Neither team was at full strength. It was a tight contest on the night, not reflected on the score-line. I blundered the exchange. Some careless Queen moves by Ben let me back in the game , allowing me to win 2 pawns. We agreed an early draw. Neil had to fight much harder to earn his draw against a strong, determined, probing opponent. Neil was under the weather, and despite coughing and spluttering throughout the game, maintained his concentration and nerve to hold.

The top 3 boards were tight. David was ,according to his opponent, winning but lost his way.Steve was near to a draw, but under time pressure again, blundered a piece at the death. There was little between Glenn and Nigel- other than Glenn had no threats at the end while Nigel was exerting significant pressure. Glenn lost on time when Nigel  seemed about to make the breakthrough on the board.

1 G Halfpenny   0- 1  N Birtwistle

2  S Burke        0- 1  P Cumbers

3  D Levens       0- 1 S Prior

4  N Graham   v J Williams  draw

5  P. Morgan   v  B Mason  draw

Result 1-4    This felt quite similar to last week's defeat to Mansfield. Since Louis' departure, we are struggling to compete on the higher boards with the stronger teams.