Ealing A 1 Hatch End 4
: Created:27 Nov 2008 , by Alastair JohnstoneEaling A lose out to Hatch End A in the 2nd round of the Hillingdon League Cup.
Hillingdon League Cup - 20th November 2008
| Bd | EALING A | HATCH END A | |||
| 1 | Johnstone, Alastair G | 122 | - | Butler, Sean P | 176 |
| 2 | Ellis, James | 112 | - | Heath, Kevin | 158 |
| 3 | Pack, James | 117 | - | Breed, Greg | 120 |
| 4 | Grewal, Harvey | 112 | - | Parsons, Robert | 113 |
| 5 | Reichenberg, David | 79 | + | Clarke, Richard | 111 |
Ealing had white on even-numbered boards.
Having been granted a bye in the first round, due to Pinner A's withdrawal, Ealing A, winners of the Plate competition last year, were faced with a difficult tie in the second round.
The final scoreline suggests an easy victory for the visiting team but, in fact, the match turned on a couple of late blunders by Ealing players, which transformed winning positions into lost ones.
Hatch End arrived with a strong team with a significant grading differential on most boards.They rapidly advanced to a 2-0 lead, when James Ellis overpressed on Board 2 and James Pack, after safely navigating his way around Europe, went astray at the board.
Meanwhile, however, captain David Reichenberg had gained an advantage in his game which he duly converted into a fine win. On top board, yours truly recovered from an inferior opening position from a Smith-Morra Gambit to mount a successful attack on his opponent's king position, which netted a clear three pawn advantage. It should have been a trivially easy win, but whether it was excitement at the prospect of winning such a scalp or the insidious pressure of the clock, care was abandoned and (for the second time in three days!) a horrific blunder gifted my opponent a rook and with it the game.
Although I wasn't there to see it, I am told that Harvey, uncharacteristically, also gave away a good position. So, 4-1 to the visitors but it could so easlily have been a very different story.