Penrith II played host to Ulverston in the first round of the Whitaker Trophy on Wednesday evening. I spoke to their captain, Peter Hanks, earlier in the week and suggested we try using 60 minutes plus 30 seconds per move instead of the usual 90 minutes for all the moves. I’m not sure if it made much difference as we lost the match anyway. We needed to score the equivalent of three draws, the handicap being 1½ in our favour, but only Dave, on board 4, managed to get anything out of the match when he drew with Peter Hanks.