U2 vs HH2

On 22nd Jan our second team faced Haywards Heath 2, and halfway through we looked very comfortable.  I did not see enough of Steve’s game on Board 5, but he seemed to be comfortable. However I understand he felt obliged to accept the offer of a draw as he felt he had fallen behind, and indeed was then the exchange down; on Board 3 I achieved a discovered check early on which enabled a material advantage of a knight for a pawn, but offered thereafter some positional advantage to my opponent, which I was able to withstand patiently until my extra material paid off for the win;  Benedict on Board 4 had a strong position and as we have since analysed could/should have won, which he would probably have converted if he had doubled rooks for the loss of pawns, but eventually pawn losses saw him succumb to the loss; on Board 2 Artur played magnificently in a tactical rook, bishop and pawn against rook, knight and pawn ending, which he carefully managed to the win;  Michael on Board 1 had his opponent under massive pressure on the back lines, but the movement of a knight in a strong position enabled his opponent to find a forced checkmate, so Michael had to resign.  So in the end a 2.5-2.5 draw, but in truth we should have gained the extra point for a match win, as acknowledged by their captain on LMS.