THERE were successful conclusions to their North Essex League campaigns for two of Braintree Chess Club's three teams.

Braintree's A and C teams both won their final matches to seal top-three places in the league.

The A team were at home against a depleted Maldon A in division one and won one board by default.

Eddie Banks and Paul Kenning both drew but new Braintree player William Young had a very strong game against Keith Cook, who resigned when about to lose a piece.

The result was a 3-1 win for Braintree and it looks as though the team will finish third in the table.

In division three, Braintree's C team had a win against top-of-the-table Colchester C.

Greg Mantle drew his game early on and Braintree's other new player, Chris Turnbull, won quite quickly.

The other two games were longer, with both taking almost the full three hours.

Gerald Conley went a pawn up against Phil Daley but then found the knight v bishop ending very tricky and in the end was relieved to get a draw.

But Alex Cater, with just a slight edge against Brian Remmer going into the endgame, was able to convert it to a win.

So the result, again, was a 3-1 win to Braintree as the C team also finished third.

However, Braintree's B team finished their season with a disappointing loss to Dunmow and end up just above the bottom of division two.