A small contingent of archers made their way across the water to Tyneside to compete in a Double 1440 hosted by Cleadon Archers in Bolden near Sunderland at the weekend. The group comprised of Compound archers Rhys Moore, Aalin George and Dave Moore with Ethan Moore joining the team on route. The Recurve side of things was represented by Barbara Harris, who tagged along to make sure the requisite levels of sarcasm were maintained.
The storms that had battered the Isle of Man had also made themselves felt in the north-east of England and the team arrived to find they had to be careful where they stood on the shooting field or else they sank ankle deep into mud. Nevertheless, conditions on the first day were glorious and everyone had a chance to work on their tans. Everyone put in solid performances and were lying in good positions going into the second day but felt they should have done better given the weather.
Overnight the heavens opened, and the range turned into a paddling pool. Finding a piece of solid ground to stand the bows on became a challenge and as the shooters squelched their way to and from the bosses to pull and score, the field began to resemble Glasontbury after the festival. In spite of this and a tricky wind, the squad shot better than they had the day before. Then the rain hit again just before the lunch break and by the re-start was coming down heavily. Barbara, who had gained some ground at the longer distances, lost it all at the 50m mark, though she recovered well at the last distance. Aalin likewise had a tough 50m with her arrows grouping a little low, which put a dent in her score.
At the close of play everyone stripped out of their mud caked clothes to reassemble for the obligatory raffle and medal ceremony at which the Isle of man picked up some nice prizes. They also took silver medals in the Gents and Ladies Compound, silver in the Ladies Recurve and Dave Moore picked up a bronze for the Gents 50+ Compound. Ethan Moore was the only one of the contingent not to pick up a medal, but he did put in a Bowman score as part of his qualification for next year’s Island Games. All in all, a successful trip.
Back on home soil the rest of the Club managed to get a 720 shot in the afternoon at which both Charlotte George and Andrew Westmorland put in personal best scores for their respective disciplines.
Isle of Man Archery Club 