Highcliffe C v Poole C

Thank you Highcliffe for an entertaining match. It was closer than the scoreline suggested.
Dan Ursell won first, and Andy Matko pulled it back to level terms (sorry for the brevity, it all happened before I arrived for the drama).
Leo was under a heavy pressure with Queen and Rook attacking h7, he put in a few mate threats to an exposed king which were happily defended at the expense of some of the attack but a Bishop was still pinning his rook on g7 to his king on h8. Matthew had some good pressure to capitalise on this but a check took that vital bishop and the position crumbled and Leo got the victory. On later analysis there was a mate in 2 for Highcliffe but it would have been very difficult to spot without knowing there's something to look for.
That secured at least a draw with just Harshal to go. It was a very even position, knight, rook and 5 pawns each. It should have been a draw but Joshua had to push for a result. With Harshal getting a passed pawn promoted, Joshua had to trade rook for knight to stay in the game. This meant that he had a single pawn to shepherd with his king and knight whilst Harshal hoovered up the remaining pawns. There was some tricky play which made the spectators nervous, but Harshal played solidly and the game and match was settled. If one of the other results went the other way then it would have been Harshal pushing for the win and may have ended in a different result.
Well done to Highcliffe for tonight and throughout the season.
Thank you to Southbourne for hosting.