Top teams perform well despite being below par

IT is often said in sport that the mark of champions is that they can win matches despite performing poorly.

If this is the case then, following this week’s matches, it is clear that both of the contenders for the Hinckley Air Rifle League’s league title carry that mark.

The table topping Sporting Lions made the short journey to the home of Ashby Road ‘B’ with what, on paper, looked to be a full strength team.

The home side shot first, getting an excellent start thanks to Neil Price’s 29 while Craig Shuttleworth added a 27, and Jon Storer closed their first half with another 29.

On their best form the Lions’ main strength is in their first half and they would normally have easily outscored this but on this occasion they only just managed to reach the half way point with their noses ahead thanks to Karl Bunting’s 29, Glen Dainter’s 28, and the 27s of Todd Astill and Jeanette Mulkeirins.

Ashby Road had a decent second half as Mike Sansome’s 26, and the 28s of Martyn Wood and Jeff Goodyer took their totals to 192 and eight points but while this was enough on the points front it wasn’t sufficient in the regular match as the Lions moved onto 193 and seven points thanks to an outstanding Melanie Jenkins 30, and the 26s of Jim Lowe and Mollie Harris.

Bedworth Ex Servicemen’s Club were less fortunate than their title rivals with several of their regular shooters absent but they were still good enough to just beat the visiting Smallshaws, albeit with their lowest total of the season.

It was the visitors that led the way but they struggled to find their feet with the only first half score of any note being Rob Wainwright’s 27, whereas the home side could count an Andrew Cryer 30, and the 27s of Mick Cryer and Jackie Bend.

However, with a bare seven shooters the home side also had to count a 25 and a 20 meaning that the 26s of Jamie Slimm and Jackie West, Bob West’s 27 and an excellent 29 from Simon Grewcock took the visitors to 185 and 11 points it began to look as if they might enjoy an unexpect- ed win.

Bill Bend gave Bedworth some hope with his 29 but the hero of the night was Scott Mosey who closed the match with his own 29, beating his previous personal best by four to take his team’s total to 187. The points match did go the way of the visitors as Bedworth finished on seven but that would never have been Bedworth’s priority.

Hinckley Phoenix managed a strong first half in their match against the visiting Ashby Road with Barry Wright’s opening 26 being followed by Karen Bown’s 27,

Tony Overton’s 28, and the 29s of Samantha Haskins and Roxy Ratheram. Their second half struggled to maintain that level of scoring but the 26s of Michael Robinson and Colin Rusted plus Geoff Herbert’s closing 28 were sufficient for them to set reasonably challenging totals of 193 and 11 points.

Ashby Road’s first half followed a similar pattern with Richard White’s opening 26 preceding Innes Droomer’s 27, Lorraine White’s 28 and David White’s first league 30 in almost ten years, but their second half markedly outperformed their hosts with a pair of 29s from Pete Finney and Seamus Moore setting the stage for Chris Rose’s closing 28 to take their totals to 197 and 12 points.

The Trojans comfortably beat their New Plough hosts, outscoring them by 12 in the regular match.

The home side did reasonably well with 26s from Daniel Lakin, Joe Stocker and Tom Bray, plus Darren Statham’s 27, John Bray’s 28 and a personal best 29 from Mick Stocker but the resulting 187 always looked vulnerable.

The visitors were never behind as Dave Brown’s opening 28 was immediately followed by Darren Houghton’s 29 and Nigel Jackson’s 27. Rob Forman opened their second half with a 30, Will Chambers added a 26, Leigh Hall and Chris Sills chipped in with 28 apiece and Mark Smith managed a 29, all of which combined to take their total to 199. The points match was much closer but that also went the way of the visitors, this time by a margin of 11 to 9.

The Hounds were in poor form for their home match against Taylor & Ayre, the latter starting well with Alyson Steele’s 28, Jim Gibney’s 26 and a fine Glen Dainter 30 while the best first half scores for the Hounds were the 26s of Richard Greene and Brian Allen.

Sadly for the Hounds T&A improved in the second half as the 28s of Phil Steele and Steve Vincent, and the 29s of Alison Smith and Darren Hicks took their totals to 198 and 11 points.

With just four second half shooters the Hounds were never going to be in the running but Richard Allen tried bravely with his 27, Andrew Mitchell contributed a 26, and Paul Huddlestone closed with a maximum 30 to take the home side to 182 and seven points.