‘Old’ guns drawn as shooters compete for annual President’s Trophy
THE Hinckley Air Rifle League returned to action after a short festive break with all ten teams invited to attend a fun event at the Hinckley Working Men’s Club and although only eight teams had sufficient numbers to post competitive scores, those shooters who did turn up enjoyed themselves immense- ly.
The President’s Trophy is a competition run by, unsurprisingly, the League’s President, Pete Dainter, who decided this season to introduce a small change to the format of previous seasons by requiring that at least two of each team’s counting scores be scores with an “old” gun, that is one that doesn’t enjoy the benefits of recoilless operation or a match standard trigger mechanism.
The competition was won by the Trojans who finished on 158.8 thanks to Phil Hood’s old gun 25.2, Mark Smith’s 24.3, Leigh Hall’s 24, Will Chambers’ 22.1 and Mick Wale’s 21. This helped them to beat the second placed Smallshaws by just 0.5, their 158.3 including Bob West’s 24.2 and old gun 20, Jeff Goodyer’s 23.2, and Simon Grewcock’s 22.1.
Bedworth Ex Servicemen’s Club finished third, not quite a shot behind, as Bill Bend’s old gun 24.2 and new gun 23.3, Jackie Bend’s 23.3, Bob Wagstaff’s new gun 22 and old gun 21.1, and Mick Cryer’s 21.1 helped them to 157.4. Hinckley Phoenix came next with a 155.9 total that included 23.3s from Luke Bown and Roxy Ratheram, Karen Bown’s 22.2, Tony Overton’s old gun 21.1 and the new gun 21.1s of Craig Bown and Geoff Herbert whilst the Sporting Lions took fifth place as Glen Dainter’s 25.3, Todd Astill’s new gun 24.3 and old gun 21, Melanie Jenkins’ 23.2, Jeanette Mulkeirins’ 23, and Pete Dainter’s old gun 20.1 took them to their 154.3 total.
Ashby Road’s Seamus Moore was the top shooter on the night with an excellent 25.4 but sadly the next best scores were some way behind; Bertie Bugden’s old gun 21.2; and the 21.1s of Richard White, Lorraine White and Innes Droomer; leaving them to take sixth place with a 152.6 total that left them just 0.1 ahead of the seventh placed Hounds who’s 152.5 included a Paul Huddlestone 24.3, Richard Green’s 23.2, Chris Allen’s old gun 22.2 and new gun 21.1, and Lean Simpson’s 20.
The final competitive total came from Taylor & Ayre who finished with just 150.7 despite excellent shooting from Giles Headley (24.4), Darren Hicks (24.3), Alison Smith (24.2), and Paul Griffin (21).
This left just the New Plough who were represented by a solitary shooter, Daniel Lakin, who shot well with both new and old guns, scoring 20 and 21 respectively, but clearly had no chance of doing better than last.
Another aspect of the night that is perhaps more appreciated by the attendees than the shooting competition is the running of a raffle, allowing them to dispose of surplus Christmas supplies and unwanted gifts whilst raising money for the League’s chosen charity, the local air ambulance service, and this year the sum of £106 was raised.