Essex League Division I: WW2 5½-2½ Basildon At Wanstead. True, Basildon are figthing against relegation, but they have two games in hand which, if they were to win both, would take them to 8 points, one above WW2’s current score of 7.
There was little between the teams on paper, WW2 1893, Basildon 1926, which equates to about 4 grading points on the old ECF grading system; i.e. nothing at all. There were wins from Ashley on top board, giving 151 rating points on current ratings, a fine result against Justin Baptie (2138), Paul Bancroft (with the rating advantage) against David Kreszewski, Zoe against Paul Savin and skipper Mark over Arunas Gedilas. Just one loss: Andy Swales giving best to the newly-crowned Essex Champion, Radu Bara. And our tail made sure the Basildon tail didn’t wag.
The result of this match means that WW2 are safe for another season in the top division. The bottom team, Upminster I have just 2 points from 10 matches. If they were to win both of their remaining games (against Basildon and Brentwood I) that would not only be remarkable, but would raise their score to just 6 points. Basildon play Upminster next, this Thursday, so were leaving nothing to chance in bringing their best line-up to Wanstead.
Other matches complete a win-win-win evening
Essex League Division III: WW4 3-2 v Southend 2 At Wanstead. A critical result against a top three contender keeping WW4 level on points with Upminster II, but WW4 have a match in hand over Upminster and Southend. There is then a six point gap to the rest of the table, so its a dog fight between the top three.
North Circular League C: WW3 5-0 Chingford 3 At Wanstead. WW3 whitewash Chingford 3 to leapfrog into top spot. Three matches left, its between these two.
Links: EL2 page | EL Div I on ECF LMS | EL Div I table
EL4 page | EL Div III on ECF LMS | EL Div III table
NC3 page | NC Div C on ECF LMS | NC Div C table