You Never Can Tell

Played at the Navigation last evening -

Marple A                   V        Stockport B    :  Stockport Lge Div One : 23/03/2017

1 M Fernandez         0-1      J Pink
2 G Trueman         0.5/0.5   P Cawley
3 P Kirby               0.5/0.5   D Toole
4 A Hall                    0-1      M Taylor
5 T Cowling             0-1      M Tunstall
6 D Preen                 0-1      M Crowther

                                  1-5

With Michael making a welcome return to the team I was hopeful of getting something out of this match in a season which has become something of a battle to avoid relegation. However when the Stockport team entered the playing room I realised this would be a very difficult task as our opponents had managed to assemble the strongest team they have fielded all season.Even their bottom board had a grade of about 170 the last time I played him.
In the circumstances a final score of 1-5 wasn't too surprising and a difficult night was encapsulated by Michael losing his first game for Marple in a very,very long time.  
Many thanks to all who played/drove, our next fixture is against the even more challenging Stockport A team......

Black is Black

Played at the Navigation last evening -

Marple A              V       Holmes Chapel         Stockport Lge Div One      02/03/17

1 G Trueman       0-1      P Bennett
2 P Kirby           0.5/0.5   J Turner
3 A Hall                0-1      I Bates
4 D Preen             1-0      M Roberts
5 T Doust             0-1      M Lee
6 S Anderson       0-1      G Scattergood

                             1.5/4.5  

Given our current resources this was a difficult situation as we faced the task of fielding two teams on the same evening. The strength of the opposition we faced relative to us is perhaps best reflected in our cumulative score with the Black pieces which was 0/5......

Although they were well short of full strength in the Division One match  Holmes Chapel outgraded us on every board and by an average of over 25 points per game. I haven't got time for a full report but it wasn't all doom and gloom as David played sparkling chess to win very quickly and Paul had a well merited draw with a very strong opponent. Thanks to all who played particularly Stuart who nobly agreed to make his first team debut.