Malcolm Clarke reports on the two matches played on Thursday 28th February 2019, plus Winchester B vs Salisbury B in his weekly League update.

Chandlers Ford D achieved a creditable draw against Salisbury D which was the second time the two teams had drawn this season although in neither match were any of the individual games were drawn.  Chandlers Ford were outgraded on the top three boards, and their board 4 was ungraded, although his playing performances to date have suggested that his grade at the end of the season is likely to be higher than the current grade of his Salisbury opponent.  However it was wins by the top two boards Simon Kay and Nobby George that enabled Chandlers Ford to draw the match with Nobby beating a former team mate of his.

Chandlers Ford A lost 3-2 to division 3 leaders Ringwood A, although they welcomed David Holmes back into the fold.  Although Ringwood were not at full strength they outgraded Chandlers Ford on every board apart from board 1. Graham Stuart obtained a good win on board 2 and Holmes and Sam Murphy drew their games.  However David Culliford suffered his first defeat under Malcolm Clarke’s captaincy and the irony of the situation was that his opponent Richard Ursell had played under Clarke’s captaincy at Eastleigh Rail 20 years ago.  With Dick Meredith also losing it was Chandlers Ford’s third 3-2 defeat in four matches.

Winchester B lost 3.5-1.5 to Salisbury B with a win for Michael White on board 4 and a draw for Graham Payne on board 5 contributing to the 1.5 points.

Next week the A and D team are both in action next week with the A team at home to University B and the D team playing the division 5 cup final against Ringwood C.