Strand 1 close in on Silver King after week of closely-fought matches

Division 1

• Fruitihll Hawks 2-3 Ballynafeigh 1
• Ballynafeigh 2 2.5-2.5 QUB 1
• Civil Service 2-3 Kelly's Heroes

Apart from runaway league leaders Strand 1, Ballynafeigh 1 and QUB 1 are the only remaining teams mathematically still in the hunt for the Silver King; but QUB 1's draw and Ballynafeigh 1's narrow win over the Fruithill Hawks will have pleased Strand 1, whose lead now stands at 24 points and need only a draw in any of their three remaining matches to secure their first-ever league title. Ballynafeigh 1 were without David Houston for their visit to Fruithill, and Steve Scannell fell to defeat against John Cairns, but wins from Karina Kruk, Ian Woodfield and Vincent O'Brien saw them through to victory. QUB 1 brought only four players to their clash with Ballynafeigh 2, but wins for Callum Ormerod and Samuel Ngieng, as well as a draw for Cathan Gormley against John O'Doherty, saved the draw. Adrian Dornford-Smith (1217) claimed the upset of the week for Civil Service against Bobby Thompson (1490) but it wasn't enough as Kelly's Heroes continued their fine form.

Standings

Division 3

• Fruithill Ravens 3-2 Strand 3
• QUB 3 3.5-1.5 Ballynafeigh 4
• Bangor 2 5-0 Ballynafeigh 3

Bangor 2 stretched their lead to nine points as Ballynafeigh 3 could only field two players at Groomsport Parish Hall and were summarily whitewashed. The Fruithill Ravens claimed a narrow win as Sean Linton and unrated players Chris Wilkinson and Harry Skerbergs all won, although there were fine performances from Ciaran Rowan and Dexter Harris to defeat Gerry Collins and Michael Toal respectively. QUB 3 were the clear favourites against Ballynafeigh 4 and will probably have been disappointed to score only 3.5; Matthew Dougherty (1400) was held to a draw by David Seaby (1023) and Bartlomiej Rybicki (1145) fell to defeat against Billy Jackson (984).

Standings