NORTHANTS REGAIN SENI0R TITLE

The Traditional Shooting of the Cap after a Maiden Ton

In recent years the Intercounties Skeet title has changed hands on a regular basis with Northants and Suffolk being the main force in this discipline and sharing honours evenly, although a two-year stint at the top by Suffolk at Eriswell Lodge in 2017 and Northampton SG last year has given them a good foothold on the way to winning the Directors Trophy, but this year it was not to be as Northants with a very strong team were not to be denied again.

Neil Faulkner scoring 100 was the man leading the way for Northants with some great supporting scores from Regional Skeet Champion Dave Morgan 99, Leon Gill 99, Mick Rolstone 98, Julián Williams 97, Simon Vogel 96 and Stuart Lobley 93 to give them a finishing score of 589/600 just two clays in front of Runners-Up Norfolk. A ton from John Glover gave Norfolk a firm base to work from and incredibly although no Norfolk shooter scored less than 95, they could still not overcome the strong Northants line-up. Archy Stannard moving up from Juniors to represent the Senior team was next best on 99, with Steven Smith 98, Scott Buck 98, Paul Freeman 96, Trevor Frammingham 96, Clive Johnson 96, Simon Allen 95 giving Norfolk the runners up glassware, five clays clear of third place finishers Lincolnshire.

Dave Morgan of Northants & Team Norfolk, Senior Runners-Up

In Ladies the day was all about Northants Team Captain Izzy Russell, Izzy had recently qualified to shoot for the first time for England and celebrated in style by scoring her maiden ton, with scores from Helen Wootton 84 and Rose Palmer 79, and that was enough for a comfortable win over nearest placed finisher’s Notts by eleven clays who had Megan Gamble top scoring on 87.

Isabel Russell of Northants after her Maiden Ton

In Juniors it was a victory for Suffolk with a superb performance by 12-year-old Henry Lungley who smashed a fine 98, and a score of 90 by Jasper Pearce was enough to earn them victory over next placed Notts by nine points. With Archy Stannard recruited to the Norfolk Senior team that meant that Henry was awarded the Junior High Gun prize as the top scoring Junior representing a Junior team, but I feel Archy deserves great credit for making the huge step up to Seniors and doing his county proud.

Henry Lungley JHG & Suffolk Junior Team Champions

In Veterans Lincolnshire fought hard to retain their title but couldn’t match the high scoring home team Nottinghamshire that had shot at first light. Notts skipper Ash Parfrement led from the front with a superb score of 99 and was backed up admirably by Roger Ball on 98, John Miller 92 and Rennie Lowbridge 92 completed the winning line-up.

Vets Team Champions - Nottinghamshire

We are blessed in the region with many talented shooters, and the standard in this competition was extremely high, and to some degree we have to pay tribute to the staff at NDGC for putting on such an excellent shoot, presenting superb skeet targets conducive to some great scores, a big well done to Carl and his team.

Based on this as the Regions Skeet Manager I think we can be hopeful that we may be able to notch up a few team wins when the British Open comes around…. fingers crossed.

Prize Money

1^st AA – Neil Faulkner & Martin Walmsley

3^rd AA – Gary Cooke, Leon Gill, Dave Morgan, Darren Parsons, Stuart Smith, Archy Stannard

1^st A – Josh Glover & Isabel Russell

3^rd A – Matthew Robinson

1^st B – Pete Atkin & Roger Ball

3^rd B – Phil Barnard, Clive Johnson & Joshua Nunn

1^st C – Henry Lungley

2^nd C – Geoff Catlin & Ashley Smith

4^th C – Simon Allen & Marcus Lord