Ian Davies, B Team Captain, writes,
“The B team have had a superb first half in this season’s Division 2 campaign and are the only unbeaten team in the whole division after our draw against Wellington B on December 10. We also remain in second place. We are, nevertheless, under no illusion about how difficult it will be to remain there going into the second half in the New Year. There are some very strong teams on the pitch and we haven’t played the strongest one yet, so it will be very tough. But as long as we remain focused, keep our eye on the ball and take our chances when they come, we should be in the mix come the end of the season. I’m starting to sound like Micky Mellon!!
In our match against Wellington B the top three boards, minus Mark Smith, all drew, leaving Tony and me on 4 and 5 to try and get the points. I again tried my Dutch defence against Derek Powell and faced an epic sacrificial attack which looked at one stage like it was going to crush me, only for me to give another master-class, this time in defending, to thwart my cunning opponent. Having survived, regrouped and become ready for the march to victory, I then played like a complete idiot and Derek played superbly not only to get his piece back, but also to win my rook! How do these things happen? Complacency, stupidity, a very focused opponent? Unfortunately for Derek, he took so long to complete his great comeback that he ran out of time, when really he deserved a victory. Some lessons to be learnt from that game!
Tony, on five, was playing a good solid game and I think was a piece up but was also facing another cunning opponent, newcomer M.Anandh, who eventually produced a neat mating attack as Tony was running out of time to earn them a share of the spoils.
So, Merry Christmas to everyone, keep practising and promotion to the high peaks of Div 1 could be ours!”