Inter Club Fixtures 2025/26
Division A
Results and Match Reports
1st March 2026 Stannington A - Away
Bishop made their longest trip of the 2025/26 Inter Club season for their final match, knowing a good win still gave them an outside chance of the title but alternatively a poor performance could end up with them in the bottom two and facing relegation. The fixture list and previous results had thrown up a fascinating set of permutations with 20 points to play for in each match, the margin of victory determining how many of those 20 points goes to each side. As things stood leaders Darlington A on 51 points would be facing Brunton A on 43 knowing a 13-7 victory would guarantee them top spot, whilst their visitors knew nothing short of a 20-0 win would ensure they finished as Champions, though in reality 16 or 17 points would probably be sufficient. Bishop’s opponents Stannington were also on 43 with Bishop only one point behind on 42. Although unlikely that either side would overtake the two above them the lion’s share of the Victory Points could result in that scenario, depending upon the result at Darlington. However any sort of win for Bishop would leave them out of the bottom two places. Meanwhile, bottom side Brunton B on 23 points were the only team out of the mix with their opponents Durham A one place above with 38 points. Theoretically a big Durham win would still give them a shot at the title, but with the three teams above them only 4 and 5 points ahead, a strong result would still see them finish out of the bottom two.
With just a couple of hours to go before the team was due to set off, illness forced a reshuffle and David Blackett stepped in to ensure the fixture went ahead.
Bishop got off to a steady start winning the first set of eight boards by 8 IMPs but from then on it was all downhill. Significant swings in Bishop’s favour came on Board 6 where John and Denise defeated a 3NT contract whilst 4S was making elsewhere and Board 7 where Malcolm and Allan made a game in Spades while every other stayed in a part score. However this good work was partially undone on Board 3 when 2H doubled by one visiting pair went four off for -800.
The next three stanzas all went the way of the home side with Stannington registering scores of +19, +17 and +18 to emerge with a final result of 109 IMPs to 49, that converted to 18 Victory points, sufficient for them to win the League with results elsewhere demoting Bishop to 5th place.
The two big swings in the second stanza came on Board 11 where the Stannington N/S pairs both bid and made 3NT whilst the visiting Pairs only registered part scores and Board 15 where 3NTs by E/W went off on three tables while an attempt to make 5H by a Bishop Auckland West was doubled and went down by five tricks for -1100.
In the third set of eight, despite scoring 12 IMPs on Board 20, where the Bishop N/S pairs both bid and made 3NT and their counterparts stayed in a part score, Bishop registered negative IMPs on six of the other seven boards, losing that stanza by 30 - 13.
The break for tea saw no upturn in fortunes and the loss of 11 IMPs on two boards sealed the visitor’s fate. A vulnerable game bid and made by a home pair sitting N/S compared with the 170 elsewhere on Board 26, a failure by E/W to make their game contract on Board 29 that came home on the other three tables were all big swings against and an unfortunate opening lead against 6S on Board 32 allowed a Stannington pair to make a 6S slam that could have been defeated with three game contracts elsewhere making 11 tricks was the final nail in the coffin.
Team: Audrey Bainbridge (capt) & Brian Myers; John Portwood & Denise Barham Hall; Allan Blackett and Malcolm Dawson and David Blackett and Roger Carpenter.
Congratulations to Stannington on their success and many thanks to all who have played for the Bishop team this season - John Dobson, Keith Richardson and Alison Young in addition to those who played at Stannington
18th January 2026 Brunton A - Home
Bishop Auckland welcomed Brunton A, one of the favourites to win the League title, to Kirk Merrington on Sunday 18th January and came away with a well earned 13-7 victory, with a winning IMPs score of 80-64.
The visitors opened up a 5 IMP lead on the first set of 8 boards, with the only significant swing coming on Board 3. While Bishop made a 4♠ contract for N/S on one table, the other pair sitting the same way were defeated by one trick, giving our N/S pairings a combined total of 370, whilst on the E/W tables, whilst 4♠ also made by one North, E/W tried a sacrifice in 5♥ and were doubled. When this went two off for -500 the total of -550 gave Brunton 9 IMPs.
But the second set of eight was much more in Bishop’s favour with a 22 IMP winning margin. On Board 10, Alison and Roger made a vulnerable 3NT while Audrey and John Dobson defeated the same contract by a trick, and part scores elsewhere gave Bishop a net +670 and 10 IMPs. This would be cancelled out on Board 16 where all the Bishop pairings marked down small minus scores on their cards but the total of -610 was 10 IMPs away. However plus scores on the other five Boards, including an 8 IMP gain on Board 13 was sufficient to now put the home side 17 IMPs ahead. John Portwood and David Blackett, partnering each other for the first time, were able to make a 4♠ game in the E/W positions, and though there were two small negative scores when other West players tried 3♦ going off and making 2♦ +2, Brian and Malcolm were able to defeat the 4♠ contract bid against them.
