It was another challenging day weather wise for the archers at Greeba on Sunday. Early morning rain left the ground soggy. The heavy, overcast skies promised more rain and it was simultaneously chilly and airless. The round of the day was a WA 720 – 70m on large faces for the Recurves, 50m on large faces for the Barebows, same distance but small faces for the Compounds.
Rhys Moore led the way as usual in the Gents Compound despite a few teething problems with his new bow. He tutted and shook his head in exasperation throughout the morning. Too many eights, was his considered opinion at the close, but Rhys still finished 75 points ahead of his nearest rival Pete Mumford. It was fair to say that Pete did not have a good day at the office. Aiming issues were exacerbated by a gusting wind which played havoc with Pete’s preferred back tension release. A ding dong battle between Pete and Cliff Graves for second place saw the lead pass backwards and forwards between the two with every dozen shot. Cliff had a 3 point advantage going into the final dozen but Pete managed to do just enough, taking the runner up spot by a single point.
Joy Gough looked to be dialled with her first six arrows only to blow a promising start with two misses in her next six. It clearly wasn’t happening for her; another miss after the mid-session break put the seal on a difficult morning.
On the Recurve side of things Barbara Harris was also far from happy. A notoriously slow starter, Barbara’s opening arrows were deeply average, and she seemed to be trying to see how many different ways she could score 38 with six arrows. Poor timing due to lack of practice was the main problem and she wasn’t surprised when sent one wide of the target just before the break. The second half of the shoot was better, but Barbara needs to get some time in on Club nights or else find another hobby.
In contrast Alex Allen-Snell was having a very good morning despite missing most of the season so far. Without being spectacular, his dozen totals were consistently good, and Alex put in a very respectable score which appears to be a pb for him. He finished 96 points ahead of junior club member Nathan Kinrade, who in turn finished 110 points ahead of Peter Howland. Nathan and Peter, it should be noted, shot in the afternoon session, by which time the wind had strengthened considerably, buffeting the archers on the shooting line and affecting the arrows in flight.
Pete Mumford switched to Barebow for the afternoon but could not eclipse the score of Colin Moore who ha shot in the morning. Peter probably had the worst of the weather, but Colin was ‘handicapped’ by having to shoot with Ralph Mitchell. Since Ralf shot a standard Recurve set-up on a large face target his score did not count but he seemed to be enjoying himself as usual. Sarah Kennedy likewise shot on a large target face for some practice. The Records Officer was unsure as to whether she should congratulate Pete for having Sarah for a boss partner, or to commiserate with Sarah for having to put up with Pete.
Erin Hainge coped well with the conditions and only just fell short of the 500 barrier. Little Freddie Stevenson also turned up in the afternoon for a little practice on his new bow. He managed to get through two and half-dozen arrows before the dreadful conditions sapped his strength, but it was lovely to see him on the shooting line.
Rhys Moore, Joy Gough and Barbara Harris stayed on in the afternoon to shoot a double round and wish that they hadn’t as their scores were uniformly worse than the disappointing scores of the morning.
Results WA720: Gents Compound- 1.R.Moore 72/646/20/6, 2.P.Mumford 71/571/6/1, 3.C.Graves 70/570/9/-. Ladies Compound-J.Gough 69/574/15/6. Ladies Recurve-B.Harris 71/498/5/2. Gents Recurve- 1.A.Allen-Snell 72/557/12/4, 2.N.Kinrade 70/461/5/1, 3.P.Howland 63/351/2/-. Gents Barebow- 1.C.Moore 72/452/2/-, 2.P.Mumford 67/382/3/-. U12 Girls- E.Hainge 71/494/6/1.
Isle of Man Archery Club 