Demolition derbies

Having worked so hard to catch up with our reports, we have fallen behind again. Never mind, we’ll get back on track again soon enough.

Let’s begin with a recap of the 8th round of fixtures in Calderdale League 1. These were played on the 14th of January and, naturally, featured a whole host of derby matches between sides from the same clubs. In fact three of the four matches played were derbies and two of those three ended in heavy defeats.

We’ll start though with the closest fought of the derby matches. Hebden Bridge ‘C’ took on Hebden Bridge ‘B’ at the Trades Club and both sides found themselves somewhat depleted in number. Hebden ‘C’ were short of players and, as the ‘A’ team were also missing a player, the ‘B’ team loaned out Pete Leonard to the ‘A’ team rather than have a player taking a default and not getting a game.

That meant that a four-a-side match with Hebden ‘C’ lining up with Andy Leatherbarrow, Martin Syrett, Paul Gledhill and Neil Bamford while the ‘B’ team had Matthew Parsons, Dave Shapland, Sam Swain and Neil Suttie. On paper it looked like it should have been straightforward for the ‘B’s but it turned out to be a tough battle.

Matthew defeated Andy on board 1 in relatively smooth fashion. Of course, the game saw a London System on the board and Andy had come prepared for a battle in that system. Early on in the opening he appeared to be doing well but he was gradually out played in the middle game and made a few tactical mistakes which curtailed the game mid-evening.

Sam Swain also had a fairly comfortable night on board 3 against Paul Gledhill. Sam opted for the Grand Prix Attack and, like Matthew, took full advantage of some tactical oversights to ease past his opponent.

The match was already almost in the bag but on the last two boards the ‘B’ team stumbled. First, Neil Suttie lost a piece against Neil Bamford. He opted to go all in and try to confuse his opponent but Bamford held fast, defused the danger and simplified the position to force resignation. This was an excellent win for Neil who has had an excellent season for the ‘C’ team collecting 6½/8 so far.

Finally, it came down to the game between the two Captains. Dave took charge of the game early in the opening and seemed to be building an overwhelming attack. However, Martin hung on determinedly and when Dave couldn’t find the right way to prosecute his attack, he developed his own dangerous counter play. The game simplified and the danger receded. With equal material on both sides and the only chance for a win requiring some level of risk, Dave accepted Martin’s draw offer to ensure that at least the match was won for the league leaders.

Here is the final match scorecard:

Hebden Bridge ‘C’ vs Hebden Bridge ‘B’
A.Leatherbarrow 0 – 1 M.Parsons (W)
M.Syrett ½ – ½ D.Shapland (W)
P.Gledhill 0 – 1 S.Swain (W)
N.Bamford 1 – 0 N.Suttie (W)
DEFAULT 0 – 0 DEFAULT
1½ – 2½

Hebden Bridge ‘A’ continued their resurgence in the only non-derby match of the round as they crushed third-placed Halifax ‘A’ at the Lee Mount Club. Admittedly they had their strongest line up of the season with Phil Cook and Mick Connor missing they were replaced by even stronger players in the form of Chris Bak and Pete Leonard. Together with Andrew Clarkson and Martyn Hamer on the top two boards Chris and Pete won their games as the visitors swept aside Bill Somerset, Richard Porter, Carlos Velosa and Vivienne Webster. Only Sam Scurfield could muster a consolation point against Andy Swales on board 5. Here is the match card:

Halifax ‘A’ vs Hebden Bridge ‘A’
W.Somerset 0 – 1 A.Clarkson (W)
R.Porter 0 – 1 M.Hamer (W)
C.Velosa 0 – 1 C.Bak (W)
V.Webster 0 – 1 P.Leonard (W)
S.Scrufield 1 – 0 A.Swales (W)
1 – 4

With this win Hebden ‘A’ climbed further up the table and away from the relegation zone into a share of 4th and 5th places.

That climb up the table was made possible in part by Huddersfield ‘A’s defeat to their ‘B’ team rivals for the second time this season. Dave Keddie, Steve Westmoreland and Kyle Sharpe were held to draws by Leo Keely, Simon Anscombe and David Gray respectively and then the tail end of the ‘A’ team collapsed as Granville Boot beat Robert Sutcliffe and Alec Ward beat Craig Sharpe. This was a fine win for Huddersfield ‘B’ to boost their survival chances.

In the final match of the round Belgrave ‘B’ hosted their ‘A’ team and were roundly thrashed for their troubles. Gordon Farrar saved a half on board 1 against John Morgan but after that it was slaughter as Dave Patrick, Tony Slinger, Peter Hughes and Karim Khan put Mike Barnett, Keith Marsh, Les Johnson and Angel Gonzales to the sword. This result ensured that Belgrave maintained their hot pursuit of Hebden ‘B’ in second place in the table.

You’ll find some of the games from round 8 in the game viewer below.