Kingston A won the final three matches of the Thames Valley division 1 season to take the title by an impressive margin

In the end Kingston A, under the inspired captaincy of Peter Large (pictured above, bottom right) won the Thames Valley division 1 title at a canter. It was Kingston’s fourth TVL title triumph in a row, underlining the fact that the past few years have been an unprecedented and glittering period of success for the club.

We were helped in mid-May by Surbiton defaulting their match with us, handing us a 6-0 victory. That was followed up with a rather more deserved 6-0 win away to Richmond, who were up against an immensely strong Kingston team and outrated by an average of more than 250 points a board. Richard James, Richmond’s president, ruefully described Kingston’s approach to the match as “maximalist”.

In the final match, at home to Maidenhead A, the title had already been secured and we were weaker – how otherwise would I have found myself playing (and of course losing)?Kingston B had an important relegation match against Ealing A on the same evening and resources had to be spread across both teams.

This was skilfully done, allowing Kingston A to run out 4-2 winners against Maidenhead and Kingston B to draw their match against Ealing, ensuring Kingston came fourth in the division and consigning Ealing to relegation. Commiserations to Ealing, but hearty congratulations to Peter Large and his team for winning division 1 and to David Rowson and his players for not just avoiding relegation, which at one stage looked very likely, but finishing mid-table above three A teams from other clubs. A remarkable season.

Stephen Moss is Kingston club captain