League Report - Matches shot on the 11th October 2007

Knights vs Binton B - This was a battle of the underdogs, as the two strongest teams in the league, given that they are propping up the other teams, shot it out to better indicate the team most likely to win this season's wooden spoon and to possibly go on to greater glory in the Webley league! Roy Clarke opened for Binton B with a disappointing 26pts but Fran Westwood was able to put Knights into an early 3 point lead with 29. Mike Perry, next up for Binton B found the bell with 5 shots but he finished with two 4's to give him 33. Knights novice, Ruth Dampier, could only reply with 28. Jim Usher then hit 32 and improving Lisa Edwards managed 27 for the Knights which gave Binton B a 7 point lead. Knights could only pull 2 of these points back with their next two shooters as Gordon O'nions scored 28 to Knights' Will Troth's 30, and Brian Portman for Binton B scored 26 to Chris Green's 28 for the Knights. Ben Chamberlain found the bell with his four bulls and a total of 32pts, whilst Doug Dampier found the bell just once and dropped two 3's but still managed a personal best score of 27. Binton B only fielded six shooters so, Jon Packard (Knights) was the last shooter of the
evening requiring a possible 35pts to draw the match. He only found the bell three times but dropped a rare 3 for him which gave him a total score of 30. Knights finished on 199 points. Binton B were given a score of 27 for A N Other to bring their final score to 204 points which gave them their first win this season and left the mainly inexperienced Knights team propping up the rest of the league.

Binton A vs Wilmcote - This was expected to be a high scoring match as league leaders Binton A came up against a strong Wilmcote team. Andy Morris was first up for the visitors and shot 33pts. Simon Dale for Binton B just missed out on a possible when he slipped into the fours with his fifth shot. Lyn Brookes (Wilmcote) seems to have found her form with her new rifle shooting a good 31pts which was matched by Michelle Dale for Binton A. John Maycock (Wilmcote) shot a steady 32 but Gary Hooper for the home team put away 33pts to give Binton A a narrow 2 point lead. Gareth Morris was next up for Wilmcote and he too shot 32pts. Andy Smith for Binton A shot a steady 30 but this meant that his team's narrow lead was lost as the scores fell even. Alan Brookes (Wilmcote) was another shooter who just missed out on a possible when his third shot slipped into the fours. John Parrot had a poor night and only scored 28, well below his capabilities, which left Wilmcote in the lead by 6pts. Tom Morris grabbed another 3 points for Wilmcote when he scored 32 against Alan Dyer's 29. Neil Beningfield's 30 pulled 4pts back off Tim Stephens' (Wilmcote) 28. Last to shoot for Wilmcote was Paul Boazman who also shot 28. He was followed by Jeff Smith for Binton A who shot a steady 29. Both teams had fielded 8 shooters and were required to drop their lowest score. Binton A dropped 28 to finish on 216 and Wilmcote similarly dropped 28 to finish on 222 points. This was the first defeat of the season for Binton A.

MEB vs Home Guard - Jackie Mills was first to the mark for Home Guard. She shot a steady 30points to be followed by Paul Clingan for the home team. Paul, leading the individual averages table with 34 from 4 matches, repeated his marksman like performance with another 34. Richard Mills for Home Guard slipped a three but with two bulls finished on 29pts. Ray Warnock for MEB also gave a sterling performance when he too just missed a possible as his fifth shot slipped into the fours. After only two shooters MEB had an impressive 9 point lead. Shooting by the Home Guard's middle ranks was uninspired with only Sam Goodman avoiding the threes completely. MEB's Kath Williams and Sheila Clarke shot consistently to continue adding points to their team's lead over the visitors. Terry Goodman and Ray Hodgkins had lower than expected scores. Steve Hodges (Home Guard) who returned to shooting this season after a gap, did not seem at home on the target and shot a disappointing (for him) 29. Fred Williams could only manage two bulls and 30pts. Derek Powers pulled a couple of points back with his score of 30 but it was too late to make any difference to the final result. MEB have found a new shooter, D Cross who made a debut with 28points. Both teams had fielded 8 shooters and were required to drop their lowest score. MEB dropped 28 to end on an impressive 222 points and Home Guard dropped 26 to finish on 202 points.

Fixtures for tonight (18 Oct) Avenue-RBL vs Knights: Binton B vs Wilmcote and MEB vs Binton A. Home Guard have a bye.

Important - the Whitbread Individual Competition due to be held on 23 October has been postponed. An alternative date will be advised in due course.

We are still looking for more shooters. If interested please have a look at us on our website www.sagl.co.uk or why not contact the match secretary at sagmatchsec@ntlworld.com or ring Roy Clarke on 01789 720340.


Report by Juana Everett (to be published 18th October 2007)