This meant the afternoon match against Irvine was a must-win game. Andy Smith won a piece against his opponent and quickly won his game in fine style, followed by a solid draw by Stephen Hilton. However, things were looking grim for Marc Sheridan, an exchange down in the endgame and facing an uphill battle to save a draw. Jim McGranaghan, in a tricky endgame with bishop and pawn for rook, had the opportunity to force a draw by repetition but was obliged to wait anxiously as Andrew Curran launched a risky sacrificial attack on the next board. When a win ensued for Andrew (see below), Jim secured the draw which clinched the match win for Inverclyde regardless of Marc's result. The day was topped off by an amazing turnaround on Marc's board when his opponent gave back the exchange at precisely the wrong moment, leading to a hopelessly lost king and pawn ending. The inevitable resignation gave Inverclyde an emphatic 4-1 win with three wins, two draws and no losses.
This victory puts Inverclyde in an unassailable fourth place in the division going into the final matchday at the end of March, thus securing 3rd division status for next season.
Bd Grade Inverclyde vs Dundee City B Grade
1 1765 Hilton, Steve H 0 - 1 Dawson, Alastair G 1861
2 1490 McGranaghan, Jim 0 - 1 Grove, Michael 1851
3 1471 Curran, Andrew D ½ - ½ Weir, Gary 1797
4 1467 Smith, Andy 0 - 1 Edwards, Colin 1795
5 1395 Sheridan, Marc 1 - 0 Chalmers, Martin 1537
1½ - 3½
Bd Grade Irvine vs Inverclyde Grade
1 1512 Loughran, Robert ½ - ½ Hilton, Steve H 1765
2 1529 Gourlay, Robert ½ - ½ McGranaghan, Jim 1490
3 1384 Copeland, Robert 0 - 1 Curran, Andrew D 1471
4 1313 Forbes, Graeme 0 - 1 Smith, Andy 1467
5 0 Gourlay, M 0 - 1 Sheridan, Marc 1395
1 - 4
| Boards | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | Played | Defaults | Score | |||||||||||||
| Pos | Team Name | P | W | D | L | Pts | W | D | L | W | D | L | Boards | |||
| 1 | Dundee City B | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22½ | |||
| 2 | Edinburgh 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |||
| 3 | Oban | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | |||
| 4 | Inverclyde | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |||
| 5 | Lanark | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14½ | |||
| 6 | Hamilton B | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11½ | |||
| 7 | Irvine | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10½ | |||
| 8 | Pentland Hills | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |||
