NORTHANTS SHOW THEIR SKEET PEDIGREE

SENIOR SKEET TEAM CHAMPIONS - NORTHANTS

It was Round 3 of 6 of the East Midlands Intercounties shoots this weekend, where the Skeet bragging rights of the region were up for grabs.

The venue of Nottingham & DGC was bathed in sunshine for most of the day with the occasional cloud drifting by to give an alternative to the bright blue skies, the wind was light, and all in all a perfect day to shoot skeet.

As is the norm, the home county of Notts got us underway promptly at 9-00am Adrian Snell and Neil Orr getting Notts off to a flying start with a pair of 99/100 ‘s. The final team total of 577/600 was one of those totals that looked fairly good, but you always felt it was just a bit light.

Lincolnshire proved that theory correct putting 3 more points on the total finishing on 580/600, Pete Atkin and Andy Harvey recording a couple of 99/100’s to top score for Lincs.

Cambs seniors looked good for a while but just couldn’t get that decisive sixth score to cement some hard work done by the other Cambs lads, Pete Cook scored best with yet another 99.

Northants with a pedigree in this event longer than a set of 32” inch barrels, set about the task in hand in their usual manner, twenty five straight after 25 straight being common place, solid consistent scoring being the name of the game and I guess it was no surprise to see them leapfrog to the top of the leader board with a team score of 586/600. Team Captain Neil Faulkner and Stuart Lobley led the way with a brace of 99’s, ably assisted by Leon Gill 98, Mick Rolstone 98, Craig Owen 96, Mick Russell 96, Paul Sharman 94 and Aidee Phipps 91.

It was just a case now of if the score was big enough to hold out against the “Force from the Fens”, with both Norfolk and Suffolk already shooting and starting to construct some decent scores.

SENIOR TEAM RUNNERS UP - NORFOLK

Trevor Frammingham, Steve Smith and Gareth Maund top scored for Norfolk all on 98/100, John Hall 97, Paul Freeman 94, P Soanes 97 and B Melton making up the remainder of the team to give them a finishing score of 584/600, an agonising two clays behind Northants but enough to place them in the runners up berth.

It was now only Suffolk that could spoil the party, and at the end of the day just fell short. Robbie Manning with a gun malfunction and a forced gun change meant targets had slipped away and just not enough of those high ninety scores to make the difference. Suffolk closed proceedings on 580/600 to finish joint 3^rd with Lincs, Darren Parsons top scoring 0n 99/100.

So it was Northants that held out for the senior title with Norfolk as runners up in what was possibly the closest competition in years, with all the competing senior teams finishing within 14 points of each other.

LADIES TEAM CHAMPIONS - NOTTS (Hayley Denoon & Tracy Miller) 

Not Pictured - (Jenny Hilton & Jess Roe)

In Ladies it was just a trio of teams fighting for honours with just Notts, Northants and Lincs entering teams. Once again Notts got us underway with Jess Roe and Jenny Hilton joint top scoring on 95/100, Hayley Denoon 91 and Tracy Miller 88 completing the line-up to give the Notts girls a finishing total of 190/200. Kirsten Vogel and Izzy Russell of Northants tried their best to overhaul the Notts score, recording a couple of 93’s, a personal best for Kirsten, but just fell four targets shy of the required score to finish on 186/200.

Vets Champions Peter Maguire, Colin Fordham & Allan Wright - Cambs

In veterans historically the title and the honours have changed hands many times, with no county really establishing any dominance. This year it was Cambridgeshire that rose to the top of the pile with what was to be a record equalling score of 197/200, Allan Wright top scored on 99 and Colin Fordham sealed the victory with a 98, Peter Maguire completing the winning line up over next best Northants, where Martin Ferris top scored with 96/100.

Junior Champions, Ollie Main, Stephen Mynes (JHG) & George Owen - Northants

 In juniors it was more success for Team Northants with a three clay victory over nearest rivals Notts, Stephen Mynes top scored for Northants with a Junior High Gun winning score of 98, Stephen was ably assisted by George Owen 95 and Ollie Main 95 to get them over the finishing line with a team score of193/200. Notts junior’s early lead of 190/200 just falling short, Alex Lewin top scoring for Notts.

 

Finally many thanks to Carl, Linda, Julia, the refs and all the ground staff at Nottingham for a very enjoyable day of competition, it’s now down to Northampton next weekend for the next leg of the Intercounties tour with the All Round.

Prize Money

1^st AA – Neil Faulkner, Darren Parsons

1^st A – Pete Cook, Neil Orr, Adrian Snell, Allan Wright

1^st B – Pete Atkin, Stuart Lobley

3^rd B – Gareth Maund, Pete Mayhew

1^st C – PJ Soanes

2^nd C – Jenny Hilton, Ollie Main.