A quieter week on the fixture schedule has seen just three matches played. Tuesday night saw the Wirral team host Wallasey 3 in Chester, and on Wednesday the E team hosted Alsager C and the F team were sent to Newcastle.
Our Wirral team was the strongest team we’ve been able to table this season with captain David Hulme on bd 5 being higher graded than Wallasey’s top board, as our opponents were faced with having to field 4 teams on a non-club night. It was no surprise therefore that we raced into a 2-0 lead as David Hulme and Rick Renegade (bd 4) won. A fighting effort on bd 3 held Neville Layhe to a draw, before Rich Wiltshir outgunned their bd 2. Karl Lockett could not force the win on bd 1 to finish the match with a draw and a convincing 4-1 win to keep our team in the title chase. We need to win both our remaining games while hoping league leaders Atticus slip up in their last match.
The F team went to Newcastle hoping to help our E team against title rivals Newcastle E. According to skipper Dave Price we had an “off-night” with only Simon Layhe producing the goods with a fine win on bd 1. The F team wrap up their division 5 campaign with a home match against same opposition this Wednesday at the Mals club.
Also in action on Wednesday, but at home in the Mals club, was our division 5 leaders the “E” team. A superb team performance started with Chris Rhodes earning a hard-fought draw on top board, before Dylan Sayers outplayed the opposition to win on bd 4. Dylan is on a great run of form with 5 wins a row and currently heading towards a grade increase of approx 36 pts. Next to finish was the team’s “Big-hitter” junior Amy Lovatt completing her 10th successive victory (100% record) for the Es, playing maturely and using all of the time permitted to convert a pawn advantage into an overwhelming position. Last to finish (on bd 3) saw Steve Ballantyne accept a draw with the team result safely secured for 3-1 win. The E team require one point from their last two matches to win the division 5 title.
Next week sees 3 title chases coming to a climax as the Bees (B team) play their final match at Alsager on Tuesday, the Wirral team go to Mold in North Wales on Wednesday and the Es hike to Cheddleton on Friday.