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The Headmaster's Half Term Report
2014 has, to date, been more successful than we could have hoped for.
Our new venue has proved very popular with both our own club members and members of opposing teams, who have all spoken very highly of it. We have been extremely fortunate to find a home here and it is undoubtedly the best venue we have ever had. Our sincere thanks to the Florence Tennis & Bowling Club for taking us in.
We have welcomed 3 new members this season in Kas Capatina and Chris and Edward Brian. Kas has been a phenomenal success story with 13 wins from his 15 matches to date. His grading will undoubtedly rocket in January, which will give us team selection problems. However, these are the sort of selection problems that we like to have. As our only junior player, we expect to start giving Edward some matches in Division 5 in the New Year, if only to bring the average age of our team down !!
We retained the South Potteries Chess Challenge Cup with a 5.5 - 2.5 win against Meir. This was the 6th time in succession that we have won this annual pre-season match and we now lead by 6 - 5 overall since it's inception.
A win against Crewe sent us into the Semi-Final of the Perry (U110) Trophy, where we will meet Meir on the 2nd February.
In County Cups we will be playing Alsager in the Quarter-Final of the Withnall Trophy on the 6th January and on the 8th April we will be playing Lichfield in the Semi-Final of the Gothard Cup.
Our league performances have exceeded expectations as well. We go into 2015 with the 'A' team in 2nd place in Division 3, the Bully Boys on top of Division 4 and the 'C' team on top of Division 5. Dare we hope for a league treble ?
On the social front, the Anniversary Dinner at the Westbury Tavern and the Christmas Dinner at the Duke Of York were both well supported. We can take immense pride from the fact that we are the only club in the league that organise these sort of social events and it speaks volumes for the camaraderie, loyalty and team spirit that exists within the club.
Looking forward, we are hoping to organise an event involving either an International Master or a Grandmaster later in the season. We are also looking at the possibility of a friendly match against Newport of the Shropshire League sometime between the end of this season and the start of next season. Other events to look forward to are the Fenton Rapidplay Championship on the 27th April and an all day Rapidplay event on Sunday 28th June, to which we intend to invite players from the old enemy, Meir.
Finally, can I take this opportunity to thank EVERYBODY for their support this year in making it the success it has been, whether you have been playing for one of the league teams or just turning up for social matches. Your continued support is much appreciated and I would like to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.