Maryport A arrived at the Crown, with their strongest team, determined to remain top of the league but they knew that this was to be their toughest challenge. As it happened, two of our A team squad were unavailable for this match but their replacements were worthy of a place on any A team.
The match got under way at just after 1 pm and after about an hour, all boards looked to be heading for a draw. Another hour passed and still I couldn’t see an advantage for anyone on any board. I was beginning to think that all the boards would end up drawn when board 2 finished with Holden maintaining his 100% record after he exploited a weakness in Neil Jones’ position to take his tally to 5/5.
A little while later, board 1 concluded with Jacob the victor over Roger Hart who was outplayed in the endgame. The remaining two boards played on but eventually, Greg Millar kept Maryport’s hopes alive after grinding down Eggert on board 3. It was about now that Lewis, material up but with very little time on the clock and needing to avoid losing to win the match, offered Gary Sharkey a draw on board 4. Gary, aware of Lewis’ time situation and needing a win to salvage the match, played on but before long Lewis picked up another piece and now with little threat from his opponent, rattled his moves out at breakneck speed, winning the match when Gary’s clock ran out time.
This win puts our A team back on top but Maryport A do have a game in hand. See below for the latest table:
