The two North Circular League home fixtures for Wanstead teams on a sodden gridlocked evening came close to being a double disaster for the Home sides. All four teams showed great perseverence to reach the venue and ensure no defaults.
In Division A Wanstead 1, defending League Champions and comfortably the stronger side, fell to a shock defeat against Ilford by 4-2.
Playing alongside in the Finchley Cup, Wanstead 2, also the clear favourites on paper, came close to a similar fate against Loughton. In this case, Wanstead were the side to creep through to the next round by 4½-3½ but, if Loughton had managed to eke out just half a point more and the scores finished level, they would have been the winners on the bottom board elimination tie-break.
And the Dark Side of these two strange results? Wanstead held the rating advantage of exactly 262 points a board, in both matches. Scary.
Links: Wanstead A 2-4 Ilford | Wanstead 2 4½-3½ Loughton | NCCL on ECF LMS