Muldoons 1 inch further ahead after tight contest

Division 1

• Muldoons 1 3-2 Strand 1
• The A Team 0.5-4.5 Ballynafeigh 1
• Civil Service 1.5-3.5 Strand 2

Muldoons 1 took another step towards regaining the Silver King as they beat Strand 1 3-2. The Corporation Square side lead the division by eight points after coming out on top of this evenly-matched contest thanks to wins from Nicholas Pilkiewicz and Danny Mallaghan, with Calum Leitch winning for the visitors and two drawn games. Strand 2 are in second place, five points ahead of Strand 1 but having played one more match, after beating Civil Service 3.5-1.5. Mark Newman won for the home side on board 1, but Strand 2's superior strength in depth made the difference as the Zelenchuks, Daniil and Dmitry, continued their multiple-game League winning streaks, with Michael Sheerin also claiming the full point. Finally, Ballynafeigh 1 continued their resurgence with an easy win over The A Team, with only John Bryars preventing the visitors from claiming a whitewash as he drew with Damien Cunningham.

Division 2

• Fruithill 4-1 Strand 3
• Ballynafeigh 4 3.5-1.5 Strand 4
• Kelly's Heroes 2-3 Muldoons 2

The gap at the top of Division 2 narrowed as Muldoons 2 came away from the Quaker Meeting House with a narrow win, despite a board 1 defeat for Steven Eachus (1806) at the hands of David Riley (1612), as John Wood and Pat McKillen claimed wins and the other two games were drawn. After utterly dominating the early stages of the season with three consecutive whitewashes, Kelly's Heroes are "just" nine points ahead having played one more match than Muldoons 2. They are a further 3.5 points ahead of Bangor, who were not in action this week but have two matches in hand; with those matches against Strand 4 and Ballynafeigh 4, Bangor could yet gain the 13 points they need to reach the split ahead of Kelly's Heroes. Speaking of Strand 4 and Ballynafeigh 4, they faced each other this week with the latter winning their first match of the season thanks to wins from Billy Jackson, Andy Boal and Mitch Kee. In the week's other Division 2 match, Strand 3's James Wong (862) claimed the upset of the week against Gerry Collins (1253) but couldn't prevent his team from falling to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Fruithill.