Derby Teams Suffer Semi-Final Defeats in Cup and Plate
On Thursday 20th February, Derby A were playing in the Derbyshire Cup semi-finals and Derby B in the Plate semi-finals.
This was a new format for the competition, where two successive rapid games were played between the same players.
In the Cup, Derby A were soundly beaten, 5½ - 2½ by a strong Chesterfield A team.
In the Plate it was a lot tighter. Derby B were drawn against Burton & Lichfield B. After losing the first round of games 1 - 3, Derby fought back in the second round, scoring 3 - 1 and levelling the score. They then suffered the heartbreak of losing the match on tie-breaks. This involved taking away boards in reverse order till a result was achieved. It took the elimination of all but the top board before the tie was resolved.
| Cup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield A | 5½ - 2½ | Derby A | |||
| 1 | Latham, David | 1-0 1-0 | Tompson, John C | ||
| 2 | Howard, Martin D | 1-0 1-0 | Retout, Steve P | ||
| 3 | Gibbs, Steve J | 1-0 0-1 | Williams, David | ||
| 4 | Fairburn, Kevin | ½-½ 0-1 | May, Skott K | ||
| Plate | |||||
| Derby B | 4 - 4 | Burton & Lichfield B | |||
| 1 | Marshall, Stuart | 0-1 0-1 | Smith, Ryan L | ||
| 2 | Dalley, Kevin J | 1-0 1-0 | Parker, Joe | ||
| 3 | Cockburn, Andre | 0-1 1-0 | Benfield, Matthew H | ||
| 4 | Ross, Colin | 0-1 1-0 | Grubb, Mark |
Kevin Dalley
(apologies for the late publication of this news item)