Horsham 3 Update

I've been remiss in not posting match reports for the 3rd team as the season progressed, so I'll now do a bulk update!

Being in Division 2, we have some strong opponents. The season got off to a poor start, with a 1.5 - 2.5 loss to East Grinstead, followed by a whitewash defeat by Sussex University. This might have been slightly ameliorated if I had accepted a draw offer from my opponent, rather than having my game fall apart a couple of moves later! Our fight back then started with a 3 - 1 win over East Grinstead Bookshop. The LMS match card suggests we grossly out-rated the opponents, but I think this reflects a weakness in the rating system until a player has recorded a sufficient number of results. One of their players is shown with a rating of zero. Conversely, my opponent's quoted rating seemed to me to over-rate his standard and I note that since then his rating has been tumbling. We then saw out 2022 with a 0.5 - 3.5 defeat by a strong Worthing 2 team who out-rated us on every board and by an average of 200 points.

The new year has seen a change of fortune with a 3 - 1 win over Eastbourne 3 and a similar result against Bexhill 2 last night.

We currently stand as 5th team out of 10 in the division, with 6 points. We have some tough matches still to come, including Haywards Heath 1, and it remains mathematically possible for us to fall into a relegation slot. However, this would seem unlikely as it would require at least one of the two teams who have so far lost all their matches to overtake us. Hence, we seem safe to retain a Division 2 place for next season.