Dorset League – Dorchester B 2 – 2 Poole A

‘Poole A’ travelled to the Colliton club last week knowing that a point could be crucial in helping them towards their title aspirations. Only a convincing 4-0 win would have helped further. This scenario however always looked unlikely as we were playing without Oscar and were up against a team who have performed consistently well all season.

We kicked off with Dugs playing white on 1, yours truly (John) on 2, Chip 3 and Dragi on 4. Mike flew out of the blocks and his opponent walked into some pretty sharp lines that Mike was familiar with and it was all over at move 13. Mike found an extremely attractive finish and I’m sure he will happily show you if you grab him at the club some time.

So we were off to a bright start however as Mike’s game finished an audible groan could be heard from Dragi and it appeared he would be struggling to salvage anything. Ever the team player he battled on gamely alas to no avail, 1-1. Chip and I were not looking good and the point we required appeared to be slipping away. Chip was particularly unfortunate to have been paired against the in form Mark Potter who remained unbeaten all season when he converted the win. By which point I was a piece up but gave an exchange back on move 35 following a tense time scramble.  Fortunately my opponent returned an error a couple of moves later and we tied the match up 2-2.

So mission accomplished and this point ensures that a draw will suffice in the season finale versus Wimborne.

Report by John Weatherlake