Sporting Lions set to be a force this season
THE Hinckley Air Rifle League’s second round of friendly matches demonstrated that the Sporting Lions would undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming league season.
The venue for this demonstration was their home venue, the Hinckley Working Men’s Club, but they were the visitors on this occasion as they were pitted against the team they share the venue with, Hinckley Phoenix.
Karen Bown gave the home side a good start with her 29 but the remainder of the first half were solid rather than spectacular, the next best scores being the 26s of Craig Bown and Stuart Newbold. The reply from the visiting Lions was spectacular rather than solid as Glen Dainter’s opening 30 was followed by a Karl Bunting 30 and the 28s of Todd Astill, Jeanette Mulkeirins, and Taryn Cockerill.
The Phoenix second half gave a good account of themselves with Fred Knowles’ 26 and Ian Ratheram’s 29 being the pick of the bunch, but the resulting 185 was nowhere near enough as the Lions finished the match with a Melanie Jenkins 29, and successive 30s from Alison Smith and Bill Bend, all of which took them to an outstanding 205.
The meeting between the New Plough Inn and the travelling Trojans was very nearly as high scoring. The home side’s first half was unspectacular with the best individual contributions being the 26s of John Orton and Glen Foxton, plus Daniel Lakin’s 27, but this was improved on by a second half made up of a 26 from Steve Reynolds, and the 29s of brothers John and Tom Bray. The resulting 188 would have been competitive against many other teams but unfortunately for the Plough their guests were very much on form, reaching a 200 total that included Dave Brown’s 28; the 29s of Rob Forman, Leigh Hall, and Chris Sills; and the 30s of Phil Hood and Ellen Horsler.
Ashby Road ‘B’ struggled for numbers the first week back but that improved somewhat for this second round as they took seven shooters to the home of the Hounds. The home side shot first and had a solid first half with 26s from Lee Foskett and Claire Barnes followed by the 27s of F. Orme and Adam Padamsey. However, the visitors did markedly better as Jon Storer’s opening 29 preceded Kim Baker’s 26, Andrew Cryer’s 30, and Rikki Hammersley’s 27. The Hounds had no scores of note in the second half whilst Ashby Road added Mike Sansome’s 27, all of which left the visitors winning by 186 to 173.
The match involving the other Ashby Road team also saw the visitors winning, that team being Smallshaws. The visitors started with a 27 from Rob Good and continued in solid fashion thanks to the 26s of Michael Stephens and Jamie Slimm, and the 28 of Rob Wainwright. The reply from Ashby Road was much less assured with the only first half scores of significance being Alison Finney’s 26 and Innes Droomer’s 27. Tom Williams’ 28 got the Smallshaws second half off to a strong start, but the remaining shooters couldn’t maintain that start with their only notable score being Bob West’s closing 26. This resulted in a 186 total that proved too much for the home team who, even though the first half gap a little thanks the 28s of Seamus Moore and Pete Finney, finished ten behind their guests on 176.