It was showtime at Onchan as the Records Officer unleashed the first Vegas of the season to the ‘delight’ of the Club members. The Vegas is the most difficult of the Indoor rounds, comprising of three small faces (scoring from 10 down to 6) arranged in a triangle. The faces have to be shot in a specific order – bottom left, top centre, bottom right – to complete the triangle. After a while archers go cross-eyed.
Rhys Moore found himself unopposed in the Gents Compound after equipment trouble meant Cliff Graves did not post a score. Rhys followed up his Tuesday night Portsmouth pb with another for the Vegas on Sunday afternoon. Lone lady Compound Joy Gough battled her way though the round, a slow start gradually building to better things towards the end but struggled to find the inner (Compound) gold.
Alex Allen-Snell was back in action in the Gents Recurve after family/work commitments kept him out for most of the Outdoor Season and the beginning of the Indoor. A little rusty and definitely showing signs of fatigue by the end of the shoot, Alex nevertheless managed to claim a comfortable victory. Danny ‘if I’d known it was a Vegas I wouldn’t have come’ Cowin, started well enough but again struggled with the heavier poundage of his new limbs. With any luck he will have actually done something about winding some weight off before he shoots again. Ralf Mitchell and Peter Howland enjoyed their usual private battle, with Ralf taking the honours this time. The two racked up 30 misses – 15 apiece – but they seemed to be enjoying themselves which is the main thing.
Barbara Harris made her return after illness, was still rather weak and shaky but managed to put in a reasonable score and, along with Alex Snell break the 500 barrier.
Although there is no requirement for Junior archers to shoot the Vegas Erin Hainge was keen to give it a try. She soon discovered how taxing the round was but enjoyed the challenge, out-scoring Ralf and Peter Howland on her way to another pb.
With troubles enough, the Bare and Tradbow archers were allowed to shoot a WA 18 instead of the Vegas. Having hit a rich vein of form, Colin Moore swept all before him in the Barebow division. Chris Crompton who normally storms to victory found himself pushed down into third as Peter Mumford fought back over the last dozen to take second.
Stan Gorry had a dreadful time with his Tradbow. Shaking his head over the 8 misses he had, Stan wondered why he always shot better on a Tuesday night than he did on a Sunday morning. Whatever the answer, the Records Officer is thinking of installing a swearbox at that end of the hall as, between Stan and Danny, the Club could make a fortune.
Results: Vegas Gents Compound- R.Moore 60 579/39pb. Ladies Compound- J.Gough 60/522/10. Gents Recurve- 1.A.Allen-Snell 60/521/15, 2.D.Cowin 58/445/4, 3.R.Mitchell 45/333/4, 4.P.Howland 45/324/3. Ladies Recurve- B.Harris 60/513/12. Junior Ladies Recurve- E.Hainge 51/421/8pb.
WA18: Barebow- 1.C.Moore 60/454/5, 2.P.Mumford 59/430/7, 3.C.Crompton 60/423/3. Tradbow- S.Gorry 52/281/0.
Isle of Man Archery Club 