BATTERSEA 1^ST TEAM

London League – Division 2

A tough start in the new Division

It was always going to be difficult against Beckenham & Charlton 1 who finished third in the Division last season and were therefore the strongest team not to get promoted. We were outgraded on every board, but surprisingly did best where the grading difference was greatest.

Board	Beckenham & Ch 1				Battersea 1
1	R Allicock	202	½	½	Tony Ashby	166
2	A Stebbings	190	Adj.	Adj.	Ray Morris-Hill	161
3	A Hanreck	179	½	½	Dan Staples	147
4	A Ponting	150	½	½	Paul Stokes	145
5	J Alderson	145	Adj.	Adj.	Alan Palmer	143
6	D Sandham	144	1	0	D Wigg	138
7	D Vleeshhouwer	143	1	0	Bill Drennan	133
8	J Griffiths	125	1	0	M Gill	120
9	H C N Jones	122	1	0	Arnold Hunt	113
10	A Sangster	120	1	0	Andy Palmer	U/R
	Latest score		6½	1½

Great opening games against much stronger opposition from Tony and Ray, who also has hopes of a draw. Sound support too from Dan, clearly punching above his weight, and from Paul. I threw away an early advantage, but fought back to a probable draw. The rest of the games looked quite solid after the first hour or so, but things then went wrong. My thanks to Andy for stepping in at the last moment.

Still, no need to be disheartened – we lost our first match last year and still achieved promotion.

Next match – against Woodbridge on Wednesday 22 October at Golden Lane, starting at the usual time of 7.00pm. They aren’t quite as strong as Beckenham, but still to be taken seriously since we shall be without Robin, Paul and Emil. Best of luck!

Alan Palmer

6.10.08