also the excellent support each evening cheering us on.

Dan McKiddie – 1st team captain

Drummond Tennis Club – Seconds Team Captain’s Report 2025

Captain: Donald MacLennan

The Second team finished fourth in Division Six, successfully retaining our place in a very competitive league. Over the 10 matches, we won 5, drew 1, and lost 4, with several closely contested games. The league was particularly strong, with three other Seconds teams able to call on first-team players from Divisions 1, 2, or 3 — including high-calibre players such as Mark Gaffney, who has been one of the top players in the East of Scotland for the last ten years. Competing against these sides made our performances even more encouraging.

This was my first season as Seconds Captain, and introduced quite a few new players to team tennis, we used a total of 15 players over the season. Fielding a full team each week was challenging, but all fixtures were fulfilled, and the commitment from everyone who played was excellent.

One of the highlights was introducing a couple of younger players, who developed well over the season. Malachy in particular made great progress, and these emerging players will give us greater squad depth going into the 2026 season.

I would like to thank all players for their availability and positive attitude. Looking ahead, our aim is to improve consistency and push for promotion to Division Five.

Drummond Super Vets 2025 Captain's Report

The inaugural Super Vets fixture for Drummond was against the local David Lloyd Club where many members of Drummond also play. Heading up the Newhaven team was none other than Drummond’s 2nd Team Captain, Donald Maclennan …

This is how Drummond’s 2025 venture into the Super Vets league started. A league I envisaged would be gentle seniors tennis turned out to be super competitive. We finished a credible 7th out of 10 very capable teams with 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses. Out of the 15 people who played for the team, John Foxwell and Debbie Hood were our team MVPs.

The ladies first team were in Division 3, having yo-yo’ed between Divs 3 & 4 the last few years. We had nine players representing the team over the season and lots of juggling around covering for weddings (Olivia - congratulations!), walking the Camino de Santiago (Holly) and pre season hand operation (Alex) …  who approved all these things to happen during the tennis season?! Val, Fiona, Caroline, Mary, Lorna and new recruit Hilary Y made our crew complete.

The season started with a great home win against North Berwick followed by a very pleasing draw in a “local derby” v Lomond Park. Sadly we couldn’t keep up the winning streak and Thistle, Braids and Murrayfield got the better of us. North Berwick then got their Revenge by the Sea, we had a great win at Thistle and beat Murrayfield but sadly it wasn’t quite enough.

North Berwick won the league and we ended up one point behind Thistle - with 1% games difference - so unfortunately find ourselves keeping the yo-yo trend going and heading back to Div 4, along with Murrayfield who finished below us.

It was brilliant to see some new lady players join the club and get involved in team tennis (more below on the 2nds!) and it was great to play with such a fun group of ladies who all enjoy their tennis so much. Thanks to all those who supported us in the matches (on more than one occasion I can admit to thinking the wine being quaffed in the sun looked very tempting!) … Finally, we were sad to see Lorna head off to Auz (Lorna - we’ll miss you almost as much as your husband’s baking!) and look forward to seeing some sunshine and everyone on court very  soon.