Racketballers @ Linlithgow (Mon 16/4/2012)

I was first up tonight playing 2 against Mark. With the warmest and bounciest ball I have ever seen I found it hard to adjust to the pace and lost the first. The second and third were much closer but were also lost albeit only by a couple of points in each. I was however particularly unhappy to be informed later that Mark had been seen scoffing a Big Mac just before taking to court. Surely I should have been offered similar sustenance as this obviously must have given him an advantage.

Whilst I was on court Mike Wagner was also making his debut at 6 on the other court. I didn't see any of that match and by all accounts neither did Mike. Another 3-0 defeat although to be fair to Mike he had never played the game before and still seemed keen at the end to have another go.

Ex El Presidente Ally took the number 4 position and put up a valid display whilst also going down 3-0. Unfortunately Ally's stealth like movement round the court, rather reminiscent of the Indian's circling Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn, failed to gain dividends and in this case Custer was happy to stand in the middle of the court and pick off winners down the walls.

John Matthew was also making his debut at 5 and had an excellent game with Keith. Had he ever played racketball before he may even have pulled out a win as all three games were nip and tuck until the latter stages. Unusually John's downfall came as he decided to try and play several drop shots, something we have never seen him do on a squash court never mind racketball court. Having failed to impress with this tactic John reverted to smashing the ball as hard as he could and once he is able to do this without hitting the floor first, the points will come.

Jordan was next up at 3 and promptly lost the first spending more time applauding his opponent that making shots. He did however rally in the second and went on to WIN that game convincingly. Moving forward a superb shoulder charge seemed to have upset his opponent and given him an opening but rather than pushing home his advantage with the odd trip or elbow, he got all apologetic and girly and went down 3-1.

Last up at number 1 was Christy. Picking up on last years form neither the tin or roof were safe but despite a valiant attempt against a very good opponent, another 3-0 loss for the Grange.

All in all despite the overall score line we competed fairly well in this match against probably the strongest team in the league. If we can continue to build on this performance we may even pick up a few wins before the end of the season. Thanks go to Linlithgow for a pleasant evening, pasta and usual chat in the bar afterwards.

David Grieve (Captain of tonight's Titanic)