In the third stanza Bishop increased their lead by another 4 IMPs, with their total of 15 including the one big positive of 10 Imps on Board 23, thanks to John and David defeating a 3NT contract that made on the other three tables. This took us to the tea break with a healthy lead of 21 IMPS.
Despite a couple of misfortunes following another excellent buffet, Bishop held on for the win - the 5 IMPs conceded on the last set of eight still leaving us with a score of 80-64 which converts to 13-7 Victory Points. The big deficit came on Board 30, when the perils of playing different systems with multiple partners reared its ugly head. When one partner thinks they are playing three weak twos where an opening 2♦ is a weak hand with a six card suit and the other is playing Benji, where 2♦ shows 23+ points it is hard to avoid a disaster and the doubled 6NT contract went down by five tricks and -1700! Whoops but these things happen, even at the top level as anyone who has read the Great Bridge Disasters articles in English Bridge will know. In effect although it improved Brunton’s cumulative score by 9 IMPs Bishop were still heading for a 15-5 Victory Points win with a positive 11 IMP margin on Board 29 where John and David defeated a vulnerable game contract that made elsewhere and a 7 IMP win on Board 32 where again John and David sacrificing in 5♣ only lost 200 when others were making game including Roger and Alison who had been doubled.
One Brunton Pair appealed the initial result of -50 to Bishop on Board 25 arguing that an infringement during the auction had affected their play and following a Director’s ruling, this was amended to -500. Bishop can be very pleased with the result and currently sit 4th in a very tight Division with 42 points, just behind Brunton A and our final opponents Stannington both on 43. With Durham A just behind on 38 with bottom club Brunton B still to play and the two favourites Darlington and Brunton A facing each other in the final week anything could happen.
Thanks to the team of Audrey Bainbridge (capt) & John Dobson; Alison Young and Roger Carpenter; John Portwood & David Blackett; Brian Myers and Malcolm Dawson.
14th December 2025 Darlington A - Away
With several regular team members unavailable, second placed Bishop Auckland travelled to league leaders Darlington with a much changed team. Many thanks to Keith Richardson who in making up a partnership with Allan Blackett allowed the fixture to go ahead and avoid us forfeiting the match. Even with a full squad to choose from this was always going to be a daunting fixture against one of the favourites for the title and so it proved.
Although Bishop picked up positive IMPs in four of the first set of eight boards, these were only worth 6 in total while big swings on three of the other boards were worth 34 IMPs to the home side, leaving Bishop with a deficit of 28 at the end of the first stanza.
The first big negative swing came on Board 4 where an ambitious attempt at 6NT with a combined total of 21 points by one Pair inevitably came to grief and cost 400 when only making eight tricks. On the same board, another Bishop partnership in 3NT went one off for another minus score of 100 while the home side Pairs managed to make 3NT and 4♥+1 with the same hands resulting in a loss of 15 IMPs on a single deal.
On Board 2, with one Darlington pair making 5♦ and one Bishop partnership going down in the same contract a loss of 8 IMPs on that hand had already put the visitors on the back foot and a further 11 IMPs were lost on Board 6, where for the home team one declarer was left to make 4♠ whilst elsewhere 5 level contracts were going down.
The second stanza with Boards 9 to 16 in play, were more evenly contested with Bishop picking up 8 IMPs on Board 9 when with a making game on three tables, Brian and Audrey pushed their opponents up to the five level, which they were able to defeat by one trick. However that gain was negated on 15, when although Brian and Audrey managed to defeat a doubled Darlington five level sacrifice by two tricks, their score of 300 was insufficient to match those elsewhere where vulnerable games all made for 620 or 650 and another 7 IMPs were credited to Darlington.
While the final outcome of Round three was close with just a loss of 1 IMP, two of the eight boards resulted in a huge swing for each side. On 17, one N/S pairing for both the home and away teams bid 3NT making eleven tricks, but whilst John and Denise made all thirteen tricks in a 6♦ slam, Roger and Alison although doubled and going two off in 4♠ the combined result of + 640 on Board 17 saw the visitors post 10 IMPS. However this was negated on Board 18 when both Darlington E/W pairings were able to make 11 tricks in Heart games, one of which was doubled, whilst the Bishop E/W pairs only made ten tricks in Diamond contracts worth 130 for 3♦+1 but -200 for 5♦-1 doubled.
