ADTTA’s last contribution to Round the Leagues appeared in Vol. 24 No 4 (March 1997. As a result this article has been written to provide an update from that point to ensure continuity within the Bulletin records. Some of the following has been extracted from articles written by Terry Allan and Alison MacBean for the ADTTA Handbooks (1997-98 and 1998-99).

Twenty four teams in three divisions completed the season with an eight team division 1, a nine team division 2 and a seven team division 3.

Aberdeen College (Brian Morgan, Ross Martin, Charlie Matthew, Max Singer) took the first division championship with Pecten Panthers (David Low, Mitch Reid, Jimmy Wee) the runners-up. The experienced Seaton Legionnaires side (Jim Furneaux, Bill Esson, Ally Waugh) finished strongly to secure the title in division 2. Only eight points separated the next five teams with Triangle Athletic leading the field. Ellon Ospreys (Stephen Will, Dennis Sutherland, Robert Stephen, Harry Geddes, Malcolm Park) proved too strong in division 3 and they took the title by a considerable margin. Pecten Penguins (Dave Curry, Sam Wong, George Johnson) finished in second place.

The inaugural invitation Singles Leagues proved very successful with Charlie Matthew just beating David Low in the Senior League and Michael Bruce victorious in the Junior League. The final points totals in the Seniors were as follows: Charlie Matthew 60; David Low 60; Jimmy Wee 52; Ross Martin 44; Brian Morgan 36; Niall Cameron 35; Adam Chalmers 15; Barry Allan 11; Uve Peterman/Graeme McNeil 11. In the Juniors the following represented the final positions: Michael Bruce 56; Stuart Matthew 50; Nicol Craig 45; Nick Baxter 40; Natalie Gallan 20; Liam Barclay 17; Lisa Clark 13; Tim Lennox 11

Triangle Juniors (Peter Milne, Murray Smith, Barry Dougary) defeated Seaton Seniors 5-2 in the final of the KO Cup. In the Grampian Trophy, Banchory Pipistrelles (Malcolm Hewling, Richard Baxter, Gordon Mortley), upset the form book with a 5-3 victory over Ellon Ospreys. The North of Scotland Shield final proved to be one of the most dramatic matches of the season going to deuce in the third end of the very last match with Seaton Gashers (Derek Reid, Adrian Forrest and John Simmers) finally emerging triumphant over ALC Aces.

Due to the poor entry, the North Confined, usually held over a weekend, was condensed into one day (Saturday 1 February 1997) and several events were cancelled in order to make the tournament financially viable. Without the support of the Pecten Club which once again provided the facilities at Woodbank at no cost to the Association, there is no doubt that the championships would have been abandoned

David Low captured his fifth Singles title beating Jimmy Wee, who had earlier defeated Charlie Matthew in an enthralling semifinal, in straight games. Elgin’s Adam Chalmers took the Under 17 title with Michael Bruce deservedly winning his first ever title in a highly competitive Under 14 event. Two other promising local youngsters to gain success were Nicol Craig in the Under 12s and Natalie Gallan in the Handicap Singles event.

With a reduction in numbers of teams entering this season a two division structure was created.

In division 1 Triangle Pumas was formed from a combination of the former ALC Pumas (Jim Milne and Ian Duncan) and a ‘returned’ Triangle player (Mike Wheatley). Aberdeen College with a large and diverse team was made up of the ‘old guard’ (Max Singer, Brian Morgan, Charlie Matthew), the ever presents (Ross Martin, Richie Skinner) and the McNeil brothers (Graeme and Fraser) who had been quiet on the table tennis scene for some time. Triangle Lions underwent a ‘restructuring’ with Gary Gray and Peter Milne (previously Triangle Juniors) joining up with Mike Cooper to form the team. University Eagles looked like providing Aberdeen College with the stiffest competition and looked potential champions for 1997-98 with two of Scotland’s best known (Euan Liddle and Niall Cameron) starting at the University of Aberdeen. Barry Allan could have made up the trio but decided to take a season off from table tennis. In addition to the above, CS Surfers, Seaton Seniors, Seaton Gashers, Pecten Pumas, and Triangle Athletic completed division 1 along with ALC Aces (Arthur Anderson, Mike Booth and Roger Duncan) and Seaton Legionnaires (Jim Furneaux, Bill Esson, Ally Waugh) who had moved up from division 2.

