The Final Judgement and the 2 captains are half way through their holiday with the sword of Damocles hanging over their teams. I invite readers to imagine the faces on Mrs Hat and Mrs Holt as the two boys set up a live link from the Guide Bridge Con Club to Sunny Spain.
Dot Dot Dot Can you hear me Spain?
Dash Dot Dash (Or something like) We hear you loud and clear
Dot Dot Dot Not looking good (for Denton)
Dot dash Dot Dash Bottom 3 boards lost top 3 boards struggling
Dot Dot Dot We (Denton) have lost ½ - 5 ½ Dave B drew
Dash (Or something like)
(Surely not - Ed)
Denton relegated, Macc C survive or is it? Onwards to the Fixtures meeting where anything can and usually does happen.
Well, Man with Hat has his bags packed, boot loaded and is ready to go on holiday with his Denton counterpart, friends again after last week’s game (Well played David, Grrr)! Only one thing for it then, a trip to the Denton club on Holiday Eve. There is a certain inevitability about this. Denton required 3 and a ½ game points from their remaining 2 home fixtures or 3 game points i.e. a match draw from either fixture. Surely it can’t go to the final fixture…Now MWH because of this previous connections has effectively a back stage pass at Denton that allows him to skulk in the shadows unnoticed. I arrive to see David C claim a top board draw against Glen – a good ½ I thought (for Denton). David B then secures a win over Terry (not looking good for Macc C). But then the Denton captain, his mind clearly already at the Departure Lounge, loses to David P allowing Marple a way back in. Phil B then loses to Tony K whilst Vasillios returns with a draw. 2-3 to Marple and its all down to two of the leagues’ stalwarts, Stan and Neil. Stan is the exchange up and if he can hold on to his advantage then it should be a drawn match and the last rites for Macclesfield C. With the priest at the door Stan drops a rook under time pressure and Neil, without realising it has given Macc C a lifeline. This saga carries on with Judgment day postponed until the following week with Man with Hat on holiday with the Denton skipper.
Macclesfield C stumbled into their nightmare last night with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Denton. Their Division 2 status is now out of their hands.
Almost 2 years to the day, Man with Hat masterminded (with the help of others), a shock cup final victory on par with the Liverpool v Wimbledon final of 1988 and the Leeds v Sunderland final of 1973 and ...... For those who witnessed the extraordinary events of that balmy evening the memories will live on for the rest of our lives. It is with the cruelest of ironies therefore that MWH is now reporting the final implosion of the Macc C phenomenon at, of all the venues in the world it had to be, Denton. To compound the irony, my conqueror and now erstwhile friend will in just a few days time be my holiday companion. I guess this puts things a little more in perspective but it doesn't help. There appears to be an inherent equality in the universe that transcends time and for whatever reason there has been a leveling up.
For the record, there was a win for the Kool Kat on board 1 carrying on from his impressive slaying of his strong Stockport opponent the previous week. A win also from Joachim who continues to impress at his temporary reduced grading. In between top and bottom boards we therefore required another 1.5 points and none were forthcoming. An uncharacteristic poor game from Tony, possibly the wrong type of opponent for Marc and Ant coming out second best in an extreme double-edged game that could have gone either way. Man with Hat, not for the first time makes a hash of the opening, fights back doggedly (but dogged costs time) then makes poor end game choices with limited time left.
Turn on and tune in this summer for updates from Man with Hat.