In the SECF U-League each of the 4 matches consists of seven 3¼ hour games played in one day between 4-player teams.
Conventionally this was played as a doubles and 2 singles in the morning and 4 singles in the afternoon, however this is not possible to fit in on a single lawn club like ours, so all matches were played away for many years.
In the last two years the convention has been relaxed and we have played two matches at home each year. This is fitted in by playing the doubles and singles one day and the 4 singles on another i.e. two 2-player teams visit on separate occasions.
Some careful pairing of the handicaps has to be organised, but it has worked out without a hitch so far, and players find the arrangement quite acceptable.
Home matches take up the lawn for a day, or in the case of the U-league and the GC R-league 2 days. In order to fit them in over the season all league matches are played on a dedicated day [Wednesday] so that all club members know the lawn is unlikely to be available for general play on that day.
The U-league home matches played this year were with Rother Valley and Purley Bury* and we managed home wins in both cases. A further win came at Guildford and Godalming.
Our other away opponents were Ealing and that match took some fitting in. First attempt at a date turned out to be the day when temperatures reached over 40 degrees so the match was postponed until the 19th September, which sadly turned out to be the day of the Queen’s funeral, so a further postponement. The match was eventually fitted in just a few days before the end of the season and we lost. There is a further twist in the tale. It turns out that Ealing ended up winning 3 out of 4 matches as well, but despite beating us they had won fewer games over the season, and Reigate came out top of the U-league this year.
Congratulations to all those that played :- Lucy, Phil, Doug, Michael, Simon, Roger, Geoff, Andrew and John.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | W | L | % | Pts | Place | |
| 1. Caterham | 2-5 | 4-3 | 5-2 | 4-3 | 3 | 1 | 54 | 10 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2. Compton | l w/o | 3-4 | 5-2 | 3-4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 3. Ealing | 5-2 | 3-4 | 5-2 | 4-3 | 3 | 1 | 61 | 10 | 2 | |||||||||
| 4. Guildford & Godalming | 3-4 | 4-3 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 6 | 9 | |||||||||
| 5. Hampstead Heath | 4-3 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 6-1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 6. Medway | 4-3 | 0-0 | 4-3 | 4-3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 7. Purley Bury | 3-4 | 3-4 | 1-6 | 3-4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 8. Ramsgate | 2-5 | 2-5 | 3-4 | l w/o | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 9. Reigate Priory | 2-5 | 4-3 | 6-1 | 7-0 | 3 | 1 | 68 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||
| 10. Rother Valley | 4-3 | 0-7 | 4-3 | 6-1 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 10 | 5 | |||||||||
| 11. Royal Tunbridge Wells | 4-3 | 4-3 | w w/o | 3-4 | 3 | 1 | 52 | 10 | 4 | |||||||||
| 12. Surbiton | 3-4 | 1-6 | 4-3 | 3-4 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 6 | 10 | |||||||||
| 13. Sussex County | 3-4 | w w/o | 1-6 | 4-3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
w w/o = Winning Walkover
l w/o = losing walkover