Hastings 3 vs Uckfield 1

A bit of a saga this one.  We were struggling to get a team for this one because of car capacity, neither Brian nor Mark could play.   We asked Hastings if we could rearrange and they offered no fewer than 11 alternative dates before the end of April.  The league, however, chose not to allow this as an 'exceptional circumstance' so we needed to put out a team on the night or suffer a 1 match point penalty which would almost certainly have seen us relegated.  Stephen volunteered to drive everyone, whilst Ian was to make his way from work directly to the venue.  On the day, Ian fell ill and couldn't play so a team of 4 went to Hastings. On the night Chaski won, Arran drew but Carel and Stephen both lost.  With the default that meant we lost the match 3 1/2 to 1 1/2.  It then transpired that through some miscommunication at Hastings, their Board 1 was ineligible for the match.  This means that Hastings are penalised a board point...which makes the match score 2 1/2 each.  Very unlucky for them, but obviously good for us.  Barring a serious loss in our last match (and a serious win for our relegation rivals) we are safe from relegation.