Hounds edge a very close match against Smallshaws to take two wins

PRIOR to this week’s meeting the records of the Hounds and the visiting Smallshaws teams were very similar with both teams sitting on five points thanks to two wins and a draw, and with barely a shot between their team averages, so it would surely surprise no one if the results from their latest encounter in the Hinckley Air Rifle League were to be close.

The visitors started relatively slowly but soon picked up the pace with Rob Wainwright’s 28 that seemed to inspire his team mates as they went set challenging totals of 189 in the regular match and 12 points in the Yates Trophy match thanks to the 26s of Bob Wainwright, John Stevenson, Simon Grewcock and Jackie West; Bob West’s 28; and Tom Williams’ 29.

The reply from the Hounds similarly started slowly but Callum Garner’s 29 also seemed inspirational as Roy Pritchard’s 27; the 28s of Leanne Simpson, Richard Green and Richard Allen; and Paul Huddlestone’s 29 took them to narrow victories in both competitions with 194 and 13 points.

A surfeit of Trojans travelled to The Barn for the second time in a fortnight, this time for a normal league match but with the hosts only able to field seven shooters the outcome was predictable.

Shooting first, Taylor & Ayre’s Aly Steele and Giles Headley scored above their target value, each hitting a 29 and these were backed up by a 25 from Steve Vincent plus the 24s of Glenn Foxon and John Orton. Trojans’ Dave Brown got the visitors off the mark with a maximum 30, Phil Hood kept the standard up hitting a 29 and Rob Forman scored 26. T&A’s second half was short and sweet with Norman Hall scoring 25 and Phil Steele a 27, both achieving their targets whilst the visitors’ second half was topped by Leigh Hall’s 29, helped by three scores of 27 from Mark Smith, Will Chambers and Chris Sills. These gave the Trojans wins in both competitions; the league match with a score-line of 195-183 and the Bernard Yates Trophy by 10 points to 7.

Both parties to the meeting between Ashby Road ‘B’ and Ashby Road ended the night with something to show for their efforts with ARB coming out ahead in the points contest and their guests triumphing in the regular match.

The home team were missing some top shooters so it was unsurprising that their regular match total wasn’t as competitive as they would have wanted, reaching a relatively low 184 total despite Jon Storer’s 30, the 28s of Alf Shore and Jeff Goodyer, and the 26s of Kim Baker and Martyn Wood, but their 11 points in the Yates Trophy gave them a good chance. The nearly full strength Ashby Road had little difficulty in passing the 184, eventually reaching 193 thanks to the 26s of Alison Finney, Innes Droomer and Seamus Moore; the 27s of Richard White, Neil Smith and Lorraine White; and the 30s of David White and Pete Finney, but they finished just short in the other contest with 10 points.

There as a similar split result from the Hinckley Phoenix versus Bedworth Ex Servicemen’s Club. All of Bedworth’s six shooters performed well with Jackie Bend’s 26; Mick Cryer’s 28; the 29s of Andrew Cryer, Klaus Baker and James Bend; and Bill Bend’s 30 helping them to 195 and 9 points. The first of these proved to be out of Phoenix’s reach as they finished 10 short despite the 26s of Fred Knowles and Colin Rusted; Geoff Herbert’s 27; and the 27s of Barry Wright and Samantha Haskins but they still did well enough to take the Yates Trophy win with their 12 points.

The New Plough’s struggles continued with a thirteenth winless night of the season, their losses this times coming at the hands of the visiting Sporting Lions.

Daniel Lakin continued his recent run of good form with a 27 that gave the Plough a good start but too many of the following shooters couldn’t match this.

There were 26s from Paul Barwell and Tom Bray; Nigel Hill contributed a 28; and there was a 29 from John Bray but neither the 185 or the 8 points that resulted were enough to unduly trouble their guests who started with a trio of 30s from Lee Johnson, Todd Astill and Glen Dainter and went on to finish on 203 and 13 points thanks to Mollie Harris’ 29; the 28s of Jeanette Mulkeirins, Karl Bunting and Melanie Jenkins; and the 26s of Taryn Cockerill and Peter Dainter.