B team's first victory

In a battle between two teams looking for their first league points of the season, Church Stretton B beat Shrewsbury C in a division two match last night. The two teams know each other well with Steve Rooney having moved to Church Stretton from Shrewsbury this season and Francis Rooney combining his role for Church Stretton B with Shrewsbury's junior team who compete in the third division.

The home team got off to a good start with an early win for Graham Shepherd against Eric Inglis on board two when the latter missed a skewer on his queen. This was followed by solid draws for Church Stretton's Chris Pimm-Jones and Francis Rooney, despite being outgraded by their opponents, and a draw for David Williams, leaving Steve Rooney to win in a tactical battle on board one against Ian Davies to wrap up a 3.5-1.5 victory.

Full result:
Church Stretton B 3.5-1.5 Shrewsbury C
Steve Rooney 1-0 Ian Davies
Graham Shepherd 1-0 Eric Inglis
David Williams 0.5-0.5 Tommy Cheng
Chirs Pimm-Jones 0.5-0.5 Fred Harris
Francis Rooney 0.5-0.5 Alan Bliss

Church Stretton B v Newport B

The B team has yet to gets its settled line-up with a number of players away. The trip to Newport ended in a 3-2 defeat despite good wins for Graham Shepherd and Adrian Thorpe.

Full result:
Newport B 3 Church Stretton B 2
A Taylor 1-0 Steve Rooney
S Davies 0-1 Graham Shepherd
A Mehmood 0-1 A Thorpe
S Cooper 1-0 C Pimm-Jones
D Lovegrove 1-0 F Rooney

A team win against Coddon

Church Stretton A won their league match last Thursday against Coddon A. Wins for Graham Shepherd, John Whittaker and Steve Rooney plus a draw for Eric Elwell sealed the victory whilst Gerald Link on board one lost a tight ending against Glyn Pugh. Roll on Telepost A on 12 Oct!

Full result:
Church Stretton A 3.5-1.5 Coddon A
Gerald Link 0-1 Glyn Pugh
Steve Rooney 1-0 G White
G Shepherd 1-0 J Tunks
J Whittaker 1-0 N Paul
E Elwell 0-5.0.5 C Paul

B team start division 2 campaign

Church Stretton B lost their opening match against Ludlow dspite an early win for Eric Elwell on board 2 and promising positions in the other games. the final result 3.5-1.5 to Ludlow was sealed when Graham Shepherd resigned against John Whittaker, only to realise straight afterwards that he could have taken a rook and ended up a piece up. Another game lost ton the dreaded blitz finish!

25/9/08
Church Stretton B 1.5 v Ludlow 3.5
1. Graham Shepherd 0-1 John Whittaker
2. Eric Elwell 1-0 R Woodley
3. Adrian Thorpe 0-1 J Preece
4. T Williamson 0-1 P Munday
5. Chris Pimm-Jones 0.5-0.5 K Thompson

A team come close in first outing

Church Stretton A team gave Shifnal & Telford a bit of a shock in the opening league game of the season. With Shifnal & Telford fielding their strongest team they thought they were in a comfortable night, especially when we were forced to default the bottom board. But early wins for Gerald Link against John Footner and Steve Rooney against Dave Gostelow put Church Stretton 2-1 ahead before John Whittaker and Karl Wakefield finallly succumbed to stronger opponents and the match ended 3-2 to Shifnal & Telford. Let's hope for better luck against Coddon on 2 Oct!

17/9/08
Shifnal & Telford A 3 Church Stretton A 2
1. Trevor Brotherton 1-0 Karl Wakefield
2. John Footner 0-1 Gerald Link
3. Dave Gostelow 0-1 Steve Rooney
4. Colin Roberts 1-0 John Whittaker
5. Iain Wilson 1-0 default