Shrewsbury B and C both recorded victories this week to help them in their battles against relegation and for promotion respectively.
Ian Davies’ C team were away to Newport C – a tricky fixture – and were without regular board 4 Tony Purser. In stepped Fred Harris, and he did his bit by recording an impressive win against Malcolm Price, maintaining his 100% record for the season (albeit from 2 games!).
Although Andrew Lewis was unable to hold off the attack of in-form Jonathan Newey on top board, Ian’s win on two and Eric’s draw on three with Sellick Davies (which, incidentally, stretches his unbeaten run to 8 games this season) ensured the points for the visitors.
The C team now find themselves located in the lofty heights of second place in the third division – a promotion place – although they are only ahead of Wellington B on alphabet rules, which happen to be the only way Arsenal can top the Premiership table. Should Wellington decide to rename themselves “Aardvark United” then things may change.
The B team, meanwhile, had a crunch match at home against Priorslee Lions C, who found themselves bottom of the table at the start of play. Having lost the previous encounter 4.5-0.5, their heaviest defeat all season, the visitors were out for revenge.
However, things didn’t get off to a great start for them. Captain Alan Pickles turned up late, after the three lower boards had started play, and confirmed that his regular top board was not able to make it, thus handing Mark Smith a win by default on top board.
Shortly after, Norman O’Connor was able to secure a win over Alan Shaw on board three, and Matt Best was able to wrap up the match with a win over Stephen O’Dell on four, after having won a piece for three pawns in the opening and held off some of Stephen’s counterplay.
The sweet, fondant topping was then applied to the sweet, baked, breadlike food with wins for Ivor Salter on two against Alan Pickles after having won the exchange early on, and Francis Rooney on board 5 against Mike Reynolds in an entertaining game in which Francis won a piece before immediately sacrificing it back for two pawns in order to open up Mike’s King and get that elusive checkmate, which it duly did.
The win lifts the B team up to fourth place in the table, four points clear of the relegation zone.
Shrewsbury B 5-0 Priorslee Lions C
- M. Smith 1-0 Default
- I. Salter 1-0 A. Pickles
- N. O’Connor 1-0 A. Shaw
- M. Best 1-0 S. O’Dell
- F. Rooney 1-0 M. Reynolds
Shrewsbury C 2.5-1.5 Newport C
- A. Lewis 0-1 J. Newey
- I. Davies 1-0 W. Gormley
- E. Inglis 0.5-0.5 S. Davies
- F. Harris 1-0 M. Price