NORFOLK WIN AFTER A SHOOT OFF,

BUT CAMBS CLAIM THE DIRECTORS TROPHY.

Senior Team Winners - Norfolk

On Sunday at Nottingham & District the curtain came down on the 2017 competition season, with the East Midlands Intercounties ABT and probably more importantly the 6^th and final shoot in the Directors Trophy series.

The calculations were relatively simple, Cambs had the comfort of a two-point cushion, Suffolk needed to win outright and hope that Cambs were at least two places behind them when the DT Trophy scores were collated, and that barring any need for tie breaks was about the scheme of things.

As usual Notts were first on the layouts and set the target for the day of 343/400, Ken Rimington top scored on 89, Russ Hufton was next best on 88, then Darren Watkinson 84, Steve Hilton 55, Pete Armett 78 and Lee Clements on 82.

Arch rivals Lincolnshire were next up but failed to land a blow of any significance, and it was the same story for Northants and Suffolk. So, the question remained, could Norfolk winners of the DTL get close to the Notts score, and could Cambs do enough to win the Directors Trophy.

In the final reckoning Norfolk tied with Notts on 343/400 with Niall Crumpler top dog on 90, he was well backed up by Richard Gilbert 83, Russell Houghton 86, Jason Mathewson 80, Simon Owen 84 and Andy Bowers 79, so it was all down to Cambs as the final team to shoot.

As the light was fading Cambs came home with a clutch of 80+ scores in the Seniors but it was the score of 81 by Sarah Christensen shooting for the Ladies team that clinched the Directors Trophy for the first time.

Many congratulations to everyone that shot for Cambs in the Intercounties shoots this season, you all played your part and thoroughly deserve the success.

Senior Team Runners Up - Nottinghamshire

With all that done and dusted it was the little matter of a shoot-off to decide the winners and runners-up of the Senior competition, three shooters per team, one full use target off the centre peg, and sadly it was the home team Notts that missed the deciding target to give victory to Norfolk and Notts the consolation of runners-up.

Ladies Team Winners - Cambridgeshire

In Ladies, Norfolk and Northants were all square on 138, but it was the Cambs Ladies shooting last that cruised to victory on 154/200. Sarah Christensen top scored on 81 and the scores of Hazel Whiten 73 and Michele Conway also 73, gave them a comfortable win.

In Veterans it was the quartet of Lincolnshire shooters that recorded a comfortable victory with John Winn and Dick Cooper doing the damage scoring 85 apiece, they were backed up by the scores of Dave Shepherd and Norman Smith to win by a 7-point margin over nearest finishers Leicestershire.

Dick Cooper - Lincolnshire Veterans

Wrapping things up, Northants claimed victory in the Juniors with a 14-point margin win over nearest rivals Notts, Henry Collins in his final year as a junior shooter took another JHG with a score of 86, making it three in total over the season, the winning line up was completed by Sonny Bowman, Alex Banning and Tiernan Goodman.

Junior Team Winners - Northants

2017 INTERCOUNTIES HONOURS

SENIORS – Suffolk, Northants, Norfolk (3), Bedfordshire

RUNNERS UP – Northants (2), Suffolk, Cambridgeshire (2), Nottinghamshire

LADIES – Northants (3), Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire

VETERANS – Suffolk, Bedfordshire (2), Leicestershire (2), Lincolnshire

JUNIORS – Suffolk (2), Cambridgeshire (2), Leicestershire. Northants

Many congratulations to all the winners throughout the season, your support of your county and the region has once again been superb.

Finally, many thanks to Carl and his team for a great day’s competition, and of course thank you to all our hosting grounds over the year, we look forward to seeing you all in 2018.

THE DIRECTORS TROPHY FINAL STANDINGS FOR 2017

	AR	DTL	ESP	ESK	FITASC	ABT	TOTAL
BEDS	4	0	8	1	3	0	16
CAMBS	6	8	5	6	8	5	38
LEICS	2	5	1	2	7	2	19
LINCS	5	4	3	3	1	7	23
NOTTS	3	7	2	4	4	6	26
NORFOLK	0	6	4	5	2	8	25
NORTHANTS	8	2	7	7	5	3	32
SUFFOLK	7	3	6	8	7	4	35