11 Imps to the home team.
Tea was taken with Bishop lagging behind by 22 IMPs, a deficit which was not insurmountable, but it was the home team that romped home in the last set of eight boards with substantial gains on Boards 25, 29, 30 and 31 totalling 35 IMPs. Board 26 gave Bishop their only big gain when John and Denise defeated a doubled vulnerable 4♥ contract by 4 tricks for +1100 and a 12 IMP board but in the end it proved to have only a minor bearing on the final outcome with Darlington A finishing on 104 IMPs to Bishop’s 53 and a 18-2 Victory point win for the league leaders.
Team: Audrey Bainbridge (Captain) & Brian Myers; Allan Blackett & Keith Richardson; Alison Young & Roger Carpenter; John Portwood & Denise Barham-Hall
16th November 2025 Brunton B - Home
Bishop Auckland moved to second place in the top division of the NEBA Inter Club League with a 17-3 victory at Kirk Merrington over a Brunton B side that had travelled down from Gosforth.
While some luck is involved in all forms of Bridge, good judgement and accurate decision making is needed alongside good fortune to be successful and Bishop had a bit of both here.
The Inter Club League is a Teams of Eight competition, played over thirty two boards split into four sets of eight. The visiting team remain stationary, with two pairs N/S and two E/W while the home team pairs alternate, moving tables and switching orientation after every set of eight. At the end of each stanza all four results are combined and converted to IMPs (International Match Points) and while a difference of only ten points can radically affect a pair’s percentage playing Duplicate Pairs, at Imps scoring it is the size of the margin between the two teams that determines the number of IMPs. Bidding and making games and slams, defending correctly to defeat the opposition’s contracts are all important factors.
The first set of eight boards produced little in the way of point swings, with Bishop inching into a 4 IMP lead. While Brunton made 7 IMPs on board 4 the home side were able to pick up 7 IMPs on two of the next three Boards, all four partnerships returning plus scores on Board 5. Two N/S Pairs made 1NT+2 on Board 7, but after Brian opened a 12-14 1NT in the South seat, East decided to double after two Passes and with a poor hand of four points, Brunton West chose to try and rescue partner by bidding his only four card suit leaving East to play in 2♦ with a four - one fit and no card higher than an 8 in the trump suit. This was held to five tricks and +300 to Bishop, whilst on Audrey and John’s table, North miscounted their points, bid Stayman looking for a Heart fit. This allowed Audrey to double for the lead and when North was forced to retreat to 2NT with a combined 21 points the defence took their tricks and defeated the contract for another 100 to Bishop.
Brunton took a slight lead by winning the second set of Boards 9 to 16 by 13-6 for a net 7 IMPs with the only major swing coming on Board 14, where three of the E/W Pairs were able to play in 3NT making 9 tricks. However on Malcolm and Brian’s table, an interference bid of 3♥ headed by the ten after Brian opened 1♠ prevented the home pair from finding the 3NT contract and they tried 5♦ which went one off. So at the half way stage Brunton had a slender lead of 3 IMPs but all that was to change in the third stanza.
Although Brunton picked up a total of 7 IMPs on two boards, Bishop managed 36 on the other six with significant scores of 12, 7 and 15 on Boards 19, 20 and 24.
Points were fairly evenly distributed on Board 19 and after two Passes being non vulnerable versus vulnerable opponents, Malcolm risked a 1NT opening with all his eleven points in the red suits. This was left in and he was able to make for +90. Meanwhile in the same direction the Blackett brothers found a 2♥ contract which also made for +110. In the E/W seats the Bishop pairings also delivered. Alison and Roger played and made 3♠ whilst Audrey doubled North’s opening 1♥ bid, John jumped to 2♠ and although Audrey passed this when South bid 3♥ John was able to bid again to show extra strength. His partner raised to game and they made the contract for +620 making a total of +960 and 12 IMPs.
A further gain of 7 IMPs on Board 20 strengthened Bishop Auckland’s position but the real gain came on Board 24 with another 15 IMPs recorded. The hands were with no-one vulnerable:
West (D) North East South
♠ 10 7 ♠ A Q J 6 3 ♠ 8 4 ♠ K 9 5 2
♥ 8 ♥ K Q 4 ♥ A 2 ♥ J 10 9 7 6 5 3
♦ Q J 8 7 5 4 ♦ K 10 6 3 ♦ A ♦ 9 2
♣ K Q 5 4 ♣ 10 ♣ A J 9 8 7 6 3 2 ♣ VOID
Needless to say the auctions were competitive. After 5♣ had been bid against them Malcolm and Brian played in 5♥ which made for 450, only losing the two red Aces. Brothers Blackett found 5♠ which was doubled but it made when East attempted to cash all three Aces before the defence found their ruffs and another 650 went on the Bishop score. This was matched when Roger and Alison also recorded 650 when their 5♣x also made. Although John and Audrey went one off doubled, this only cost 100 for a total score of 1650.
