Those of you who take an interest in Division 3 will have noticed that St Michael’s School is no longer included. They have regrettably had to withdraw from the League as they have been having difficulty in getting a team together, especially for mid-week fixtures. Most of their players are very young and evening matches have been proving problematical.

Activity in the rest of the League has been low this week with the West Wales Closed Championship (round 3) taking place on Wednesday (12th Feb). Some players who were taking part in the Dyfed Congress in Fishguard had also asked for minimal League activity this week.

In Division 1 there was just the one match when, on the Monday, Morriston Alekhine hosted White Knights C. In spite of putting out a fairly strong team the Morriston team did not improve their position in what has been a less than outstanding season for them. A 1-4 loss to a White Knights team that was arguably weaker.

The only match in Division 2 was between BF Giants at home to De la Beche C. On paper the home team had the advantage and so it proved. Neil Stuart held Bob Moore to a draw on top board while John Strange won on board 4 against Kelvin Haines. The other boards went the way of the Briton Ferry team to give them a 3½-1½ victory. With 4 matches each to play there is just 3 points separating the top four teams in this division so no clear winner yet.

The withdrawal of St Michael’s School from Division 3 has resulted in the table being recalculated with previous results against St Michael’s School being removed. This division will, therefore, be settled on the basis of 12 matches each rather than 14.

Two matches were played this week. Tribunes were at home to Harriers in a match where the contestants looked to be fairly evenly matched. The final result confirmed this with both teams walking away with two wins and a draw.

The other match proved to be a bit of a headache for the League Controller. Morriston French travelled to Sketty where they were soundly beaten 4-1 by De la Beche E. Unfortunately, and for the second time this season, De la Beche E fielded a player who has been nominated for the D team. As a consequence the match, according to the rules, now gets awarded to Morriston French 5-0 and in addition De la Beche E are hit with 2 penalty points. For grading purpose the individual scores still stand. This “win” for Morriston French keeps them, theoretically, in the battle for the division title. They are 4 points behind Brunel who have a match in hand. As things stand Brunel require just 3 points from their remaining 4 matches to be guaranteed the title, while Morriston French can only hope that Brunel falter and that they themselves gain enough points to overtake them.

16/02/2020