The first Sunday of the Indoor Season saw the archers tackling their least favourite target, the WA 18. The round consists of 60 arrows, in groups of three, and was shot as part of the Club’s Scratch League.
In the Gents Compound division, Pete Mumford was hoping to repeat his success of Tuesday night when he romped home to victory over Rhys Moore, but it was not to be. Pete stripped the bow he so effectively employed earlier in the week in anticipation of receiving this season’s Hoyt bow through the post. It did not arrive, and the bow he had to use was set up for Outdoors resulting in a string of 9’s and 8’s which ended his challenge. Rhys, while not being at his best, showed some encouraging consistency to take the win comfortably. Dave Moore had a slow start but looked as though he might overhaul Pete to take second place, until a wayward arrow went into the 6. Dave came back strongly over the last dozen, but it was too late, and he fell short of Pete’s total by two points.
In the Ladies Compound, Joy Gough finally found herself with some competition in the form of Aalin George who was making her return. Unfortunately for Aalin, the draw length of her bow seemed to be wrong and, rather than risk injury, she stopped at the halfway point. Joy was generally pleased with her performance which saw her second only to Rhys Moore on the day.
Ralf Mitchell was back in action in the Gents Recurve after losing an argument with an axe meant a trip to A&E and no shooting for several weeks. The whiskey guru, author and calendar pin-up, made a tentative start but after some gentle encouragement from the Records Officer, began to get his arrows onto the target. Ralf’s form over the last dozen showed promise and he came away with a pb and fourth place. The rest of the field, Dave Berry, Danny Cowin and Alex Allen-Snell had mixed fortunes. There was nothing in it after the first dozen, but then Alex began to find a rhythm and gradually pulled away from the others. Danny Cowin showed flashes of form but couldn’t maintain it. A habit of dropping his head forward, thus shortening the draw length, resulted in some erratic shooting. Dave Berry made a reasonable start but some poor form before the break and two misses after it effectively ended his chances and he had to settle for third place.
Barbara Harris and Jane Berry lined up in the Ladies Recurve division. Barbara had the advantage of having shot on Tuesday evening and had her bow tuned in for Indoors. Jane spent the first half of the shoot trying to dial her bow in and get used to the lighting conditions in the hall. A little out of practice Jane began to tire towards the end of the shoot, but she at least outshot husband Dave to take the honours in the Berry household. Barbara, unusually for her, started well and kept it going through most of the shoot. She did not allow the couple of poor shots she had to affect her, adding 16 points to her pb to take the win and record the highest recurve score of the day.
Three Juniors, Tilly Ashton, Toby Young and James Hill also turned up to take part. Toby and James were tied after the first dozen. Toby’s habit of forward releasing began to take its toll and James opened up a 10 point lead. Two misses from James in the next dozen put Toby back in the mix but he returned the favour by having a miss himself in the next dozen and James finished strongly to take the win. Tilly had a good shoot by and large, until the last six arrows when she seemed to lose concentration.
Results: WA 18 Gents Compound- 1.R.Moore 60/558/21, 2.P.Mumford 60/539/7, 3.D.Moore 60/537/11. Ladies Compound – J.Gough 60/543/13. Gents Recurve- 1.A.Allen Snell 60/519/14, 2.D.Cowin (score withheld), 3.D.Berry 58/436/3, 4.R.Mitchell 57/378/0pb. Ladies Recurve- 1.B.Harris 60/532/15pb, 2.J.Berry 60/439/4. Junior Gents- 1.J.Hill 58/459/5, 2.T.Young 59/436/4. Junior Ladies- T.Ashton 60/453/5.
Also shooting Colin Moore: Gents Barebow Portsmouth- 60/469/8.
Isle of Man Archery Club 