Muldoons 1 pile on pressure after win against leaders

Division 1

• Ballynafeigh 1 2-3 Muldoons 1
• The A Team 4-1 Ballynafeigh 2

Muldoons 1 are within ten points of leaders Ballynafeigh 1 with two matches in hand after winning 3-2 at Ballynafeigh Community House. The home side were without regular board 1 and three-time Ulster Champion David Houston, and the champions took advantage as Gareth Annesley and Danny Mallaghan won their games, meaning that draws from Stephen Morgan and Nicholas Pilkiewicz put them over the line for the bonus points. Things are also heating up at the other end of the table, with bottom-placed The A Team winning 4-1 against fourth-placed Ballynafeigh 2. The visitors were hit hard by the absences of Mikhail Pavlov and Chris Kelly; in their place, Derek Truesdale (998) and Vincent O'Brien (955) were drafted in from Ballynafeigh's lower teams. Both acquitted themselves well, with Truesdale holding Bobby Thompson (1460) to a draw and O'Brien's losing effort against Bernard Jaffa being the last game to finish. It was to no avail, though, as John Bryars and Sam Flanagan secured wins to bring The A Team to within 1.5 points of Ballynafeigh 2 with a match in hand.

Division 2

• Fruithill 4-1 Muldoons 2
• QUB 2 2.5-2.5 Ballynafeigh 3
• Ballynafeigh 4 1.5-3.5 Kelly's Heroes
• Civil Service 2.5-2.5 Bangor Webbs

The top of the table clash between QUB 2 and Ballynafeigh 3 ended in a draw; Milad Foozoni and Ross Harris shared the point on board 1, while Samuel Ngieng and Liam Ferris won for the home side and the Zelenchuks, Daniil and Dmitry, both achieved good wins for the visitors. The week's other draw, between Civil Service and the Bangor Webbs, saw the upset of the week as Geoff Hindley (1040) overcame Walter Wilson (1504). Kelly's Heroes defeated Ballynafeigh 4 3.5-1.5 despite being a player down, and Fruithill easily saw off Muldoons 2.

Division 3

• Ballynafeigh 7 0.5-4.5 Ballynafeigh 6
• QUB 4 4.5-0.5 Ballynafeigh 5

A QUB 1-2 appears to be on the cards in Division 3 as third-placed QUB 4's rout of second-placed Ballynafeigh 5 brought them to within half a point with two matches in hand. Ballynafeigh 6 beat Ballynafeigh 7 in the week's other Division 3 match.