Bishop went to the tea interval with a healthy lead of 26 IMPs. Thanks to all for another marvellous buffet tea, enjoyed by all before the last stanza.
Brunton got positive scores on half of the last set of eight boards, but this only resulted in a total of 8 IMPs to the visitors. Meanwhile on Board 29 Malcolm and Brian, David and Allan both bid and made game contracts with an over trick whilst Roger and Alison were defending a making 3NT, but on the 4th table Audrey and John were faced with a slam against them. This was makable but Declarer failed to find the correct line, endplayed himself and when he went one off this represented a big swing giving Bishop 10 IMPs when they may have lost 13.
Boards 31 and 32 saw Bishop score another 8 IMPs on each, with two of the home pairs making 300 on 31, when both of the visiting N/S pairs ended up playing in 4♦ after N’s 19 point opening and going three off and the final swing came on Board 32, when Malcolm found himself playing in 3NT. With only ♥ 10 9 4 in his hand and ♥ 7 5 3 in Dummy and with his left hand opponent having shown a five or six card Heart suit in the auction, things were looking bleak when the ♥A was led but as it turned out this ended up guaranteeing the contract when her partner had ♥ Q J doubleton, establishing Malcolm’s ♥ 10 to make with an over trick. The resulting 500 points difference on the combined scores gave the team the 8 IMPs and a final score of 84-40.
Thanks to all who played and for their buffet contributions: Audrey Bainbridge (capt) & John Portwood; Allan & David Blackett; Alison Young and Roger Carpenter; Brian Myers & Malcolm Dawson.
12th October 2025 Durham A - Away
Despite having topped Division B by a commanding 19 Victory Points last season, Bishop Auckland are very much the minnows of the top Division with all four of the other clubs having multiple teams in the League. Indeed Brunton have two sides in the top Division and they were pitted against each other in this the first week of the new campaign whilst Bishop made the relatively short trip to Framwellgate Moor to face a strong Durham A side. With a small squad from which to choose and players unavailable, the team was comprised of two regular partnerships in Audrey Bainbridge, captaining the side for the first time with John Dobson and Brian Myers partnering Malcolm Dawson, while the other two partnerships of Roger Carpenter and John Portwood and Allan and David Blackett were relatively untested pairings. However with six of the Bishop team regulars at Durham Bridge Club, this was no trip into the unknown.
And as it turned out this was to be a tight encounter with the slimmest of margins - Durham A finishing only 2 IMPs ahead. However, when converted to Victory Points this translates as a 10 all draw.
The first set of eight boards produced a few minor swings. On Board 3 only Malcolm and Brian got a positive score for Bishop by defeating the opponent's 4 Club contract by one trick. The visiting E/W Pairs both tried the minor suit game and two off vulnerable was sufficient to give Durham 6 IMPs. The next board was no better with the home team chalking up another 7 IMPs with one E/W making a 3NT contract when 5Ds elsewhere went off. However Bishop managed a few plus scores of their own and were only losing by three IMPs at the change.
The next stanza went Bishop's way however, with Boards 13 and 15 showing different ways to earn 14 IMPs - one each way. On Board 13 one Durham Pair bid a small slam in Diamonds. A long time ago someone once said "When God deals you an Ace King it's so you don't have to think about the opening lead!" Unfortunately the hand with Ace and King of Hearts was not on lead and with partner not leading the suit, the slam made. With two 3NT contracts cancelling each other the slam gave Durham the big swing. But two Boards later, the visiting N/S pairings made up for this, when Brian made a 6H slam contract and John and Audrey defeated a doubled 5D contract by six tricks for a combined total of 2,830 points and though the other Durham pairings both made Major suit games with overtricks, this time it was 14 IMPs the other way and with Bishop picking up IMPs on five of the other six boards this set of eight went the way of the visitors by 23 IMPs.
The match swung again with the third set of eight, Durham taking that stanza by 27 IMPs. Modesty (or embarrassment) prevents me from naming the Bishop North who miscounted his hand and opened the bidding with seven points, then ended up in game, doubled and vulnerable and going five off for -1400! Although that hand went for 15 IMPs, a little redemption was gained two boards later with both Bishop N/S pairs doubling the opponents' 5 Club contract and scoring +500 on both tables and thirteen Imps back. However 10 IMPs were lost on both 18 and 19 and going into tea the score stood at 30-23 to Durham.
A steady last round with no Major swings saw Bishop pull back to within 2 IMPs and the 10-10 final result.
Thanks to all who played: Audrey Bainbridge (capt) & John Dobson; Malcolm Dawson & Brian Myers; John Portwood & Roger Carpenter; Allan Blackett and David Blackett.
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