Ashby 1 were away against an unbeaten Wigston team, who have won Division 1 by a margin of 7 points. It was always going to be a difficult night and we were without Tom Dove and Reece Whittington so the 4.5 - 0.5 scoreline was no surprise. There was another good draw from Gheorge on board 1 against an opponent rated 245 points higher, but that was the highlight of our night.This was their last game of the season and the unwanted Wooden Spoon.
Ashby 3 were at home against Market Harborough 2 and, despite being outrated on all boards, drew 2-2. Steve's recent slump in form was reversed as he was the first to finish with a win on board 3, closely followed by a draw (how unusual !!) from Larry on board 2. Tom was up against Ashby Old Boy, Andrew Faulds, on board 1. Despite being up a Knight for a couple of pawns, the position was totally locked and he had to settle for a draw. GM Mick Brown was unable to bridge the near 200 point rating gap on board 4.With one match left to play they are guaranteed to finish 3rd.
Ashby 5 took 7 players to their match at Kirby Muxloe 2 and were narrowly beaten by 4 - 3. Once again we were outrated on 5 of the 7 boards and did well to draw all of the top 4. There was a good win from Ben McDermott on board 6, but losses on boards 5 and 7 condemned us to defeat in what was their last game of the season and the Division 5 Wooden Spoon, to go with the Division 1 Wooden Spoon.
Elsewhere, Roy Evans beat Chris Tipper in the second round of the Club Championship and Paul Harrison beat Ivan Hallam in the second round of the U1450 Championship.