Even with a couple of notable absences, the sports hall at the Onchan Hub was still full during the morning session. The round of the day was a Portsmouth, single face for Recurve, triple face for Compound, shot as part of the Club’s Scratch league.
With Dave Moore unable to shoot due to a back problem, there were only four Compound archers on the shooting line: Pete Mumford, Colin Moore, Billy Lightfoot and Rhys Moore. Pete Mumford was clearly under the weather after his grandchildren shared not only half-term with him, but their cold as well. Pete only wandered into the 8 ring once but he simply couldn’t hit enough 10’s to stay in contention and third was the best he could manage. Colin Moore was still getting used to the feel of a Compound bow after shooting Barebow for so long. Colin made a solid start but too many 9’s before the break and a stray 7 after the break cost him and he had to settle for fourth place. After a poor start to the season Rhys Moore switched to arrows which seemed to be better tuned to his bow. The contest quickly turned into a two-horse race between Rhys and Billy Lightfoot. After two dozen arrows the pair found themselves tied on a score of 231. Neither man seemed at ease. Rhys muttered under his breath throughout the shoot and Billy appeared to be doing a mixture of the Harlem Shuffle and the Mashed Potato as he struggled to get comfortable. A slight dip in concentration by Billy either side of the break, allowed Rhys to pull ahead by two points but he instantly handed them back in the next half dozen and they were level pegging again. The last eighteen arrows suddenly became effortless for Rhys and hard work for Billy. When the dust settled Rhys had claimed victory by 6 points.
In the Ladies Compound division Joy Gough felt she was making progress with her form and enjoyed the shoot far more than she had the previous week.
The Gents Recurve provided the largest field of the day with Danny Cowin back in action against Eric Lutes, Peter Howland, Dave Berry and Greg Altham. Peter Howland equalled the pb he had set the week before but had to settle for fifth place. Eric Lutes put in a focused shoot to add 24 points to his pb to secure fourth. Dave Berry (shooting in the afternoon session) managed a season’s best score to take third. Greg Altham did not seem to have been affected by missing the entire Outdoor season and put in a solid round to take second place. None of them was a match for Danny Cowin who led from first to last and was more worried about beating the Records Officer than his fellow Gents.
In the Ladies Recurve Kristen Joughin added an impressive 52 points to her pb for the round. Kristen has now completed the three rounds required to be given a handicap. Barbara Harris seemed to have found her form once again and was shooting well, until a senior moment saw her forget to hold onto the string as she came down off a shot and put an arrow well wide of the target. Mr Cowin found this hilarious. The miss put an end to her chances of shooting a pb but felt that her season was getting better. Jane Berry was unfortunately too ill to shoot at the weekend and the Club wishes her a speedy recovery.
In the Junior Boys division James Hill continued his upward momentum by adding another 6 points to his pb and it was a close-run thing between James and Toby Young. Toby had the better start but while James finished strongly Toby faded a little but managed to hold on to take the win by three points. Both boys outshot all but two of the Recurve Gents, the Seniors better watch out. Nathan Kinrade put in solid round for third place.
Tilly Ashton bookended her shoot with disappointing dozen totals but shot superbly in the middle section to take the win. Lily Priestnal faded slightly towards the end of the shoot but finished just a few points short of her pb.
Results Portsmouth Scratch – Gents Compound-1.R.Moore 60/575/34, 2.B.Lightfoot 60/569/29, 3.P.Mumford 60/562/23, 4.C.Moore 60/553/18. Ladies Compound-J.Gough 60/548/13. Gents Recurve-1.D.Cowin 60/555/26, 2.G.Altham 60/534/13, 3.D.Berry 60/519/13, 4.E.Lutes 60/510/15pb, 5.P.Howland 60/473/18. Ladies Recurve-1.B.Harris 59/541/23, K.Joughin 59/424/5pb. Junior Boys-1.T.Young 60/528/20, 2.J.Hill 60/525//16pb, 3.N.Kinrade 59/393/2. Junior Girls-1.T.Ashton 59/490/15, 2.L.Priestnal 60/454/7.
Isle of Man Archery Club 