On paper Chichester B had the strongest team, but Emsworth B were not far behind. This is slightly misleading, as there were sometimes huge differences in grades between the top and bottom boards. A case in point is Portsmouth who in a couple of games had a difference in grade of over 100 points between board one and board five.

Chichester B

Chichester B used twelve players in their B team, with only one person playing in all games. Therefore it was rare for the same team to be playing in more than one match and they fell just short of winning the league. Like Division Two champions Emsworth B a number of payers who played in the B team, also played for the A team. The difference though is that with fifteen players playing for either the A or B team, on paper it would not be an issue if Chichester B were promoted to Division One. The teams would not be that weak either, as nine of the players who played for the A or B teams were graded 138 or above. This compares with Emsworth's twelve players who played for the A and B team, of which only five were graded above 138.

Whereas in Division One A.H.McDougall had a torrid time, he had an excellent season in Division Two, with five wins, one draw and only one defeat. This included wins against Joe Coburn, Dave Elliott and Sherif Gonem. Other players who played well were P.A.Rayment, Ray Williams and A.Likhoded. 

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Cosham B

Cosham had six players who played the majority of games, with five players filling in as reserves. Although the team was not too successful against the top two teams on the whole they were too strong for the other teams in the division and deserved their third place.

Andrew Smith had by far the best result of a Cosham player, remaining unbeaten and his wins included ones against Steve Smith and Joe Coburn. Although D.Gibson only played one game, this was a win against A.Fysh-Foskett, which explains the 237 performance.

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Emsworth B

Another fine season saw Emsworth B retain their Division Two title, finishing one point above Chichester B. With the exception on one player, all of the Emsworth B players scored 50% or more in the season, with five players scoring more than 65%. This consistency certainly helped Emsworth B win the division. 

Looking at the individual scores, the majority of players scored their expected results, which seemed to be enough to win the league. S.Symons and Neil Harrison were the exception, with S.Symons in particular performing in excess of his grade with his four wins and a draw from five games. Neil's performance would have been even higher if he had beaten Tony Elbourn in a game in which there was some controversy and Neil ended up losing.

I suppose the only outstanding point now, is if Emsworth B are going to go up to Division One, or if they are going to ask to stay in Division Two again. I am sure this will be sorted out at the Portsmouth AGM.

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Fareham A