Already in just the second week of the season it looks as if champions Nidum could have an uphill struggle to hold onto the title. On the Tuesday they were at home against a marginally weaker Morriston A team that did, nevertheless, feature the return of Richard Cleveland on board 1 and Moss McCarthy on board 3! It was always going to be close but the surprise result occurred on board 5 where Morriston’s Paul Scott, giving away more than 400 grading points, went away with the win. Overall a 3-2 win to Morriston and a reminder that the battle for top spot is once again likely to be hard fought. The other Division 1 match was the inter-club tussle between White Knights C and White Knights A. No surprise that the A team won 4½-½ with David Guy's draw with Alan Young on top board saving the whitewash. The result takes White Knights A to the top of the table on board count.

There were three matches in Division 2 and all of them went the way of the favourites. Morriston C had a comfortable 4-1 win over Morriston D with Leighton Anthony saving the D team’s blushes on board 5. Emperors had a similar win over Upper Killay Merlins with newcomer Ben Morra gaining the Merlins’ only point on board 3. The third match featured Morriston B away to BF Giants where 2 wins and 3 draws were enough to give the away team the victory 3½-1½.

In Division 3 BF Brunel travelled the short distance to Tonna to play CN Tribunes. Wins on the bottom boards by Byron Jones and Stephen Lloyd-Brown for the Tribunes were more than matched by Brunel taking the top boards and going home the victors 3-2. De la Beche B played host to their own C team with both teams defaulting on bottom board. 3-1 to the B team with only John Porter getting a win for the C’s. The final match of the week was between Morriston E and UK Harriers. The Harriers turned up 1 player short, a deficiency that was to prove costly. Two all over the boards with a win and two draws each but the result going to Morriston E, 3-2, thanks to the Harriers default.

24/09/2017