Here is the match report for Bexhill 1 V Eastbourne 1 from our captain Bill Tracey:
On Friday 2nd December we hosted Eastbourne 1 in Division 1 of the Mid Sussex League.
Our team, in board order was Andrew, Janis, Steve B and Phil.
On board one Andrew faced Oli Froom the Eastbourne Captain.
The last two matches between these two have ended in draws, and, after a titanic three hour game another draw was the result. Andrew knowing that we needed a win to draw the match tried all he knew to get the result but Oli is a very experienced player and managed to hold on for the draw.
Janis on board 2 continued his wonderful run of form and, after a long and close fought game, established a winning position when his opponent ran out of time. Janis has now won 4 from 4, 3 league matches and a friendly against Hastings and, as a result his rating is now over 2000. Well done Janis.
Earlier in the evening Steve B made a very uncharacteristic mistake in the opening and was unable to recover from this and eventually had to resign.
On Board 4 Phil made his 1st team debut playing against a strong and very experienced opponent. Phil was under pressure for much of the game but played calmly and defended very well. At one point a draw seemed likely, but his opponent found an excellent pawn sacrifice that eventually won the game.
Final score Bexhill 1.5 Eastbourne 2.5.
After three matches we are in 7th place [ out of 10 ] in the league. However we have played the teams that currently fill 3 of the top four places in the division, also we have only a 7 to 5 deficit in terms of game points, showing how close our matches have been.
Our next match is on January 17th away to Horsham 2.