The Onchan hub was packed on Sunday with sixteen archers squeezing themselves onto 6 bosses in the morning session. The round of the day was a Portsmouth 3-spot with scoring zones ranging from 10 down to 6 for the Compounds and Recurves and a larger single face for the stick and string merchants.
Rhys Moore was back in action in the Gents Compound so the winner of that was a forgone conclusion. It was left to Dave Moore, Les Corrin, Colin Moore and Pete Mumford (shooting in the afternoon session) to battle it out for the remaining places on the podium. Dave Moore threw away his chance after forcing a shot with the last arrow of the first end, allowing Les Corrin to sneak past him to take second place by 1 point. A weak shot in an otherwise solid morning’s shoot by Colin Moore let Pete Mumford steal fourth place, again by a single point.
Danny Cowin graced the hall with his presence and joined Richard Hainge, Johnathan Gordon, James Hill, Tom Rogers and Ethan Corrin (shooting in the afternoon session) in the Gents Recurve. Danny Cowin was absent for the last Indoor season and rocked up looking crumpled and devoid of sight marks. A slow start put him out of contention, but his timing and rhythm improved over the morning, and he easily broke the 500 barrier. If that is what he can achieve from a cold start, it will be interesting to see what he can produce if he knuckles down to some consistent practice. Johnathan sprinted out of the blocks, dropping just 3 points in his first dozen arrows and although his score dipped towards the end, he was never in any danger of being caught. James and Richard were tied in second after the two dozen, with Tom languishing in fourth after a slow start. A miss from James just before the mid-session break ended his chances, and while Richard shot consistently, Tom was taking points out of his lead with every end. Some superb arrows in the last dozen from Tom were not quite enough and Richard secured second place by 1 point, with Tom having to settle for third.
Erin Hainge effortlessly took the win in the Ladies Recurve from Barbara Harris, who started well enough but faded after the break. Emily O’Hara elected to shoot the single face.
The Ladies Compound started as a three-way competition between Catherine Irving-Potter, Joy Gough (shooting in the afternoon session) and Marie Hainge. Unfortunately, Marie had to stop at the halfway stage when he shoulder gave out and it was Joy Gough who took victory by a clear margin in spite of recording a miss.
Ralf Mitchell enjoyed a rare win in the Gents Barebow over James Hill who switched disciplines in the afternoon. Pete Howland had the Longbow division all to himself and went home a happy man after finally putting an arrow in the ten in the last end of the morning.
Results Portsmouth 3-Spot: Gents Compound – 1.R.Moore 60/584/44, 2.L.Corrin 60/561/21, 3.D.Moore 59/560/29, 4.P.Mumford 60/556/18, 5.C.Moore 60/555/14. Gents Recurve- J.Gordon 60/567/33, 2.R.Haine 60/555/24, 3.T.Rogers 60/554/28, 4.J.Hill 59/544/25, 5.D.Cowin 58/517/18, 6.E.Corrin 60/463/11. Ladies Recurve- 1.E.Hainge 60/552/24, 2.B.Harris 59/514/11. Ladies Compound- 1.J.Gough 59/536/7, 2.C.Irving-Potter 60/519/6. Portsmouth Single Face: Junior Ladies- E.O’Hara 48/371/5. Gents Barebow- 1.R.Mitchell 57/340/2, 2.J.Hill 57/313/1. Longbow- P.Howland 56/308/1.
Isle of Man Archery Club 