INTERCOUNTIES SPORTING AT THE EAST OF ENGLAND SG

All 8 counties fielded teams over the two-day event with a decent attendance of 269 shooters.

It was my first visit to EESG, and I was suitably impressed, ample parking, great clubhouse and food with a warm welcome, and of course the grounds and targets set by England International shooter John Lee were spot on, and I heard many comments from shooters saying the same.

Sadly, on the Eve of this shoot we heard the news of the sad passing of Sam Wells from Leicestershire who was due to shoot at this event alongside his dad John.

At 11-00am out of respect the guns fell silent for Sam, and it was a very moving moment, a shooting ground going quiet at the busiest moment of the day is something you rarely hear.

On behalf of the EMCPSA and all its shooters we offer our heartfelt sympathies to Sam’s family and friends.

Shooting on Saturday the bulk of Northants shooters set the benchmark. Jo Smith top scored with 93 and was suitably backed up by Joe Wade 92, Dave Morgan 85, Stuart Lobley 79, Mick Russell 77, and Nathan Etheridge 72, and it looked a tidy target to aim at and although many county shooters got a decent start to their rounds, the John Lee built course kept chipping away at the scorecard and when Henry Collins weighed in with a 92 for Northants mid-afternoon on Sunday the team title was won for Northants although in the end the final result was a lot closer than it initially looked, and Suffolk with Derren Burn 89, Ed Murrell 89, Pete Jarvis 85, James Brooks 85, Michael Hermitage 82, Tony Rogers 82, Michael Ward 81, and Tom McGregor 75 got within 6 targets at the end and picked up the Runners Up glassware.

In Vets Cambridgeshire claimed the top spot finishing on 177/200 with Mark Bowes top scoring with an amazing 94. Tony Leonard chipped in “no pun intended” with 83, Tony Curtis 80, and Steve Whitwell to give then the victory with Leics as their closest rival 7 clays back who had Steve Brightwell top scoring on 90.

In Ladies we had 6 county teams, and the Beds girls once again came up trumps with Becky Clifton 79 and Zoe Bruce 61 claiming the honours, but it was a close-run thing with the Norfolk quartet just two clays in arrears.

Lastly Juniors, something we are blessed with in the region and there were plenty of scores in the 80’s and 90’s and it was the Lincs trio of James Peatfield 92, Josh Lee 81, and Terry Wilkinson 60 who narrowly edged out Suffolk by just one target, John Porter top scoring on 90 and James winning the HG Trophy on that superb 92.