B&D League - Part 2, Week 9 round-up

Division 1

Fisherwick 3-2 Muldoons 1

Fisherwick recorded a narrow win over Muldoons 1 to ensure that Lindores wouldn't be able to overtake them this week. It was plain sailing for the champions on the top three boards, with Michael Waters, John Cairns and John Masterson all recording wins, but Nicholas Pilkiewicz and Stephen Wood pulled two points back for the visitors, for which Lindores will certainly be grateful.

Lindores 4.5-0.5 Lagan

Lindores achieved a more convincing victory over Lagan to move to within one point of Fisherwick. They may have been facing the bottom club, but they nevertheless brought their strongest line-up to bear on Lagan with a view to a whitewash. They almost achieved this, but Chris Kelly's draw with Alan Delaney meant that Lagan would take a half-point away from this encounter. The gap at the top is now just one point.

Belfast South 1 2-3 Ballynafeigh 1

Ballynafeigh 1 leapfrogged Muldoons 1 (for the time being) with this win over Belfast South 1. Among the highlights: Thomas Donaldson continued his fine form with a win over Bruce Maclean, while Eoin Carey made amends for his loss to Martin Kelly (as part of the Ballynafeigh 2 squad in week 7) with a win against the same opponent.

Division 2

Fruithill 1-4 Bangor

Bangor continued their march towards the Division 2 title with a resounding win over Fruithill. The home team named a stronger line-up than of late, but this was not enough to overcome the runaway leaders. Frank Carrothers achieved a creditable draw against Paul McGuigan, and Gerry Collins an excellent one against Paul McLoughlin, but on the other boards it was Bangor all the way as they extended their lead to 20.5 points.

Ballynafeigh 4 4-1 Ballynafeigh 3

Tuesday night's derby saw Ballynafeigh 4 come out on top in the battle of the Ballynafeigh junior teams, leaving the foot of the table in the process. In a testament to Ballynafeigh's ability to unearth new chess talent, two players made their league debuts in this match - Ken Millen on board 4 for Ballynafeigh 4 and Billy Jackson on board 5 for Ballynafeigh 3 - both of whom won, against Norman Rainey and Bobby Campbell respectively.

Muldoons 2 vs NICS was postponed.