Wed 19th April – On a night when the A&B teams were going hammer and tongs in the fight for the NSDCA League Title, the Mals again was packed with a hive of activity.
There was another hand full of Club Championship games. In division 1, 3 of the contenders were in action while the leaders were involved in the A vs B derby. Julian Hawthorne nudged himself to within a point of the leader (Harry Gardiner 6.5/10) to move onto 5.5/8. Meanwhile there was an exciting draw between Carmel Barwick and Lukasz Michalek as they both went full throttle for a win that neither could produce. Both players now have 4.5 pts with Carmel having played 6 games and Lukasz 7. With 10 games in total, and all players having dropped at least 1.5 pts, predicting the winner is a fool’s paradise.
In division 2, Doug Barnett’s hopes of claiming the trophy were cut short as Pawel Stanny produced a fine win. Andrew Crosby’s score of 7pts is proving a tough target to beat but should be in the sights of George Bulbeck and James Marshall if they can arrange enough of their remaining games.
For division 3, it appears Phil Grocott cannot be caught as he added another point to take his tally to 7/8, with Vicky Kelsall in a creditable 2nd place on 3.5 pts.
What made it such a fantastic night was the number of newcomers visiting the club for a first or second time, as we counted approx 10 potential new members in the pipeline as chairman Dave Price was inundated with new faces, with many being in the under 21 age category. We reckon it was a record attendance at the club with 38 in total. It is hoped we can arrange a new tournament to allow these players to get some serious practice, as we approach the end of the main season around 31st May.