Shrewsbury C ensured that at the halfway stage of the third division season, their promotion hopes were kept on track with a victory over Oswestry B.
Going into the game, Ian Davies’ side were in 4th place on 6 points, 6, 5 and 4 points off the trailblazing trio of Oswestry A, Wellington B and Newport D respectively, albeit with a game in hand. It was, therefore, imperative that they made the most of said extra game in order to ensure the gap between themselves and second didn’t become untenable.
Things started off solidly with Andrew Lewis agreeing a quick draw on top board against Steve Tulett. It looked a pretty level position, with Steve perhaps having a slight edge, but it was difficult to exploit and turn into a clearly winning advantage.
On board three, Eric Inglis continued his excellent form by beating Euan Stevenson to extend his unbeaten run to 5 games. After Euan went slightly wrong in the opening, Eric established a foothold and gradually increased the pressure, picking up a significant material advantage along the way to secure the victory and leave the hosts needing just one point from the remaining two games to ensure the match.
Captain Ian Davies did his bit with a draw against John Smith on board two. After having been two pawns up temporarily, Ian gave the material edge back – one pawn was forced off, the other was just a mistake. However, he maintained the impetus with a better co-ordinated pair of rooks. John was able to swap them off, leaving the position solidly drawn.
It meant that it all game down the the clash on board 4 between Tony Purser and Alf Evans. Tony looked as though he had earlier got a slight positional advantage, but Alf beat it back with some aggressive play, leaving Tony having to defend his backward pawn on e3. With some maneuvering, Tony managed to work his Knight into a promising outlet on g7. The only drawback with the move was that it was en prise, a fact both players missed in the time scramble. The very next move, the same Knight forked Alf’s Rook and Bishop, securing Tony a piece advantage to go with his extra few minutes on the clock. Alf soldiered on, but his all-out attack was unable to break through Tony’s stubborn defences, and eventually his metaphorical flag fell on the electric clock.
Shrewsbury C 3-1 Oswestry B
- A. Lewis 0.5-0.5 S. Tulett
- I. Davies 0.5-0.5 J. Smith
- E. Inglis 1-0 E. Stevenson
- T. Purser 1-0 A. Evans