Another cold Sheffield evening saw a very important game between Woodseats D and Stannington C. Woodseats D a Sheffield team on the rise had a game in hand but were a point behind Stannington. All the team played very well and the match ended 4 and a half to 1 and a half to Woodseats D. Here is my game.
Frith - Marvin 14.02.2012
And here's a report from Bill: Stannington C-Woodseats D C.Allen(W) - Bill(B) P.Locking - Dave R.Keenan - Andy G.Marvin - Shane J.Allen - Bob L.Kennedy - Andy Cam played on Monday, 13/02/2012 It was billed as a top of the league clash. It also was a very poignant match for me , as I had already announced that it was to be my last as captain, as after this I was taking over the B team from Peter. Two very important reasons for winning. With the importance to both teams it was inevitable that both captains would seek to strengthen their squads, and in fact the two players drafted in from the first game somewhat cancelled each other out, as 'big Ron' played 'big Andy'(!) on board 3. I lost the toss so found myself playing black against C.Allen. I offered the Ward Gambit but my opponent (perhaps wisely) declined and a tough and tense positional struggle ensued. A real hard fought game where neither of us was prepared to gamble anything, and when I offered the draw my opponent seemed very happy to accept. By this time the other games had moved on somewhat. Both Andys were a piece up! This eased my anxiety over Bob's rather difficult looking position. We soon traded points on the bottom boards. Andy Cam first, a really impressive performance after a long lay off, matched by Stannington on 5 as Bob graciously accepted defeat. Bob has chipped in with plenty of important points this season so we'll give him that one. And then....the highlight of any match away at Stannington, the food arrived!! we should really take our cue from the landlord's efforts in providing such a sumptuous spread every Monday, much appreciated. Back to the games, the score was 1.5 all but all three games looked in our favour as Shane and Dave had definite good positions, and without even the usual nervy anxious last half hour we took the last three points as these two plus Andy powered home and took us to a comprehensive and unarguably deserved victory at 4.5-1.5. So guys, this is now the position at the top of Division 5. P Pts
Woodseats D 7 12
Stannington C 8 11
SASCA D 8 9
Nomads E 7 6
Most impressive! And with two to go up, most promising! I now pass the torch to the perfectly capable hands of Shane to bring home the glory. (but I am available if picked.) Bill
