1st March 2007 - Presidents Cup Competition

Competitors for The Norman Dale Cup also known as The President's Cup met at the Home Guard (HG) Club, Tiddington last Thursday. The draw was made on the night and with twenty two of the thirty five eligible shooters attending, of necessity it contained a number of byes. Shooters had five pellets with a clean bull counting as 5.1pts up to the semi final and final rounds.

In the first round Jan Beattie (MEB) was first out of the hat and got a bye. Derek Powers (HG) was narrowly beaten by just 0.1pt by team mate Jackie Mills. Ben Goodman (HG) lost out to Carl Rapson (Avenue Sports & Social Club (ASSC) who scored an impressive 23.2pts. Bill Gately (HG) was defeated by Tim Stephens (Wilmcote) who scored 20pts. Paul Nixon-Barron who was right on target with 24.2, the highest score with 5 pellets, saw off team mate Guy Ganderton. John Parrott (Binton) with 22.2pts beat Roy Clarke (Binton B). Paul Boazman (Wilmcote) got a bye as did Gordon Spencer (MEB) and Irene Parsons (HG). Sam Goodman (HG) with 21pts put Dennis Ganderton (ASSC) out of the competition. Jo Everett (ASSC) had no luck against Brian Portman (Binton B). Kath Williams (MEB) got another bye. Dee Green (ASSC) who shot 21 defeated Ray Hodgkins (MEB). Fran Westwood (ASSC) got the last bye in this round.

The second round saw Jan Beattie 18pts lost out to Jackie Mills with 22.1pts: Carl Rapson with another 3 bulls scored 22.1 to see off the challenge from Tim Stephens: Paul Nixon-Barron did enough with 21.1 to defeat John Parrot as did Paul Boazman in his match against Gordon Spencer. Irene Parsons was defeated by team mate Sam Goodman, also with 21.1pts. Brian Portman lost to Kath Williams who shot 21: Dee Green was beaten by her team mate Fran Westwood who also won with 21.1pts.

The first quarter final between Jackie Mills and Carl Rapson was a tight match. Jackie, the more experienced shooter just could not ring the bell and scored a respectable 20pts. However, Carl found just one clean bull which was all he needed to give him the match with yet another score of 21.1pts and a place in the next round. Paul Nixon-Barron was matched against Paul Boazman. This was another close match with both shooters struggling to find the bull. Paul Nixon-Barron was just that bit more accurate getting four fours and one clean bull to give him 21.1pts compared to Paul Boazman's four fours and a "dirty" bull which gave him 21pts. Paul Nixon-Barron went through to the semi final to meet his team mate Carl Rapson.

Sam Goodman got through to the semi final with a bye which left Kath Williams and Fran Westwood shooting it out for the last place in the semis. Kath dropped two threes but managed to pull one back with a bull to give her 19pts. Fran also shot one bull but only dropped one three and so won through with 20pts.

Shooters reverted to the normal 7 shots in the semi and final rounds of the competition with clean bulls still counting as 5.1. Carl Rapson started with an ominous three but did not let this put him off. He went on to score three bulls and three fours and 30pts. Paul Nixon-Barron was unable to display the accuracy in his earlier rounds. He shot two bulls, four fours and a three to give him 29pts which meant that Carl was assured of a place in the final.

Sam Goodman shot a bull then a four three times in succession and ended on a four. Only his first bull was clean giving him 31.1pts. Fran Westwood matched Sam's first four shots but both of her bulls were clean so at that point she was in the lead. However, she went on to shoot only fours and finished on 30.2pts to give Sam his place in the final.

Carl Rapson aged 17, has been known to be a bit erratic with his shooting but not last Thursday, when he shot very well all night. Sam Goodman, 16 years old and in his first season of bell target shooting has proved himself to be the more stable of the two shooters. Both showed that their places in the final were well deserved and it was good to see the two youngest members of the league in the final match of this competition. Sam was first to shoot and showed he meant business with two clean bulls followed by a four then two dirty bulls and two more fours. Carl had it all to do. Having shot more bulls than anyone else in the competition showed he knew where the bull was but he had dropped a couple of threes in earlier rounds and Sam hadn't. Could he stay out of the threes? All too often it is the threes that lose a match not the bulls which win it. Carl started well with three bulls, two of them clean. He then shot two fours which put him one point behind Sam after five shots. He found another clean bull worth that valuable 0.1pt then a four and it was all over. Carl had won 32.3pts to Sam's 32.2pts and will be awarded the President's Cup on presentation night.

The Pairs Competition will be shot to a conclusion tonight Thurs 8 March at Wilmcote Club. With the current holders, Simon and Michelle Dale out of the competition will it be Paul Clingan who has been a winner in 4 out of the last 6 years and his experienced partner Ray Warnock, who together got through to the quarter finals with an impressive 49.4pts out of a possible 51pts who will take the honours or will members of the much improved Wilmcote team either John Maycock & Lyn Brookes or father and son team Andy & Tom Morris who meet each other in the quarter finals win through?

Three competitions, the Seniors, the Ladies and the Youth Cups will be held at Home Guard Club Tiddington on 15 March. Will Carl and Sam be battling it out for the Youth Cup?