Only a handful of archers turned out for the last shoot of 2019. The round of the day was a Portsmouth (single face for Recurves – triple face for Compound) shot as part of the Club’s Handicap League.
On the compound side of things Joy Gough went toe to toe with Pete Mumford for scratch honours. It was a tight contest; Pete took the early lead but by three dozen Joy had pulled level. Mumford edged ahead again, taking a 1 point advantage into the last dozen. Gough put in a solid last dozen but Pete was just that little bit better and he took the scratch win by 3 points. Joy had the last laugh though as she finished second overall, while Pete failed to make the podium once the handicap was applied.
There was a four-way shoot off in the Recurve division, with James Hill, Simon Kenyon, Danny Cowin and Barbara Harris all looking to post the highest scratch score. Going on form, Harris was the one to beat but after the first dozen only 2 points separated first and third. Simon Kenyon had a slow start to, what would prove to be, an erratic shoot. Finishing last in scratch terms, Simon nevertheless did enough to take the overall win after the handicap was applied.
After an excellent start which had him in second, James Hill had a dip in concentration, losing the centre of the target and putting a dent in his score. Recovering his form with eighteen arrows to go, James finished strongly to post a season’s best score.
Danny Cowin, recovering from illness, claimed he was just hoping to make it through the shoot before things got underway, but his competitive nature kicked in immediately and he was disappointed that his first three arrows were ‘only 9’s’. Having kept pace with Harris over the first dozen Cowin was dismayed when he suddenly winged an arrow into the 6 and put another into the 5. Having identified his problem, Danny adjusted his set up after the break and began to find the centre with increasing regularity. Three perfect 10’s prompted Cowin to remark that he ‘could remember when he always shot like that’ – the Records Officer stated that Danny clearly had a better memory than she did – Mr Cowin’s response was unprintable. Unable to overhaul Harris, who shot consistently to take scratch honours and secure third place overall, Cowin was at least pleased with the second half of the shoot and was happy to post a season’s best score.
Results: Portsmouth Handicap – 1.S.Kenyon 1449 (60/504/17), 2.J.Gough 1436 (60/558/20), 3.B.Harris 1433 (60/558/28), 4.P.Mumford 1429 (60/561/22), 5.J.Hill 1427 (60/514/14)sb, 6.D.Cowin 1419 (60/533/22)sb.
Isle of Man Archery Club 