Morecambe 1 V Lytham 1

A better contest than the scoreline might suggest!

It was a pleasure for Lytham to have an away fixture in Morecambe for the first time in some years - in spite of the chastening result.... Board 3 was the first to finish: after a very sharp opening, and with neither player backing down from the complications, it wasn't obvious to the casual observer who was going to get mate in first. James won the sprint. On Board 1, Colin had the better of the opening and got an impressive looking position against Dan, who defended calmly before taking full advantage when Colin's "winning" combination proved not to be not quite so "winning" after all. Danny had a fight on his hands against Darren on board 4, when Darren won a piece for a couple of pawns, but Danny found a nice tactic deep into the game to pin and win back the piece and take the spoils. The last game to finish, by some margin, was board 2, where Phil (R) put up strong and long resistance even after going a couple of pawns down out of the opening. Phil (S) wasn't to be denied though and patiently and solidly found the way to bring home the final point of the evening and leave all the Lytham players ruing what might have been. Congrats to Morecambe!

Colin Walker