Unfortunately we forgot to bring our buckets and spades so didn't really enjoy the party. Clevedon simply took all the opportunities that came their way.

We started steadily enough with Nigel securing a comfortable draw with black on board one...a welcome relief after having to play three of the highest rated players in the league in the first three matches. Meanwhile on board six Andrew also drew fairly swiftly after, to use his words, an unadventurous opening.

My game was next to finish. To parody the words of Eric Morecambe, I played all the right moves, not necessarily in the right order. This saddled me with a passive position and, when I missed a line which may have equalised on move 30, my opponent converted into a trivially winning ending.

This meant that one of the remaining players needed to win to salvage at least a point. To be honest I think they could all have been drawn if played defensively. Javier's game never really looked to be breaking out into anything other than a draw and so it transpired.

By now Mike had a clear if slight plus (half a-pawn according to Stockfish) but in trying to convert this he had to take risks just when time was becoming scarcer. It might have gone either way but Dave handled the clock and the position well and was able to break through decisively in the end. Martin, meanwhile, also had half a-pawn advantage when time was getting low. But sadly he too missed a drawing line in a rook and-pawn ending.

So only one and a half points and our poor form continues in this very tough league. One of these days our engine will fire on all cylinders! Here's hoping.