The honest answer is yes but we rode our luck and took our chances when they arrived late on in the match.

The Devizes contingent didn't contribute this time. Both reached very decent positions, or at least that's how it seemed to this particular Bear of Little Brain. I felt I was making all the running and was at least equal when I blundered horribly and Andrew C was two pawns up going into the endgame, admittedly with two knights against a pair of bishops. But Graham and Debaditya took their chances and that gave us a bit of a mountain to climb. Let's just hope we stay on the even boards now that we are about to have a run of home matches!

In fact by then Steve had already neutralized Chirag and Oli had done what he does best and played a positional blinder against Michael. No fireworks but steady and deadly pressure was built up. It was a classy win and, deserves to be in the running for Game of the Month. Which, dear reader, mean you, yes you, please vote! You'll find some cracking entertainment and have the fun of taking part too.

All of which left us a point behind, needing two wins to salvage the match points. I wasn't too worried about Andrew M because he had all the play and a great time advantage against Steve. Or so I thought. I was less happy when he started tormenting us with use of the increment himself. Meanwhile Mike had also built a solid position against Richard. It looked like he had great pressure from trebled heavy pieces on an open file, pointing at White's King. But Richard unleashed a cunning plan which completely turned the tables and left Mike in a losing endgame with rook and same colour bishop each but where both sides were running low on time. We must be grateful for the decades of experience that Mike possesses because somehow he found all the right moves (yes, they were in the right order!) to turn the game back his way, won the enemy bishop, manoeuvred his King nearer to the remaining pawns and then gave the bishop back for a trivially won pawn finale.

But what of Andrew meanwhile? By now he had passed a, b and c-pawns, quite nicely advanced but both had a Queen and a rook with the threat of perpetuals if care was not taken. When the c-pawn queened it won a rook and that should have been that, except for the dratted clock and Steve struggled on. Until he overlooked a check, that is, and Andrew swiftly stopped the clock and asked for two minutes to be added. The final drama was that nobody knew how to do it. Where is Geoff Gammon when you need him? Since he was a whole rook down and the position was hopeless, Steve conceded but what would have happened in a close position? Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the small print of the League Rules.

Both Mike and Andrew were right royally zonked from the stress but, thank goodness, they had achieved the two vital points that we needed to scrape home. Phew!!