Broadstairs 5 Bridge 2
| 1 | David Faldon (174) | ½-½ | Richard Eales (193) |
| 2 | Trefor Owens (167) | 1-0 | Patrick Burns (166) |
| 3 | Shany Rezvany (163) | ½-½ | Jeff Green (144) |
| 4 | Bob Page (141) | 0-1 | Graeme Boxall (93) |
| 5 | Paul Carfrae (140) | 1-0 | Ray Rennells (80) |
| 6 | Chris Stampe (124) | 1-0 | Darren Coker (40) |
| 7 | Paul Johnson (116) | 1-0 | Conor Gorman (27) |
David Faldon writes:
This match was way too exciting. At about 30 minutes in our board 3, Shany, suddenly found himself struggling to breathe. Luckily we had a doctor on site and after a quick check of Shany’s symptoms, Dr Jenkinson persuaded the ambulance service that we had a real emergency. The ambulance arrived almost immediately and Shany was taken to the QEQM Hospital in Margate. The latest news is that Shany is still unwell, but in stable condition. After that, the match was rather secondary. Shany’s opponent, Jeff Green, sportingly accepted the draw offer that Shany made on his way out of the room. An hour or so later we were 3½-½ up as our boards 5, 6 and 7 used their extra experience to crash through with three rather one-sided wins. On board 1, I had a good position but an opportunity arose where I could force a draw by repetition. After checking the outstanding games I decided to take the draw, leaving us 4-1 up with two to finish. Next, Trefor on board 2 confounded my doubts by convincingly finishing off a well-played positional game: 5-1. The final result (board 4) was a bit disappointing but Bridge’s captain, Graeme Boxall, played excellently and deserved his upset victory. Many thanks to Bridge for bringing a full team despite trying circumstances and for their support (and use of a phone!) during the emergency. This is our last Millar Cup match of the season and the result leaves us joint top on eight points level with Folkestone, though Folkestone do still have two games to play. Of course Folkestone could lose their remaining games to Bridge and to Margate, but I’m not holding my breath for that – sorry, Shany!
Ed: the latest news on Shany is that he was discharged on Tuesday afternoon. He thanked everyone for their support and apologised ‘for disturbing and interrupting the match’!