INTERCOUNTIES ABT WIN FOR CAMBS

As usual the curtain came down on the East Midlands Intercounties series of shoots with the ABT at Nottingham & District Gun Club.

It has been a difficult season for counties and the region alike with the 2021 shooting season condensed into half of the normal allotted calendar because of Covid 19 restrictions. The East Midlands committee acknowledged at the start of the delayed season it was going to be a “season like no other” and that following a season where we had to cancel our whole fixtures list owing to the lockdown.

It was of course realised when we drew up the fixtures that it was going to be almost impossible to avoid clashing with county shoots, and that’s without taking into consideration the usual major and minor events seemingly going on every week. Attendances have of course taken a severe dent with shooters having several shoots on offer every weekend and we have found ourselves trying to compete against shoots we would normally avoid at all costs.

Whilst numbers are down, we have though managed to get through our entire fixture list with the support of the East Midlands shooters and shooting grounds, and for that we offer our thanks. Hopefully we can get back to normal next season and have a more relaxing time of it.

Onto the shoot in question then…. once again, we were unable to field a full quota of counties for the Intercounties ABT with just Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk able to field teams.

Cambridgeshire came out on top in the Open Team competition finishing on a team score of 373/400 beating the previous holders of this Norfolk 365/400 into the Runners-Up berth. Richard Morris led the way for the Cambs team and was top scorer on the day with a magnificent 97/100. I stood watching Richard shoot for a couple of rounds and the speed he was taking out targets was breath-taking, many you heard the call “pull”, then a cloud of dust, you hardly had a chance to focus on the clay before it was dispatched, in fact many I didn’t even see, top stuff and a real pleasure to watch.

Richard Morris (Cambs) was on top form scoring 97/100

Richard was ably backed up by Dad Chris Morris 94, Phil Barnard 93, Matt Sheldrake 89, Chris Hall 84, and David Christensen 82, to take the team title some eight clays clear of Norfolk.

Open Team Runners Up - Norfolk

The long journey for the Norfolk team was rewarded as they collected the Runners-Up glassware. Jason Matthewson top scored on 95 which was equally a good score considering the windy conditions, the occasional rain, and the cold. Niall Crumpler was next best for Norfolk on 93, then Simon Owen 91, Paul Owen 86, and Richard Sutterby on 84.

Ladies Team Winners - Lincolnshire

In Ladies we had three teams competing Lincs, Cambs and home team Notts, and it was the Lincs trio that came out on top finishing on 164/200 with a team of Janet Stennett, Georgina Barrett shooting her first 100 ABT, and top scoring lady on the day Saira Boardman (Centre) who finished on a superb 87/100.

Junior Team Winners - Norfolk

Sadly, in juniors we only had one and a half teams competing with Norfolk winning unopposed, but nevertheless William Gilbert recorded an impressive 92/100 to take the Junior High Gun Trophy with fellow teammate William Nicholas on 83/100.

Vets was ultra-competitive with just one clay separating the winners and the runners-up, and four clays separating the top three teams. In the final reckoning Norfolk Vets took the title just edging out Lincolnshire with Robert Flowers top scoring on 93/100 and Richard Gilbert backing that score up with a solid 92/100, Ray Daws completed the winning Norfolk trio.

Veterans Team Winners - Norfolk

Although we haven’t yet crunched the final numbers it very much looks like Lincolnshire have won the Directors Trophy for the very first time in the 11 year’s we have been running this aspect of Intercounties shooting and with a record score, in the next day or two we will come up with the final tally….but congratulations to Team Lincolnshire.

Many thanks to all the team captains and team members for this season and we look forward to doing it all again next season where Lincolnshire will have a fight on their hands to retain the cup.

Finally, as always, we thank our hosting ground Nottingham and their superb team for the usual Nottingham hospitality, it was a very enjoyable day, especially the banter in the “Corridor of Broken Dreams” …. John Winn was on top form.

Our final shoot of the season is at Priory CTC next Sunday with the Handicap by Distance Championships.

Prize Money

1^st A – Jason Matthewson & Jack Wilkinson.

1^st B – Phil Barnard & Niall Crumpler.

3^rd B – Graham Elkington, William Gilbert, Tim Jones, Brian Wilkinson.

1^st C – Granville Hodgkinson.

1^st D – Jonathan Cain.

2^nd D – Chris Hall & Richard Sutterby.