It was another dark, dank, dismal, dreary January night and Macclesfield C entertained Denton in what was already being billed as a crucial game for both teams to preserve their Division 2 status. Denton had hitherto recorded a win against a strong Chorlton side, defaulted 0-6 to Macclesfield B and then got trounced by East Cheshire. What team, if any, would Denton be putting out?
Denton’s top 3 aka the three Davids were all in attendance and their Board 6 had beaten me 24 hours earlier in the Stockport Rapidplay so the omens were not good. Marc was dropped down a couple of boards to give him some respite and boy did he take advantage dispatching Ivan before the rest of us had finished developing. Team captain David H for Denton must have been rubbing his hands when confronted by his favourite opening and he certainly Pirc’d up enough to end Philcos resistance (that’s enough of that – Ed). Next to finish was the top board where Man with Hat was staring down the barrel. David C pulled the trigger and missed from close range letting the Hat keep his Rook pair. He then reloaded and shot himself in the foot allowing me to plonk both of the said Rooks on the 7th rank to claim an unlikely draw. Onwards and downwards (to the bar that is) where Tom found me to give news of his fabulous victory over Eric on Board 6. I walked back upstairs with a sense of trepidation. Yes, we were ahead 2 ½ : 1 ½ but I knew that David S was struggling and he eventually succumbed to Stan. Whilst the crowd were circling this board the Match of the Day theme tune was being played over on Board 2 where Tony was bringing home the full point and the match after closing out against the experienced Dave B.
A great night at the Queens hotel, Macclesfield C recording their first victory of the season, leapfrogging Denton to climb off the bottom of the table. Some fantastic performances but a supreme team effort to win when conceding an average of over 18 grading points per board. Well played to both teams and we shall look forward to the return fixture.