STUNNED NORTHANTS MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW

Round two of the Inter Counties Team Competitions and it’s a short hop to the Bedfordshire venue of Sporting Targets after Northamptonshire’s domination of the All Round last week on their home turf. Out of the possible 32 teams Counties that could enter a pleasing 29 took up the offer with just two Counties not able to field a junior side and one a Vets side, the makeup of the teams on quick inspection showed no obvious winner in the Seniors and you could easily see this was going to go right to the last squad of the day before a winner would emerge.

The 150 entries were split into two start times, neighbouring Counties kicking things off with a 9am start and then the further travelling teams on the second rotation at midday, the weather was cloudy  with occasional sunshine which was welcomed as the ground was battered the day before with frequent thunderstorms and torrential rain.

The 9am rotation was ordered into line and then shipped out to their stands bang on time and it soon became evident that a victory was going to have to be earned, the same story came from many shooters lips it was a great shoot but many just could not do it justice.

Camb’s Junior Phil Gray put in a superb score of 87 to lead the morning’s scores which Phil himself was disappointed with, but any score in the eighties was a triumph and many counties were crying out for an 80+, most counties had a couple of eighties but failed to back it up and as we all know its team game. Northants fresh from triumph last week led Camb’s by four clays on 475 with home county Bedfordshire a further clay back, Mark Massey led the way for Northants with an 85 just one in front of James Lacey, Steve Smith 76, Les Sperling 69, Mick Tee 65, Mick Russell 73, Jez Towell 78 and Bob Franks 79 completed the line up.

The afternoon rotation away again right on time contained the best turned out county of the day, Suffolk with all matching skeet vests and wasp friendly polo shirts, joking aside Suffolk set the standard for team wear but many are only just behind, Lincolnshire also looking resplendent in their county colours and it does create an atmosphere of team competition, something we should be proud of in the East Midlands as we do lead the way in Intercounties competitions.

The afternoon session surprisingly saw nobody threaten the top three team places with only Suffolk getting within striking distance but then still eight clays back despite three good scores of 80+ from Paul Simpson 86, Puff Baker 84 and Jed Welham 82. This meant the runners up berth in the seniors went to Camb’s with a team of Tony Leonard 79, Steve Whitwell 68, Jamie Harding 84, Steve Thexton 81, Martin Bedford 75, David Shipman 78, Glen Spalding 74 and Wayne Reeve 62 and Northants took the team title much to their suprise later when I phoned them all and told them they had won, this now increases their lead in the Directors Trophy, but it’s off to Nottingham next week for the DTL and our north of the Region Counties will surely come into their own.

Phil Grays total was not eclipsed all day earning him the High Gun money and being backed up by Harry Seal on 76 was enough for the Camb’s juniors to cruise to victory by a massive twenty clays from Leicestershire with Toby Reed top scoring on 80, Taylor Hedgecock 61  and Tony Stobbs completed the winning Camb’s quartet, Phil’s efforts also saw him rewarded with the Junior High Gun Trophy.

The Ladies title proved to be a walk in the park for home turf girls Bedfordshire with Lorna Leonard top scoring on 74 to give Bed’s a total 145 which was way in front of nearest rival Northants who were way back on 125, Gill Whinnett 71 and Linda Moore 56 completed the scoring.

The Vets team race was a slightly closer affair with yet again Team Camb’s coming up trumps on the day with a score of 157, Brian Dunbavin shining on 80 and Barry Simpson’s 77 proving to be the clincher, Rod Gifford 58 and Steve Conningsby 59 also part of the winning team.

My thanks to all the team Captains and Managers and County secretaries for getting their teams together, it’s a thankless task but I really appreciate your efforts, oh and special thanks to the 118 118 name a shooter line that Camb’s provide.

Final thanks go to the Team at Sporting Targets; nobody can deny it was a cracking shoot but there is so much done behind the scenes to bring these shoots together that is never seen, every eventuality thought of and catered for, shooters quickly point the finger when things go wrong but the day was faultless even down to the buggy rides ferrying shooters backwards and forwards right down to the water around the ground, and who can forget the scores on screens around the clubhouse.....nice one JT, there’s even a screen in  the gents loo ladies. So next time you are at a shoot and it’s a good day poke your head round the corner of the office door and say ...Well done.

               Congratulations all and to see if you have won one of the many cash prizes check out the Sporting Targets website, for what is a massive PAYOUT !!!.......... See you at Nottingham for the DTL.