4NCL was a split weekend for both venues & dates. These are the worst to organise. After the success of Weekend One, this weekend was pretty dismal with one win and five losses.
At Coventry on January 10th & 11th, Ashfield 1 lost both their games by a 4½-1½ margin , in Round Three to Golden Cockerels and in Round Four to Kingston/CSC 2 with just one win for John Garnett in the latter match. This Division is closely contested and the average ratings of each teams is invariably 2000+. We stand better than we did at this stage last season when we had a measly 2/8 but this Division is a much closer contest and we need to pick up some points.
We were at Dudley on January 17th& 18th for Division Four – thankfully our last visit to this venue. A series of withdrawals and transport problems made this a particularly difficult weekend to arrange and I am indebted to Rob Jarvis who stood in as a last minute wildcard. For Ashfield 2 it was an easy Round 3 as we ran out as 5-1 winners against the all-girl She Plays to Win “B” team. However we had hoped for in easier pairing in Round Four where we were upfloated to the strongest team in the Division, 3Cs. They had two FMs in their playing strength and all things being considered we acquitted ourselves well losing by 4½-1½ with three losses and three draws. It’s probably better to play them at this point than later in the season.
Perhaps it’s best to gloss over the results of Ashfield 3 who lost both of their games against what looked like equal opposition based on rating; 4-2 to Crowthorne “B” and 3½-2½ to Eternal Optimists 2.
We could have garnered a few more half points along the way but at least we might find less tough opposition in Weekend 3.