SUFFOLK SNATCH A LATE VICTORY

Round 2 of the Intercounties series of shoots for the race for the Directors Trophy was held at a well-manicured Nottingham & District GC on Sunday (August 4^th).

As is traditional the home county gets things underway and it was down to Notts Junior Ollie Sampson to break the silence and get the competition started in near perfect conditions with the slightest hint of a breeze and blue skies.

Shooting first Notts of course set the standard for the rest to challenge, but with that comes the agonising caveat of watching the scoreboard being updated and having to sweat it out to see if you have done enough. Notts finished with a respectable score of 1753/1800 with Russ Hufton top scoring on 99/297, with just the single target escaping both barrels on the final layout.

Next up Lincolnshire put in some tidy scores, but with Joe Mitchell shooting a little later it was in the balance as to whether Lincs could squeeze past Notts. I’m not sure if Joe was aware of the task in hand but he needed a score of 295 or better to take the lead, and he responded superbly by recording a 296 to give the Lincs Seniors what proved to be a temporary lead with Nick Day and Stuart Whitehead both hitting tons.

Reigning Champions Norfolk seemed to be mounting a strong challenge, but it was somewhat of a surprise to those on scoreboard watch that they came up five points shy of the target, so leaving just Suffolk to see if they could overcome Lincolnshire.

You write off Suffolk shooters at your peril in these types of situations, these experts of the Directors Trophy know how to get across the winning line as their history shows and once again this was to be their day. Finishing on a score of 1761 and it must be said in worsening conditions as the wind picked up and the cloud closed in threatening the forecasted rain. Pete Mayhew, Barry Randall and Frank Welham led the charge for the Suffolk team each recording 297, with Barry and Frank scoring tons and were well backed up Josh Nunn 287, Stuart Smith 290, Nick Havard 291, Darren Parson 289 and Michael Hermitage 282 to give them victory over Lincolnshire consisting of Joe Mitchell 296, Stuart Whitehead 293, Richard Thompson 293, Nick Day 293, Andy Jackson 291, Andy Leak 289, Pete Atkin 283 and Gary Boardman 272 in the runners up berth.

In Juniors it was Leicestershire that again took the title with a score of 566/600 to score an eight-point victory over nearest rival Notts who had Ollie Sampson top scoring on 285. Connor Harris did the damage for the Leicestershire duo with a score of 295 that was also good enough to give him the Junior High Gun Trophy, teammate Sam Maling followed up with a score of 271 to get them first past the post.

Hayley Denoon of Notts was the star of the show in the Ladies team title with a score of 280 to help her fellow teammates cruise to victory over second place Cambridgeshire, Hayley was well supported by Carol Reading 267 and Karen Donnelly 235 to give them a comfortable 14-point margin.

Leicestershire Vets have a good history in this event but had to settle for third place after failing by a single point to overhaul Lincolnshire who in turn later in the day had to watch Cambridgeshire ease past them by just three points. Tim Jones was the main man for Cambs scoring 292 and with Richard Croft scoring 290 it was just enough to get the job done, Dave Ivey 273 and Gary Thatcher completed the winning line up.

With the presentation done, the flags taken down and sent off to Eriswell Lodge for later in the month for the East Midlands Intercounties All Round, and the last shooters leaving the carpark, the heavens opened bringing with it biblical rainfall, 30 minutes earlier and it could have all been a different story.

Many thanks to Carl & Team Nottingham for an excellent event, we look forward to coming back later in the year for the Intercounties finale.