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League Knockout Final 1998
Horfield v Keynsham
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Board |
Horfield |
Score |
Keynsham |
Score |
| 1 |
Alex Easton |
1 |
Chris Baker |
0 |
| 2 |
Steve Dilleigh |
½ |
Simon Buckley |
½ |
| 3 |
John Richards |
0 |
Tyson Mordue |
1 |
| 4 |
Phil Nendick |
1 |
David Buckley |
0 |
| 5 |
Gordon Breeze |
1 |
Keith Fawcett |
0 |
| 6 |
Keith Walsh |
½ |
Lester Cheung |
½ |
| 7 |
Mike Gladstone |
0 |
T Blake |
1 |
| 8 |
Howard Millbank |
0 |
Ian Bourne |
1 |
|
Total |
4 |
4 |
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Horfield beat Keynsham in
cup final shock
Horfield pulled off the
surprise result of the season when they won the KO Cup for the third time in
their history. Keynsham, the champions and current league and cup holders,
were huge favourites to beat a Horfield side that has struggled all season.
But when Keynsham turned up for the final (21st April) with a weakened side,
Horfield realised an upset might just be possible. Keynsham were missing
Jack Rudd, Graham Burgess, David Moskovich, Andy Borg, and Melanie Buckley,
but their side was still very impressive, having an average rating of 177.
Horfield, meanwhile, were outgraded on every board and had an average rating
of just 155.
The two vital wins for Horfield came on the middle two boards, and
the scores were level at the end of the evening at 2½ each. Horfield stood
worse on eight, but Alex Easton had a piece for two pawns against Chris
Baker and had definite winning chances. Simon Buckley could force a draw on
two, but needed to try for a win. If Horfield got 1½ points on the top two,
then they would win the cup on board count.
The continuations for the top two boards were played at Keynsham on
Wednesday 29th April. Dilleigh v Buckley was soon over, drawn, so all hinged
on the top board result. Alex Easton was trying various ways to break down
Chris Baker's defence, but for the first 75 minutes it looked like Chris was
holding on. Then, suddenly, it was all over. Alex had forced an exchange of
queens which would leave a totally won ending ... and the Cup was on its way
to Horfield.
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