On the whole a very successful season starting with the men’s first team winning Division 2. Their final match was a re-scheduled game away at Barnsley which was played on a Friday evening, the guys knew what they were up against as the original match had been rained off at 4-4, a 7-2 loss was going to be enough to win the league but with Barnsley also in contention for top spot a great deal lay on the end result, those of us who went to Barnsley to support were relieved when we took two of the first three rubbers, but we were not so impressed with the finish time of three minutes to midnight.
The men’s second team also improved on last year finishing third place in division 5, maybe next year will be their turn for success as the men’s teams continue to grow in strength and depth. Our mixed team had a roller coaster of a season starting with three 9-0 loses and then an unfortunate 5-4 defeat away at Chesterfield. The wins then started to come and it soon became obvious which matches needed to be won to avoid relegation, and win them they did, with the two of the matches taken on 10 point tie breaks being played out in the final rubber. This left just a win required against bottom placed Grove, as it was we were saved from having to play as the match was conceded to us and we finished a very respectful sixth place out of ten.
Our next success came in the men’s late summer league with the first team losing their only match to top placed Doncaster. They will be promoted to back to division one after being relegated last year. The men’s late summer second team playing in division three finished next to bottom but everyone enjoyed the tennis and gained valuable match play experience.
After three relegations and not winning a single match last year our ladies were looking forward to getting some wins under their belts. The first team were particularly successful, and with six wins came second in division two which will see them back in division one next year. The second and third teams seem to have found their place in divisions four and five for now, with the second team finishing mid table and the thirds fourth out of five teams. The late summer ladies both finished mid table in their respective divisions.
Our midweek mixed team had expected to be relegated to division three for this year, but were saved as some clubs withdrew teams and the divisions were restructured, we made the most of this by winning five of the ten matches and finishing third.
As always a big thank you goes to all our team organisers and captains who do such a fantastic job.