Last-gasp Telford defeat leaves a despondent feeling

There was no doubting the feeling among the Shrewsbury A squad after their last-gasp defeat at the hands of Telford A.

Despondency. Despair that league points had slipped through their grasp again. And the prospect of having to wait three weeks for the chance to make it right.

Not that the visit of runaway league leaders Newport A next time out represents a simple chance to get league points back on the board. The champions-elect currently have a perfect record of eight wins from eight and will no doubt roll into Cromwell’s on March 11 in confident mood, writes Peter Kitchen.

But the A team has to find a way to bounce back – with just five games to go, time is running out to escape the bottom two. And if Shrewsbury were to finish in the relegation zone this season, it would be for the third campaign in a row.

In truth, the defeat to a Telford A side missing their first choice top two boards was another case of a missed opportunity to get points on the board.

Captain Dan Lockett – usually a beacon of optimism and hope – was downbeat after his defeat to Toby Neal on board two in the final game to finish sealed his side’s defeat. He has spoken of the need to get his strongest team out – and again he was unable to do so.

Peter Kitchen returned on top board after two matches absence in place of the unavailable Stephen Priestley, and Ivor Salter replaced Ian Davies on bottom board. But regular board two Olusegun Ilesanmi and Shane Greenwood – who has picked up useful points on the lower boards throughout the season, were again not available.

After Mark Smith drew a quiet game with the black pieces against Richard Szwajkun on board three, Shrewsbury moved ahead thanks to a fine win for Salter against Keith Butler on bottom board.

Kitchen had looked to be doing well against Richard Parry on top board, sacrificing a knight early on for an extremely active position.

That seemed to act as a turning point – and uncharacteristically it was Shrewsbury’s white boards where things went wrong.

David Edwards was playing his second game in 72 hours, and despite appearing to have a promising position out of the opening eventually found himself under fire from Roger Brown’s advancing central pawns. He ended up losing material and with it the game.

This meant all hopes rested with Lockett, who had a level position against Neal but was about 20 minutes down on the clock.

Lockett himself said he felt he had pushed too hard trying to “get something that wasn’t there” – and a temporary sacrifice for an attack didn’t come off and Lockett slipped to defeat.

It was a third 3-2 defeat of the season – two of the them at the hands of a Telford side that now lies second in the table.

Shrewsbury had probably their worst night of the season in the reverse fixture at Newport A earlier in the season, only able to field four players and being convincingly beaten 5-0. So the first aim against the league leaders will be to be more competitive – although in the immediate aftermath of defeat, Lockett wasn’t feeling hopeful.

“Richard Szwajkun said they (Telford) had been struggling to field their strongest team lately and the same is obviously true for us,” said Lockett. “I doubt it’ll get better, so our prospects for the Newport A game are slim.

“Against Telford, it was good that Ivor had a convincing win on board five and David seemed to be in his game until the end. Mine was level most of the way through, but I pushed too hard to get something out of it which just wasn’t there.”

Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):

Shrewsbury A 2-3 Telford A

1.Peter Kitchen (b) 0.5-0.5 Richard Parry

2.Dan Lockett (w) 0-1 Toby Neal

3.Mark Smith (b) 0.5-0.5 Richard Szwajkun

4.David Edwards (w) 0-1 Roger Brown

5.Ivor Salter (b) 1-0 Keith Butler

Average ratings: Shrewsbury A 1684 ECF; Telford A 1720 ECF