Our first league match in nearly two months saw Andre, Tom Craddock, Chris Gosden and men’s team debutant Luke McEwan take on The Weald tennis cub in the LTA Sussex league on Sunday 20 December (writes Chris Gosden).

We made the journey over to our opponents just north of Brighton, hoping that we would play on their artificial clay courts. Our wish was granted! It is an interesting surface to say the least – a little like sandy Astroturf, but after getting used to it most enjoyable.

Tom and Chris (pictured) kicked things off, winning their opening rubber 6-4 6-0. Solid play from Tom and Chris and inconsistency from the opposition was the difference.

Andre and Luke didn’t fare as well in their opener, going down 6-2 6-4. Both struggled to find their game on the new surface. This was also Luke’s first week back from an extended period off due to injury. A bit of a baptism of fire!

The reverse rubbers saw Tom and Chris win 6-1 6-1, both hitting their stride on the new surface. A couple of aces from Tom with thoughtful clever play complemented Chris’s aggressive net game.

Andre and Luke did find their game in the second set of the reverse rubber. Having lost the first set 6-0 you would have forgiven them if they let their heads drop. But they didn’t, and pushed their opponents all the way, eventually going down 7-5 – a great ever-so-near comeback.

So a 2 -2 draw. It was a fair result, and Fishbourne remains unbeaten this season with one win and two draws. We are really looking forward to the matches in the new year,  and hopefully we can push on and get a couple of wins.

Thanks to The Weald for hosting us and laying on a lovely spread afterwards.