Webley Report - Matches shot on the 24th January 2008

The second leg of the Avon Challenge was shot at Bengeworth British Legion Club, Evesham on Monday 21 January. Evesham were 16pts in the lead after the first leg. For Stratford, Paul Clingan 34; Ray Warnock 31; Simon Dale 33; Tom Morris 31; Michelle Dale 32; Gary Hooper 32; Alan Brookes 29 and Andy Morris 32. Evesham shooters R Pitcher 34; I Harwood 32; D Staniforth 33; C Roberts 33; Adrienne Lewis 35; Amy Lewis 33; R Rose 33 And A Green 30. Evesham with the advantage of being on home ground, won 263 to 254 pts and won by 25pts over both legs.

The competition for the Webley Shield began last Thursday. It is shot with teams handicapped based on their team averages for the League Season. Teams with the higher average being handicapped by having to give "bonus" points to the opposing team.

In the match between Knights and MEB, Paul Clingan opened as usual for the MEB with 5 bulls and two 4's while Chris Green for the Knights was disappointed to only get 28. Ray Warnock said he'd forgotten his glasses and then proceeded to get a possible! Carl Rapson inspired by Ray's success then shot three bulls before just dropping into a four but then continued to a personal best with three more bulls and 34pts. Kath Williams got a tidy 31 and Lisa Edwards' score ended up being scratched. Jan Beattie for MEB shot 30 and by this time, MEB were looking favourites to win convincingly as Knight: (Sir) Doug Dampier who is new to target shooting this season and has struggled to find the bull, rang the bell three times and came close with the other 4's he scored for a personal best of 31. Sheila Clark rang the bell twice for 30, and Ruth Sampson-Dampier only dinged once and sadly finished with a three for 28 for the Knights. Dave Cross got 4 bulls for a personal best 32 and pulled the MEB back into contention. After Will Troth's 30, the match was finely balanced. MEB's Ray Hodgkins shot 29 which Fran Westwood, captain of the Knights matched although Ray's score was scratched. Gordon Spencer got 30 despite dropping a three shot two bulls to give MEB a total score of 221. Jon Packard, anchor man for the Knights knew he had to get 28 or more to win the match. He opened with two bulls for 10pts then shot a 4 but he then dropped in a three, just to test the Knights heart rate! He finished with three 4's for 29pts. With the bonus of the Webley handicap of 14 from MEB, Knights secured a win in the first week of the Webley Competition.

Binton B fielded a full team in their match against Home Guard at Tiddington. Binton B took an early lead when Mike Perry and Roy Clarke both shot 30's which Jackie Mills and Irene Parsons could not match. Rob Johnson was next up and with three bulls and fours scored 31pts. Richard Mills shot a competent 30 as did Bill Gately to bring Home Guard's score to 115 at the half way mark. Bill Fleming dropped a three but also shot a bull to give him a steady 28pts and to give the Binton B team 119pts. Gordon O'nions shot bulls and fours for 31 but Steve Hodges had better luck and with five bulls scored 33 for the home team. Ben Chamberlain shot 30 but Sam Goodman did better for Home Guard with 32 to bring the scores level. Brian Portman had trouble finding the bull and shot a disappointing 26. Ben Goodman maintained his improvement in recent weeks with 30pts and Colin Fulford who has not shot for a few weeks made his mark with five bulls and 33pts. Home Guard dropped their lowest score and gave 6 bonus points to Binton B but still managed to win the match 217pts to 212pts.

Avenue-RBL travelled to Binton to meet the A team. At the start of the match it did not look as if either team would field a full side. Jo Everett was first to the mark for the visitors. With a number of tight 4's but also a three she was disappointed with her 27. Simon Dale had trouble finding the bull on the tight target too and with only one bull shot 29. Guy Ganderton did a bit better with two bulls and 30pts which was one point more than Andy Smith, another recent convert to the Feinwerkbau Air Rifle could manage. Paul Nixon-Barron did well again this week when he shot 31. Gary Hooper for Binton A brought the scores level at 88 with his 30pts. Steve Everett kept the pressure on Binton A and took Avenue-RBL into the lead, when he shot four bulls and fours for 32pts which John Parrot could not match. Neil Bragg 28, Jeff Smith 26 and then Michelle Dale 32 all shot for Binton A to give the team a total of 201pts, whilst Avenue-RBL waited for the fifth member of their team to arrive without whom they would have to forfeit the match for lack of shooters. Some quick arithmetic indicated that with the bonus points from Binton A, Avenue-RBL were in an unassailable position if only one more shooter would turn out. After some frantic phone calls Dee Green came to the rescue. A disappointing personal score for Dee but victory for the visitors, 210 to 201 pts.

Matches this Thursday (31 Jan) are the first round of the 4 A-side competition. Fixtures as shown last week. The delegates meeting will be held on 5 February and delegates are reminded that names of entrants for the Pairs Competition need to be taken to the meeting.
 


Report by Juana Everett (to be published 31st January 2008)