Mission: Promotion!

 I still remember a Spring evening at the Leamington tennis club, back in 2024. On that night, the C team needed to beat Leamington to win an astonishing promotion to Division 1. I did not make the team, but watched on avidly as a gripping battle ensued. Ultimately it was not to be, and we missed out. For all the pride we had in what was a really good season, there was also a sense that such opportunities are rare. We did not know when we would get another chance.

Incredibly, this season of all seasons, the chase is back on. We might have lost players, and be continually juggling our selections, but whatever we are doing is working. Following last night's win against Olton, we are four points clear at the top of the table. With our heroic D team still in second! The truth is, it is still all to play for, as Coventry A are also four points back and have a game in hand. Our next two matches are against them, and they are going to prove crucial. 

Last night, Harry chalked up a very helpful and relatively quick draw against Andrew Cottom to get us on the board. Harry has been juggling a lot of commitments as well as the B team captaincy and I hugely appreciated him playing - thank you Harry! 

The other three games went deep into the night. I didn't see much of Andy's game, but he led the way with a brilliant win on Board 1 against Mike Hollier. Andy told me afterwards that if anything he had been worse out of the opening, but found a way to rearrange his pieces and to get active. Good things clearly followed! So 1.5 - 0.5.

With 5 minutes of the evening to go, I had turned down various draw offers from Roger Threlfall on Board 3, just as Dan our C team debutant had against Julian Camino-Sanchez on Board 4. As I said to Dan, I didn't even have to look at his position to know that he was winning, I could hear it in their respective voices. It looked like a very professional grind on Dan's part and an excellent contribution. It just shows our strength in depth that we were able to call on Dan when we needed him, and he really delivered!

My own game falls into the somewhat frustrating category. I was better throughout and nobody could say that I didn't give it fricking everything to win, but all credit to Roger. After most likely various repetitions and with us both below a minute on our clocks, we agreed to split the point. That's the third white in a row where I have been better, but had to settle for a draw. Still, it didn't matter and we left with a comfortable 3-1 win.

So onwards! Who knows if we can do this or not, but we should all be really proud of what we have done to date. We are definitely going to give this a good go!