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competition for the Whitbread Individual trophy started on Tuesday 9 October at
the Home Guard Club, Tiddington. It required a number of preliminary rounds to
be shot before the first round to get to the quarter finalists. Sam Goodman was
on form, shooting 24.1, out of a maximum score of 25.5, against Ben Chamberlain
and then 23.1 against Alison McMillan. New shooter Adam Clarke also did well in
his first competition with 24 then 23 which knocked out two other new shooters,
James Matthews and Andrew Clingan for a place in the quarter finals against Sam
Goodman.Veteran shooter, John Maycock shot a competitive 23.2 in his preliminary match but it was not quite good enough against Paul Clingan who shot 24.2 then 24.3 to knockout Fred Williams. Chris Green shot 23.1 in his preliminary match to face Colin Fulford but that match will not be determined until 30 October.
Kath Williams shot 22.1 in her draws against Jamie Clarke and Simon Dale to earn her place in the quarter final where she will meet Mark Anderton who knocked out Mary Kent with his score of 22.2. Jackie Mills knocked out Karl McMillan but then was eliminated in the first round when she shot against Andy Smith. He will meet the current holder of the trophy, Steve Ray, who shot 22.2 which knocked Joe Powell out of the competition for his place in the quarter final.
The competition resumes on Tuesday, 30 October, at the Home Guard Club.
There were two tense matches last Thursday between old rivals Wilmcote and Binton A and between Binton B and MEB. In the first match, Andy Smith started off the shooting gaining 33 for the Binton team. Paul Clingan then shot 32 for the home team. This was the only time throughout the match that Binton were in the lead. However, successive Wilmcote shooters which included a 34 from Brian Adshead, 32 from Andrea Norris and 31 from Andrew Clingan clawed their way to a five point lead with just one more shooter left to shoot for each side. Binton thought the match was all over and were facing their first defeat this season but Will Cemis shot a sterling 33 which kept the game alive. Paul Boazman need 29 to win the match for Wilmcote but the bull eluded him and the final score line was Wilmcote 214 - Binton A 215.
In the second match, MEB played a tactical game which saw them grasp a seven point lead over Binton B after 4 shooters. They gave new shooter Philip Jones his first shots in a match but saw their lead vanish after Binton’s Ian Powell shot a personal best of 31. The status quo was maintained after Ray Hodgkins and Ben Chamberlain both shot 29. Fred Williams restored MEB’s hopes when he shot 32 which was more than Binton’s final shooter, Angie Powell who was also shooting for the first time, could manage. Binton lost the match 204 to 206 points.
Avenue SSC were at home to Home Guard, who took an early lead in the match. Steve Hodges sealed Avenue’s fate with five bulls and two fours for 33 which together with Sam Goodman’s 31 helped the visitors to victory with a total of 201 points. The best Avenue could do was 29 from Jon Packard, Steve Everett and Jo Everett which contributed to Avenue’s 192 points.
Steady shooting from Avon SC, who had only one three on the target gave them victory over Clifford WMC whose shooters lacked concentration and suffered from too many loose shots. Steve Ray shot a season best with 33 and team mate Colin Fulford shot 32 but Tony Waters was the only Clifford shooter to score over 30. The final score was Avon 210 – Clifford 192.
There will be no league matches tonight, instead there will be an inter-league match between Redditch and Stratford Air Gun teams at Studley Sports & Social Club.