U1 vs Eastbourne 2

Our 6th match and finally a match win, in a close encounter away to Eastbourne 2.  Desperately needed too.

Chaski on Board 1 seemed to get into an endgame within about 30 minutes of the start and he was a pawn up, duly converting in the first game to finish.  Ian on Board 5 also finished reasonably early- a game I didn't see much of because it was a bit difficult to get at- a draw.  So we had 1 1/2 points quite early on.  Mark (me) on Board 2 missed an early tactical opportunity that would have given an advantage and then settled into a defensive position that the compy tells me was completely equal.  Sadly as time got short I forgot about the tactics and lost an exchange.  My opponent then started getting short of time himself and couldn't see a way to progress, so offered a draw, gratefully accepted.  There was probably a win for him there but you have to find it with little time to make the moves.  Simon had a topsy turvy game, I thought he might be losing and then when I looked again he had an extra queen.  After a few trials and tribulations he avoided stalemating his opponent who had two advanced passed pawns and won.  Michael's game was the last to finish and he was also an exchange down for a pawn.  Unfortunately his opponent had a very active king and despite making a real scrap of it his opponent played very well to bring home the point.

So, we are no longer bottom and are in a fight with a number of other teams, trying to avoid relegation.