"Through sullen swirling gloom we jolt and roar"

From Dawn by Rupert Brooke

Having only recently returned from his holidays, ‘C’ team Captain, Peter Rawlings has been a busy man. Earlier this week he provided us with a brief report on his team’s demise last Monday against Todmorden ‘B’. Today I am pleased to be able to post this typically lyrical and atmospheric match report (after Rupert Brooke methinks) for the Hebden Bridge ‘C’ team’s match away to Wheatley, which took place on Monday evening.

A comfortable win was achieved in the swirling gloom of Lee Mount, and played out in the vast arena of the upstairs theatre/bar where we sat diminished in a modest corner.

Josh Blinkhorn and Neil Bamford had to slog it out over the long silent evening but the others were soon traversing the empty spaces. Dave Sugden, a victim of the default, had to content himself with friendly games against his manager in which he tactfully lost more than he won.

Wheatley – Hebden Bridge ‘C’

D.Loughenbury 1 – 0 T.Sullivan

DEFAULT 0 – 1 D.Sugden

A.Whiteley 0 – 1 J.Blinkhorn

G.Roper 0 – 1 S.Priest

J.Gregory 0 – 1 N.Bamford

1 – 4

Whilst the 'C' team were acheiving this poetic victory the 'D' team were suffering on the road again, this time (and with the 5-0 defeat at Huddersfield still fresh in the memory from only last Thursday) at the hands of Todmorden 'B'. There was however good news for team Captain, Danny Crampton, in the form of an excellent win by Dave Pugh on board one against L.Innes who out-graded him by 78 points! Unfortunately, I do not have the moves of that game (Mr.Pugh I'd love to publish it if you can e-mail it to me) so instead I will publish Danny's game against Mr Pratt (who, sadly for Danny, did not play like one) from board 4.

The final scorecard for the match was as follows:

Todmorden 'B' – Hebden Bridge ‘D’

L.Innes 0 – 1 D.Pugh

D.Innes 1 – 0 J.Todd

D.Logan 1 – 0 B.Fearnley

R.Pratt 1 – 0 D.Crampton

G.Bowker 1 – 0 P.Dearden

4 – 1

Next week Hebden Bridge Chess Club's 'A' and 'B' teams return to action in Division 1. Stay tuned!