For the first time ever, Joppa entered 3 teams into the VMH East of Scotland Leagues, with debut seasons for Joppa Men's 2 in Division 9B and Joppa Ladies in Division 8B. Meanwhile Joppa Men's 1 were looking for their 3rd back to back promotion. Having previously won divisions 9B and 8B, they would be playing in Division 7B. 
 

All 3 teams had excellent seasons, with both Joppa 1  and Joppa Ladies finishing in 2nd place and both securing promotion. Joppa 2 finished a very creditable 3rd, behind 2 very strong teams in Queensferry and Lomond Park. 
 

Below are brief summaries from the Captains of each team:

Joppa 1 (Chris Thomas)

The Joppa men’s 1st team enjoyed another successful season gaining promotion into division 6.

The league broke into a two horse race between Hatton and Joppa early in the season. Both teams enjoying wins home and away to North Berwick, Murrayfield and meadows. 

The Hatton home fixture provided some exciting tennis particularly in the 1v1 match. Craig Howieson and Finn Mclean winning in dramatic fashion and sealing the victory that put Joppa top of the table. Solid performances from player of the season Calum Meston and his partner Andrew Senew provided a glut of sets. While Jason Riley and Chris Thomas won the large majority of points with most coming from Jason’s serve!

With one match remaining the Joppa men knew a win was necessary to clinch another league victory. Sadly they fell agonisingly short to a strong Hatton team. Congratulations to them, we look forward to more matches in the future!

Thanks to Heriot, Dave, Rory and Alan for their support when called upon. Great to know we have such quality to come in when needed.

Another step up next year for Joppa but it’s going to take some stopping this juggernaut!

Joppa 2 (Willie Kirk)

What a pleasure to have the tennis leagues during a very challenging time. Joppa 2 were in league 9B along with some very good tennis teams and finished third equal on points with Gullane but with a superior game and set difference. The league was won by South Queensferry 1 who went unbeaten through the season conceding only sixteen sets, five of them to Joppa 2. Congratulations to SQ1 and Lomond Park who will be promoted. 

We had a fair mixture of players ranging from 15 year old Rory Kennedy to 69 year old Captain Kirk and all shapes, ages and sizes in between. Alan Henderson and Eric Ramsay wore opposition down with their regular defensive and accurate style of play borrowed from years of badminton experience. All the other regular players including Erick Becquemont, Dave Greig, Heriot Philbrick-Smith and laterally Tricky Dicky Murray hit well and solidified our position with what was to be a great and decisive win against Gullane.  I also thank the reserves who stepped in when we were in need; Chris Cowie, Steve Leitch, Keith Martin and Phill Henderson. I look forward to an even better season next year.

Joppa Ladies (Kathy Devine)

We entered a ladies team for the first time in the history of Joppa .

What a season it turned out to be.

Our first match was at home v Merchiston and play had to be suspended as it poured down .  

It was a nail biting return as we were 4-2 up but 2 sets down .

Jenn Connel , Sarah Thomas , Clare Kelly and Joanna Senew battled away and ended up playing in 2 tie breaks .  Great effort and determination by all .

Final result was a draw . Only way was up from there .

Our next few matches we completed well and then it was down to the last 2 games if we were to gain promotion .

Our no 1 players Jenn / Sarah had never played competitive tennis and won nearly all their matches . Their fitness and agility wore down the opposition as the ball kept coming back and back .

Our no 2 for most of the season were Lynda Banks and myself . Lynda’s ferocious net play scared off the opposition .  We were unbeaten at no 2 . Bev / Lynda also.

The banter was good as well !

No 3 spot was rotational .  Joanna held steady at the net and was even backed up with her daughter Iona (13) who was not fazed by the opposition and won matches .

Marjie Shepherd / Louise Hunter came in with more wins against Dean .  Their experience came through well .

 Our 2nd last match was against an experienced East Lothian team who hadn’t lost a match .  Their no 2 team hadn’t been beaten by any team in the league .  Joppa stopped them with Lynda shining through .

We got beaten 8-7 , so close .

All down to the last match !

We had to win for promotion 

In came Beverley Burgess and Jacqueline Clabby to play for the team for the first time due to injury !

What a score 10-2. 

We secured promotion by 1 point !

What a season! What a team !

It was a pleasure to captain this season . This team are so enthusiastic , effort is tremendous, and camaraderie is second to none !

Great team effort