It was a busy time for the Archery Club both on and off the island this weekend, with seven archers travelling across to compete at the Wigan and Orrell shoot, and sixteen in action at home in Onchan. The round of the day at both venues was a Portsmouth.
Seven Club members made the pilgrimage to Orrell and, in spite of a rough crossing, did very well. Eric Lutes added 5 points to his pb for the round and enjoyed his first taste of ‘international’ competition. The organizers forgot to enter the veteran’s scores separately but indications were that Pete Mumford had the highest veteran total and could therefore keep the Trophy he and Joy won jointly last year. Tilly Ashton added 10 points to her pb for the round to break 500 for the first time. Both she and Jacob Brookes, who put in a score just short of his pb, were lying in third place in their respective groups after the first session but were overtaken in the afternoon to be pushed off the podium. Nathan Kinrade had equipment problems, with his clicker giving him timing issues which were reflected in his score. Nathan was last on the shooting line several times but he remained calm and collected and made all of his arrows count. His fellow team members were very proud of his perseverance and his attitude was a credit to the Club. Toby Young shot to his usual high standard to lift the u18’s trophy, or at least he would have if the organizers of the Orrell shoot could ever track the Trophy down. Toby had to make do with a winner’s medal and the knowledge that he had out-classed everyone else on the day.
Meanwhile at the Onchan Hub, twelve Club members took part in a Portsmouth Handicap. There was the usual scrap to see who could take Compound scratch honours between Dave and Rhys Moore, with Rhys as usual triumphing. For once Danny Cowin looked like he might have some competition from Dave Berry who had his game face on. Berry outshot Cowin for the first six arrows but only the first six. Danny’s latent talent had finally come out of hibernation and after he removed a dud arrow from his quiver didn’t drop out of the gold for nine consecutive ends. He looked odds on to break 570 but a sudden lapse in concentration saw him wing two arrows into the red. Danny recovered magnificently dropping only 3 points with his last dozen arrows but fell just short of his pb. Cowin’s maths was slightly less accurate than his shooting as he knocked 4 points off Dave Berry’s score which the Records Officer rectified. After handicapping Danny and Dave finished fifth and tenth respectively. David Hicks and Peter Howland were able to take part in a handicap shoot for the first time and took full advantage. Peter Howland finished just 1 point shy of his pb for the round which after handicapping put him in second place. David Hicks added 15 points to his pb to take the win after the handicap was applied. Junior Recurver James Hill equalled his pb for the round and found himself tied with Longbow man Graham Makepeace-Warne for third. Matt Elliot added 7 points to his pb to tie with Rhys in sixth place after handicapping. Barbara Harris put in an average performance which was only just good enough to keep her out of the bottom slot. An improving Lesley Sleight was still not happy with her form and once again was stuck with the wooden spoon. The Records Officer wishes to apologize to Colin Moore for not realising that his score from last week had beaten the old Club Record by 14 points. His score for this week was a little down and he finished in ninth place overall.
Also shooting towards gaining a handicap were Lily Priestnal who completed her third round, Jane Berry who added a stunning 118 points to her pb to complete her second round and Greg Altham who posted the second highest Recurve score of the day. Gareth Leather made his debut and probably wished he hadn’t. A combination of Club arrows, looking through the gap, and man flu produced a nightmare of a shoot.
The afternoon session saw four more archers try their hand at the Rhubarb shoot. One of them, Charlotte Harris had not shot since April of last year due to an ongoing hip injury. She put in an appearance merely to prove to Rhys Moore that even injured and out of practice she could surpass his dismal total of 101. In spite of being unable to stand and having to use a perching stool to shoot from, Charlotte, ignoring all the barracking that is an integral part of the Rhubarb, overtook Rhys after just 26 arrows. A genuine threat to Dave Moore, who is currently in first place, came from Danny Cowin. Danny needed just 15 arrows to eclipse Rhys’ pitiful effort and looked like he could overhaul the 407 posted by Dave but seemed to lose focus after the break and his final score of 373 puts him in second place at the moment. Dave Berry was no better at adding up Danny’s score sheet in the afternoon session and some remedial maths classes maybe necessary for both men. James Hill added an excellent 80 points to his pb for the Rhubarb.
Results – Orrell – P.Mumford 60/556/27. J.Gough 60/552/15. E.Lutes 60/486/9pb. T.Young 60/543/20(u18 Champion). J.Brookes 60/514/17. T.Ashton 60/501/10pb. N.Kinrade 60/453/3. Onchan Handicap – 1.D.Hicks 1482 (60/466/80pb, 2.P.Howland 1472 (60/430/4), 3.J.Hill 1456 (60/511/12), =3.G.Makepeace-Warne 1456 (60/365/3), 5.D.Cowin 1443 (60/565/34), 6.M.Elliott 1435 (60/513/14)pb, =6.R.Moore 1435 (60/579/40), 8.D,Moore 1432 (60/570/30), 9.C.Moore 1429 (60/495/10), 10.D.Berry 1423 (60/517/13), 11.B.Harris 1417 (60/534/22), 12.L.Sleight 1398 (60/442/4). Also shooting – LJ.Priestnal 56/357/3. J.Berry 60/464/6. G.Altham 60/542/21. G.Leather 38/185/1.
Isle of Man Archery Club 