In division 2 McClymont was the only new name in the league structure with three of the brightest prospects in recent years making up the team (Michael Bruce, Nicol Craig, Nick Baxter, and Stuart Matthew).

Team losses from season 1996-97 included Pecten Panthers and ALC Pumas from division 1 and Pecten Pelicans and CS Allsorts from the former division 3.

Aberdeen College (Brian Morgan, Ross Martin, Charlie Matthew, Max Singer, Richie Skinner) retained the first division title with the runners-up position taken by CS Surfers (Dick Ferro, Gordon Provan, Gordon Provan). In the second division the newly formed McClymont team (Nick Baxter, Michael Bruce, Stuart Matthew, Nicol Craig) stormed to victory with Triangle Veterans (Norman Davidson, Doug Sinclair, Brian Robertson) clinching second place.

The Invitation Singles Leagues, in its second year again proved successful with Euan Liddle just beating David Low in the Seniors and Michael Bruce retaining the Junior award. In the Primary Schools’ leagues, Nicol Craig finished ahead of Neil Thomson in the first division, while Matthew Brechin was top of the second. Final positions with points are given below.

Ashvale Invitation League: Euan Liddle 46; David Low 44; Charlie Matthew 41; Niall Cameron 30; Jimmy Wee 26; Ross Martin 23; Brian Morgan 18; Adam Chalmers 1.

Aberdeen Control Invitation Junior Singles League: Michael Bruce 19; Stuart Matthew 17; Nick Baxter 16; Nicol Craig 16; Neal Thomson 11; Natalie Gallan 5; Lisa Clark 3; Stephanie Matthew 2.

Hawthorn Bar Primary Schools League Division 1: Nicol Craig 19; Neal Thomson 17; Stephanie Matthew 9; Kristoffer Stuart 6; Philip Adam 5; Eric Volaire 4.

Hawthorn Bar Primary Schools League Division 2: Matthew Brechin 17; Ashley Adam 15; Quennie Henn 14; Andrew Davidson 14; Chris Law 9; Richard Millar 9; Neil Miller 4; James Gettka 4; Jonathon Milne 4; Gregg Singer 0.

The McClymont team capped a fine season by winning both the KO Cup and Grampian Trophy. In the KO Cup final they defeated CS Surfers who battled back from a 4-0 deficit to lose 5-2. In the Grampian Trophy they registered the same scoreline over last year’s winners, Banchory Pipistrelles.

CS Surfers (Kevin Moir, Richard Ferro, Gordon Provan) gained some consolation for their KO Cup defeat by capturing The North of Scotland Shield following a 5-2 victory over Seaton Legionnaires.

The North Confined took place at Woodbank on Saturday 27 November, thanks once again to the support of the Pecten Club (and in particular the help of Dave Curry). Although the entry was much improved on the previous occasion, it was decided that the tournament, catering for eight events, could again be staged on one day.

Niall Cameron, now attending Aberdeen University, won both the Confined Singles and Doubles events. In the singles he ousted last year’s winner, David Low, in the semi before beating Euan Liddle in an exciting three-set final. Niall and David then teamed up to capture the doubles title. There were two other double champions on the day - Stuart and Charlie Matthew. Charlie took both the Veterans and Handicap Singles titles - despite starting his matches at -30! - while Stuart won the Under 17 Singles and prestigious Watt Cup. His McClymont team-mates also added to their trophy collection with Nicol Craig again winning the Under 12 title and Michael Bruce retaining the Bert Park Cup in the Under 14 event.

