Horsham 1 suffer blow to title hopes

The visit of Haywards Heath saw a chastening defeat for the first team from an initially promising position...

With only two fixtures left, two wins would probably result in the league title, as our 'goal difference' was better than Brighton's. Unfortunately Haywards Heath had other ideas...

Things started fine on board 2, where Mike won a pawn against Jeff Boardman. Unfortunately he ended up in an opposite-colour bishop endgame where the extra pawn meant little and could only draw. Next I won on board 4 vs Graham Ewens - an early b5 pawn sacrifice in a Benoni structure proved unsound and Black was tied down and eventually finished off when he lost more material.

Then disaster. On board 5 Dix held a small advantage against Lucas Renshaw but suddenly blundered a knight. Although he withstood the ensuing kingside attack the endgame was lost. Next Gavin went down on board 1 - a fairly passive opening against Feliks was punished, although afterwards he discovered that both players had overlooked a winning idea for Black at one point. Finally on board 3 James also had a winning sacrifice at one point, but couldn't see it through to advantage and chose a quieter continuation. Martin Faulkner consolidated and moved into a winning endgame which James resigned on adjournment.

So now we are at the mercy of Brighton 1. The upside? They have yet to play Haywards Heath...

G.R. Lock 0-1 F.J. Kwiatkowski
M.C. Forster 1/2-1/2 J. Boardman
J.C. Mansson 0-1 M.J. Faulkner
A.R.J. Higgs 1-0 G. Ewens
D.N. Roberts 0-1 L. Renshaw

3.5-1.5 to Haywards Heath.