Tomorrow sees the finale of the 2018/19 leagues season, so it’s time for one last update of the past couple of weeks. So far, two board prizes have been won and one promotion is all but assured, but there is two more board prizes up for grabs, as well as a possible second promotion and even a title.
Starting at the top, and the Armstrong are well placed to break into the top three for the first time in over 20 years. We go into the final round against relegation strugglers Rathmines in third, and our two rivals – Kilkenny and Trinity – have already dropped points in this round as some games have been played early. We’ve dropped a half point as well – Kevin played out a hard-fought (maybe!) 13-move draw against Peter Cafolla on Wednesday which lasted all of 15 minutes before the two bailed into a draw by repetition. However, Kilkenny have already drawn three of their games, while Trinity are scratching the bottom four boards of their game, so 2½ points tomorrow will be enough to secure third. And there’ll no doubt be considerable interest in the board 1 clash of Stephen and Mel! Zdravko can’t be caught as the team’s top scorer; he’s on 7/10.
The Heidenfeld are in with a chance of promotion, but realistically it’s an outside one. However, this will probably suit a team who are long overdue a quiet mid-table final day of the season! In the past 15 years, our record has been –
Season | Division | Started final day | Ended final day |
2003/04 | Heidenfeld | Already confirmed relegated going into final day | Relegated with a record low points tally |
2004/05 | Ennis | 4 points off promotion with first playing second | Third by 2½ points |
2005/06 | Ennis | Records incomplete for some reason | |
2006/07 | Ennis | 3 points off promotion with first playing second | Fourth by 2 points |
2007/08 | Ennis | ½ point clear in second | Third; season decided on the final match of the entire leagues |
2008/09 | Ennis | 1½ points off promotion | Sixth |
2009/10 | Ennis | 6 points clear at the top | Won the title |
2010/11 | Heidenfeld | Already confirmed as last going into final day | |
2011/12 | Ennis | 2 points off promotion | Third by 3½ points; later promoted anyway |
2012/13 | Heidenfeld | 3½ points clear of the drop | Safe by one point |
2013/14 | Heidenfeld | 5 points clear of the drop with but with only six players available and 11th playing 12th | Safe by 4½ points |
2014/15 | Heidenfeld | 2½ points clear in second | Promoted by 3½ points |
2015/16 | Armstrong | 1½ points adrift of safety but were playing 10th | Relegated by 3½ points |
2016/17 | Heidenfeld | 3 points clear at the top | Won the title |
2017/18 | Armstrong | Already confirmed relegated going into final day | |
2018/19 | Heidenfeld | 2½ points off promotion | ??? |
Even if we can beat Malahide – probably the strongest team in the division, even if the league placings don’t reflect that – we have the problem that second and third are going head-to-head. So the best result there is 4-4, but that means we have to beat Malahide 7-1. So really all we’re playing for is fun, and to see if I can turn my 7½/10 into a board prize.
The Ennis continued their winning streak in round 10 when beating Trinity 4½-1½. Trinity could only put out 5 players, which meant a walkover for William, while Lara was held by Anastasija. Trinity then did us a favour when taking a 3-3 draw off Cavan in a delayed round 9, which meant that the Ulster side were 6 points adrift of us going into the final day. We play Cavan tomorrow, so a half point anywhere across the afternoon and promotion is confirmed, but we also go into the final day level on points with Drogheda at the top, so all we need to do is better their result against Trinity and we’ll win the title. Here, however, Trinity will probably turn from doing us a favour to messing us around – they only have four players for their Armstrong match at the same time, and it’s highly probable they’ll be scratching boards against Drogheda too. If they scratch 3 boards, then we would be entitled to challenge Drogheda to a play-off for the title if we finish level on points – Drogheda would pip us on tie-break in that case, but only by virtue of the half point extra they would have scored on the bottom three boards compared to us. A mere 4½-1½ thumping against Drogheda on the opening day of the season would have made things more interesting now – but promotion is the main aim tomorrow!
Lara is top scorer on 9/10 and has not only won a board prize, but also the club’s top scorer trophy. A win for Kavin tomorrow will make it two board prizes for the Ennis.
The O’Hanlon have been close to matching the Heidenfeld for final day adventures lately – Nicky went from dead lost to won in the final game last season, which was the difference between going down and staying up, although ultimately our opponents were reprieved after Round Tower withdrew – but this season has been much more comfortable. A 4½-1½ hammering of Naomh Barróg, which included a 350+ point win for sub Karel, means that for once, they have absolutely nothing to play for tomorrow. One draw against Blanch will mean we can’t drop any places tomorrow; fifth is possible as both Gorey and Inchicore face top-four sides. Ronan is top scorer on 6/9.
The BEA and Bodley are both finished at this stage. The As ended with two defeats as they struggled to get a full team out, while the Bs took a draw off Rathmines A which confirmed fifth place. Ben‘s 8½/10 has earned him a board prize, while Zhengjun was top scorer for the Bs with 7/10.
The Bodleys had long finished of course, but for completion’s sake, the As and Bs finished seventh and sixth respectively, with Joe (3/6) and Ryan (3½/5) top scorers.
Best of luck to all our teams tomorrow!