For the second week in succession, Ed Mospan’s travelling army got a win at one of the more distant outposts on the Surrey circuit. After a fine victory at Guildford last week, they faced Coulsdon 4 and once again emerged triumphant.

A somewhat depleted Kingston team nevertheless outrated newly promoted Ashtead on all boards. We are, however, far too experienced to expect an easy match, and this was confirmed by the early results – there weren’t any, and it became clear that most games were heading for time trouble, where, as we have already seen this season, anything can happen.

All good things come to those who wait, perhaps. At least, Kingston A’s long-anticipated first Thames Valley League match of the season proved worth the wait when we defeated a slightly understrength Richmond team 5.5-0.5. Richmond were missing Mike Healey and were significantly outrated on every board except the top one, but, as everyone knows, such matches don’t always follow form so clearly.