With an increase of two in the number of teams entering this season a three league structure was deemed to be appropriate for the following reasons:

1 Comments during season 1997-98. A number of adverse comments were received by Committee Members about the high number of matches which were required to be played during the season;

2 It was believed that through the creation of a three division structure competitiveness would be increased within each division. Although division 1 had over the last few seasons gradually lost much of its strength at the top partly due to the creation of singles invitation leagues, players promoted from division 2 were still not able to compete effectively with players in the top teams of division 1. This was also the case within division 2 where there was a clear division of talent.

In division 1 there was hope that Aberdeen College would be strengthened by the addition of David Low. Brian Morgan, Ross Martin and Murray Smith were to make up the pool. For various reasons however Aberdeen College dropped out of the structure without playing a fixture. David Low, Brian Morgan, and Ross Martin however all continued to play in the Ashvale Invitation League.

Again University Eagles had the potential to win the league with players such as Euan Liddle, Niall Cameron, Ko Choong Woo, and Barry Allan available. At the moment the Invitation League appears to have worked to the detriment of the University team.

After a highly successful season in division 2, McClymont, with Michael Bruce, Nicol Craig, Nick Baxter, and Stuart Matthew moved up to division 1 and look likely to take the title..

ALC Aces and Pecten Pumas were demoted and Raymond Rattray on behalf of Seaton Seniors asked that his team be moved down to division 2. This leaves 8 teams in the top division.

Once again Triangle Veterans chose not to be promoted. This provided ADTTA with the opportunity to form a competitive second division from the best of last season’s lower division. Unfortunately Pecten Pumas dropped out early in the season to reduce numbers to seven.

Division 3 has been made up of the remainder of the teams from the former division 2 plus two welcome additions in the shape of McClymont Girls (Natalie Gallan, Lisa Clark and Stephanie Matthew) who have been showing great promise on the national stage at Cadet and Junior levels and Toppers (Steve Lyon, Mitchell Lyon, Callum Lyon and Keith Tompkins) playing out of Katherine Street Community Centre. They are a welcome addition to the league structure.

It was felt that the new 3 division structure represented the best possible format for season 1998-99 although it is recognised that leagues with small numbers of teams are vulnerable if even one team folds during a season. The Committee’s fears were fully justified and on reflection two larger divisions would have been preferable.

This year an invitation league consisting of six teams (each with a sponsor) of two players was formed as follows: Aberdeen Control - Euan Liddle and Nicol Craig; ESL - Charlie Matthew and Michael Bruce; Aberdeen College - Brian Morgan and Nicola Bentley; Low’s Traditional - David Low and Nick Baxter; Securastore - Ross Martin and Adam Chalmers; The Work Shop - Niall Cameron and Stuart Matthew.

Current positions in the leagues are:

Hawthorn Bar Leagues:

Division 1; McClymont 61; Triangle Pumas 59; Seaton Gashers 47; Triangle Lions 40; Seaton Legionnaires 39; CS Surfers 36; Triangle Athletic 32; University Eagles 30.

Division 2; Ellon Ospreys 65; Seaton Seniors 59; Hall & Tawse 55; Triangle Veterans 47; ALC Aces 32; CS Gassers 22; Post Office 19.

Division 3; CS Mariners 73; Triangle Trio 63; McClymont Girls 53; Pecten Penguins 45; Triangle Swifts 34; University Falcons 17; Banchory Pipistrelles 15; Toppers 7.

Ashvale Invitation League; Lows Traditional 29; ESL 28; Aberdeen Control 24; Securastore 23; Aberdeen College 16; The Work Shop 10.

Aberdeen Control Junior Singles Leagues

Division 1; Calum Findlater 15; Philip Adam 13; Kristoffer Stuart 10; Eric Volaire 9; Matthew Brechin 6; Andrew Hardie 5; Andrew Davidson 5; Ashley Adams 1.

Division 2; Quennie Henn 13; John Ohanrahan 12; Jonathan Milne 11; Richard Miller 9; Grant Carnie 7; Neil Miller 6; Scot Davis 6; Gregg Singer 0.