this was the eagerly awaited return fixture. both teams tried to confuse the other with delaying the announcement of their line-up with a late arrival on each side.
we managed to keep the score at nil – nil for about an hour until they went one up after just after the hour. we pulled one back from Andy Walker making his first appearance at No5 (well done Andy) setting it up for a tight finish.
at this point, by my reckoning the top 3 boards entered their end games with all the EC players one pawn down. I was first to fall putting us 2-1 down. then David Taylor had a close finish making it 3-1 before Andrew Parry got the final point in Fergie time against Keith Hodgson. Keith was playing his first match for us and did really well.
final result 4 -1 to Sale. no red or yellow cards and no official complaints to FIDE from EC about the ref.
Bill