The omens did not look good when we set out to the Massey
Ferguson Club (neutral venue) with an injury hit team. Having beaten Nuneaton
in the semi-final the previous week, fielding a line up with an average grade
of 172, the absence of Mark (holiday) and Carl (work) meant that our average
grade for the biggest game of our season was down to 153 (versus 171 for
Rugby.) Dave and Rod came into the team, both fresh from Divisional Cup glory
and ready to go. What we lacked in rating points, we made up for in hunger.
Having lost a Cup final we really should have won two years ago at the same
venue, we knew this was a chance to put things right, to carve our names in
history.
The evening started well. I built up an extremely good
position against James Kearney and Dave was also moving nicely. Rod was
battling away, Mike’s position looked the trickiest but his form has been
outstanding so all things started to seem possible. I came within a whisker of
beating James, as I built up a crushing King side attack. However, my Rook
sacrifice left a resource I had overlooked and by giving the material back James
weathered the storm. It was still complex, but hard for either of us to make
much progress. I was left dreaming of what might have been. Frustrating, but we
still had our first half point.
Dave was next to finish, with the game of the night against
Patrick Reid. It was a truly awesome sight as Dave made light of the rating differential
to bring home a victory that was beautiful to watch. He seemed to rip open
Patrick’s Queen side (where Patrick’s King had been seeking shelter) minor
and major pieces swarmed and his Knight delivered the final blow to put us 1.5 –
0.5 up in our games with the White pieces. A superb man of the match
performance as Dave signed off his campaign in style.
At which point anything still seemed possible. Rod was
battling hard, but now losing, down a pawn in an opposite Bishop ending.
Unfortunately, Bob Whilding had a passed pawn and a bit of a grip on Rod’s King
so it looked difficult. Mike was also down a pawn to Simon Turner. All four
players were in time trouble. Mike was stoically chewing his way through cough
sweets. I was pacing. The Coventry members involved in their own matches were
averagely vocal. A betting man would have kept his money in his pocket.
Then finally it turned. Mike, won his pawn back and went
from worse to better in about the time it would have taken someone to eat one
of his throat lozenges. A draw was agreed and suddenly we had two points gained
on boards 1, 2 and 3 which meant we’d won on board count! Rod battled
brilliantly but went down soon after. It didn’t matter though, as all had
played their part in a famous night. 2 – 2 but the silverware was ours!
Another big step in our Coventry journey… Here’s to next
year!
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