A successful week for our teams has seen four wins.
Monday 4th December – The league champions (A team) travelled to Macclesfield in search of revenge from last season’s shock defeat and were in determined mood. All four players contributed to the scoreboard with two wins on the white boards from skipper Martin Burns (bd 1) and Andy Raeburn. Draws with black by Harry Gardiner (bd 2) and Karl Lockett secured the match 3-1, to take the team joint top of the league on 7pts from 4 games, joining our own B team who have played 6 games.
Tuesday 5th – saw our two 4th division teams in action at The Caritas Centre. League leaders – the G team hosted Cheddleton E and our H team hosted Meir. G team skipper Steve Ballantyne set the ball rolling with a win on bd 4, with young Jamie Roberts promoted to board 2 adding another win to keep up his 100% record with 6/6. Pawel Stanny did the necessary to hold out for a draw and ensure the team stay top and unbeaten with a narrow win 2.5-1.5. With nearest rivals Kidsgrove unexpectedly losing, they now have a 4pts lead although Kidsgrove do have a game in hand ahead of the top of the table clash on 2nd January.
The H team fielded a very different team thanks to our system of squad rotation and were underdogs against the experienced Meir team. Matthew Dean played superbly to win on bd 3, and was soon followed by Gerald Parton on bd 4 to make it 2-0. Reinhard Haack added a 3rd win for the team and Mike Keenan held on for a draw to give a decisive team win 3.5-0.5. Also there were two extra rated games played.
Thursday 7th – the D team made the short trip to Holmes Chapel for a 2nd division match against the host’s B team. With teams fairly evenly rated (approx 100pts differential) Captain David Lambton had a sound win on board 1, before George Bulbeck completed a convincing win on bd 3. A fortunate win on bd 2 by David Hulme ensured victory 3-1. This result keeps the D team level on 9 points with leaders Fenton B with a deficit of half a board point after 6 matches.