Congratulations to the Kent U100 squad that won the 2014 County Championship Finals and especially to our own Bob Cronin (second from left in the photo below) who played his part in every round and whose report on the campaign follows. Bob’s only regret is that with a new grade of 101 he will be unable to help defend the title this year.
Bob Cronin writes:
The Kent U100 team became SCCU Champions in February 2014, having come top of the group ahead of Essex and Surrey. I was the only Broadstairs player (graded 97) in the Kent squad and represented the county in three of the four group-stage matches, securing solid draws in all three games. Kent progressed to the draw for the knockout stages of the National County Finals for the first time in many years.
The National Quarter-Final draw paired Kent with Nottinghamshire. The match, over eleven instead of the usual twelve boards, was played on 17th May 2014 at the Open University Campus at Milton Keynes. Kent won comfortably 7-4. Playing black on board 4, I beat Malcolm Hargreaves (98) who resigned after move 20.
In the National Semi-Final Kent were drawn against Lancashire. The match took place on the 14th June 2014 at Syston Social Club near Coventry. Kent won a very exciting match 8-4, much closer than the score suggests. With white I beat George Harman (85), a young ‘rising star’ of the Lancashire side, on board 4. A draw offer was turned down and I went on to mate my opponent in 41 moves.
In the National County Final, played at the Trident Centre in Warwick on the 12th July 2014, Kent took on the home team, Warwickshire, who had defeated Norfolk in their semi-final. Playing white, I beat Bram Garner (97) on board 4 with a devastating attack that gave Kent their first point of the day and Kent went on to win the match 8.5-3.5. The non-playing captain, Doug Smith, was naturally delighted and collected the trophy on behalf of the new champions. Members of the team all received a trophy to take home with them.
Kent are now the ECF U100 National County Champions!