After playing almost a match a day last week, this week we had the challenge of playing three matches on Wednesday night, including two teams away at the Newcastle Bridge Club.
Starting with the “A” team, they came away with a fortunate match draw in the division 2 clash with Newcastle B. After early defeats on top two boards, Amy Lovatt had to settle for a draw on bd 4 against rising junior Joe Hirst when she could not force a decisive break through. David Hulme on bd 3, when offering a draw in a dire position, was lucky to trap an opponents piece later, to get an unexpected win. On bd 5, Chris Rhodes battled deep into increment time to find another excellent win to save the match for the “A” team who are currently sitting on top of division 2.
The other match at the Bridge Club also turned out to be drawn between our “D” team and Newcastle’s “E” team. Draws on bd 1 by Rick Renegade and Doug Barnett on bd 2, were enough with junior Harry Gardiner’s win on bd 3.
At the Mals Club, it was our “E” team hosting Meir’s “B” team in division 5. With a significant team grade difference in our favour, the result went according to book-maker’s expectations, although Meir’s under-dogs put up a competitive fight according to captain Nigel Gardner. Crewe ran out victors by score of 3.5-0.5 thanks to a draw from Julian Bulbeck on top board and wins from Dave Price, Adam Fields and Kobus Nienaber. The result stretched the E team’s lead to 3 pts at the top of the league table, with 2nd placed Cheddleton H having a game in hand, with the prospect of two matches to come against each other.