For the second time in two matches our A-Team was severely depleted, and Stowmarket were no doubt delighted to see that, expecting as they no doubt did that they would be facing a hammering. Depleted we may be, but we did not go down without a fight. And special mention must go to Phil who did an excellent job on top board, giving us a fighting chance. After the first round the score was level, but as the second round was drawing to a close it seemed just 1½ was all we were going to get. Needing that extra half a point to take us to a play off John persevered, trying to squeeze a win out of a drawn position, if he could just avoid the checks in a queen and pawn ending with only minutes left. He managed to do so in a rather unique fashion by placing his queen en-prise.

We went to Felixstowe with a mountain to climb, starting with a 2-0 deficit before even a pawn was pushed. And with only 1½ points from the first round, Jamie commented that all we need is a 3-0 result from the second round and we'll be through. Well we got that 3-0 result thanks to a sudden lapse that must have been contagious as all three of us dropped a piece during the opening phase of each game and in spite of strenuous efforts to recover the end was never really in doubt. Still, we did manage to get half a point more than last year, which is some sort of improvement, especially considering we had a full team then.