Wolverhampton were at full strength for the Pittaway Cup Semi Final clash against West Bromwich, and they needed to be. Wolverhampton were outgraded by a whopping 16 points per board in what was always going to be an uphill battle.  Rob Marshall got into an extremely sharp line early on and finished a ferocious exchange a piece up.  He went on to record a quick win, while Peter Pearson-Jones agreed a draw, putting the home side 1.5 - 0.5 up early on. Unfortunately, the grading difference began to tell and Phil Porter, Mike Townsend and Dave Wightman all went a pawn down.  Frank Wood secured a solid draw in a complex position but Ilan Dwek finally succumbed to a sustained attack on his king.  At 3 - 3 there was everything to play for, and Gordon Sands gained a pawn advantage.  However, after falling a piece behind to a sacrificial attack by white to open up the black king, Dave Wightman missed a king and rook fork that would have saved the game and lost shortly afterwards.  Gordon Sands closed out his game on Board 8, leaving the home side 4 - 3 down with just Board 1 to finish.  Mike Townsend fought a commendable rearguard action, holding up the advancing passed pawn in a rook ending before finally losing on time.  So a keenly contested match led to a 5 - 3 defeat and West Bromwich advance to the final, where we wish them good luck.