8th March 2007 - Pairs Cup Finals

The Pairs Competition was shot through from the quarter finals to completion last Thursday at Wilmcote Club and there was some excellent shooting with a "mini" possible (5 bulls from 5 shots) being scored in three of the four quarter final matches and a "proper" possible (7 bulls from 7 shots) in the semi final.

Paul Clingan & Ray Warnock (MEB) were first up against Jim Usher & Ben Chamberlain (Binton B). The MEB pair were taking no chances and showed a determination to win as Ray Warnock put in 3 bulls to score 23.1 and Paul Clingan shot the first mini possible of the evening including three clean bulls to gain 25.3 out of 25.5 points to give the pair 48.4pts. The Binton B side shot consistently but not to the same high standard. Jim Usher shot 21 and perhaps nerves forced an error from Ben Chamberlain who started with a clean bull but finished with a 3 and 20pts totalling 41pts.

Kath Williams & Sheila Clarke (MEB) having got into the quarter final round with byes, found themselves matched against Lloyd Dencer & Steve Ray from RBL. Kath Williams shot a bull, a clean bull and three 4's and Sheila Clarke shot two clean bull and three 4's to give them a steady 44.3pts. Lloyd Dencer nudged ahead with his bull and two clean bulls together with two 4's and 23.2pts. Steve Ray then came to the target and shot the second mini possible of the night including three clean bulls to give him 25.3pts. This took RBL into the semi final to meet Paul Clingan & Ray Warnock.

Tom & Andy Morris met Wilmcote team mates John Maycock & Lin Brookes in the third of the quarter final matches. Tom Morris shot a bull, a clean bull and three 4's to score 22.1pts. Andy Morris shot two bulls, a clean bull and two 4's to give him 23.1pts. John Maycock put the pressure on when he shot a bull, two clean bulls and two 4's to give him 23.2pts. Lin Brookes had a problem and unfortunately had only four scoring shots and so with a total of 40.2pts she and John Maycock lost their chance of a place in the semi finals.

Binton A met Binton B when John Parrott & Gary Hooper shot against Gordon O'nions & Mike Perry. John Parrott had an unfortunate 3 and no bulls so scored 19pts. This left his team mate with a lot to do especially when Gordon O'nions shot a steady 21.1pts but Gary Hooper was up to the challenge and shot the third mini possible of the night with two clean bulls and 25.2pts. Mike Perry matched his partner's shooting to give the pair 42.2pts but with 44.2pts John Parrott & Gary Hooper went through to the next round to compete against Tom & Andy Morris.

In the semi final and final rounds of this competition shooters reverted to the familiar seven shots with a clean bull still counting as 5.1pts. Paul Clingan & Ray Warnock had a tight match against Lloyd Dencer & Steve Ray. Paul Clingan put in 4 bulls, two of them clean to gain 32.2pts. Ray Warnock also shot four bulls but three of his were clean to give him 32.3pts and a total of score of 64.5 for the pair from MEB. Lloyd Dencer popped in three bulls and four 4's to score 31pts. Steve Ray matched the MEB side for bulls and took the score to 63.1pts but it was not enough to see RBL through to the final.

Tom & Andy Morris met John Parrott & Gary Hooper in the other semi final. Tom Morris showed consistency as he scored three bulls and four 4's for 31.2pts. Andy Morris shot not one of his famous 34's but the only proper possible of the night including three clean bulls for 35.3pts taking his side's total to 66.5pts. John Parrott & Gary Hooper tried hard but to no avail. With three bulls and four 4's each they totalled 62.4pts which was not enough to put them into the final.

Paul Clingan & Ray Warnock being former winners of this competition must have been favourites to win but Tom & Andy Morris had a better chance than most of taking the Cup to Wilmcote for the first time. Perhaps it was the pressure of being in the final but it has to be said that both pairs struggled somewhat to find the bull. Tom Morris was unlucky to find the bull only once and so scored 29.1pts. Ray Warnock was not quite so unlucky, finding it twice and scoring 30.1pts. Andy Morris did better with three bulls and a score of 31.1 but Paul Clingan shot five bulls to clinch the match and the Pairs Cup by 63.5pts to 60.2pts.

The Home Guard Club, Tiddington, will be holding three competitions tonight (15 March). The Senior Shield - open to shooters aged 45 years or over on the day of the competition: the Youth Cup - open to shooters aged 21 or under on the day of the competition and the Ladies Rose Bowl. Historically, there has not been a particularly good turn out for these competitions and it is custom and tradition for there to be no draw or knock out competition, just a shoot out between competitors who shoot five pellets on two different targets. The highest aggregate score from the ten shots wins. Hope to see you there.

The Roderick Baker Cup will be shot at Binton Club on Tuesday 22 March, 8.30pm prompt. Here, each league team is represented by one individual shooter and together with Steve Ray, the current holder of the trophy, will compete on a seven shot knock out basis. A clean bull will score 5.1pts.

An update on the Webley Shield - the postponed match between RBL and MEB has been abandoned as neither team could raise a team and in any event, the result will not affect the table placements for 1st and 2nd places. The match between Binton B and Home Guard will take place at some stage as HG could claim 2nd place in the table should they win the match.