Lions do the double against Phoenix in the cup and league
IN the Hinckley Air Rifle League it is unusual for two teams to shoot against each other two weeks in succession but the random vagaries of a cup draw meant that this week that happened twice with each of last week’s cup matches repeated in this week’s league program, albeit with the home and away teams swapped.
The margin of this week’s Sporting Lions victory wasn’t quite as wide as the previous week but it was comprehensive nonetheless.
On this occasion it was the visiting Phoenix side that shot first and they had a reasonable first half with Barry Wright’s opening 27 being followed by the 28s of Karen Bown and Roxy Ratheram.
However it soon began to be painfully obvious that this would prove inadequate as Glen Dainter’s opening 30 was followed by a trio of 29s from Todd Astill, Karl Bunting and Jeanette Mulkeirins (all coincidentally missing their last shot), before Lee Johnson closed the half with another 30.
Luke Haskin’s 27 and Ian Ratheram’s 28 were the only scores of note in the Phoenix second half, helping them to 188 but whilst the Lions second half also struggled a little the 28 from Melanie Jenkins did help them to twelve shot victory with 200.
The other repeat saw the Hounds shooting first at Ashby Road Sports Club but they failed to impose themselves on the match, the best scores in their 182 total being Paul Huddlestone’s 29, Andy Mitchell’s 28, and the 26s of Roy Pritchard and Denise Kato.
Ashby Road had little difficulty in beating this to gain their first league victory of the season with the 29s of Seamus Moore and Pete Finney; the 28s of David White and Richard White; and the 27s of Paul Holyland, Lorraine White and Chris Rose (scored despite a painful fall from a pear tree earlier in the day) all combining to give them their 195 total.
The Trojans maintained their perfect start to the season with their fourth consec- utive win, this time against the travelling Ashby Road ‘B’.
The visitors shot first and, despite having just seven shooters, set their hosts a reasonable 192 target thanks to Jon Storer’s 29; the 28s of Neil Price and Jeff Goodyer; the 27s of Martyn Wood, Alf Shore and Mike Sansome; and Kim Baker’s 26.
The reply from the Trojans started slowly with a couple of 26s from Dave Brown and Darren Houghton but soon got on track when Rob Forman and Leigh Hall closed the first half with 28 and 29 respectively.
Second half 29s courtesy of Mark Smith and Chris Sills left last man Will Chambers needing 26 to take the victory which he just managed to take the Trojans total to 193.
The New Plough’s win at the Barwell home of Smallshaws was almost as close.
The home side their guests a reasonable 189 target thanks to Jackie West’s excellent 30, the 28s of Jamie Slimm and Bob West, Tom Williams’ 27, and Simon Grewcock’s 26 but this wasn’t quite good enough as Daniel Lakin’s opening 29 helped the New Plough to a 191 total that also included Paul Barwell’s 27, Nigel Hill’s 28, and the 29s of John Bray and Tom Bray.
Taylor & Ayre hosted Bedworth ExService where the visitors shooting first. Mick Cryer opened with a 27, Andrew Cryer and James Bend both missed the bull with their first shots but then settled down to score 29s whilst Jackie Bend had the same start but also missed her last, scoring 28.
T&A’s first half responded strongly, Aly Steele scoring 27, Steve Vincent a 28 and Giles Headley 29. However the evening’s revelation was new young team member Glenn Foxon who didn’t let the three scored with his first shot phase him, going on to score four consecutive bulls and a closing four to end up with an excellent 27, after which Phil Steele concluded the half’s entertainment with a 26.
Bedworth’s second half was short and sweet with Bob Wagstaff and Bill Bend both scoring 28s whilst the home team went one better with Paul Griffin scoring a very creditable 28 and Darren Hicks closing the match with the 29 that took the score line to 194-190 in T&A’s favour.