Clifton B have managed to get their act together since starting the season poorly. Six games without a win and then five wins on the trot. So, with our patchy form, it would be hard to stop their juggernaut.

However James got us off to a great start, winning a pawn against Matt and not long after that the exchange too. He finished off nicely, scotching an attempted fightback to put our first point on the board.

The next two matches to finish went with the White pieces. Dave, on three, suffered from a steady build up by James which led to some awkward pins and doubled pawns, weakening his Kingside. Further pressure led to the loss of the exchange and, with it, the game.

Mike, on the other hand, was certainly up for tempting and exploiting potential weaknesses. He dreamt up a cunning plan which would net a piece and, when Simon fell into the trap, Mike emerged a whole knight up. He had plenty of time to ensure that there were no slip-ups before he clinched the win.

All of which left us 2-1 up, so, over to our on the spot commentator, Dave, who gave Radio Bristol his prediction of the final result for their 10pm bulletin - a narrow win for Clifton.

It is certainly true that Geoff, Alan and I were all under pressure. Geoff was a pawn down against Peter, Alan was being squeezed by Igor and I was just hanging in against Colin and hoping that he could not make a meaningful breakthrough.

Indeed, Alan had predicted before the game started that Igor's strategic skill might give him problems. A minor piece scuffle led to weak doubled pawns and, although Alan fought hard and doubled his rooks on the seventh, unfortunately Igor had a way of avoiding any more checks and forcing home his own attack. So 2-2 now.

Geoff was playing his first game of the season and we were especially pleased to see him back in harness. But he did shed a pawn and was always in danger of the game going wrong. The good news was that there was still plenty of play in the position and he was managing his time better. When Peter got down to very little time he quite reasonably baled out with a draw.

Colin had the advantage against me throughout with an imposing pawn centre and threats to crash through. I managed to keep the position interesting enough that we both got down to less than five minutes. We both missed some important best moves and Colin also took some risks to maintain his winning chances, shedding a couple of pawns, while keeping the draw in hand. But then he grabbed a pawn which allowed me to force the Queens off to arrive at a simple winning ending. Phew!

If you are wondering about the headline, Geoff gets a well-earned medal for pure cussedness and I claim the prize for luck. So, after some poor performances, we have managed two consecutive wins. Can we make it a third?