Match report Sandy Bells 2 v Livingston Edinburgh Summer Cup.In “The Polish Ex-Servicemen’s Social Club”, 11 Drummond Place, Edinburgh@7:30 Wednesday 30th April 2008 On a fine sunny evening, with a full complement of 6 players, but with Livingston Captain Dave Marshall struggling due to illness Livingston had effectively a one board disadvantage. The two teams were evenly matched grading-wise so the handicap system which usually makes the summer cup games more interesting did not come into play. For once Martin Crawford could look forward a game in which his opponent was almost the same grade as he was. The biggest drawback on the evening were the somewhat crowded playing conditions caused by the fact that Wandering Dragons also had a home tie against Gorgie/Dalry and that the normal upstairs playing room in the Polish Club was not available.The teams lined up as follows:-
| Sandy Bells 2 | Livingston |
| 1. Ed Perry 1900 (Black) | Martin Clancy 1960 (White) |
| 2. Yanni Yannoulis 1718 (White) | Graham Kerr 1650(Black) |
| 3. Alexander Macrae 1432 (Black) | Dave McGilvary 1480 (White) |
| 4. Gallo Ceron 1300 (White) | Dave Marshall (Capt.) 1287 (Black) |
| 5. Steve Ritchie 1181 (Black) | Robert McCord 1235 (White) |
| 6. Mike Wallace(Capt.) 943 (White) | Martin Crawford 957 (Black) |
However, since the opposition, fellow strugglers Sandy Bells, had found it impossible to beat Livingston in the league, it looked like a close encounter of the chess kind that is was in store.However it was not to be. First, but not unexpectedly, Dave Marshall was unable to overcome his illness, lost quickly, and had to retire home to bed. Graham Kerr lost to a higher graded opponent and Martin Crawford was very disappointed when succumb to a “back ranker”. Continuing his good record against Sandy Bells Robert McCord saved the Livingston teams blushes against Steven Ritchie who resigned an exchange down and with a winning attack in prospect. With the score temporarily 3-1 Livingston still had a slim chance of winning the tie on board count if only Martin Clancy and Dave McGilvary could somehow pull off two victories, however the match was effectively over when Martin had to resign having no answer to a back rank check except for heavy loss of material.With nothing resting on the last game, Dave McGilvary hoped his opponent would be charitable and accept a draw. However, his opponent laughed off the offer, having at least the win of a piece shortly in prospect with Dave’s knight hopelessly pinned against his king, and the game was over a short while later.This time Livingston had gone down in flames Sandy Bells scoring a 5 – 1 victory and laying the bogey of their previous inability to beat Livingston in the league. Final score:- | Sandy Bells 2 | Livingston |
| 1. Ed Perry 1900 (Black) 1 | Martin Clancy 1960 (White) 0 |
| 2. Yanni Yannoulis 1718 (White) 1 | Graham Kerr 1650(Black) 0 |
| 3. Alexander Macrae 1432 (Black) 1 | Dave McGilvary 1480 (White) 0 |
| 4. Gallo Ceron 1300 (White) 1 | Dave Marshall(Capt.) 1287 (Black) 0 |
| 5. Steve Ritchie1181 (Black) 0 | Robert McCord 1235 (White) 1 |
| 6. Mike Wallace(Capt.) 943 (White) 1 | |
| Total Sandy Bells 2 5 | Total Livingston 1 |
Oh well this means that Livingston are entered in the Summer Plate competition for first round losers.
