Mon 22nd April – The E team finished off their division 3 campaign with a tough match against eventual champions – Gables A. The top two boards were on a hiding to nothing facing the top two players in the division, so the match was always going to be dictated by boards 3 and 4. Captain Nigel cleverly deployed himself on 3 Adam Fields on 4 as they both came up trumps to take a share of the points and leave the Gables team needing to win their final match to become champions.
Tuesday 23rd saw another superb night at St Mary’s with a stack of internal games (see separate report) and the Major Cup semi-final (U1825) vs Alsager. We were able to field a strong team and started as favourites with significant rating advantages on all boards. Julian Hawthorne got the ball rolling with a comprehensive win on bd 5 and was soon followed by David Hulme on bd 4. Martin Frisher was held to a draw on board 3, to put us in command before Alsager fought back with a surprise win on bd 1. We were left needing at least a draw on bd 2 where Karl Lockett used all his experience to convert his advantage into a full point making us 3.5-1.5 victors. We will face Macclesfield in the final on 4th June where teams will be evenly matched.
Friday 26th – we had both of our Div 2 teams travelling to matches, with leaders Crewe D at Stafford and mid table Crewe C at Cheddleton (B). The D team had a blip on the night as rivals Stafford proved too good with a 3-1 win. Captain David Lambton was our sole point gainer extending his league unbeaten run this season moving to 9/11. Noting that Stafford lost their next match, the D team need a win from either of their remaining two matches to become champions.
The C team faired better at Cheddleton. Captain Karl Lockett led from the front with a win on bd 2, together with Jules Hawthorne who is in impressive form (8/10 in all NSDCA matches this season) to give a 2-2 draw.