Greeba produced a cold, breezy morning for the last shoot of the Outdoor season. The round of the day was an American – two and a half dozen arrows shot at each of three distances, 60, 50 and 40 yards, with five zone scoring. Juniors Toby Young and Tilly Ashton were given a scaled down version of 50, 40 and 30 yards, which head coach Pete Mumford referred to as a Manx Yank. Little Lily Priestnal was given the even shorter distances of 30,20 and 10 yards which the Records Officer dubbed a Yankette.
The thermometer said it was 12 degrees, but the wind chill made it seem much colder. The slightly worse for wear Danny Cowin became the human equivalent of Joseph’s Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. He started out green and while his nose and eyes remained a fetching shade of red, the rest of him gradually turned blue with the cold. He grumbled constantly claiming it was only windy when it was his turn to shoot. Dave Berry and Barbara Harris, who were nearly taken off their feet by the wind on first line, begged to differ.
Dave had a miss in the first six arrows and although Barbara kept everything on target they were not high scoring. By the time she found her range she was out of contention. Danny, despite the whinging, got off to a good start, as did Jane Berry (who was on the same shooting detail as Danny) and she found herself only 2 points behind him at the end of the first dozen.
Unperturbed by the weather, Jane shot consistently to give herself a 4 point lead over Danny going into the second distance. Barbara found herself in last place some 34 points behind. A slow start by Jane at the second distance allowed Danny to get ahead and he carried a 12 point lead going into the final distance. Some excellent shooting in increasingly heavy winds saw Jane claw back some points, but even though Danny put his final arrow into the woodwork he managed to hold on to claim victory. Barbara outshot Dave at the second distance and managed to do enough to hold onto third place.
In the Compound division a visit to the Cultural Sites of Belfast (aka a lads’ weekend) by Rhys Moore and an indisposition by Dave Moore meant that Pete Mumford and Joy Gough went toe to toe. Peter got better start and was in such a good mood that he even admitted to being wrong at one point, which stunned the assembled company into silence. Things were closer at 50 yards, Joy staying within 2 points of Pete’s distance total. At 40 yards Pete took his time in the difficult conditions, shot well and ended up taking the win by 20 points.
Toby Young found the Manx Yank very much to his liking and led from start to finish. Tilly Ashton shivered her way through the shoot, adding more and more layers as time went on. Lily Priestnal shot up a storm at the first distance and then thoughtfully provided everyone with a slice of Bakewell Tart she had made, which was delicious. Lily decided to eat her own share in the warmth and comfort of Uncle Dave’s car, and once there refused to come out again. She was discovered to be curled up on the back seat slowly munching her way through the lunch her Aunt Jane had provided with no regard to anyone else’s needs. Lily did emerge in the afternoon to help tidy the field for the winter and since her cake had been very good no one minded that she didn’t finish the round. The Outdoor season came to an end.
Results American: Recurve- 1.D.Cowin 89/655/28, 2.J.Berry 90/648/29pb, 3.B.Harris 90/602/25pb, 4.D.Berry 88/598/25. Compound – 1.P.Mumford 90/762/69, 2.J.Gough 90/742/61. Manx Yank – 1.T.Young 90/656/33pb, 2.86/562/21pb.
Congratulations to Lesley Sleight who set four records at the English Field Championships.
Isle of Man Archery Club 