NOTT’S SNATCH BACK THE DOWN THE LINE TITLE

With a rivalry just about as strong as the Fenland counties, Lincolnshire and Nott’s have squabbled over the Intercounties DTL honours for many years, but the power of Suffolk has more than once jumped in to spoil the party and snatch the prize from underneath the noses of its northern cousins.

The day kicked off promptly at 8-30am in a cold but mild breeze, the home counties shooting first. The first thing to notice was the use of the new clays, half orange – half black which on inspection appear to catch the eye quicker that a solid colour clay, I have not shot at one yet, but reports from shooters all seem very positive……so well done to Nottingham for taking this initiative and giving the shooters what they want.

 Senior Team Champions - Nottinghamshire

Alex Townroe scored the first ton of the day with a superb 100/291 for Notts to give them a cracking start, Jody Clarke weighed in with 99/296 and then Russ Hufton with 98/288 and Notts had a solid footing on the board. Conditions did feel like they were getting worse, the wind picking up and a definite threat of rain was on the horizon, and it looked like the early shooters were going to have the best of it. Ken Rimington and Lee Clements were the next two back in the clubhouse with 97/283 and 284 respectively and with Lincolnshire dropping points it looked like Notts had staked an early claim for the title. Notts ended up with a team score 0f 1721, some thirty points clear of Lincolnshire and it was then the long wait to see if there was to be a challenge from the fens. Shooting on the final squads of the day the Suffolk team set about their work, with a strong side on show it was going to be a nail biter with anxious looks at the scoreboard being the order of the day. Scores coming in were observed and constant calculations being made. At the half way stage it all looked very close with a handful of points separating the two, but when the final scores were being tallied up the Suffolk team finished a painful four clays off the pace to give Notts the title, but Suffolk still managed to overhaul Lincolnshire to give them the Runners Up honours, Geoff Howlett and Frank Welham top scoring for Suffolk on 99/293.

Junior Team Champions - Nottinghamshire

In the junior competition we sadly only had one team, so of course the honours went to them, but I would like to pay tribute to them as they would have beaten any county from anywhere in the country. Nottingham deserve great praise for year on year churning out quality youth talent, that is not only capable of winning at local level but National, European and World. Curtis Woolley top scored with a hugely impressive 100/297 which gave him the Junior High Gun title and also the highest score of the day out of the whole competition. Joe Booth shooting with his brand new Krieghoff shot a 99/291 which generally would have seen him win many junior competitions and then to top it off Conor Bean and George Lewis weigh in with some equally impressive scores.

Ladies Team Champions - Lincolnshire

In Ladies it was once again all about the Lincs quartet of Alison Dupree, Jan Stennett, Tracey Bridge and Jackie Houghton. I can’t recall the last time they lost this honour and it looks like a long time before anyone will put up a challenge although fair play to the Suffolk girls they did give it a good go. It was Tracey Bridge that this time led the Lincs girls to victory with a 95/281, Jackie’s 95/273 securing the win.

In Veterans it was good to see East Midlands stalwarts Leicestershire Vets storm to victory, shooting around lunch time they waited all afternoon to see if anyone could overall their team score of 571/600. Mike Brookes top scored on 97/289 and Keith Taylor’s score of 96/281 pushed them over the winning line, Dave Piggin and Ray Coulson completed the winning line up for Leicestershire, next best in Vets was Lincolnshire, Malc Craven top scoring.

Many thanks to the team at Nottingham & District for a well-run day that not only ran to time but finished early just as the rain started to fall…..superb organisation that !!

Final thanks to KR Photo Shop for sorting out my dodgy camera work !!

PRIZE MONEY

 

1st  AA Class	Curtis Woolley 100/297
2nd AA Class	Jody Clarke 99/296
3rd  AA Class	Frank Welham 99/293
1st A Class	Geoff Howlett 99/293
2nd A Class	Joe Booth 99/291
3rd A Class	Mike Brookes 97/289
1st B Class	Mark Cumberlidge 95/280
2nd B Class	John Aldous 94/279
3rd B Class	David Shepherd 93/278
1st C Class	N Sutton 96/281 & Tracey Bridge 95/281
3rd C Class	S Eley 96/279