HAMPSHIRE Website : SW&IC Results 2013, National IC Results

FITASC Inter-counties Event
 
This was to be the second to last event of the year and again Southern Counties hosted the event, with an entry of 84 shooters which equates to some 17 squads it looked like it was going to be a long day. Hampshire had an early start time but Kevin Newton and his team had it all figured out, and the day ran like clockwork with the team finishing in the early afternoon. The shoot appeared to be a good old fashioned tough but fair event which the scores reflected, with some coming close too but never breaking the 90's and the lowest score posted was a 46 so pretty much spot on for differculty. Layout 4 which was named Skeet was certainly the hardest out of the four layouts with some people failing at the final hurdle, but luckily for us the team held there nerve and shot there way to victory by the smallest of margins. The top three Seniors teams were: Hampshire on 497/600, Somerset on 493/600 and Dorset 486/600. The Veterans team consisting of Steve Watts, Andy Shore & Nigel Frampton came third with Dorset taking the win by 15 targets. That just leaves the individual honours which was all about Hampshire, Phil Marks had been on fine form all day going into the last layout 70/75 and Neil Lockton again also shooting well on 67/75, with a few other shooters also hovering around the 8/9 away mark it was all about the last round as ever. Unfortunately for Phil he could only manage an 18/25 to Neils 21/25 which levelled them both up on 88/100. Martin Reynolds of Dorset was next on 86/100 and then 5 others all tied on 85/100. This meant a shoot off was required to decide the FITASC South West Champion, after a head to head shoot off on the first peg Phil thought he emerged victorious only to find that they were actually shooting the complete layout again and not just a peg. This then gave Neil two more pegs to catch back up on and with Phil missing 4 singles, Neil snatched the title away and also took High gun. Phil was still left with a class win and Ron King justed missed out on winning his class by 1 clay. All in all it was an enjoyable day, even with the weather not being too favourable.
 
 
Automatic Ball Trap Inter-counties Event
 
The ABT inter-counties final was held at Southern Counties on the 6th October, with the weather still being kind for this time of year someone was surely going to shoot a high score. Ian Mulliner of Dorset did just that posting a 97 leaving the likes of Ed Ling and Richard King way behind. Hampshire fielded a 10 man Seniors team and full Veterans team for the event and yet again is was a day of not quite enough. There were only 18 clays between all the Seniors teams ,which goes to show just how tightly matched we all are at this event. Rick Stala put in the highest Hampshire score with a very credible 93, especially as this is the first time he's shot ABT in a while due to a slow healing shoulder injury. Richard Smith is shooting consistently well just lately and put in a 91 with Carl Miles close behind on 87. Brian Coupe had a day of up's and downs finishing on 83 even with two rounds of 19, showing if you keep your head together you can grind out a result which was enough for him to take a class win. The Veterans came runner-up to Cornwall and again it was a close match with 18 clays also between all the teams, another 5 would have seen us take the victory. Thank you to all the Hampshire Shooters that made the effort to travel down to Southern Counties for this event.
 
Sport Trap Inter-Counties Event
 
The Inter-Counties Sport Trap was once again held at Southern Counties Shooting Grounds. Six Senior teams showed up with some big names to boot which made it all the more interesting, Somerset's Shaun Stacey thumped in a 98 after shooting his first 50 straight and this was never going to get touched, close by though was Richard Faulds and Andy Moon tied on 95. The Dorset trio of King, Rudling & Thomas scoring 93, 92 & 91 respectively was always going to keep Dorset high up the leader board, with Hampshire finishing on a team sore of 449 it was just 1 short of Dorset's 450 proving that it's all about the 90+ scores. Hampshire Veterans did go one better though and win there category on 173 which was 4 more than Dorset. Unfortunately with only having one lady we couldn't field a team but the one we did have which was Tanya Faulds certainly held her own winning the Ladies South West Champion title and of course the Ladies class, despite a poor first round she dug deep to finish five clear of her nearest rival. The Juniors team didn't have the best of days but with 11 clays separating the three teams it was a fairly close contest but unfortunately we ended up in third place. As individuals Hampshire didn't do badly with Richard Faulds tied with Andy Moon coming first in AA, Neil Lockton took first in A, Nigel Frampton took first in B & with Tanya winning the ladies it was a pretty good result in the classes.
 
Universal Trench Inter-Counties Event
 
Southern Counties held the Universal Trench Inter-Counties event on the 15th Sept, but again like the County Championship this fixture clashed with another UT selection shoot at Beverley ctc this time. We did manage to send a Veterans team and an 8 man Seniors team but with so many other things going on just lately we are struggling to get full teams together. The Seniors finished in the Runner-up spot behind Devon by quite a margin and the Veterans team finished  in fourth position. Thank you to all the shooters that made the journey to Southern Counties again.
 
English Sporting Inter-Counties Event
 
This event was held at Wylye Valley and unfortunately will be one of the last events held there due to its announced closure. The Hampshire Seniors won the event yet again for another consecutive year showing how much depth in squad we have for this event. Neil Lockton (who is also one of the managers for the team) led by example and shot a magnificent 91 to tie with Paul Thomas who had left the ground so Neil was crowned the South West Champion. Another tie for a title was in the Ladies category in which Tanya Faulds and J Eley of Cornwall were equal on a score of 76, after a shoot off Tanya just missed out on the win and J Eley took the title. 
 
 
Single Barrel Inter-Counties Event
 
Unfortunately this year we didn't have enough people to make a team at this years event. Well done to the four Hampshire shooters that did make the effort and go anyway. One in particular was Bill Maclennan who shot a superb 98 to not only take high gun but more importantly became the South West Champion, so well shot Bill.
 
Olympic Skeet Inter-Counties Event
 
The event was held a Southern Counties on the 1st September, Hampshire didn't have another shooter present to make up a team which was a great shame. However the one Hampshire member that did attend certainly did well, Alfie Oldring shot a strong 24,23,23,24 to finish on 94, this saw him take High gun and the South West Champion title so congratulations Alfie.
 
Down The Line Inter-Counties Event
 
Awaiting Report
 
Olympic Trap Inter-Counties Event
 
The first of the Inter-County events kicked off with the OT at Southern Counties on the 11th August. It was great to see a full squad for the Seniors and Veterans at this event and also to have a Junior team, unfortunately we didn't have any Ladies present so hopefully next year we will have some available to us. The Seniors squad comprised of Captain Rod Gould, Chris Dean, Paul Dixon, Tony Gentili, Bob Roddy, Neil Lockton, Luke Elliott, Tim Rowe, Richard Smith, Connor Gorsuch, Carl Miles and Jeff Cooper. The Veterans squad consisted of Tony Gentili, Geoff Burton and Brian Coupe, and the Juniors team was Connor Gorsuch and Rod Roddy. The Seniors event was a two horse race between Hampshire and Somerset and it came down to the final round but unfortunately we dipped out by just three clays! With 10/12 of our Seniors scores being in the 70's it was either a tough shoot or everybody just wasn't quite on form. Rod and Chris were certainly on form though, it was between them and Abbey Burton for top spot on the leader board all day. Rod however lost one too many targets in the final round leaving Chris and Abbey to tie on 91 for the South West Championship, Chris lost out in a shoot off to become Runner-up leaving Abbey to take the title. The Veterans team also came Runners-up to Somerset by just four clays, as did the Juniors by eight clays. Although we didn't win everybody seemed to have a great day out and hopefully the team atmosphere from our shooters will carry through to the next round of events.